Failed random access preamble transmissions reporting

Abstract

A communication device (12) is configured for use in a communication network (10). The communication device (12) transmits, to a network node (14) in the communication network (10), random access information (24) indicating that all of multiple successive attempts (16- 1…16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1…18-N) on a beam (20) failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble (18-1…18- N) on the beam (20).

Description

[0001] FAILED RANDOM ACCESS PREAMBLE TRANSMISSIONS REPORTING

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present application relates generally to a communication network, and relates more particularly to reporting of failed random access preamble transmissions in such a network.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] Random access in a communication network is a procedure by which a communication device may establish a connection with the communication network and / or acquire proper uplink transmission timing. Random access involves a communication device transmitting a random access preamble to the communication network over a random access channel. A random access preamble is a specific signal sequence chosen from a predefined set of possible signal sequences. The design of a random access preamble is such that it can be robustly received by the communication network even if the preamble is not transmitted in the uplink with a timing that would allow the network to receive the preamble in sync with any other preambles transmitted by other communication devices. This robustness to imperfect uplink synchronization is achieved through sequence diversity amongst different preambles, the inclusion of a cyclic prefix in a preamble which acts as a buffer to absorb timing misalignments, and the correlation properties of a preamble which enable the network to detect and decode it accurately even with substantial time and frequency shifts. These design elements collectively enable the network to reliably identify and process random access preambles, facilitating efficient and robust initial access procedures for communication devices, even when uplink synchronization is not precise.

[0006] Some contexts complicate this random access process. For example, some communication networks (e.g., New Radio Unlicensed, NR-U) require a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure before a communication device can transmit a random access preamble. This procedure involves the communication device monitoring a random access channel on an intended transmit beam or bandwidth, in order to assess the presence of any ongoing transmissions by other communication devices. If the random access channel on the intended transmit beam or bandwidth is deemed clear, indicating no significant interference or activity, the communication device can proceed to transmit its random access preamble. Conversely, if the random access channel on the intended transmit beam or bandwidth is busy, the communication device must wait and reattempt the LBT procedure after a random backoff period. If successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the intended transmit beam or bandwidth consistently fail, the communication device may switch to attempting to transmit the random access preamble on a different transmit beam or bandwidth, if available.

[0007] The communication network attempts to reconstruct behavior of the communication device and analyzes how to adjust random access parameters to improve random access performance. For example, the communication network analyzes how to adjust a target power of and / or target coverage of a random access preamble for power ramping purposes, where power ramping refers to the process by which a communication device progressively ramps up the power of a random access preamble transmission across transmission attempts in order to increase the likelihood of successful reception. Problematically, though, a communication device does not ramp its transmit power across preamble transmission attempts that fail due to being blocked by LBT. In known approaches, the communication network is unable to account for this, jeopardizing the ability of the network to accurately adjust random access parameters and thereby threatening random access performance.

[0008] SUMMARY

[0009] Some embodiments herein enhance what information a communication device reports to a communication network about its attempts to transmit a random access preamble. For example, according to some embodiments, a communication device reports that all of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on a beam failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble on the beam. The communication network in some embodiments exploits this information when reconstructing the random access behavior of the communication device and / or when performing power ramping analysis for setting a target power of and / or target coverage of a random access preamble to be transmitted by the communication device. For example, the reported information may enable the communication network to account for the communication device not ramping its transmit power across preamble transmission attempts that fail due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble. Some embodiments may thereby advantageously improve the ability of the network to accurately adjust random access parameters and, in turn, improve random access performance.

[0010] More particularly, embodiments herein include a method performed by a communication device configured for use in a communication network. The method comprises transmitting, to a network node in the communication network, random access information indicating that all of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on a beam failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble on the beam.

[0011] Other embodiments herein include a method performed by a network node configured for use in a communication network. The method comprises receiving, from a communication device, random access information indicating that all of multiple successive attempts by the communication device to transmit a random access preamble on a beam failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble on the beam. Other embodiments herein include a communication device configured for use in a communication network. The communication device is configured to transmit, to a network node in the communication network, random access information indicating that all of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on a beam failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble on the beam.

[0012] Other embodiments herein include a network node configured for use in a communication network. The network node is configured to receive, from a communication device, random access information indicating that all of multiple successive attempts by the communication device to transmit a random access preamble on a beam failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble on the beam.

[0013] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] Figure 1 is a block diagram of a communication network and a communication device for random access according to some embodiments.

[0015] Figure 2 is a block diagram illustrating functions handled in pre-operational and operational states according to some embodiments.

[0016] Figure 3 is a logic flow diagram of a method performed by a UE operating in unlicensed spectrum for improving the RA performance.

[0017] Figure 4 is a logic flow diagram of a method performed by a communication device configured for use in a communication network in accordance with other particular embodiments.

[0018] Figure 5 is a logic flow diagram of a method performed by a network node configured for use in a communication network in accordance with other particular embodiments.

[0019] Figure 6 is a block diagram of a communication device in accordance with particular embodiments.

[0020] Figure 7 is a block diagram of a network node in accordance with particular embodiments.

[0021] Figure 8 is a block diagram of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments.

[0022] Figure 9 is a block diagram of a user equipment according to some embodiments.

[0023] Figure 10 is a block diagram of a network node according to some embodiments.

[0024] Figure 11 is a block diagram of a host according to some embodiments.

[0025] Figure 12 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment according to some embodiments.

[0026] Figure 13 is a block diagram of a host communicating via a network node with a UE over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] Figure 1 shows a communication network 10 according to some embodiments. The communication network 10 may for instance be a New Radio Unlicensed (NR-U) network and / or operate on unlicensed frequency spectrum. Regardless, the communication network 10 is configured to provide communication service to a communication device 12, e.g., a user equipment (UE).

[0028] The communication device 14 in Figure 1 is configured to attempt random access (RA) to the communication network 10 using a random access procedure, e.g., a 2-step RA procedure or a 4-step RA procedure as described in 3GPP TS 38.321 V17.5.0. The communication device 10 may attempt such random access for establishing a connection (e.g., a Radio Resource Control, RRC, connection) with the communication network 10, for acquiring uplink timing / synchronization, and / or for other reasons.

[0029] According to embodiments herein, the communication device 12 may select a beam 20 on which to perform RA, e.g., based on comparing measurements of different candidate beams. The communication device 12 may for instance receive and measure different reference signals (e.g., Channel State Information Reference Signals, CSI-RSs) or Synchronization Signal I Physical Broadcast Channel (SSB) blocks transmitted by a network node 14 on different beams, e.g., pointing in different spatial directions, and then select one or more of the beams that have the best or most suitable measurement(s) as being the beam(s) on which to perform RA. A selected beam 20 may thereby be associated with a CSI-RS and / or a SS / PBCH block.

[0030] To perform RA on a selected beam 20, the communication device 12 as shown makes an attempt 16-1 to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 to the network node 14 on the beam 20. The random access preamble 18-1 may for instance be MSG1 in a 4-step RA procedure or MSGA in a 2-step RA procedure. According to embodiments herein, though, the communication device’s attempt 16-1 is susceptible to failure, in which case the communication device 12 does not actually end up transmitting the random access preamble 18-1.

[0031] In some embodiments in this regard, the communication device 12 attempts to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 in frequency spectrum that is unlicensed or shared. In this case, the communication device 12 is required to successfully clear the unlicensed / shared spectrum (e.g., via a successful Listen-Before-Talk, LBT, procedure) before actually performing transmission on that unlicensed / shared spectrum. As shown, then, the communication device’s attempt 16-1 to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 includes an LBT 22-1. This LBT 22-1 may be performed by lower layer(s) of a protocol stack at the communication device 12, e.g., random access preamble transmission may occur at an upper layer such as a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer whereas LBT 22-1 may be performed at a lower layer such as a physical layer, with the lower layer sending an indication to the MAC layer indicating a result of the LBT 22-1. Regardless, if the LBT 22-1 succeeds, the communication device 12 may proceed to transmit the random access preamble 18-1. However, if the LBT 22-1 fails because the unlicensed / shared spectrum is already occupied, the communication device 12 does not transmit the random access preamble 18-1 and, as a result, the attempt 16-1 to transmit the random access preamble 18-1 fails. Nevertheless, the communication device 12 may thereafter re-attempt to transmit a random access preamble on the same beam 20, e.g., after waiting a (random) backoff period to let the unlicensed / shared spectrum clear. The re-attempt may involve attempting to transmit the same random access preamble 18-1 or a different random access preamble.

[0032] Generally, then, the communication device 12 as shown in Figure 1 may make multiple attempts 16-1...16-N to transmit a respective random access preamble 18-1...18-N on a beam 20. In fact, the multiple attempts 16-1...16-N may be successive attempts, e.g., in the sense that the attempts 16-1 ... 16-N on the beam 20 are all made before switching to attempting RA on a different beam or before terminating the RA procedure. Note that the attempts 16-1... 16-N may be successive even if some time (e.g., a random backoff time) passes between each of the attempts 16-1 ... 16-N.

[0033] Each of the attempts 16-1...16-N is nonetheless susceptible to failure, e.g., due to failure of a respective LBT 22-1 ...22-N required as a precondition for transmission of the respective random access preamble 18-1...18-N. Some embodiments herein notably account for the possibility that each / all of the attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a respective random access preamble 18-1...18-N fail. Some embodiments do so by introducing signaling from the communication device 12 informing the communication network 10 (e.g., network node 14) about whether each of the multiple attempts 16-1...16-N failed.

[0034] Figure 1 more particularly shows the communication device 12 transmits random access information 24 to the network node 14. The communication device 12 may do so by including the random access information 24 in a report 26, e.g., a RA report, an radio link failure (RLF) report, a Connection Establishment Failure (CEF) report, a successful handover report (SHR) or a successful PSCell change / addition report (SPR) as described more fully later. Regardless, the random access information 24 according to some embodiments herein notably indicates that (or whether) each of the multiple (successive) attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N failed, e.g., due to failure of LBT 22-1 ...22-N. The random access information 24 may for example indicate that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device 12 from one or more lower layers of the communication device 12 for each of the multiple attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20. In some embodiments as shown, for example, the random access information 24 includes an allLBTFailures information element (IE) 28 indicating that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device 12 from one or more lower layers of the communication device 12 for each of the multiple attempts 16-1...16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1...18-N on the beam 20.

[0035] Alternatively or additionally, the random access information 24 may indicate that no random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N was transmitted over an air interface for the beam 20 for a certain random access procedure due to LBT failure for the multiple attempts 16-1... 16-N.

[0036] The network node 14 may correspondingly receive the random access information 24 and use the random access information 24 for configuring or optimizing how to provide communication service to the communication device 12. For example, the network node 14 may perform self-configuration and / or self-optimization as part of Self-Organizing Network (SON) tasks, based on the random access information 24. In one such embodiment, the network node 14 may set a target power of and / or target coverage of a random access preamble to be transmitted by the communication device 12, based on the random access information 24. The network node 14 may for instance, based on the random access information 24, reconstruct behavior of the communication device 12 in performing random access and perform power ramping analysis for setting a target power of and / or target coverage of a random access preamble to be transmitted by the communication device 12.

[0037] Consider now some additional details of various implementations of the random access information 24 according to various embodiments.

[0038] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that, for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, no random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N was transmitted on the beam 20.

[0039] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that each of multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on a beam 20 failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20.

[0040] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that each of multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on a beam 20 failed due to Listen-Before-Talk, LBT, failure.

[0041] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device 12 from one or more lower layers of the communication device 12 for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20.

[0042] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that all of the multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 failed. In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that no random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N was transmitted over an air interface for the beam 20 for a certain random access procedure due to LBT failure.

[0043] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that no random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N was transmitted over an air interface on the beam 20 due to LBT failure for the multiple successive attempts 16-1...16-N.

[0044] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that, for each of multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 before switching to attempting to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on a different beam 20 or before terminating attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on any beam 20, no random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N was transmitted over an air interface on the beam 20 due to LBT failure.

[0045] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a list of beams that the communication device 12 successively selected during a random access procedure and for which none of multiple successive random access preamble 18-1... 18-N transmissions attempted in a beam 20, before switching the random access procedure to another beam 20 or terminating the random access procedure, was transmitted over an air interface on that beam 20 due to LBT failure. In some embodiments, each entry in the list of beams is associated with a respective beam index. In some embodiments, the beams in the list are included in chronological order of selected by the communication device 12.

[0046] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a flag indicating that, or whether, each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0047] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a flag indicating that, or whether, none of the multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, before switching random access to another beam 20 or terminating random access, was transmitted over an air interface on the beam 20 due to LBT failure.

[0048] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a field indicating a total number of successive random access preambles 18-1... 18-N transmitted on the beam 20. In some embodiments, a set of possible values to which the field is settable excludes a value of zero, and a certain non-zero value in the set implicitly indicates that each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0049] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a field indicating a total number of successive random access preambles 18-1... 18-N transmitted on the beam 20. In some embodiments, a set of possible values to which the field is settable excludes a value of zero, and a certain non-zero value in the set implicitly indicates that none of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, before switching random access to another beam 20 or terminating random access, was transmitted over an air interface on the beam 20 due to LBT failure.

[0050] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a field indicating a total number of successive random access preambles 18-1... 18-N transmitted on the beam 20. In some embodiments, a set of possible values to which the field is settable excludes a value of zero, and a certain non-zero value in the set implicitly indicates that the total number of successive random access preambles 18-1...18-N transmitted on the beam 20 is zero. In some embodiments, the certain non-zero value is a highest value in the set. In some embodiments, the field is a numberOfPreamblesSentOnSSB information element or a numberOfPreamblesSentOnCSI-RS information element.

[0051] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a list of information entries, one for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20. In some embodiments, the information entry for each respective one of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N includes a flag indicating that, or whether, the respective attempt 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-

[0052] 1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0053] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a list of information entries that comprises only a single information entry. In some embodiments, the single information entry includes a field indicating that all of the multiple successive attempts 16-

[0054] 1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0055] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a list of information entries that comprises only a single information entry irrespective of how many successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 were performed. In some embodiments, the single information entry includes a field indicating that all of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-

[0056] 1...18-N on the beam 20 were blocked by LBT failures. In some embodiments, the list of information entries is indicated by a perRAAttemptlnfoList information element.

[0057] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that each of multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0058] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device 12 from one or more lower layers of the communication device 12 for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20. In some embodiments, if an LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for each of the successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, the allLBTFailures IE 28 is set to true. In other embodiments, else the allLBTFailures IE 28 is set to false.

[0059] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes PerRAAttemptlnfo information element, IE, that is a list of information entries, one for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20. In some embodiments, the information entry for an attempt 16-1 ... 16-N includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device 12 from one or more lower layers of the communication device 12 for the attempt 16-1... 16-N. In some embodiments, if an LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for the attempt 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, the allLBTFailures IE 28 is set to true. In other embodiments, else the allLBTFailures IE 28 is set to false.

[0060] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes PerRAAttemptlnfo information element, IE, that is a list of information entries comprising only a single information entry irrespective of how many successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20 were performed. In some embodiments, the single information entry includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device 12 from one or more lower layers of the communication device 12 for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1...16-N. In some embodiments, if an LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for each of the successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, the allLBTFailures IE 28 is set to true. In other embodiments, else the allLBTFailures IE 28 is set to false.

[0061] Consider next an example of some embodiments herein in the following context where the communication device 12 is exemplified as a user equipment (UE).

[0062] Self-Organising Networks (SON) in 3GPP

[0063] Some embodiments herein facilitate Self-Organizing Network (SON) functionality in the communication network 10. A Self-Organizing Network (SON) is an automation technology designed to make the planning, configuration, management, optimization, and healing of mobile radio access networks simpler and faster. SON functionality and behavior has been defined and specified in generally accepted mobile industry recommendations produced by organizations such as 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) and the NGMN (Next Generation Mobile Networks).

[0064] In 3GPP, the processes within the SON area are classified into a Self-configuration process and a Self-optimization process. A Self-configuration process is the process where newly deployed nodes are configured by automatic installation procedures to get the necessary basic configuration for system operation.

[0065] This process works in a pre-operational state. A pre-operational state is understood as the state from when the access node is powered up and has backbone connectivity until the RF transmitter is switched on.

[0066] As illustrated in Figure 2, from 3GPP TS 36.300 V17.5.0 figure 22.1-1 , functions handled in the pre-operational state like Basic Setup and Initial Radio Configuration are covered by the Self Configuration process.

[0067] Self-optimization process is defined as the process where UE and access node measurements and performance measurements are used to auto-tune the network.

[0068] This process works in an operational state. An operational state is understood as the state where the RF interface is additionally switched on.

[0069] As described in Figure 2, functions handled in the operational state like Optimization I Adaptation are covered by the Self Optimization process.

[0070] In Long Term Evolution (LTE), support for Self-Configuration and Self-Optimisation is specified, as described in 3GPP TS 36.300 V17.5.0 section 22.2, including features such as Dynamic configuration, Automatic Neighbour Relation (ANR), Mobility load balancing, Mobility Robustness Optimization (MRO), Random Access Channel (RACH) optimization and support for energy saving.

[0071] In New Radio (NR), support for Self-Configuration and Self-Optimisation is specified as well, starting with Self-Configuration features such as Dynamic configuration, Automatic Neighbour Relation (ANR) in Rel-15, as described in 3GPP TS 38.300 V17.5.0 section 15. In NR Rel-16, more SON features are being specified for, including Self-Optimisation features such as Mobility Robustness Optimization (MRO).

[0072] Mobility Robustness Optimization (MRO) in 3GPP

[0073] Some embodiments herein are alternatively or additionally applicable for facilitating MRO. Seamless handovers in this regard are a feature of 3GPP technologies. Successful handovers ensure that the UE moves around in the coverage area of different cells without causing too many interruptions in the data transmission. However, there will be scenarios when the network fails to handover the UE to the ‘correct’ neighbor cell in time and in such scenarios the UE will declare the radio link failure (RLF) or Handover Failure (HOF).

[0074] Upon HOF and RLF, the UE may take autonomous actions, i.e. , trying to select a cell and initiate a reestablishment procedure so as to ensure that the UE is trying to get back as soon as it can, so that it can be reachable again. The RLF will cause a poor user experience as the RLF is declared by the UE only when it realizes that there is no reliable communication channel (radio link) available between itself and the network. Also, reestablishing the connection requires signaling with the newly selected cell (random access procedure, RRC Reestablishment Request, RRC Reestablishment RRC Reestablishment Complete, RRC Reconfiguration and RRC Reconfiguration Complete) and adds some latency, until the UE can exchange data with the network again.

[0075] According to the specifications (3GPP TS 36.331 V17.5.0), the possible causes for the radio link failure could be one of the following: (1) Expiry of the radio link monitoring related timer T310; (2) Expiry of the measurement reporting associated timer T312 (not receiving the handover command from the network within this timer’s duration despite sending the measurement report when T310 was running); (3) Upon reaching the maximum number of RLC retransmissions; or (4) Upon receiving random access problem indication from the MAC entity.

[0076] As RLF leads to reestablishment which degrades performance and user experience, it is in the interest of the network to understand the reasons for RLF and try to optimize mobility related parameters (e.g., trigger conditions of measurement reports) to avoid later RLFs. Before the standardization of MRO related report handling in the network, only the UE was aware of some information associated to how did the radio quality look like at the time of RLF, what is the actual reason for declaring RLF, etc. For the network to identify the reason for the RLF, the network needs more information, both from the UE and also from the neighboring base stations.

[0077] As part of the MRO solution in LTE, the RLF reporting procedure was introduced in the RRC specification in Rel-9 RAN2 work. That has impacted the RRC specifications (TS 36.331 V17.5.0) in the sense that it was standardized that the UE would log relevant information at the moment of an RLF and later report to a target cell to which the UE succeeds to connect (e.g. after reestablishment). That has also impacted the inter-gNodeB interface, i.e., X2AP specifications (3GPP TS 36.423 V17.5.0), as an eNodeB receiving an RLF report could forward to the eNodeB where the failure has been originated.

[0078] For the RLF report generated by the UE, its contents have been enhanced with more details in the subsequent releases. The measurements included in the measurement report based on the latest LTE RRC specification are:

[0079] 1) Measurement quantities (RSRP, RSRQ) of the last serving cell (PCell), where RSRP stands for Reference Signal Received Power and RSRQ stands for Reference Signal Received Quality;

[0080] 2) Measurement quantities of the neighbor cells in different frequencies of different radio access technologies (RATs), such as Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (EUTRA), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA), GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN), and Code Division Multiple Access 2000 (CDMA2000);

[0081] 3) Measurement quantity (such as Reference Signal Strength Indicator, RSSI) associated to wireless local area network (WLAN) Access Points (APs);

[0082] 4) Measurement quantity (RSSI) associated to Bluetooth beacons;

[0083] 5) Location information, if available (including location coordinates and velocity); 6) Globally unique identity of the last serving cell, if available, otherwise the Physical Cell Identity (PCI) and the carrier frequency of the last serving cell;

[0084] 7) Tracking area code of the Primary Cell (PCell);

[0085] 8) Time elapsed since the last reception of the ‘Handover command’ message;

[0086] 9) Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) used in the previous serving cell;

[0087] 10) Whether or not the UE was configured with a data radio bearer (DRB) having Quality of Service (QoS) Class Identifier (QCI) value of 1.

[0088] After the RLF is declared, the RLF report is logged and included in the VarRLF-Report and, once the UE selects a cell and succeeds with a reestablishment, it includes an indication that it has an RLF report available in the Radio Resource Control (RRC) Reestablishment Complete message, to make the target cell aware of that availability. Then, upon receiving an U El nformati on Request message with a flag “rlf-ReportReq-r9”, the UE shall include the RLF report (stored in a UE variable VarRLF-Report, as described above) in an UElnformationResponse message and send to the network.

[0089] Based on the RLF report from the UE and the knowledge about to which cell did the UE reestablished itself, the original source cell can deduce whether the RLF was caused due to a coverage hole or due to handover associated parameter configurations. If the RLF was deemed to be due to handover associated parameter configurations, the original serving cell can further classify the handover related failure as too-early, too-late, or handover to wrong cell classes. These handover failure classes are explained in brief below.

[0090] One handover failure class concerns whether the handover failure occurred due to the ‘too-late handover’ cases. The original serving cell can classify a handover failure to be ‘too late handover’ when the original serving cell fails to send the handover command to the UE associated to a handover towards a particular target cell and if the UE reestablishes itself in this target cell post RLF. An example corrective action from the original serving cell could be to initiate the handover procedure towards this target cell a bit earlier by decreasing the CIO (cell individual offset) towards the target cell that controls when the IE sends the event triggered measurement report that leads to taking the handover decision.

[0091] Another handover failure class concerns whether the handover failure occurred due to the ‘too-early handover’ cases. The original serving cell can classify a handover failure to be ‘too early handover’ when the original serving cell is successful in sending the handover command to the UE associated to a handover however the UE fails to perform the random access towards this target cell. An example corrective action from the original serving cell could be to initiate the handover procedure towards this target cell a bit later by increasing the CIO (cell individual offset) towards the target cell that controls when the IE sends the event triggered measurement report that leads to taking the handover decision. Yet another handover failure class concerns whether the handover failure occurred due to the ‘handover-to-wrong-cell’ cases. The original serving cell can classify a handover failure to be ‘handover-to-wrong-cell’ when the original serving cell intends to perform the handover for this UE towards a particular target cell, but the UE declares the RLF and reestablishes itself in a third cell. A corrective action from the original serving cell could be to initiate the measurement reporting procedure that leads to handover towards the target cell a bit later by decreasing the CIO (cell individual offset) towards the target cell or via initiating the handover towards the cell in which the UE reestablished a bit earlier by increasing the CIO towards the reestablishment cell.

[0092] As an enhancement to MRO in Rel.17, 3GPP introduced the successful HO Report (SHR). Unlike the RLF-Report, which is used, as described above, to report the RLF or Handover failure experienced by the UE, the SHR is used by the UE to report various information associated to successful HO. The successful HO will not be reported always at every HO, but only when certain triggering conditions are fulfilled. For example, if while doing HO, the T310 / T312 / T304 timers exceed a certain threshold, then the UE shall store information associated to this HO. Similarly, in case the HO was a Dual Active Protocol Stack (DAPS) HO, and the UE succeeded with it but an RLF was experienced in the source cell while doing the DAPS HO, then the UE stores information associated to this DAPS HO. When storing the successful handover report, the UE may include various information to aid the network to optimize the handover, such as measurements of the neighbouring cells, the fulfilled condition that triggered the successful handover report (e.g., threshold on T310 exceeded, specific RLF issue in the source while doing DAPS HO), etc.

[0093] The SHR can be configured by a certain serving cell, and when triggering conditions for SHR logging are fulfilled, the UE stores this information until the NW requests it. In particular, the UE may indicate availability of SHR information in certain RRC message, such as RRCReconfigurationComplete, RRCReestablishmentComplete, RRCSetupComplete, RRCResumeComplete, and the network may request such information via the UElnformationRequest message, upon which the UE transmits the stored SHR in the UElnformationResponse message.

[0094] Both the RLF-Report and the SHR may include information associated to the random access procedure. The RLF may be in fact due to random access problems. Therefore, by including the random access information, the network may optimize the random access procedure and possibly minimize the risk for RLF in future. Similarly, the SHR can also include RA information when the SHR is generated due to problems experienced during the HO, e.g., value of T304 reaching a value above a certain threshold. The RA information includes information related to the bandwidth part (BWP) in which the random access was attempted, information about the downlink (DL) pathloss experienced at the time of initiating the random access procedure, information related to each preamble transmission attempt, e.g. whether a contention was experienced or not, the number of preamble transmission attempts in a certain SSB or CSI-RS.

[0095] Channel access procedure in NR unlicensed spectrum

[0096] Some embodiments herein are applicable for random access in unlicensed spectrum, also referred to as shared spectrum. Listen-before-talk (LBT) in this regard is designed for unlicensed spectrum to ensure a fair co-existence with other radio access technologies (RATs). In this mechanism, a radio device applies a clear channel assessment (CCA) check (i.e. , channel sensing) before any transmission. The transmitter involves energy detection (ED) over a time period compared to a certain threshold (energy detection, ED, threshold) in order to determine if a channel is idle. In case the channel is determined to be occupied, the transmitter performs a random back-off within a contention window before the next CCA attempt. In order to protect the ACK transmissions, the transmitter must defer a period after each busy CCA slot prior to resuming back-off. As soon as the transmitter has grasped access to a channel, the transmitter is only allowed to perform transmission up to a maximum time duration (namely, the maximum channel occupancy time (MCOT)).

[0097] For quality of service (QoS) differentiation, a channel access priority based on the service type has been defined. For example, there are four LBT priority classes defined for differentiation of contention window sizes (CWS) and MCOT between services. Therefore, the LBT class selected for a transmission depends on the priority of the data to transmit or on the type of signal to transmit, e.g., if that is a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), or RRC signal.

[0098] Whereas the LBT procedure shall be always performed by any device operating in the unlicensed spectrum, note that 3GPP specification includes certain procedures that the UE shall perform upon detecting an LBT failure. In particular, if the UE is configured by the network with Ibt-FailureRecoveryConfig, the UE shall perform certain actions for the detection of consistent uplink LBT failures. In particular, if the UE detects a certain number of configurable LBT failures within a certain configurable time window, then the UE declares consistent LBT failures. The declaration of consistent LBT failures implies the UE switching the bandwidth part (BWP) in which the UE is operating in the SpCell, and performing the random access in another BWP of the SpCell (if the consistent LBT failure was detected in the SpCell). Otherwise, if the consistent LBT failure occurs in the SCell, the UE stops temporarily using the SCell, until subsequent network scheduling decisions. Additionally, when the Ibt-FailureRecoveryConfig is not configured, the UE does not step the random access preamble counter (if the failure was detected in the random access preamble), and it does not perform power ramping. On the other hand, if the Ibt-FailureRecoveryConfig is not configured, then the UE does not perform consistent LBT failures detection, and if a failure in the RA preamble transmission is detected, the UE steps the random access counter, and it performs power ramping.

[0099] Random access handling in NR-U

[0100] Some embodiments herein are applicable for random access handling in New Radio (NR) Unlicensed (NR-U). The random access messages (including the Physical Random Access Channel, PRACH) are subject to LBT before being transmitted. In New Radio (NR) Unlicensed (NR-U), an LBT counter is stepped whenever an UL transmission fails in a certain bandwidth part (BWP). When such LBT counter reaches a maximum value, within a certain time, the UE declares “consistent LBT failure” for the corresponding BWP. If the affected BWP is in the Primary Cell (PCell) or the Primary Secondary Cell Group (SCG) Cell (PSCell), the UE deactivates the affected BWP and activates another already configured BWP in the PCell / PSCell and transmits random access therein. On the other hand, if the affected BWP is a Secondary Cell (SCell), the UE stops transmitting in this SCell, and can send a Scheduling Request (SR) on another serving cell (not yet affected by “consistent UL LBT failures”) for further communications. Additionally, as a result of the consistent LBT failure, the UE issues a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) to indicate to the network which are the problematic cells in which “consistent LBT failures” was experienced.

[0101] For the case of the PCell, once the UE has attempted random access in all the BWPs in the PCell with no success, the UE declares RLF and may attempt reestablishment. Similarly, for the case of the PSCell, the UE declares SCG failure when consistent UL LBT failures have been experienced in all the BWPs of the PSCell.

[0102] Random access information can be reported to the network as part of a random access report (RA-Report), an RLF report (RLF-Report), or a successful handover report (SHR). In particular, if a preamble transmission is blocked by LBT, i.e., channel sensed busy at lower layers, then the UE may not increase the preamble transmission counter (PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_COUNTER) if the UE is configured with Ibt- FailureRecoveryConfig. Otherwise, if the UE is not configured with Ibt-FailureRecoveryConfig then the preamble transmission counter is increased.

[0103] Additionally, regarding the power ramping, the UE does not increase the transmitting power for one preamble if the previous preamble transmission was blocked by LBT. According to MAC specification, TS 38.321 V17.5.0, the UE does not ramp the power for the first preamble transmission upon changing the beam (SSB or CSI-RS) for the RA.

[0104] The UE is required to include, as part of the SON framework, information associated to the random access procedure. This information can be included in random access reports, RLF reports, successful HO reports (SHR), or successful PSCell change / addition report (SPR), or in SCGFailurelnformation or MCGFailurelnformation in dual connectivity scenarios, etc. Heretofore, it is not be possible for the network to determine whether there are beams (SS / PBCH block, CSI-RS) that the UE selected for random access preamble transmissions and for which all the random access preamble transmission attempts were blocked by LBT, i.e. no random access preamble was transmitted by the UE over the air interface. This is because, as it is highlighted in the following specification excerpt, it is heretofore not possible for the UE to indicate that for a given beam there were no preamble sent, i.e., the field numberOfPreamblesSentOnSSB and numberOfPreamblesSentOnCSI-RS are not optional and cannot be set to a value smaller than 1 , i.e., it cannot be set to 0. Similarly, the field perRAAttemptlnfoList-r16 including information associated to a specific random access preamble transmission is heretofore not optional:

[0105] RA-lnformationCommon-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { <Text Omitted> perRAI nfoList-r16 PerRAI nfoList-r16,

[0106] [[ perRAI nfoList-v1660 PerRAI nfoList-v1660 OPTIONAL

[0107] ]],

[0108] <Text Omitted> }

[0109] PerRAI nfoList-r16 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..200)) OF PerRAInfo-r16

[0110] PerRAI nfoList-v1660 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..200)) OF PerRACSI-RSInfo-v1660

[0111] PerRAI nfo-r16 ::= CHOICE { perRASSBInfoList-r16 PerRASSBInfo-r16, perRACSI-RSInfoList-r16 PerRACSI-RSInfo-r16

[0112] PerRASSBInfo-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { ssb-lndex-r16 SSB-lndex, numberOfPreamblesSentOnSSB-r16 INTEGER (1..200) perRAAttemptlnfoList-r16 PerRAAttemptlnfoList-r16

[0113] }

[0114] PerRACSI-RSInfo-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { csi-RS-lndex-r16 CSI-RS-lndex, numberOfPreamblesSentOnCSI-RS-r16 INTEGER (1..200)

[0115] PerRACSI-RSInfo-v1660 ::= SEQUENCE { csi-RS-lndex-v1660 INTEGER (1..96) OPTIONAL

[0116] PerRAAttemptlnfoList-r16 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..200)) OF PerRAAttemptlnfo-r16

[0117] PerRAAttemptlnfo-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { contentionDetected-r16 BOOLEAN OPTIONAL, dlRSRPAboveThreshold-r16 BOOLEAN OPTIONAL, fallbackToFourStepRA-r17 ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL

[0118] Hence, it is heretofore unclear how the network can get to know that no preamble transmissions were performed in a certain beam, and also how the UE should set the legacy parameters such as numberOfPreamblesSentOnSSB-r16, numberOfPreamblesSentOnCSI- RS, perRAAttemptlnfoList-r16 when none of the successive RA preamble transmission attempts on a selected beam is successful due to LBT failure.

[0119] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. Some embodiments herein enable a UE to aid the network in determining that no RA preamble transmission attempt was transmitted over the air interface for a certain beam for a certain RA procedure due to LBT reasons / failures.

[0120] In particular, a UE herein includes in an RA information report, for each beam that the UE has selected during a random access procedure, a set of information upon determining that no random access preamble transmission was transmitted over the air interface due to LBT for successive RA attempts on the selected beam. The set of information may include indication(s), logged by the UE, aiding the network to determine that no random access preamble transmission was transmitted over the air interface in a certain beam due to LBT issue / failure for successive RA attempts on that beam before either changing the beam or terminating the RA procedure. Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). Based on the information logged by the UE according to embodiments herein, a network node (in non-limiting examples a gNB or a gNB central unit, gNB-Cll, or a gNB distributed unit, a gNB-Dll) can determine that no random access preamble was transmitted over the air interface by the UE for successive RA attempts on a certain beam that the UE selected during a certain random access procedure due to LBT issue / failure detected as part of channel access procedure. Without embodiments herein, it would not be possible for the network to analyze the case in which no random access preamble transmission is transmitted over the air-interface due to LBT. Additionally, it would not be possible for the UE to properly select some parameters in RA information. Lack of the information included in the RA report according to embodiments herein would prevent the network from reconstructing the UE behavior in performing RA procedure and would lead to a wrong power ramping analysis which is needed for setting the preamble received target power value as well as coverage.

[0121] Note that the RA information report mentioned herein may be a RA report, a RLF report, a CEF report, a SHR, or a SPR. The Listen before Talk (LBT) issue / failure herein may refer to failure of the UE in accessing the channel (e.g., when the detected power over the unlicensed channel for the operating frequency is greater than the energy detection threshold) in a channel access procedure.

[0122] More particularly, some embodiments herein provide a mechanism for the UE to include, in a random access information report, a set of information associated to the beams in which, for each of the successive random access preamble transmission attempts attempted in a beam before switching the RA to another beam or terminating the RA, no random access preamble transmission was transmitted over the air interface in the beam due to LBT.

[0123] In some embodiments, the set of information includes the list of beams (SS / PBCH block, CSI-RS) that the UE successively selected during a random procedure and for which none of the successive random access preamble transmissions attempted in a beam, before switching the RA to another beam or terminating the RA, was transmitted over the air interface in that beam due to LBT, wherein each entry of the list is associated to the index of a beam, i.e. SSB- index, CSI-RS index. In one embodiment the said beams are included in the list in chronological order of selection.

[0124] Alternatively or additionally, the set of information may include a flag indicating whether none of successive random access preamble transmissions attempted in a beam, before switching the RA to another beam or terminating the RA, was transmitted over the air interface in that beam due to LBT. In one embodiment, the flag is only set if there were no random access preamble transmission transmitted over the air interface due to LBT for the selected beam. In another embodiment, the flag is set to true or false depending on whether there were no random access preamble transmission transmitted over the air interface due to LBT for the selected beam.

[0125] Alternatively or additionally, the set of information may include a value associated to the number of preamble sent per beam, such that the network can retrieve from such value that none of successive random access preamble transmissions attempted in a beam, before switching the RA to another beam or terminating the RA, was transmitted over the air interface in that beam due to LBT, e.g. the value of numberOfPreamblesSentOnSSB and numberOfPreamblesSentOnCSI-RS set to a specific number (for example the highest possible value 200) when no preamble were transmitted on that beam over the air interface due to LBT. In another embodiment, the value of numberOfPreamblesSentOnSSB and numberOfPreamblesSentOnCSI-RS is set by the UE to any possible value, and the network determines from one or more of the indications included in the set of information that no preambles were transmitted in the concerned beam due to LBT.

[0126] Alternatively or additionally, the set of information may include a list of perRAAttemptlnfoList including a specific number of entries, e.g. 1 , or the highest possible number of entries (e.g. 200), or a number equal to the number of preamble transmission attempts. Each entry includes a flag indicating that the specific preamble transmission attempt associated to the entry was not transmitted due to LBT. When none of the successive random access preamble transmissions attempted in a beam, before switching the RA to another beam or terminating the RA, was transmitted over the air interface in that beam due to LBT, this implies that all the entries of the perRAAttemptlnfoList will include such flag. In another embodiment, no other information included for an entry of the perRAAttemptlnfo is set. In another embodiment, the UE just includes one entry in the perRAAttemptlnfoList and it includes therein a field indicating that all the preamble transmission attempts attempted in the beam were blocked by LBT. First Example:

[0127] Consider an example where the information includes a flag indicating whether, for each beam that the UE selected during a random procedure, there were no random access preamble transmission transmitted over the air interface due to LBT. The flag in this example is shown below as the allLBTFailures-r18 information element (IE) in the RA-lnformationCommon-r16 IE:

[0128] RA-lnformationCommon-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { absoluteFrequencyPointA-r16 ARFCN-ValueNR, locationAndBandwidth-r16 INTEGER (0..37949), subcarrierSpacing-r16 SubcarrierSpacing, msg 1 -FrequencyStart-r16 INTEGER (0..maxNrofPhysicalResourceBlocks-1)

[0129] OPTIONAL, msg 1 -FrequencyStartCFRA-r16 INTEGER (0..maxNrofPhysicalResourceBlocks-1)

[0130] OPTIONAL, msg 1 -SubcarrierSpacing-r16 SubcarrierSpacing OPTIONAL, msg1-SubcarrierSpacingCFRA-r16 SubcarrierSpacing OPTIONAL, msg1-FDM-r16 ENUMERATED {one, two, four, eight} OPTIONAL, msg1-FDMCFRA-r16 ENUMERATED {one, two, four, eight}

[0131] OPTIONAL, perRAInfoList-r16 PerRAI nfoList-r16, perRAI nfoList-r18xx PerRAI nfoList-r18xx, perRAI nfoList-v1660 PerRAInfoList-v1660 OPTIONAL msg1-SCS-From-prach-Configurationlndex-r16 ENUMERATED {kHz1dot25, kHz5, spare2, spare"!} OPTIONAL msg1-SCS-From-prach-ConfigurationlndexCFRA-r16 ENUMERATED {kHz1dot25, kHz5, spare2, spare"!} OPTIONAL msgA-RO-FrequencyStart-r17 INTEGER (0..maxNrofPhysicalResourceBlocks-1)

[0132] OPTIONAL, msgA-RO-FrequencyStartCFRA-r17 INTEGER (0..maxNrofPhysicalResourceBlocks-1)

[0133] OPTIONAL, msgA-SubcarrierSpacing-r17 SubcarrierSpacing OPTIONAL, msgA-RO-FDM-r17 ENUMERATED {one, two, four, eight} OPTIONAL, msgA-RO-FDMCFRA-r17 ENUMERATED {one, two, four, eight} OPTIONAL, msgA-SCS-From-prach-Configurationlndex-r17 ENUMERATED {kHz1dot25, kHz5, spare2, spare"!} OPTIONAL, msgA-T ransMax-r17 ENUMERATED {n1 , n2, n4, n6, n8, n10, n20, n50, n100, n200} OPTIONAL, msgA-MCS-r17 INTEGER (0..15) OPTIONAL, nrofPRBs-PerMsgA-PO-r17 INTEGER (1..32) OPTIONAL, msgA-PUSCH-TimeDomainAllocation-r17 INTEGER (1..maxNrofUL-Allocations)

[0134] OPTIONAL, frequencyStartMsgA-PUSCH-r17 INTEGER (0..maxNrofPhysicalResourceBlocks-1)

[0135] OPTIONAL, nrofMsgA-PO-FDM-r17 ENUMERATED {one, two, four, eight} OPTIONAL, dlPathlossRSRP-r17 RSRP-Range OPTIONAL, intendedSIBs-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxSIB)) OF SIB-Type-r17

[0136] OPTIONAL, ssbsForSI-Acquisition-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1 ,.maxNrofSSBs-r16)) OF SSB-lndex

[0137] OPTIONAL, msgA-PUSCH-PayloadSize-r17 BIT STRI NG (SIZE (5)) OPTIONAL, onDemandSISuccess-r17 ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL

[0138] PerRAInfoList-r16 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..200)) OF PerRAInfo-r16

[0139] PerRAInfoList-v1660 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..200)) OF PerRACSI-RSInfo-v1660

[0140] PerRAInfoList-v18xx ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..200)) OF PerRAInfo-v18xx

[0141] PerRAInfo-r16 ::= CHOICE { perRASSBInfoList-r16 PerRASSBInfo-r16, perRACSI-RSInfoList-r16 PerRACSI-RSInfo-r16

[0142] PerRASSBInfo-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { ssb-lndex-r16 SSB-lndex, numberOfPreamblesSentOnSSB-r16 INTEGER (1..200), perRAAttemptlnfoList-r16 PerRAAttemptlnfoList-r16

[0143] PerRAInfo-v18xx ::= CHOICE { perRASSBInfoList-v18xx PerRASSBInfo-v18xx, perRACSI-RSInfoList-v18xx PerRACSI-RSInfo-v18xx }

[0144] PerRASSBInfo-v18xx ::= SEQUENCE { allLBTFailures-r18 BOOLEAN OPTIONAL

[0145] PerRACSI-RSInfo-v18xx ::= SEQUENCE { allLBTFailures-r18 BOOLEAN OPTIONAL

[0146] PerRACSI-RSInfo-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { csi-RS-lndex-r16 CSI-RS-lndex, numberOfPreamblesSentOnCSI-RS-r16 INTEGER (1..200)

[0147] PerRACSI-RSInfo-v1660 ::= SEQUENCE { csi-RS-lndex-v1660 INTEGER (1..96) OPTIONAL

[0148] PerRAAttemptlnfoList-r16 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..200)) OF PerRAAttemptlnfo-r16

[0149] PerRAAttemptlnfo-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { contentionDetected-r16 BOOLEAN OPTIONAL, dlRSRPAboveThreshold-r16 BOOLEAN OPTIONAL, fallbackToFourStepRA-r17 ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL

[0150] The UE shall set the content in ra-InformationCommon as follows:

[0151] <Text Omitted>

[0152] 1>set the parameters associated to individual random-access attempt in the chronological order of attempts in the perRAInfoList as follows:

[0153] 2> if the random-access resource used is associated to a SS / PBCH block, set the associated random-access parameters for the successive random-access attempts associated to the same SS / PBCH block for one or more random-access attempts as follows:

[0154] 3>set the ssb-lndex to include the SS / PBCH block index associated to the used random-access resource; >set the numberOfPreamblesSentOnSSB to indicate the number of successive random-access attempts associated to the SS / PBCH block; > if LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for each of the successive random access attempts in the ssb-lndex'.

[0155] 4> set allLBTFailures to true, > else:

[0156] 4> set allLBTFailures to false, >for each random-access attempt performed on the random-access resource, include the following parameters in the chronological order of the random-access attempt: 4> if the random-access attempt is performed on the contention based randomaccess resource and if raPurpose is not equal to 'requestForOtherSI', include contentionDetected as follows:

[0157] 5> if contention resolution was not successful as specified in TS 38.321 [6] for the transmitted preamble:

[0158] 6> set the contentionDetected to true,

[0159] 5> else:

[0160] 6> set the contentionDetected to false’,

[0161] 4> if the random access attempt is a 2-step random access attempt:

[0162] 5> if fallback from 2-step random access to 4-step random access occurred during the random access attempt:

[0163] 6> set fallbackToFourStepRA to true,

[0164] 4> if the random-access attempt is performed on the contention based randomaccess resource; or

[0165] 4> if the random-access attempt is performed on the contention free random-access resource and if the random-access procedure was initiated due to the PDCCH ordering:

[0166] 5> if the random access attempt is a 4-step random access attempt and the SS / PBCH block RSRP of the SS / PBCH block corresponding to the randomaccess resource used in the random-access attempt is above rsrp- ThresholdSSB’ or

[0167] 5> if the random access attempt is a 2-step random access attempt and the SS / PBCH block RSRP of the SS / PBCH block corresponding to the randomaccess resource used in the random-access attempt is above msgA-RSRP- ThresholdSSB'.

[0168] 6> set the dlRSRPAboveThreshold to true,

[0169] 5> else:

[0170] 6> set the dlRSRPAboveThreshold to false, 2> else if the random-access resource used is associated to a CSI-RS, set the associated random-access parameters for the successive random-access attempts associated to the same CSI-RS for one or more random-access attempts as follows:

[0171] 3> set the csi-RS-lndex to include the CSI-RS index associated to the used randomaccess resource;

[0172] 3> set the numberOfPreamblesSentOnCSI-RS to indicate the number of successive random-access attempts associated to the CSI-RS.

[0173] 3> if LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for each of the successive random access attempts in the csi-RS-lndex'.

[0174] 4> set allLBTFailures to true,

[0175] 3> else:

[0176] 4> set allLBTFailures to false,

[0177] In another example, the UE includes just one entry in the perRAInfoList irrespective of how many preamble transmission attempts were performed in the selected beam. In such single entry, the UE includes a flag indicating that all the successive preamble transmission attempts performed in the selected beam have failed due to LBT.

[0178] RA-lnformationCommon-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { absoluteFrequencyPointA-r16 ARFCN-ValueNR, locationAndBandwidth-r16 INTEGER (0..37949), subcarrierSpacing-r16 SubcarrierSpacing, msg 1 -FrequencyStart-r16 I NTEGER (0.. maxN rofPhysicalResourceBlocks-1 )

[0179] OPTIONAL, msg 1 -FrequencyStartCFRA-r16 INTEGER (0..maxNrofPhysicalResourceBlocks-1) OPTIONAL, msg 1 -SubcarrierSpacing-r16 SubcarrierSpacing OPTIONAL, msg1-SubcarrierSpacingCFRA-r16 SubcarrierSpacing OPTIONAL, msg1-FDM-r16 ENUMERATED {one, two, four, eight} OPTIONAL, msg1-FDMCFRA-r16 ENUMERATED {one, two, four, eight}

[0180] OPTIONAL, perRAInfoList-r16 PerRAI nfoList-r16,

[0181] [[ perRAI nfoList-v1660 PerRAInfoList-v1660 OPTIONAL

[0182] ]],

[0183] [[ msg1-SCS-From-prach-Configurationlndex-r16 ENUMERATED {kHz1dot25, kHz5, spare2, sparel} OPTIONAL

[0184] ]],

[0185] [[ msg1-SCS-From-prach-ConfigurationlndexCFRA-r16 ENUMERATED {kHz1dot25, kHz5, spare2, sparel} OPTIONAL

[0186] ]],

[0187] [[ msgA-RO-FrequencyStart-r17 INTEGER (0..maxNrofPhysicalResourceBlocks-1)

[0188] OPTIONAL, msgA-RO-FrequencyStartCFRA-r17 INTEGER (0..maxNrofPhysicalResourceBlocks-1) OPTIONAL, msgA-SubcarrierSpacing-r17 SubcarrierSpacing OPTIONAL, msgA-RO-FDM-r17 ENUMERATED {one, two, four, eight} OPTIONAL, msgA-RO-FDMCFRA-r17 ENUMERATED {one, two, four, eight}

[0189] OPTIONAL, msgA-SCS-From-prach-Configurationlndex-r17 ENUMERATED {kHz1dot25, kHz5, spare2, sparel} OPTIONAL, msgA-TransMax-r17 ENUMERATED {n1 , n2, n4, n6, n8, n10, n20, n50, n100, n200} OPTIONAL, msgA-MCS-r17 INTEGER (0..15) OPTIONAL, nrofPRBs-PerMsgA-PO-r17 INTEGER (1..32) OPTIONAL, msgA-PUSCH-TimeDomainAllocation-r17 INTEGER (1..maxNrofUL-Allocations)

[0190] OPTIONAL, frequencyStartMsgA-PUSCH-r17 INTEGER (0..maxNrofPhysicalResourceBlocks-1)

[0191] OPTIONAL, nrofMsgA-PO-FDM-r17 ENUMERATED {one, two, four, eight}

[0192] OPTIONAL, dlPathlossRSRP-r17 RSRP-Range OPTIONAL, intendedSIBs-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxSIB)) OF SIB-Type-r17

[0193] OPTIONAL, ssbsForSI-Acquisition-r17 SEQUENCE (SIZE (1 ,.maxNrofSSBs-r16)) OF SSB-lndex

[0194] OPTIONAL, msgA-PUSCH-PayloadSize-r17 BIT STRI NG (SIZE (5)) OPTIONAL, onDemandSISuccess-r17 ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL PerRAInfoList-r16 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..200)) OF PerRAInfo-r16

[0195] PerRAInfoList-v1660 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..200)) OF PerRACSI-RSInfo-v1660

[0196] PerRAInfo-r16 ::= CHOICE { perRASSBInfoList-r16 PerRASSBInfo-r16, perRACSI-RSInfoList-r16 PerRACSI-RSInfo-r16

[0197] PerRASSBInfo-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { ssb-lndex-r16 SSB-lndex, numberOfPreamblesSentOnSSB-r16 INTEGER (1..200), perRAAttemptlnfoList-r16 PerRAAttemptlnfoList-r16 }

[0198] PerRACSI-RSInfo-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { csi-RS-lndex-r16 CSI-RS-lndex, numberOfPreamblesSentOnCSI-RS-r16 INTEGER (1..200)

[0199] PerRACSI-RSInfo-v1660 ::= SEQUENCE { csi-RS-lndex-v1660 INTEGER (1..96) OPTIONAL

[0200] PerRAAttemptlnfoList-r16 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..200)) OF PerRAAttemptlnfo-r16

[0201] PerRAAttemptlnfo-r16 ::= SEQUENCE { contentionDetected-r16 BOOLEAN OPTIONAL, dlRSRPAboveThreshold-r16 BOOLEAN OPTIONAL,

[0202] [[ fallbackToFourStepRA-r17 ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL

[0203] ]],

[0204] [[ allLBTFailures-r18 ENUMERATED {true}

[0205] OPTIONAL ]]

[0206] }

[0207] The UE shall set the content in ra-InformationCommon as follows:

[0208] <Text Omitted>

[0209] 1>set the parameters associated to individual random-access attempt in the chronological order of attempts in the perRAInfoList as follows:

[0210] 2> if the random-access resource used is associated to a SS / PBCH block, set the associated random-access parameters for the successive random-access attempts associated to the same SS / PBCH block for one or more random-access attempts as follows:

[0211] 3>set the ssb-lndex to include the SS / PBCH block index associated to the used random-access resource;

[0212] 3>set the numberOfPreamblesSentOnSSB to indicate the number of successive random-access attempts associated to the SS / PBCH block;

[0213] 3> if LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for each of the successive random access attempts in the ssb-lndex'.

[0214] 4> set allLBTFailures in PerRAAttemptlnfo to true,

[0215] 3>for each random-access attempt performed on the random-access resource, except the random-access attempts for which LBT failure indication was received from lower layers for operations with shared spectrum, include the following parameters in the chronological order of the random-access attempt:

[0216] 4> if the random-access attempt is performed on the contention based randomaccess resource and if raPurpose is not equal to 'requestForOtherSI', include contentionDetected as follows:

[0217] 5> if contention resolution was not successful as specified in TS 38.321 [6] for the transmitted preamble:

[0218] 6> set the contentionDetected to true,

[0219] 5> else:

[0220] 6> set the contentionDetected to false’,

[0221] 4> if the random access attempt is a 2-step random access attempt:

[0222] 5> if fallback from 2-step random access to 4-step random access occurred during the random access attempt:

[0223] 6> set fallbackToFourStepRA to true,

[0224] 4> if the random-access attempt is performed on the contention based randomaccess resource; or 4> if the random-access attempt is performed on the contention free random-access resource and if the random-access procedure was initiated due to the PDCCH ordering:

[0225] 5> if the random access attempt is a 4-step random access attempt and the SS / PBCH block RSRP of the SS / PBCH block corresponding to the randomaccess resource used in the random-access attempt is above rsrp- ThresholdSSB’ or

[0226] 5> if the random access attempt is a 2-step random access attempt and the SS / PBCH block RSRP of the SS / PBCH block corresponding to the randomaccess resource used in the random-access attempt is above msgA-RSRP- ThresholdSSB'.

[0227] 6> set the dlRSRPAboveThreshold to true, 5> else:

[0228] 6> set the dlRSRPAboveThreshold to false,

[0229] 2>else if the random-access resource used is associated to a CSI-RS, set the associated random-access parameters for the successive random-access attempts associated to the same CSI-RS for one or more random-access attempts as follows:

[0230] 3>set the csi-RS-lndex to include the CSI-RS index associated to the used randomaccess resource;

[0231] 3>set the numberOfPreamblesSentOnCSI-RS to indicate the number of successive random-access attempts associated to the CSI-RS.

[0232] 3> if LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for each of the successive random access attempts in the csi-RS-lndex'.

[0233] 4> set allLBTFailures to true, 3> else:

[0234] 4> set allLBTFailures to false,

[0235] In view of the modifications and variations herein, Figure 3 depicts a method performed by a UE (as an example of communication device 12) operating in unlicensed spectrum for improving the RA performance. The method comprises Selecting a first DL beam 20 (e.g., SS / PBCH block or CSI-RS) (Block 300). The method also comprises selecting a RA resource corresponding to the selected first DL beam 20 (Block 310). The method further comprises attempting to transmit a RA preamble 18-1 ... 18-N over the selected RA resource for N successive RA attempts 16-1...16-N (Block 320). The method additionally comprises detecting LBT issues in channel access procedure while attempting to transmit the RA preamble 18- 1...18-N for each of the N successive RA attempts 16-1...16-N in the selected DL beam 20 (Block 330). The method may also comprise performing one of the following: terminating the RA procedure; and / or selecting a second DL beam 20, which is different from the first DL beam 20, for selecting the associated RA resource for the next RA preamble 18-1 ... 18-N transmission attempt 16-1 ... 16-N (Block 340). The method in any event comprises storing a first set of information related to the first DL beam 20, e.g., wherein the set of information may include any of the information described above (Block 350). The method further comprises transmitting the first set of information to a network node 14 (Block 360).

[0236] Figure 4 depicts a method performed by a communication device 12 configured for use in a communication network 10 in accordance with other particular embodiments. The method includes transmitting, to a network node 14 in the communication network 10, random access information 24 indicating that, or whether, each of multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on a beam 20 failed (Block 400).

[0237] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that, for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, no random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N was transmitted on the beam 20.

[0238] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that each of multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on a beam 20 failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20.

[0239] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that each of multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on a beam 20 failed due to Listen-Before-Talk, LBT, failure.

[0240] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device 12 from one or more lower layers of the communication device 12 for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20.

[0241] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that all of the multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0242] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that no random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N was transmitted over an air interface for the beam 20 for a certain random access procedure due to LBT failure.

[0243] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that no random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N was transmitted over an air interface on the beam 20 due to LBT failure for the multiple successive attempts 16-1...16-N.

[0244] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that, for each of multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 before switching to attempting to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on a different beam 20 or before terminating attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on any beam 20, no random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N was transmitted over an air interface on the beam 20 due to LBT failure.

[0245] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a list of beams that the communication device 12 successively selected during a random access procedure and for which none of multiple successive random access preamble 18-1... 18-N transmissions attempted in a beam 20, before switching the random access procedure to another beam 20 or terminating the random access procedure, was transmitted over an air interface on that beam 20 due to LBT failure. In some embodiments, each entry in the list of beams is associated with a respective beam index. In some embodiments, the beams 20 in the list are included in chronological order of selected by the communication device 12.

[0246] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a flag indicating that, or whether, each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0247] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a flag indicating that, or whether, none of the multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, before switching random access to another beam 20 or terminating random access, was transmitted over an air interface on the beam 20 due to LBT failure.

[0248] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a field indicating a total number of successive random access preambles 18-1... 18-N transmitted on the beam 20. In some embodiments, a set of possible values to which the field is settable excludes a value of zero, and a certain non-zero value in the set implicitly indicates that each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0249] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a field indicating a total number of successive random access preambles 18-1... 18-N transmitted on the beam 20. In some embodiments, a set of possible values to which the field is settable excludes a value of zero, and a certain non-zero value in the set implicitly indicates that none of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, before switching random access to another beam 20 or terminating random access, was transmitted over an air interface on the beam 20 due to LBT failure.

[0250] In some embodiments, the communication device 12 transmits, to the network node 14, for each of one or more beams 20 on which the communication device 12 attempted transmission of a random access preamble, random access information 24 indicating that all of multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20. In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a field indicating a total number of successive random access preambles 18-1... 18-N transmitted on the beam 20. In some embodiments, a set of possible values to which the field is settable excludes a value of zero, and a certain non-zero value in the set implicitly indicates that the total number of successive random access preambles 18-1... 18-N transmitted on the beam 20 is zero. In some embodiments, the certain non-zero value is a highest value in the set. In some embodiments, the field is a numberOfPreamblesSentOnSSB information element or a numberOfPreamblesSentOnCSI-RS information element.

[0251] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a list of information entries, one for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20. In some embodiments, the information entry for each respective one of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N includes a flag indicating that, or whether, the respective attempt to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0252] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a list of information entries that comprises only a single information entry, wherein the single information entry includes a field indicating that all of the multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0253] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a list of information entries that comprises only a single information entry irrespective of how many successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 were performed. In some embodiments, the single information entry includes a field indicating that all of the multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18- 1...18-N on the beam 20 were blocked by LBT failures. In some embodiments, the list of information entries is indicated by a perRAAttemptlnfoList information element.

[0254] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that each of multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0255] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device 12 from one or more lower layers of the communication device 12 for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20. In some embodiments, the method further comprises setting the random access information 24. In some embodiments, setting the random access information 24 comprises setting the random access information 24 by, if an LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for each of the successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, setting the allLBTFailures IE 28 to true. In other embodiments, setting the random access information 24 comprises setting the random access information 24 by else setting the allLBTFailures IE 28 to false.

[0256] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes PerRAAttemptlnfo information element, IE, that is a list of information entries, one for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20. In some embodiments, the information entry for an attempt 16-1 ... 16-N includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device 12 from one or more lower layers of the communication device 12 for the attempt 16-1... 16-N. In some embodiments, the method further comprises setting the allLBTFailures information element included in the information entry for an attempt 16-1 ... 16-N. In some embodiments, setting the allLBTFailures information element included in the information entry for an attempt 16-1 ... 16-N comprises setting the allLBTFailures information element included in the information entry for an attempt 16-1 ... 16-N by, if an LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for the attempt 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, setting the allLBTFailures IE 28 to true. In other embodiments, setting the allLBTFailures information element included in the information entry for an attempt 16-1... 16-N comprises setting the allLBTFailures information element included in the information entry for an attempt 16-1 ... 16-N by else setting the allLBTFailures IE 28 to false.

[0257] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes PerRAAttemptlnfo information element, IE, that is a list of information entries comprising only a single information entry irrespective of how many successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20 were performed. In some embodiments, the single information entry includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device 12 from one or more lower layers of the communication device 12 for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N.

[0258] In some embodiments, the method further comprises setting the allLBTFailures information element, IE. In some embodiments, setting the allLBTFailures information element, IE comprises setting the allLBTFailures information element, IE by, if an LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for each of the successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, setting the allLBTFailures IE 28 to true. In other embodiments, setting the allLBTFailures information element, IE comprises setting the allLBTFailures information element, IE by else setting the allLBTFailures IE 28 to false.

[0259] In some embodiments, the beam 20 is associated with a Synchronization Signal, SS, I Physical Broadcast Channel, PBCH, block, such that the random access information 24 indicates that each of multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the SS / PBCH block failed.

[0260] In some embodiments, the beam 20 is associated with a Channel state Information, CSI, Reference Signal, CSI-RS, such that the random access information 24 indicates that each of multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the CSI-RS failed.

[0261] In some embodiments, transmitting the random access information 24 comprises transmitting the random access information 24 in a RA report, a RLF report, a CEF report, a SHR or a SPR.

[0262] In some embodiments, the method further comprises selecting the beam 20 on which to attempt random access as part of a random access procedure (Block 410). In some embodiments, the method further comprises selecting a random access resource corresponding to the selected beam 20 (Block 420). In some embodiments, the method further comprises performing the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 over the selected random access resource (Block 430). In some embodiments, the method further comprises detecting LBT failure in a channel access procedure while attempting to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1...16-N (Block 440). In some embodiments, the method further comprises terminating the random access procedure or selecting a different beam 20 on which to attempt random access as part of the random access procedure (Block 450). In some embodiments, the method further comprises storing the random access information 24 indicating that each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 failed due to LBT failure (Block 460). In some embodiments, transmitting the random access information 24 comprises transmitting the stored random access information 24.

[0263] Figure 5 depicts a method performed by a network node 14 configured for use in a communication network in accordance with other particular embodiments. The method includes receiving, from a communication device 12, random access information 24 indicating that, or whether, each of multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on a beam 20 failed (Block 500).

[0264] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that, for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, no random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N was transmitted on the beam 20.

[0265] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that each of multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on a beam 20 failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20. In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that each of multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on a beam 20 failed due to Listen-Before-Talk, LBT, failure.

[0266] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device 12 from one or more lower layers of the communication device 12 for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20.

[0267] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that all of the multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0268] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that no random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N was transmitted over an air interface for the beam 20 for a certain random access procedure due to LBT failure.

[0269] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that no random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N was transmitted over an air interface on the beam 20 due to LBT failure for the multiple successive attempts 16-1...16-N.

[0270] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 indicates that, for each of multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 before switching to attempting to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on a different beam 20 or before terminating attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on any beam 20, no random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N was transmitted over an air interface on the beam 20 due to LBT failure.

[0271] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a list of beams that the communication device 12 successively selected during a random access procedure and for which none of multiple successive random access preamble 18-1... 18-N transmissions attempted in a beam 20, before switching the random access procedure to another beam 20 or terminating the random access procedure, was transmitted over an air interface on that beam 20 due to LBT failure. In some embodiments, each entry in the list of beams is associated with a respective beam index. In some embodiments, the beams in the list are included in chronological order of selected by the communication device 12.

[0272] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a flag indicating that, or whether, each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0273] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a flag indicating that, or whether, none of the multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, before switching random access to another beam 20 or terminating random access, was transmitted over an air interface on the beam 20 due to LBT failure.

[0274] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a field indicating a total number of successive random access preambles 18-1... 18-N transmitted on the beam 20. In some embodiments, a set of possible values to which the field is settable excludes a value of zero, and a certain non-zero value in the set implicitly indicates that each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0275] In some embodiments, the network node 14 receives, for each of one or more beams 20 on which the communication device 12 attempted transmission of a random access preamble, random access information 24 indicating that all of multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20 failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20.

[0276] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a field indicating a total number of successive random access preambles 18-1... 18-N transmitted on the beam 20. In some embodiments, a set of possible values to which the field is settable excludes a value of zero, and a certain non-zero value in the set implicitly indicates that none of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, before switching random access to another beam 20 or terminating random access, was transmitted over an air interface on the beam 20 due to LBT failure.

[0277] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a field indicating a total number of successive random access preambles 18-1... 18-N transmitted on the beam 20. In some embodiments, a set of possible values to which the field is settable excludes a value of zero, and a certain non-zero value in the set implicitly indicates that the total number of successive random access preambles 18-1...18-N transmitted on the beam 20 is zero. In some embodiments, the certain non-zero value is a highest value in the set. In some embodiments, the field is a numberOfPreamblesSentOnSSB information element or a numberOfPreamblesSentOnCSI-RS information element.

[0278] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a list of information entries, one for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20. In some embodiments, the information entry for each respective one of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N includes a flag indicating that, or whether, the respective attempt 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18- 1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0279] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a list of information entries that comprises only a single information entry. In some embodiments, the single information entry includes a field indicating that all of the multiple successive attempts 16-

[0280] 1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0281] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes a list of information entries that comprises only a single information entry irrespective of how many successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20 were performed. In some embodiments, the single information entry includes a field indicating that all of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-

[0282] 1...18-N on the beam 20 were blocked by LBT failures. In some embodiments, the list of information entries is indicated by a perRAAttemptlnfoList information element.

[0283] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that each of multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20 failed.

[0284] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device 12 from one or more lower layers of the communication device 12 for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20. In some embodiments, if an LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for each of the successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, the allLBTFailures IE 28 is set to true. In other embodiments, else the allLBTFailures IE 28 is set to false.

[0285] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes PerRAAttemptlnfo information element, IE, that is a list of information entries, one for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20. In some embodiments, the information entry for an attempt 16-1 ... 16-N includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device 12 from one or more lower layers of the communication device 12 for the attempt 16-1... 16-N. In some embodiments, if an LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for the attempt 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, the allLBTFailures IE 28 is set to true. In other embodiments, else the allLBTFailures IE 28 is set to false.

[0286] In some embodiments, the random access information 24 includes PerRAAttemptlnfo information element, IE, that is a list of information entries comprising only a single information entry irrespective of how many successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N on the beam 20 were performed. In some embodiments, the single information entry includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device 12 from one or more lower layers of the communication device 12 for each of the multiple successive attempts 16-1...16-N. In some embodiments, if an LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for each of the successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the beam 20, the allLBTFailures IE 28 is set to true. In other embodiments, else the allLBTFailures IE 28 is set to false.

[0287] In some embodiments, the beam 20 is associated with a Synchronization Signal, SS, I Physical Broadcast Channel, PBCH, block, such that the random access information 24 indicates that each of multiple successive attempts 16-1 ... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the SS / PBCH block failed.

[0288] In some embodiments, the beam 20 is associated with a Channel state Information, CSI, Reference Signal, CSI-RS, such that the random access information 24 indicates that each of multiple successive attempts 16-1... 16-N to transmit a random access preamble 18-1 ... 18-N on the CSI-RS failed.

[0289] In some embodiments, receiving the random access information 24 comprises receiving the random access information 24 in a RA report, a RLF report, a CEF report, a SHR or a SPR.

[0290] In some embodiments, the method further comprises performing self-configuration and / or self-optimization as part of Self-Organizing Network, SON, tasks, based on the random access information 24 (Block 510). For example, the SON tasks may include reconstructing behavior of the communication device 12 in performing random access and performing power ramping analysis for setting a target power of and / or target coverage of a random access preamble 18-1... 18-N to be transmitted by the communication device 12.

[0291] Embodiments herein also include corresponding apparatuses. Embodiments herein for instance include a communication device 12 configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the communication device 12.

[0292] Embodiments also include a communication device 12 comprising processing circuitry and power supply circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the communication device 12. The power supply circuitry is configured to supply power to the communication device 12.

[0293] Embodiments further include a communication device 12 comprising processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the communication device 12. In some embodiments, the communication device 12 further comprises communication circuitry.

[0294] Embodiments further include a communication device 12 comprising processing circuitry and memory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the communication device 12 is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the communication device 12.

[0295] Embodiments moreover include a user equipment (UE). The UE comprises an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals. The UE also comprises radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the communication device 12. In some embodiments, the UE also comprises an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry. The UE may comprise an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry. The UE may also comprise a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.

[0296] Embodiments herein also include a network node 14 configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the network node 14.

[0297] Embodiments also include a network node 14 comprising processing circuitry and power supply circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the network node 14. The power supply circuitry is configured to supply power to the network node 14.

[0298] Embodiments further include a network node 14 comprising processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the network node 14. In some embodiments, the network node 14 further comprises communication circuitry.

[0299] Embodiments further include a network node 14 comprising processing circuitry and memory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the network node 14 is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the network node 14.

[0300] More particularly, the apparatuses described above may perform the methods herein and any other processing by implementing any functional means, modules, units, or circuitry. In one embodiment, for example, the apparatuses comprise respective circuits or circuitry configured to perform the steps shown in the method figures. The circuits or circuitry in this regard may comprise circuits dedicated to performing certain functional processing and / or one or more microprocessors in conjunction with memory. For instance, the circuitry may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory may include program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein, in several embodiments. In embodiments that employ memory, the memory stores program code that, when executed by the one or more processors, carries out the techniques described herein.

[0301] Figure 6 for example illustrates a communication device 12 as implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments. As shown, the communication device 12 includes processing circuitry 610 and communication circuitry 620. The communication circuitry 620 (e.g., radio circuitry) is configured to transmit and / or receive information to and / or from one or more other nodes, e.g., via any communication technology. Such communication may occur via one or more antennas that are either internal or external to the communication device 12. The processing circuitry 610 is configured to perform processing described above, e.g., in Figure 4, such as by executing instructions stored in memory 630. The processing circuitry 610 in this regard may implement certain functional means, units, or modules.

[0302] Figure 7 illustrates a network node 14 as implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments. As shown, the network node 14 includes processing circuitry 710 and communication circuitry 720. The communication circuitry 720 is configured to transmit and / or receive information to and / or from one or more other nodes, e.g., via any communication technology. The processing circuitry 710 is configured to perform processing described above, e.g., in Figure 5, such as by executing instructions stored in memory 730. The processing circuitry 710 in this regard may implement certain functional means, units, or modules.

[0303] Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that embodiments herein further include corresponding computer programs.

[0304] A computer program comprises instructions which, when executed on at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to carry out any of the respective processing described above. A computer program in this regard may comprise one or more code modules corresponding to the means or units described above.

[0305] Embodiments further include a carrier containing such a computer program. This carrier may comprise one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

[0306] In this regard, embodiments herein also include a computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer readable (storage or recording) medium and comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform as described above.

[0307] Embodiments further include a computer program product comprising program code portions for performing the steps of any of the embodiments herein when the computer program product is executed by a computing device. This computer program product may be stored on a computer readable recording medium.

[0308] Figure 8 shows an example of a communication system 800 in accordance with some embodiments. In the example, the communication system 800 includes a telecommunication network 802 that includes an access network 804, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 806, which includes one or more core network nodes 808. The access network 804 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 810a and 810b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 810), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network 802 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 802 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network 802, including one or more network nodes 810 and / or core network nodes 808.

[0309] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (0-Rll), an open distributed unit (0-Dll), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU- CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1, F1, W1, E1 , E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes 810 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 812a, 812b, 812c, and 812d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 812) to the core network 806 over one or more wireless connections.

[0310] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 800 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 800 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0311] The UEs 812 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 810 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 810 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 812 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 802 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 802.

[0312] In the depicted example, the core network 806 connects the network nodes 810 to one or more hosts, such as host 816. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 806 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 808) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 808. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0313] The host 816 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 804 and / or the telecommunication network 802, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 816 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0314] As a whole, the communication system 800 of Figure 8 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low- power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0315] In some examples, the telecommunication network 802 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 802 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 802. For example, the telecommunications network 802 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0316] In some examples, the UEs 812 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 804 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 804. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0317] In the example, the hub 814 communicates with the access network 804 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 812c and / or 812d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 810b). In some examples, the hub 814 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 814 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 806 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 814 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 810, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 814. As another example, the hub 814 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 814 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 814 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 814 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 814 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0318] The hub 814 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 810b. The hub 814 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 814 and UEs (e.g., UE 812c and / or 812d), and between the hub 814 and the core network 806. In other examples, the hub 814 is connected to the core network 806 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 814 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 804 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 810 while still connected via the hub 814 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 814 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 810b. In other embodiments, the hub 814 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 810b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0319] Figure 9 shows a UE 900 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB- loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0320] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter). The UE 900 includes processing circuitry 902 that is operatively coupled via a bus 904 to an input / output interface 906, a power source 908, a memory 910, a communication interface 912, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 9. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0321] The processing circuitry 902 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 910. The processing circuitry 902 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 902 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0322] In the example, the input / output interface 906 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 900. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0323] In some embodiments, the power source 908 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 908 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 908 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 900 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 908. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 908 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 900 to which power is supplied.

[0324] The memory 910 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 910 includes one or more application programs 914, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 916. The memory 910 may store, for use by the UE 900, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0325] The memory 910 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUlCC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 910 may allow the UE 900 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 910, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0326] The processing circuitry 902 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 912. The communication interface 912 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 922. The communication interface 912 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 918 and / or a receiver 920 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 918 and receiver 920 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 922) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0327] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 912 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11 , Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0328] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 912, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0329] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0330] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smartwatch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 900 shown in Figure 9.

[0331] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0332] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0333] Figure 10 shows a network node 1000 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0334] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0335] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cel l / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0336] The network node 1000 includes a processing circuitry 1002, a memory 1004, a communication interface 1006, and a power source 1008. The network node 1000 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 1000 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 1000 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1004 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1010 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1000 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1000, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 1000.

[0337] The processing circuitry 1002 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1000 components, such as the memory 1004, to provide network node 1000 functionality.

[0338] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1002 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1002 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1012 and baseband processing circuitry 1014. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1012 and the baseband processing circuitry 1014 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1012 and baseband processing circuitry 1014 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0339] The memory 1004 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 1002. The memory 1004 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 1002 and utilized by the network node 1000. The memory 1004 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1002 and / or any data received via the communication interface 1006. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1002 and memory 1004 is integrated.

[0340] The communication interface 1006 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 1006 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 1016 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 1006 also includes radio front-end circuitry 1018 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 1010. Radio front-end circuitry 1018 comprises filters 1020 and amplifiers 1022. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 may be connected to an antenna 1010 and processing circuitry 1002. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1010 and processing circuitry 1002. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1020 and / or amplifiers 1022. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 1010. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1010 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1018. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1002. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0341] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 1000 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1018, instead, the processing circuitry 1002 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1010. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1012 is part of the communication interface 1006. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1006 includes one or more ports or terminals 1016, the radio front-end circuitry 1018, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1012, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1006 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1014, which is part of a digital unit (not shown). The antenna 1010 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1010 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 1018 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1010 is separate from the network node 1000 and connectable to the network node 1000 through an interface or port.

[0342] The antenna 1010, communication interface 1006, and / or the processing circuitry 1002 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 1010, the communication interface 1006, and / or the processing circuitry 1002 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0343] The power source 1008 provides power to the various components of network node 1000 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1008 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1000 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1000 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 1008. As a further example, the power source 1008 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0344] Embodiments of the network node 1000 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 10 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 1000 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1000 and to allow output of information from the network node 1000. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1000.

[0345] Figure 11 is a block diagram of a host 1100, which may be an embodiment of the host 816 of Figure 8, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 1100 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and / or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 1100 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs. The host 1100 includes processing circuitry 1102 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1104 to an input / output interface 1106, a network interface 1108, a power source 1110, and a memory 1112. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figures 9 and 10, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 1100.

[0346] The memory 1112 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 1114 and data 1116, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host 1100 or data generated by the host 1100 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 1100 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 1114 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (WC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAG, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application programs 1114 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 1100 may select and / or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs 1114 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0347] Figure 12 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1200 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1200 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 1200 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface. Applications 1202 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 0400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0348] Hardware 1204 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1206 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1208a and 1208b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1208), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1206 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1208.

[0349] The VMs 1208 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1206. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1202 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1208, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0350] In the context of NFV, a VM 1208 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1208, and that part of hardware 1204 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1208 on top of the hardware 1204 and corresponds to the application 1202.

[0351] Hardware 1204 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1204 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1204 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1210, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1202. In some embodiments, hardware 1204 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1212 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0352] Figure 13 shows a communication diagram of a host 1302 communicating via a network node 1304 with a UE 1306 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE 812a of Figure 8 and / or UE 900 of Figure 9), network node (such as network node 810a of Figure 8 and / or network node 1000 of Figure 10), and host (such as host 816 of Figure 8 and / or host 1100 of Figure 11) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 13.

[0353] Like host 1100, embodiments of host 1302 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 1302 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host 1302 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 1306 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1350 extending between the UE 1306 and host 1302. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 1350.

[0354] The network node 1304 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 1302 and UE 1306. The connection 1360 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network 806 of Figure 8) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0355] The UE 1306 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1306 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1306 with the support of the host 1302. In the host 1302, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 1350 terminating at the UE 1306 and host 1302. In providing the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1350 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 1350.

[0356] The OTT connection 1350 may extend via a connection 1360 between the host 1302 and the network node 1304 and via a wireless connection 1370 between the network node 1304 and the UE 1306 to provide the connection between the host 1302 and the UE 1306. The connection 1360 and wireless connection 1370, over which the OTT connection 1350 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 1302 and the UE 1306 via the network node 1304, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0357] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 1350, in step 1308, the host 1302 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 1306. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 1306 that shares data with the host 1302 without explicit human interaction. In step 1310, the host 1302 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 1306. The host 1302 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 1306. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 1306 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 1306. The transmission may pass via the network node 1304, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 1312, the network node 1304 transmits to the UE 1306 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 1302 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1314, the UE 1306 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 1306 associated with the host application executed by the host 1302.

[0358] In some examples, the UE 1306 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 1302. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 1302. Accordingly, in step 1316, the UE 1306 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input / output interface of the UE 1306. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 1306 initiates, in step 1318, transmission of the user data towards the host 1302 via the network node 1304. In step 1320, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 1304 receives user data from the UE 1306 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 1302. In step 1322, the host 1302 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 1306.

[0359] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1306 using the OTT connection 1350, in which the wireless connection 1370 forms the last segment.

[0360] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 1302. As another example, the host 1302 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 1302 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 1302 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 1302 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 1302 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and / or transmitting data.

[0361] In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1350 between the host 1302 and UE 1306, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 1302 and / or UE 1306. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 1350 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 1350 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 1304. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host 1302. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 1350 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0362] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0363] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0364] Some embodiments herein are enumerated as follows:

[0365] Group A Embodiments

[0366] A1. A method performed by a communication device configured for use in a communication network, the method comprising: transmitting, to a network node in the communication network, random access information indicating that, or whether, each of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on a beam failed.

[0367] A2. The method of embodiment A1, wherein the random access information indicates that, for each of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam, no random access preamble was transmitted on the beam.

[0368] A3. The method of any of embodiments A1-A2, wherein the random access information indicates that each of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on a beam failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble on the beam.

[0369] A4. The method of any of embodiments A1-A3, wherein the random access information indicates that each of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on a beam failed due to Listen-Before-Talk, LBT, failure.

[0370] A5. The method of any of embodiments A1-A4, wherein the random access information indicates that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device from one or more lower layers of the communication device for each of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam.

[0371] A6. The method of any of embodiments A1-A5, wherein the random access information indicates that all of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam failed.

[0372] A7. The method of any of embodiments A1-A6, wherein the random access information indicates that no random access preamble was transmitted over an air interface for the beam for a certain random access procedure due to LBT failure.

[0373] A8. The method of any of embodiments A1-A7, wherein the random access information indicates that no random access preamble was transmitted over an air interface on the beam due to LBT failure for the multiple successive attempts.

[0374] A9. The method of any of embodiments A1-A8, wherein the random access information indicates that, for each of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam before switching to attempting to transmit a random access preamble on a different beam or before terminating attempts to transmit a random access preamble on any beam, no random access preamble was transmitted over an air interface on the beam due to LBT failure.

[0375] A10. The method of any of embodiments A1-A9, wherein the random access information includes a list of beams that the communication device successively selected during a random access procedure and for which none of multiple successive random access preamble transmissions attempted in a beam, before switching the random access procedure to another beam or terminating the random access procedure, was transmitted over an air interface on that beam due to LBT failure.

[0376] A11. The method of embodiment A10, wherein each entry in the list of beams is associated with a respective beam index.

[0377] A12. The method of any of embodiments A10-A11 , wherein the beams in the list are included in chronological order of selected by the communication device.

[0378] A13. The method of any of embodiments A1-A9, wherein the random access information includes a flag indicating that, or whether, each of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam failed.

[0379] A14. The method of any of embodiments A1-A9, wherein the random access information includes a flag indicating that, or whether, none of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam, before switching random access to another beam or terminating random access, was transmitted over an air interface on the beam due to LBT failure.

[0380] A13. The method of any of embodiments A1-A9, wherein the random access information includes a field indicating a total number of successive random access preambles transmitted on the beam, wherein a set of possible values to which the field is settable excludes a value of zero, and wherein a certain non-zero value in the set implicitly indicates that each of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam failed.

[0381] A14. The method of any of embodiments A1-A9, wherein the random access information includes a field indicating a total number of successive random access preambles transmitted on the beam, wherein a set of possible values to which the field is settable excludes a value of zero, and wherein a certain non-zero value in the set implicitly indicates that none of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam, before switching random access to another beam or terminating random access, was transmitted over an air interface on the beam due to LBT failure.

[0382] A15. The method of any of embodiments A1-A9, wherein the random access information includes a field indicating a total number of successive random access preambles transmitted on the beam, wherein a set of possible values to which the field is settable excludes a value of zero, and wherein a certain non-zero value in the set implicitly indicates that the total number of successive random access preambles transmitted on the beam is zero.

[0383] A16. The method of any of embodiments A13-A15, wherein the certain non-zero value is a highest value in the set.

[0384] A17. The method of any of embodiments A13-A16, wherein the field is a numberOfPreamblesSentOnSSB information element or a numberOfPreamblesSentOnCSI-RS information element.

[0385] A18. The method of any of embodiments A1-A9, wherein the random access information includes a list of information entries, one for each of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam, wherein the information entry for each respective one of the multiple successive attempts includes a flag indicating that, or whether, the respective attempt to transmit a random access preamble on the beam failed.

[0386] A19. The method of any of embodiments A1-A9, wherein the random access information includes a list of information entries that comprises only a single information entry, wherein the single information entry includes a field indicating that all of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam failed.

[0387] A20. The method of any of embodiments A1-A9, wherein the random access information includes a list of information entries that comprises only a single information entry irrespective of how many successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam were performed, wherein the single information entry includes a field indicating that all of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam were blocked by LBT failures.

[0388] A21. The method of any of embodiments A18-A20, wherein the list of information entries is indicated by a perRAAttemptlnfoList information element.

[0389] A22. The method of any of embodiments A1-A21 , wherein the random access information includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that each of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam failed.

[0390] A23. The method of any of embodiments A1-A22, wherein the random access information includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device from one or more lower layers of the communication device for each of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam.

[0391] A24. The method of embodiment A23, wherein the method further comprises setting the random access information by: if an LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for each of the successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam, setting the allLBTFailures IE to true; or else setting the allLBTFailures IE to false.

[0392] A25. The method of any of embodiments A1-A22, wherein the random access information includes PerRAAttemptlnfo information element, IE, that is a list of information entries, one for each of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam, wherein the information entry for an attempt includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device from one or more lower layers of the communication device for the attempt.

[0393] A26. The method of embodiment A25, wherein the method further comprises setting the allLBTFailures information element included in the information entry for an attempt by: if an LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for the attempt to transmit a random access preamble on the beam, setting the allLBTFailures IE to true; or else setting the allLBTFailures IE to false.

[0394] A27. The method of any of embodiments A1-A22, wherein the random access information includes PerRAAttemptlnfo information element, IE, that is a list of information entries comprising only a single information entry irrespective of how many successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam were performed, wherein the single information entry includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device from one or more lower layers of the communication device for each of the multiple successive attempts.

[0395] A28. The method of embodiment A22, wherein the method further comprises setting the allLBTFailures information element, IE, by: if an LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for each of the successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam, setting the allLBTFailures IE to true; or else setting the allLBTFailures IE to false.

[0396] A29. The method of any of embodiments A1-A28, wherein the beam is associated with a Synchronization Signal, SS, I Physical Broadcast Channel, PBCH, block, such that the random access information indicates that each of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the SS / PBCH block failed.

[0397] A30. The method of any of embodiments A1-A28, wherein the beam is associated with a Channel state Information, CSI, Reference Signal, CSI-RS, such that the random access information indicates that each of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the CSI-RS failed.

[0398] A31 . The method of any of embodiments A1-A30, wherein transmitting the random access information comprises transmitting the random access information in a RA report, a RLF report, a CEF report, a SHR or a SPR.

[0399] A32. The method of any of embodiments A1-A31 , further comprising: selecting the beam on which to attempt random access as part of a random access procedure; selecting a random access resource corresponding to the selected beam; performing the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam over the selected random access resource; detecting LBT failure in a channel access procedure while attempting to transmit a random access preamble on the beam for each of the multiple successive attempts; terminating the random access procedure or selecting a different beam on which to attempt random access as part of the random access procedure; and storing the random access information indicating that each of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam failed due to LBT failure; wherein transmitting the random access information comprises transmitting the stored random access information.

[0400] AA1. A method performed by a communication device configured for use in a communication network, the method comprising: transmitting, to a network node in the communication network, random access information indicating that no random access preamble was transmitted on a beam out of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam.

[0401] AAA1. A method performed by a communication device configured for use in a communication network, the method comprising: transmitting, to a network node in the communication network, random access information indicating that, out of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on a random access resource associated with the same beam, no random access preamble was transmitted.

[0402] AA. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host computer via the transmission to a base station.

[0403] Group B Embodiments

[0404] B1. A method performed by a network node configured for use in a communication network, the method comprising: receiving, from a communication device, random access information indicating that, or whether, each of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on a beam failed.

[0405] B2. The method of embodiment B1 , wherein the random access information indicates that, for each of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam, no random access preamble was transmitted on the beam.

[0406] B3. The method of any of embodiments B1-B2, wherein the random access information indicates that each of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on a beam failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble on the beam.

[0407] B4. The method of any of embodiments B1-B3, wherein the random access information indicates that each of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on a beam failed due to Listen-Before-Talk, LBT, failure.

[0408] B5. The method of any of embodiments B1-B4, wherein the random access information indicates that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device from one or more lower layers of the communication device for each of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam.

[0409] B6. The method of any of embodiments B1-B5, wherein the random access information indicates that all of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam failed. B7. The method of any of embodiments B1-B6, wherein the random access information indicates that no random access preamble was transmitted over an air interface for the beam for a certain random access procedure due to LBT failure.

[0410] B8. The method of any of embodiments B1-B7, wherein the random access information indicates that no random access preamble was transmitted over an air interface on the beam due to LBT failure for the multiple successive attempts.

[0411] B9. The method of any of embodiments B1-B8, wherein the random access information indicates that, for each of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam before switching to attempting to transmit a random access preamble on a different beam or before terminating attempts to transmit a random access preamble on any beam, no random access preamble was transmitted over an air interface on the beam due to LBT failure.

[0412] B10. The method of any of embodiments B1-B9, wherein the random access information includes a list of beams that the communication device successively selected during a random access procedure and for which none of multiple successive random access preamble transmissions attempted in a beam, before switching the random access procedure to another beam or terminating the random access procedure, was transmitted over an air interface on that beam due to LBT failure.

[0413] B11. The method of embodiment B10, wherein each entry in the list of beams is associated with a respective beam index.

[0414] B12. The method of any of embodiments B10-B11 , wherein the beams in the list are included in chronological order of selected by the communication device.

[0415] B13. The method of any of embodiments B1-B9, wherein the random access information includes a flag indicating that, or whether, each of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam failed.

[0416] B14. The method of any of embodiments B1-B9, wherein the random access information includes a flag indicating that, or whether, none of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam, before switching random access to another beam or terminating random access, was transmitted over an air interface on the beam due to LBT failure.

[0417] B13. The method of any of embodiments B1-B9, wherein the random access information includes a field indicating a total number of successive random access preambles transmitted on the beam, wherein a set of possible values to which the field is settable excludes a value of zero, and wherein a certain non-zero value in the set implicitly indicates that each of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam failed.

[0418] B14. The method of any of embodiments B1-B9, wherein the random access information includes a field indicating a total number of successive random access preambles transmitted on the beam, wherein a set of possible values to which the field is settable excludes a value of zero, and wherein a certain non-zero value in the set implicitly indicates that none of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam, before switching random access to another beam or terminating random access, was transmitted over an air interface on the beam due to LBT failure.

[0419] B15. The method of any of embodiments B1-B9, wherein the random access information includes a field indicating a total number of successive random access preambles transmitted on the beam, wherein a set of possible values to which the field is settable excludes a value of zero, and wherein a certain non-zero value in the set implicitly indicates that the total number of successive random access preambles transmitted on the beam is zero.

[0420] B16. The method of any of embodiments B13-B15, wherein the certain non-zero value is a highest value in the set.

[0421] B17. The method of any of embodiments B13-B16, wherein the field is a numberOfPreamblesSentOnSSB information element or a numberOfPreamblesSentOnCSI-RS information element.

[0422] B18. The method of any of embodiments B1-B9, wherein the random access information includes a list of information entries, one for each of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam, wherein the information entry for each respective one of the multiple successive attempts includes a flag indicating that, or whether, the respective attempt to transmit a random access preamble on the beam failed.

[0423] B19. The method of any of embodiments B1-B9, wherein the random access information includes a list of information entries that comprises only a single information entry, wherein the single information entry includes a field indicating that all of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam failed.

[0424] B20. The method of any of embodiments B1-B9, wherein the random access information includes a list of information entries that comprises only a single information entry irrespective of how many successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam were performed, wherein the single information entry includes a field indicating that all of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam were blocked by LBT failures.

[0425] B21. The method of any of embodiments B18-B20, wherein the list of information entries is indicated by a perRAAttemptlnfoList information element.

[0426] B22. The method of any of embodiments B1-B21 , wherein the random access information includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that each of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam failed.

[0427] B23. The method of any of embodiments B1-B22, wherein the random access information includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device from one or more lower layers of the communication device for each of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam.

[0428] B24. The method of embodiment B23, wherein: if an LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for each of the successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam, the allLBTFailures IE is set to true; or else the allLBTFailures IE is set to false.

[0429] B25. The method of any of embodiments B1-B22, wherein the random access information includes PerRAAttemptlnfo information element, IE, that is a list of information entries, one for each of the multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam, wherein the information entry for an attempt includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device from one or more lower layers of the communication device for the attempt. B26. The method of embodiment B25, wherein: if an LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for the attempt to transmit a random access preamble on the beam, the allLBTFailures IE is set to true; or else the allLBTFailures IE is set to false.

[0430] B27. The method of any of embodiments B1-B22, wherein the random access information includes PerRAAttemptlnfo information element, IE, that is a list of information entries comprising only a single information entry irrespective of how many successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam were performed, wherein the single information entry includes an allLBTFailures information element, IE, indicating that an LBT failure indication has been received by an upper layer of the communication device from one or more lower layers of the communication device for each of the multiple successive attempts.

[0431] B28. The method of embodiment B22, wherein: if an LBT failure indication has been received from lower layers for each of the successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam, the allLBTFailures IE is set to true; or else the allLBTFailures IE is set to false.

[0432] B29. The method of any of embodiments B1-B28, wherein the beam is associated with a Synchronization Signal, SS, I Physical Broadcast Channel, PBCH, block, such that the random access information indicates that each of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the SS / PBCH block failed.

[0433] B30. The method of any of embodiments B1-B28, wherein the beam is associated with a Channel state Information, CSI, Reference Signal, CSI-RS, such that the random access information indicates that each of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the CSI-RS failed.

[0434] B31. The method of any of embodiments B1-B30, wherein receiving the random access information comprises receiving the random access information in a RA report, a RLF report, a CEF report, a SHR or a SPR.

[0435] B32. The method of any of embodiments B1-B31 , further comprising, based on the random access information, reconstructing behavior of the communication device in performing random access and performing power ramping analysis for setting a target power of and / or target coverage of a random access preamble to be transmitted by the communication device.

[0436] B33. The method of any of embodiments B1-B32, further comprising performing selfconfiguration and / or self-optimization as part of Self-Organizing Network, SON, tasks, based on the random access information.

[0437] B34. The method of any of embodiments B1-B33, further comprising setting a target power of and / or target coverage of a random access preamble to be transmitted by the communication device, based on the random access information.

[0438] BB1. A method performed by a network node configured for use in a communication network, the method comprising: receiving, from a communication device, random access information indicating that no random access preamble was transmitted on a beam out of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on the beam.

[0439] BBB1. A method performed by a network node configured for use in a communication network, the method comprising: receiving, from a communication device, random access information indicating that, out of multiple successive attempts to transmit a random access preamble on a random access resource associated with the same beam, no random access preamble was transmitted.

[0440] BB. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host computer or a communication device.

[0441] Group C Embodiments

[0442] C1. A communication device configured to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0443] C2. A communication device comprising processing circuitry configured to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0444] C3. A communication device comprising: communication circuitry; and processing circuitry configured to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0445] C4. A communication device comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the communication device.

[0446] C5. A communication device comprising: processing circuitry and memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the communication device is configured to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0447] C6. The communication device of any of embodiments C1-C5, wherein the communication device is a wireless communication device.

[0448] C7. A user equipment (UE) comprising: an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals; radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry; the processing circuitry being configured to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments; an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.

[0449] C8. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a communication device, causes the communication device to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments.

[0450] C9. A carrier containing the computer program of embodiment C7, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

[0451] C10. A network node configured to perform the method of any of the Group B embodiments. C11. A network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform the method of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0452] C12. A network node comprising: communication circuitry; and processing circuitry configured to perform the method of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0453] C13. A network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform the method of any of the Group B embodiments; power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the network node.

[0454] C14. A network node comprising: processing circuitry and memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the network node is configured to perform the method of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0455] C15. The network node of any of embodiments C10-C14, wherein the network node is a base station.

[0456] C16. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a network node, causes the network node to perform the method of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0457] C17. The computer program of embodiment C16, wherein the network node is a base station.

[0458] C18. A carrier containing the computer program of any of embodiments C16-C17, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

[0459] Group D Embodiments

[0460] D1. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a network node in a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

[0461] D2. The host of the previous embodiment, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application that provides the user data; and the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to receive the transmission of user data from the host.

[0462] D3. A method implemented in a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data for the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the network node performs any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

[0463] D4. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the network node, transmitting the user data provided by the host for the UE.

[0464] D5. The method of any of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host by executing a host application that interacts with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0465] D6. A communication system configured to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the communication system comprising: a host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data for a user equipment (UE), the user data being associated with the over-the-top service; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data toward a cellular network node for transmission to the UE, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

[0466] D7. The communication system of the previous embodiment, further comprising: the network node; and / or the UE.

[0467] D8. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to initiate receipt of user data; and a network interface configured to receive the user data from a network node in a cellular network, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments to receive the user data from a user equipment (UE) for the host.

[0468] D9. The host of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application that receives the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0469] D10. The host of the any of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the initiating receipt of the user data comprises requesting the user data.

[0470] D11. A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, initiating receipt of user data from the UE, the user data originating from a transmission which the network node has received from the UE, wherein the network node performs any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments to receive the user data from the UE for the host.

[0471] D12. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the network node, transmitting the received user data to the host.

[0472] D13. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry, the communication interface and processing circuitry of the UE being configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group A embodiments to receive the user data from the host.

[0473] D14. The host of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the UE to transmit the user data to the UE from the host.

[0474] D15. The host of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0475] D16. A method implemented by a host operating in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data for the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the UE performs any of the operations of any of the Group A embodiments to receive the user data from the host.

[0476] D17. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, executing a host application associated with a client application executing on the UE to receive the user data from the host application.

[0477] D18. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, transmitting input data to the client application executing on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.

[0478] D19. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry, the communication interface and processing circuitry of the UE being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments to transmit the user data to the host.

[0479] D20. The host of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the UE to transmit the user data from the UE to the host.

[0480] D21. The host of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0481] D22. A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, receiving user data transmitted to the host via the network node by the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments to transmit the user data to the host.

[0482] D23. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising: at the host, executing a host application associated with a client application executing on the UE to receive the user data from the UE.

[0483] D24. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising: at the host, transmitting input data to the client application executing on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a communication device (12) configured for use in a communication network (10), the method comprising: transmitting, to a network node (14) in the communication network (10), random access information (24) indicating that all of multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on a beam (20) failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20).

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the random access information (24) indicates that all of the multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18- 1...18-N) on the beam (20) failed due to Listen-Before-Talk, LBT, failure (22-1 ...22-N).

3. The method of any of claims 1-2, wherein the random access information (24) includes a flag indicating that all of the multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20) failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20).

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the method further comprises: making a determination to include the flag in the random access information (24) within a report, based on all of the multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20) having failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20); and including the flag in the random access information (24) within the report according to the determination; wherein transmitting the random access information (24) comprises transmitting the report with the flag included in the random access information (24).

5. The method of any of claims 3-4, wherein the flag indicates that all of the multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20) were blocked by LBT failure (22-1 ...22-N).

6. The method of any of claims 1-5, wherein: the beam (20) is associated with a Synchronization Signal, SS, I Physical Broadcast Channel, PBCH, block, such that the random access information (24) indicates that all of multiple successive attempts (16-1... 16-N) to transmit a randomaccess preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) in association with the SS / PBCH block were blocked by LBT failure (22-1 ...22-N); or the beam (20) is associated with a Channel state Information, CSI, Reference Signal, CSI-RS, such that the random access information (24) indicates that all of multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) in association with the CSI-RS were blocked by LBT failure (22-1...22-N).

7. The method of any of claims 1-6, wherein transmitting the random access information (24) comprises transmitting the random access information (24) in a random access, RA, report, a radio link failure, RLF, report, a Connection Establishment Failure, CEF, report, a successful handover report, SHR, or a successful Primary Secondary Cell change or addition report, SPR.

8. The method of any of claims 1-7, wherein said transmitting comprises transmitting, to the network node (14), for each of one or more beams (20) on which the communication device (12) attempted transmission of a random access preamble, random access information (24) indicating that all of multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20) failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20).

9. The method of any of claims 1-8, wherein the multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20) all occurred before switching to attempting to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on a different beam (20) or before terminating attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on any beam (20).

10. The method of any of claims 1-9, further comprising: performing the multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20); and detecting LBT failure (22-1 ...22-N) while attempting to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20) for all of the multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N).11 . The method of any of claims 1-10, further comprising: selecting the beam (20) on which to attempt random access as part of a random access procedure; selecting a random access resource corresponding to the selected beam (20);performing the multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20) over the selected random access resource; detecting LBT failure (22-1 ...22-N) in a channel access procedure while attempting to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20) for all of the multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N); terminating the random access procedure or selecting a different beam (20) on which to attempt random access as part of the random access procedure; and storing the random access information (24) indicating that all of the multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20) failed due to LBT failure (22-1 ...22-N); wherein transmitting the random access information (24) comprises transmitting the stored random access information (24).

12. A method performed by a network node (14) configured for use in a communication network (10), the method comprising: receiving, from a communication device (12), random access information (24) indicating that all of multiple successive attempts (16-1... 16-N) by the communication device (12) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on a beam (20) failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20).

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the random access information (24) indicates that all of the multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1...18-N) on the beam (20) failed due to Listen-Before-Talk, LBT, failure (22-1 ...22-N).

14. The method of any of claims 12-13, wherein the random access information (24) includes a flag indicating that all of the multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20) failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20).

15. The method of claim 14, wherein receiving the random access information (24) comprises receiving a report that includes the flag, wherein inclusion of the flag in the report is based on all of the multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20) having failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20).

16. The method of any of claims 14-15, wherein the flag indicates that all of the multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20) were blocked by LBT failure (22-1 ...22-N).

17. The method of any of claims 12-16, wherein: the beam (20) is associated with a Synchronization Signal, SS, I Physical Broadcast Channel, PBCH, block, such that the random access information (24) indicates that all of multiple successive attempts (16-1... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) in association with the SS / PBCH block were blocked by LBT failure (22-1 ...22-N); or the beam (20) is associated with a Channel state Information, CSI, Reference Signal, CSI-RS, such that the random access information (24) indicates that all of multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) in association with the CSI-RS were blocked by LBT failure (22-1...22-N).

18. The method of any of claims 12-17, wherein receiving the random access information (24) comprises receiving the random access information (24) in a random access, RA, report (26), a radio link failure, RLF, report (26), a Connection Establishment Failure, CEF, report (26), a successful handover report (26), SHR, or a successful Primary Secondary Cell change or addition report (26), SPR.

19. The method of any of claims 12-18, said receiving comprises receiving, for each of one or more beams (20) on which the communication device (12) attempted transmission of a random access preamble, random access information (24) indicating that all of multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20) failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20).

20. The method of any of claims 12-19, wherein the multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16- N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20) all occurred before switching to attempting to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on a different beam (20) or before terminating attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on any beam (20).21 . The method of any of claims 12-20, further comprising, based on the random access information (24), reconstructing behavior of the communication device (12) in performingrandom access and performing power ramping analysis for setting a target power of and / or target coverage of a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) to be transmitted by the communication device (12).

22. The method of any of claims 12-21 , further comprising: performing self-configuration and / or self-optimization as part of Self-Organizing Network, SON, tasks, based on the random access information (24); and / or setting a target power of and / or target coverage of a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18- N) to be transmitted by the communication device (12), based on the random access information (24).

23. A communication device (12) configured for use in a communication network (10), the communication device (12) configured to: transmit, to a network node (14) in the communication network (10), random access information (24) indicating that all of multiple successive attempts (16-1 ... 16-N) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on a beam (20) failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20).

24. The communication device (12) of claim 23, configured to perform the method of any of claims 2-11.

25. A network node (14) configured for use in a communication network (10), the network node (14) configured to: receive, from a communication device (12), random access information (24) indicating that all of multiple successive attempts (16-1... 16-N) by the communication device (12) to transmit a random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on a beam (20) failed due to failure to clear unlicensed spectrum for transmission of the random access preamble (18-1 ... 18-N) on the beam (20).

26. The network node (14) of claim 25, configured to perform the method of any of claims 13- 22.

27. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a communication device (12), causes the communication device to perform the method of any of claims 1-11.

28. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor of a network node (14), causes the network node (14) to perform the method of any of claims 12-22 29. A carrier containing the computer program of any of claims 27-28, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

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