Wireless base station and terminal

Abstract

To provide a wireless base station and a terminal that enable appropriate cell selection while taking into account the slices supported by a RAN node (cell).SOLUTION: In 3GPP (10), a gNB (100A) transmits broadcast information to a terminal (200) in a cell. The gNB (100A) includes information on slices for each frequency supported via the cell in the broadcast information.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a radio base station and a terminal that support network slicing. [Background technology]

[0002] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has developed specifications for the 5th generation mobile communication system (5G, also known as New Radio (NR) or Next Generation (NG)), and is also developing specifications for the next generation, known as Beyond 5G, 5G Evolution, or 6G.

[0003] For example, 3GPP Release 17 is considering network slicing, which divides a radio access network (RAN) into multiple slices according to different service requirements, to enable a terminal (User Equipment, UE) to perform cell selection (including reselection) while being aware of the slices supported by the RAN node (Non-Patent Documents 1 and 2). [Prior art documents] [Non-patent literature]

[0004] [Non-Patent Document 1] "Study on enhancement of RAN Slicing", RP-193254, 3GPP TSG-RAN meeting #86, 3GPP, December 2019 [Non-Patent Document 2] "Key Issue on 5GC assisted cell selection to access network slice", S2-2001467, 3GPP SA WG2 Meeting #136 Ad-hoc, 3GPP, January 2020 Summary of the Invention

[0005] However, in the current 3GPP specifications (Release 16), a UE cannot recognize the slices supported by a RAN node (cell).

[0006] Therefore, if a UE requests a slice (which may also be interpreted as a service type) that is not supported by a RAN node (cell), the Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) must reject the request.

[0007] Therefore, the following disclosure has been made in consideration of the above circumstances, and aims to provide a radio base station and a terminal that can realize appropriate cell selection taking into account the slices supported by a RAN node (cell).

[0008] One aspect of the present disclosure is a radio base station (e.g., gNB100A) that includes a transmitter (system information transmitter 140) that transmits broadcast information toward a terminal (UE200) in a cell, and a control unit (control unit 150) that includes information regarding slices supported via the cell in the broadcast information.

[0009] One aspect of the present disclosure is a radio base station (e.g., gNB100A) comprising a transmitter (radio transmitter 110) that transmits a radio resource control layer message to a terminal (UE200) in a cell, and a control unit (control unit 150) that includes information regarding slices supported via the cell in the message.

[0010] One aspect of the present disclosure is a terminal (UE 200) having a receiver (system information receiver 225) that receives broadcast information broadcast within a cell, and a control unit (control unit 250) that performs cell selection based on information regarding slices that are included in the broadcast information and supported via the cell.

[0011] One aspect of the present disclosure is a terminal (UE 200) having a receiver (radio receiver 220) that receives a message of a radio resource control layer, and a control unit (control unit 250) that performs cell selection based on information included in the message and regarding slices supported via the waiting cell.

[0012] One aspect of the present disclosure is a radio base station (e.g., gNB100A) comprising a receiver (handover processing unit 145) that receives a handover request of a terminal (UE200) in a cell from a source radio base station, a control unit (control unit 150) that determines settings for initial access based on information included in the handover request and relating to slices supported via the cell, and a transmitter that transmits setting information indicating the determined settings to the source radio base station. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0013] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overall schematic configuration of a wireless communication system 10. As shown in FIG. [Diagram 2] Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of the gNB100A. [Diagram 3] FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of UE 200. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a conventional communication sequence regarding cell selection when slices are used. [Diagram 5] FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of a communication sequence regarding cell selection according to the operation example 1-1. [Figure 6] FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a communication sequence regarding cell selection according to the operation example 1-2. [Figure 7] FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a communication sequence regarding a handover according to the second operation example. [Figure 8] FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of the structure of the PLMN-IdentityInfoList included in the cellAccessRelatedInfo. [Figure 9] FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of SIB4. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the RRCRelease message. [Figure 11] FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of the RRCRelease message. [Figure 12] FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of Handover Preparation information. [Figure 13] FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of gNB100A, gNB100B, and UE200. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0014] Hereinafter, an embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the same or similar reference numerals are used to designate the same functions or configurations, and the description thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

[0015] (1) Overall configuration of wireless communication system 1 is a schematic diagram of an overall configuration of a wireless communication system 10 according to this embodiment. The wireless communication system 10 is a wireless communication system conforming to 5G New Radio (NR), and includes a Next Generation-Radio Access Network 20 (hereinafter, NG-RAN 20) and a user equipment 200 (User Equipment 200, hereinafter, UE 200).

[0016] The wireless communication system 10 may be a wireless communication system conforming to a standard called Beyond 5G, 5G Evolution, or 6G.

[0017] The NG-RAN 20 includes a radio base station 100A (hereinafter, gNB 100A) and a radio base station 100B (hereinafter, gNB 100B). Note that the specific configuration of the wireless communication system 10, including the number of gNBs and UEs, is not limited to the example shown in FIG.

[0018] The NG-RAN 20 actually includes a plurality of NG-RAN Nodes (which may be abbreviated as RAN nodes), specifically, gNBs (or ng-eNBs), and is connected to the 5GC 30, which is a core network conforming to 5G. The NG-RAN 20 and the 5GC 30 may be simply expressed as a "network."

[0019] 5GC30 may be provided with an Access and Mobility Management Function 35 (hereinafter, AMF35), which is included in the 5G system architecture and provides mobility management functions for UE200.

[0020] Moreover, the wireless communication system 10 can support network slicing. Network slicing is a technology that divides a single network into multiple slices according to different service requirements. Network slicing may be interpreted as a technology that logically divides configurations or resources according to various requests and characteristics of communication services.

[0021] In network slicing, slices can be formed by an identifier called S-NSSAI (Single-Network Slice Selection Assistance Information). The S-NSSAI may be used (shared) among the UE 200, the NG-RAN 20, and the 5GC 30.

[0022] In addition, service types (SST) may include enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB (high speed, large capacity)), massive Internet of Things (mIoT (multiple connections, low power consumption, low cost)), Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communications (URLLC (low latency, high reliability)), etc.

[0023] (2) Functional block configuration of wireless communication system Next, a description will be given of a functional block configuration of the wireless communication system 10. Specifically, a description will be given of a functional block configuration of the gNB 100A and the UE 200.

[0024] (2.1) gNB100A Fig. 2 is a functional block diagram of the gNB 100A. As shown in Fig. 2, the gNB 100A includes a radio transmission unit 110, a radio reception unit 120, an RA processing unit 130, a system information transmission unit 140, a handover processing unit 145, and a control unit 150. The gNB 100B may also have a similar functional block configuration.

[0025] The radio transmission unit 110 transmits a radio signal conforming to NR, specifically, a downlink signal (DL signal), to the UE 200.

[0026] In this embodiment, the wireless transmission unit 110 can transmit a message of a radio resource control layer (RRC) to the UE 200 in the cell. In this embodiment, the wireless transmission unit 110 constitutes a transmission unit that transmits a message of the radio resource control layer to a terminal in the cell.

[0027] The message may include various RRC messages defined in 3GPP TS38.331, such as RRCSetup, RRCReject, RRCReconfiguration, RRCReestablishment, and RRCRelease.

[0028] The wireless receiving unit 120 receives a wireless signal conforming to NR, specifically, an uplink signal (UL signal), from the UE 200. The wireless receiving unit 120 may also receive an RRC message from the gNB 100A. The message may include various RRC messages defined in 3GPP TS38.331. Specifically, the message may include an RRC message corresponding to the above-mentioned RRC message.

[0029] UE200 in a cell may be interpreted as a UE that is waiting for or is present in the cell formed by gNB100A.

[0030] The RA processing unit 130 executes processing related to a random access procedure (RA procedure). Specifically, the RA processing unit 130 may support a contention-based RA procedure (CBRA) and a contention-free RA procedure (CFRA). The RA processing unit 130 may also support a four-step and two-step RA procedure. The random access procedure may be interpreted as a procedure for initial access by the UE 200.

[0031] The RA processing unit 130 can transmit configuration information indicating a configuration for initial access, specifically, a configuration of a random access channel (RACH), to a handover source radio base station (e.g., gNB100B) of the UE 200 based on an instruction from the control unit 150. In this embodiment, the RA processing unit 130 constitutes a transmission unit that transmits the configuration information to the handover source radio base station.

[0032] The RACH configuration may be determined based on information about slices supported via a cell, and such a RACH configuration may be referred to as a slice based RACH configuration.

[0033] The system information transmission unit 140 transmits system information within a cell formed by the gNB 100A. Specifically, the system information transmission unit 140 can transmit various system information blocks (SIBs) toward the UE 200 within the cell. Such system information may be interpreted as broadcast information. In this embodiment, the system information transmission unit 140 constitutes a transmission unit that transmits broadcast information toward terminals within the cell.

[0034] The SIBs may include SIB1 and SIB4. SIB1 may include information relevant when evaluating whether UE 200 is allowed to access the cell and may define the scheduling of other system information. SIB1 may also include radio resource configuration information common to all UEs and barring information that applies to the unified access control.

[0035] SIB4 may include information related to inter-frequency cell reselection, i.e., information about other NR frequencies and inter-frequency neighboring cells that are relevant for cell reselection. Information elements (IEs) may include common frequency cell reselection parameters and cell-specific reselection parameters.

[0036] The notification information may be a SIB other than SIB1 and SIB4, or may be of another type as long as it is intended to notify the UE 200 of some information. The notification information may be broadcast to a plurality of UEs, or may be unicast to a specific UE.

[0037] The handover processing unit 145 executes processing related to handover of the UE 200. Specifically, the handover processing unit 145 can execute processing when the gNB 100A becomes a handover source radio base station (source radio base station) or when the gNB 100A becomes a handover destination radio base station (target radio base station).

[0038] More specifically, the handover processing unit 145 transmits and receives RRC messages between nodes and executes handover processing. For example, the handover processing unit 145 can transmit and receive a Handover command, a Handover request, a Handover request Ack, etc. In this embodiment, the handover processing unit 145 constitutes a receiving unit that receives a handover request of the UE 200 in the cell from the handover source radio base station.

[0039] The control unit 150 controls each functional block constituting the gNB 100A. In particular, in this embodiment, the control unit 150 can include information about slices supported via a cell in the broadcast information. Specifically, the control unit 150 can include information about slices in the system information (SIB) transmitted by the system information transmission unit 140.

[0040] In addition, the control unit 150 can include information about slices supported via the cell in the RRC message. Specifically, the control unit 150 can include information about the slices in the RRC message transmitted by the wireless transmission unit 110.

[0041] A slice supported via a cell may mean a slice supported by the cell itself formed by gNB100A, or may mean a slice supported by an area (e.g., RAN-AreaCode) including the cell or a radio access network (RAN).

[0042] Furthermore, the information on the slice may be information that can identify a slice supported via a cell. For example, the information on the slice may be S-NSSAI.

[0043] The S-NSSAI (hereinafter, appropriately abbreviated as NSSAI) may include a Slice / Service type (SST) and a Slice Differentiator (SD) (see FIG. 5). Note that the SD is optional and does not have to be included. The S-NSSAI is specified in 3GPP TS23.003, Chapter 28.4.2.

[0044] The SST may indicate the expected behavior of the network slice in terms of features and services. The SST may be allocated 8 bits.

[0045] The SD may complement the SST and distinguish multiple network slices of the same slice / service type. The SD may be assigned 24 bits.

[0046] The S-NSSAI (NSSAI), SST, or SD may be referred to as a Slice ID. That is, a Slice ID may include only an SST, or may include both an SST and an SD. Similarly, an NSSAI may include only an SST, or may include both an SST and an SD.

[0047] Furthermore, control unit 150 can determine resources for initial access based on a handover request from the handover source radio base station, specifically, on information about a slice included in the handover request.

[0048] More specifically, the control unit 150 can determine the RACH configuration based on the Slice ID included in the Handover request. The control unit 150 can transmit a Handover request Ack including the determined RACH configuration (slice based RACH configuration) to the handover source radio base station.

[0049] The RACH configuration may include ra-contentionResolutionTimer, PowerRampingStepHighPriority, ScalingFactorBI, etc. A specific example of determining the slice based RACH configuration will be described later.

[0050] (2.2)UE200 3 is a functional block diagram of the UE 200. As shown in FIG. 3, the UE 200 includes a radio transmitting unit 210, a radio receiving unit 220, a system information receiving unit 225, an RA processing unit 230, a slice selecting unit 240, and a control unit 250.

[0051] The radio transmission unit 210 transmits an uplink signal (UL signal) conforming to NR toward gNB100A (or gNB100B, the same below).

[0052] The wireless receiver 220 receives a downlink signal (DL signal) conforming to NR from the gNB 100A. The wireless receiver 220 may also receive an RRC message from the gNB 100A. The message may include various RRC messages defined in 3GPP TS38.331. In this embodiment, the wireless receiver 220 constitutes a receiver that receives messages of a radio resource control layer.

[0053] The system information receiving unit 225 receives system information broadcast in a cell. Specifically, the system information receiving unit 225 can receive various SIBs broadcast in a waiting (serving) cell. As described above, the SIBs may include SIB1 and SIB4. In this embodiment, the system information receiving unit 225 constitutes a receiving unit that receives broadcast information broadcast in a cell.

[0054] The RA processing unit 230 executes processing related to the random access procedure (RA procedure). The RA processing unit 230 faces the RA processing unit 130 of the gNB100A and may support the same RA procedure as the RA processing unit 130. Specifically, the RA processing unit 230 can transmit a random access preamble (msg. 1), receive a random access response (msg. 2), transmit a scheduled transmission (msg. 3), and receive contention resolution (msg. 4).

[0055] The slice selection unit 240 selects a slice (network slice) according to a service executed in the UE 200. The service may include eMBB, mIoT, URLLC, and the like, as described above.

[0056] The slice selection unit 240 can notify the slice-related information acquired from SIB1 and / or SIB4 from the Access Stratum (AS) layer to the Non-Access Stratum (NAS) layer. The slice selection unit 240 can select a slice based on a previously selected Slice ID (which may be a service type (SST)) or a Slice ID (which may be a service type (SST)) notified by a paging message, while taking into consideration both the cellReselectionPriority and the service type notified by SIB4 (i.e., a frequency with a high priority is selected, and the Slice ID (SST) supports the frequency).

[0057] The control unit 250 controls each functional block constituting the UE 200. In particular, in this embodiment, the control unit 250 can perform cell selection based on information on slices included in system information (broadcast information).

[0058] The control unit 250 may also perform cell selection based on slice-related information included in the received RRC message. As described above, the slice-related information is information on slices supported via a cell on which the UE 200 is camped, and may include an S-NSSAI (NSSAI), an SST, or an SD.

[0059] The control unit 250 can perform cell selection (which may include reselection) based on the slice selected by the slice selection unit 240. Specifically, the control unit 250 can select a cell that can use a slice according to a service executed in the UE 200.

[0060] (3) Operation of wireless communication system Next, a description will be given of the operation of the wireless communication system 10. Specifically, a description will be given of the operation related to cell selection (including reselection) and handover taking into account the supported slices (service types).

[0061] (3.1) Example 1 In this operation example, gNB100A uses system information (SIB) to broadcast information regarding slices supported by a cell (which may be interpreted as a RAN node or RAN).

[0062] (3.1.1) Issues Fig. 4 shows an example of a conventional communication sequence for cell selection when using slices. As shown in Fig. 4, when a RAN node that does not support a slice requested by UE 200 (here, for convenience, S-NSSAI #1; the same applies below) is selected and cell selection is executed, there is a problem that an Initial UE message to AMF 35 is rejected. The same applies to a registration request of UE 200.

[0063] As described above, in the conventional example, there is a problem that the UE 200 cannot perform cell selection that takes into account the NSSAI supported by the radio access network (RAN).

[0064] (3.1.2) Example of operation (3.1.2.1) Example 1-1 Fig. 5 shows an example of a communication sequence related to cell selection according to the operation example 1-1. As shown in Fig. 5, prior to cell selection by the UE 200, the NG-RAN 20 (here, the gNB 100A) broadcasts information related to slices in the cell by using system information (SIB).

[0065] For example, the gNB 100A can transmit an SIB including a Slice ID to the UE 200. As the SIB, it is possible to use SIB1 and / or SIB4.

[0066] Specifically, gNB100A uses SIB1 to broadcast the slices / service types (SST) it supports, and indicates to UE200 the slice ID (NSSAI) / SST) supported by the cell on which it is currently camped.

[0067] More specifically, the cellAccessRelatedInfo included in the SIB1 may include a Slice ID ((NSSAI) / SST) supported for each Tracking Area. Alternatively, the Slice ID ((NSSAI) / SST) supported for each RAN-AreaCode may be included.

[0068] Fig. 8 shows a configuration example of PLMN-IdentityInfoList included in cellAccessRelatedInfo. As shown in Fig. 8, PLMN-IdentityInfoList includes a supportedS-NSSAI-List field. The supportedS-NSSAI-List field may indicate a list of Slice IDs supported in the cell.

[0069] Also, in SIB4, a slice ID (NSSAI / SST) supported for each frequency may be included. Specifically, a slice ID (NSSAI / SST) supported for each frequency may be included in interFreqCarrierFreqInfo. Alternatively, a frequency supported for each slice may be included.

[0070] Fig. 9 shows an example of the configuration of SIB4. As shown in Fig. 9, SIB4 includes a supportedS-NSSAI-List field. The supportedS-NSSAI-List field may indicate a list of Slice IDs supported in each inter-frequency band.

[0071] Upon receiving such an SIB, UE 200 notifies the NAS, within UE 200, of information about the slices read from SIB1 / SIB4 via the AS.

[0072] UE200 may perform cell selection based on a previously selected Slice ID (which may be an SST) or a Slice ID (which may be an SST) notified by a paging message, taking into consideration both the cellReselectionPriority and service type reported by SIB4 (i.e., a frequency with a higher priority is selected and the Slice ID (SST) supports that frequency).

[0073] (3.1.2.2) Example 1-2 Fig. 6 shows an example of a communication sequence related to cell selection according to operation example 1-2. As shown in Fig. 6, UE 200 performs cell selection without recognizing a slice supported by a cell (which may be a RAN node or a RAN) in the same manner as in the conventional example (see Fig. 4), and the Initial UE message for AMF 35 is rejected.

[0074] In this case, the gNB100A can recognize that the slice (S-NSSAI #1) has been rejected by the initial context setup request. The gNB100A can include the slice ID ((NSSAI) / SST) in the RRCRelease message transmitted to the UE200.

[0075] Specifically, the gNB 100A may include a slice ID ((NSSAI) / SST) supported for each frequency in the cellReselectionPriorities of the RRCRelease. Alternatively, the gNB 100A may include a frequency supported for each slice.

[0076] 10 and 11 show an example of the configuration of a RRCRelease message. As shown in Fig. 10 and 11, the RRCRelease may include fields of unsupportedSliceList, supportedS-NSSAI-List, and freqSliceListNR.

[0077] The unsupportedSliceList field may indicate a list of Slice IDs that are not supported in the current frequency, and freqSliceListNR may indicate a list of Slice IDs that are supported in each frequency band.

[0078] In this way, if gNB100A / AMF35 does not support the S-NSSAI (S-NSSAI #1) notified by the RRCSetupComplete sent from UE200, gNB100A may include the Slice ID ((NSSAI) / SST) in the FreqPriorityNR IE of the RRCRelease.

[0079] UE200 may perform cell selection based on a previously selected Slice ID (which may be an SST) or a Slice ID (which may be an SST) notified by a paging message, taking into consideration both the cellReselectionPriority and service type notified by RRCRelease (i.e., a frequency with a higher priority is selected and the Slice ID (SST) supports that frequency).

[0080] In addition, gNB100A may notify UE200 of a slice ID that is not supported in the current frequency by RRCRelease, or may include a supported slice ID in RedirectedCarrierInfo of RRCRelease.

[0081] (3.2) Example 2 In this operation example, gNB100A, gNB100B and UE200 perform a random access procedure taking into account the slices they support.

[0082] (3.2.1) Issues Network slicing, specifically RAN slicing, aims to realize slice based RACH configuration.

[0083] However, during handover (which may also be called cell transition) of UE200, the target radio base station (gNB) cannot prepare random access channel (RACH) resources while being aware of the slice ID ((NSSAI) / SST) used by UE200 in the cell (source cell) formed by the source radio base station.

[0084] (3.2.2) Example of operation Fig. 7 illustrates an example of a communication sequence related to a handover according to operation example 2. As illustrated in Fig. 7, the gNB100A (source radio base station) may include a Slice ID (or a service type) used by the UE200 in the source cell in Handover Preparation information included in a Handover request transmitted to the gNB100B (target radio base station).

[0085] The gNB100B may determine the RACH configuration, specifically, ra-contentionResolutionTimer, PowerRampingStepHighPriority, ScalingFactorBI, or RACH resources, based on the Slice ID / Service type set by the source radio base station side.

[0086] For example, when the Slice ID / Service type is a critical URLLC service, the value of ra-contentionResolutionTimer may be shortened, PowerRampingStepHighPriority may be set high, and scalingFactorBI may be set low to prioritize RACH. Also, a highly reliable RACH resource may be prepared.

[0087] A highly reliable RACH resource may refer to the need to perform RACH resource isolation / RACH partitioning in advance within the radio base station, that is, to set aside highly reliable RACH resources and allow only UEs requesting certain highly reliable services to use the highly reliable RACH resources.

[0088] Fig. 12 shows a configuration example of Handover Preparation information. As shown in Fig. 12, the Handover Preparation information may include a sourceS-NSSAI field.

[0089] The field of the sourceS-NSSAI may indicate the Slice ID or service type that the UE uses in the source cell.

[0090] In addition, the Handover request Ack and the Handover command may include an RRC Reconfiguration, and the RRC Reconfiguration may include a slice based RACH configuration.

[0091] Furthermore, although this is not a direct solution to the above-mentioned problem, when the UE 200 transmits a measurement report to the gNB 100A (source radio base station), the UE 200 may transmit to the source radio base station a measurement result of a neighbor cell that does not support the Slice ID / Service type used by the source radio base station without including the measurement report in the measurement report. This can reduce the risk that the target radio base station does not support the Slice ID / Service type used by the source radio base station.

[0092] (4) Actions and Effects According to the above-described embodiment, the following advantageous effects can be obtained. Specifically, according to the wireless communication system 10 (gNB100A, gNB100B, and UE200), information on slices supported via a cell on which UE200 is waiting is provided to UE200 by broadcast information or a message of the RRC layer.

[0093] Therefore, the UE 200 can realize an appropriate cell selection that is aware of the slices supported by the RAN node (cell). In other words, the UE 200 can select (reselect) a cell that is aware of the slices (service types) supported by the RAN node, and it is expected that the UE 200 can quickly select an appropriate RAN node and attach to the 5GC 30, and that unnecessary radio connection requests (waste of radio resources, overhead of the control plane, etc.) can be avoided.

[0094] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the gNB100A and the gNB100B can determine the initial access setting, specifically, the RACH configuration, based on the information on the slice included in the Handover request. Therefore, it is possible to prepare the RACH resource while considering the slice ID ((NSSAI) / SST) used by the UE200 in the source cell. This can increase the possibility of continuous service provision while considering the slice (service type) used by the UE200.

[0095] (5) Other embodiments Although the embodiment has been described above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the description of the embodiment and that various modifications and improvements are possible.

[0096] For example, in the above-described embodiment, an example of using a slice ID as information about a slice has been mainly described, but the information about a slice may be interpreted as information indicating the type of service (eMBB, etc.) provided by the wireless communication system 10 (which may be a radio access network or a core network).

[0097] Furthermore, the message for notifying the UE 200 of the information regarding the slice is not limited to RRCRelease, and may be another RRC message, so long as it is a message of the RRC layer.

[0098] Moreover, the block diagrams (FIGS. 2 and 3) used in the description of the above-mentioned embodiments show functional blocks. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of at least one of hardware and software. Furthermore, the method of realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized by using one device that is physically or logically combined, or may be realized by using two or more devices that are physically or logically separated and directly or indirectly connected (for example, by using wires, wirelessly, etc.). The functional blocks may be realized by combining the one device or the multiple devices with software.

[0099] Functions include, but are not limited to, judgment, determination, judgment, calculation, computation, processing, derivation, investigation, search, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution, selection, selection, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, consideration, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding, configuring, reconfiguring, allocating, mapping, and assignment. For example, a functional block (component) that performs the function of transmission is called a transmitting unit or a transmitter. As described above, there is no particular limitation on the method of realization of any of these.

[0100] Furthermore, the above-mentioned gNB100A, gNB100B and UE200 (the device) may function as a computer that performs processing of the wireless communication method of the present disclosure. Fig. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a hardware configuration of the device. As shown in Fig. 13, the wireless transmitting unit 110 and the wireless receiving unit 120 may be configured as a computer device including a processor 1001, a memory 1002, a storage 1003, a communication device 1004, an input device 1005, an output device 1006, and a bus 1007.

[0101] In the following description, the term "apparatus" may be interpreted as a circuit, a device, a unit, etc. The hardware configuration of the apparatus may be configured to include one or more of the apparatuses shown in the drawings, or may be configured to exclude some of the apparatuses.

[0102] Each functional block of the device (see FIGS. 2 and 3) is realized by any hardware element of the computer device, or a combination of the hardware elements.

[0103] In addition, each function in the device is realized by loading a specific software (program) onto hardware such as the processor 1001, memory 1002, etc., so that the processor 1001 performs calculations, controls communication by the communication device 1004, and controls at least one of reading and writing of data in the memory 1002 and storage 1003.

[0104] The processor 1001 controls the entire computer by running, for example, an operating system, and may be configured by a central processing unit (CPU) including an interface with peripheral devices, a control unit, an arithmetic unit, a register, and the like.

[0105] Furthermore, the processor 1001 reads out programs (program codes), software modules, data, etc. from at least one of the storage 1003 and the communication device 1004 into the memory 1002, and executes various processes according to these. As the programs, programs that cause a computer to execute at least a part of the operations described in the above-mentioned embodiments are used. Furthermore, the above-mentioned various processes may be executed by one processor 1001, or may be executed simultaneously or sequentially by two or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be implemented by one or more chips. The programs may be transmitted from a network via a telecommunications line.

[0106] The memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be configured by at least one of, for example, a Read Only Memory (ROM), an Erasable Programmable ROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable Programmable ROM (EEPROM), a Random Access Memory (RAM), etc. The memory 1002 may also be called a register, a cache, a main memory (primary storage device), etc. The memory 1002 can store a program (program code), a software module, etc., capable of executing a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0107] Storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be composed of at least one of, for example, an optical disk such as a Compact Disc ROM (CD-ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray (registered trademark) disk), a smart card, a flash memory (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a floppy (registered trademark) disk, a magnetic strip, and the like. Storage 1003 may be referred to as an auxiliary storage device. The above-mentioned recording medium may be, for example, a database, a server, or other suitable medium including at least one of memory 1002 and storage 1003.

[0108] The communication device 1004 is hardware (transmission / reception device) for performing communication between computers via at least one of a wired network and a wireless network, and is also called, for example, a network device, a network controller, a network card, or a communication module.

[0109] The communication device 1004 may be configured to include a high-frequency switch, a duplexer, a filter, a frequency synthesizer, and the like to realize, for example, at least one of Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD).

[0110] The input device 1005 is an input device (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a button, a sensor, etc.) that accepts input from the outside. The output device 1006 is an output device (e.g., a display, a speaker, an LED lamp, etc.) that performs output to the outside. The input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be integrated into one device (e.g., a touch panel).

[0111] In addition, each device such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002 is connected by a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be configured using a single bus, or may be configured using different buses between each device.

[0112] Furthermore, the device may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), etc., and some or all of the functional blocks may be realized by the hardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be implemented using at least one of these pieces of hardware.

[0113] Furthermore, the notification of information is not limited to the aspects / embodiments described in the present disclosure, and may be performed using other methods. For example, the notification of information may be performed by physical layer signaling (e.g., Downlink Control Information (DCI), Uplink Control Information (UCI)), higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling, Medium Access Control (MAC) signaling, broadcast information (Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB)), other signals, or a combination of these. Furthermore, the RRC signaling may be called an RRC message, and may be, for example, an RRC Connection Setup message, an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message, or the like.

[0114] Each aspect / embodiment described in the present disclosure may be applied to at least one of a system using Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, 4th generation mobile communication system (4G), 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), Future Radio Access (FRA), New Radio (NR), W-CDMA (registered trademark), GSM (registered trademark), CDMA2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-WideBand (UWB), Bluetooth (registered trademark), other suitable systems, and next-generation systems extended based on these. In addition, a combination of multiple systems (e.g., a combination of at least one of LTE and LTE-A and 5G, etc.) may be applied.

[0115] The order of the steps, sequences, flow charts, etc. of each aspect / embodiment described in this disclosure may be changed unless inconsistent. For example, the methods described in this disclosure present elements of various steps using an example order, and are not limited to the particular order presented.

[0116] In the present disclosure, a specific operation performed by a base station may be performed by its upper node in some cases. In a network consisting of one or more network nodes having a base station, it is clear that various operations performed for communication with a terminal may be performed by at least one of the base station and other network nodes other than the base station (e.g., MME or S-GW, etc., but are not limited to these). Although the above example illustrates a case in which there is one other network node other than the base station, it may also be a combination of multiple other network nodes (e.g., MME and S-GW).

[0117] Information, signals (information, etc.) may be output from a higher layer (or a lower layer) to a lower layer (or a higher layer), and may be input and output via multiple network nodes.

[0118] The input / output information may be stored in a specific location (e.g., memory) or may be managed using a management table. The input / output information may be overwritten, updated, or appended. The output information may be deleted. The input information may be transmitted to another device.

[0119] The determination may be based on a value represented by a single bit (0 or 1), a Boolean (true or false) value, or a numerical comparison (e.g., comparison with a predetermined value).

[0120] Each aspect / embodiment described in this disclosure may be used alone, in combination, or switched according to execution. In addition, notification of specific information (e.g., notification that "X is the case") is not limited to being done explicitly, but may be done implicitly (e.g., not notifying the specific information).

[0121] Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

[0122] Additionally, software, instructions, information, etc. may be transmitted or received over a transmission medium. For example, if the software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using wired and / or wireless technologies (such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)), and / or wireless technologies (such as infrared, microwave, etc.), then these wired and / or wireless technologies are included within the definition of transmission media.

[0123] The information, signals, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies. For example, the data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof.

[0124] In addition, the terms described in this disclosure and the terms necessary for understanding this disclosure may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meanings. For example, at least one of a channel and a symbol may be a signal (signaling). Also, a signal may be a message. Also, a component carrier (CC) may be called a carrier frequency, a cell, a frequency carrier, etc.

[0125] As used in this disclosure, the terms "system" and "network" are used interchangeably.

[0126] In addition, the information, parameters, etc. described in the present disclosure may be represented using absolute values, may be represented using relative values ​​from a predetermined value, or may be represented using other corresponding information. For example, a radio resource may be indicated by an index.

[0127] The names used for the above-mentioned parameters are not limiting in any way. Furthermore, the formulas using these parameters may differ from those explicitly disclosed in this disclosure. The various channels (e.g., PUCCH, PDCCH, etc.) and information elements may be identified by any suitable names, and therefore the various names assigned to these various channels and information elements are not limiting in any way.

[0128] In this disclosure, terms such as "base station (BS)", "radio base station", "fixed station", "NodeB", "eNodeB (eNB)", "gNodeB (gNB)", "access point", "transmission point", "reception point", "transmission / reception point", "cell", "sector", "cell group", "carrier", "component carrier", etc. may be used interchangeably. A base station may also be referred to by terms such as a macro cell, a small cell, a femto cell, a pico cell, etc.

[0129] A base station can accommodate one or more (e.g., three) cells (also called sectors). When a base station accommodates multiple cells, the entire coverage area of ​​the base station can be divided into multiple smaller areas, and each smaller area can also be provided with communication services by a base station subsystem (e.g., a small indoor base station (Remote Radio Head: RRH)).

[0130] The term "cell" or "sector" refers to part or all of the coverage area of ​​a base station and / or a base station subsystem that provides communication services within that coverage.

[0131] In this disclosure, the terms "Mobile Station (MS)", "user terminal", "User Equipment (UE)", "terminal", etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0132] A mobile station may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other suitable terminology.

[0133] At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be called a transmitting device, a receiving device, a communication device, etc. At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be a device mounted on a moving body, the moving body itself, etc. The moving body may be a vehicle (e.g., a car, an airplane, etc.), an unmanned moving body (e.g., a drone, an autonomous vehicle, etc.), or a robot (manned or unmanned). At least one of the base station and the mobile station may include a device that does not necessarily move during communication operation. For example, at least one of the base station and the mobile station may be an Internet of Things (IoT) device such as a sensor.

[0134] Furthermore, a base station in the present disclosure may be read as a mobile station (user terminal, the same applies below). For example, each aspect / embodiment of the present disclosure may be applied to a configuration in which communication between a base station and a mobile station is replaced with communication between multiple mobile stations (which may be called, for example, Device-to-Device (D2D) or Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X)). In this case, the mobile station may be configured to have the functions of a base station. Furthermore, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" may be read as terms corresponding to communication between terminals (for example, "side"). For example, an uplink channel, a downlink channel, etc. may be read as a side channel.

[0135] Similarly, a mobile station in the present disclosure may be interpreted as a base station, in which case the base station may have the functions of a mobile station. A radio frame may be composed of one or more frames in the time domain. Each of the one or more frames in the time domain may be called a subframe. A subframe may further be composed of one or more slots in the time domain. A subframe may have a fixed time length (e.g., 1 ms) that is independent of numerology.

[0136] Numerology may be a communication parameter that applies to the transmission and / or reception of a signal or channel, and may indicate, for example, at least one of a SubCarrier Spacing (SCS), a bandwidth, a symbol length, a Cyclic Prefix length, a Transmission Time Interval (TTI), a number of symbols per TTI, a radio frame structure, a particular filtering operation that the transceiver performs in the frequency domain, a particular windowing operation that the transceiver performs in the time domain, etc.

[0137] A slot may consist of one or more symbols in the time domain (such as an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) symbol, etc.) A slot may be a numerology-based unit of time.

[0138] A slot may include multiple minislots. Each minislot may be composed of one or more symbols in the time domain. A minislot may also be called a subslot. A minislot may be composed of fewer symbols than a slot. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted in a time unit larger than a minislot may be called PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type A. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted using a minislot may be called PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type B.

[0139] A radio frame, a subframe, a slot, a minislot, and a symbol each represent a time unit for transmitting a signal. The radio frame, the subframe, the slot, the minislot, and the symbol may each be referred to by a different name.

[0140] For example, one subframe may be called a transmission time interval (TTI), multiple consecutive subframes may be called a TTI, or one slot or one minislot may be called a TTI. That is, at least one of the subframe and the TTI may be a subframe (1 ms) in the existing LTE, a period shorter than 1 ms (for example, 1-13 symbols), or a period longer than 1 ms. Note that the unit representing the TTI may be called a slot, minislot, etc., instead of a subframe.

[0141] Here, TTI refers to, for example, the minimum time unit for scheduling in wireless communication. For example, in an LTE system, a base station performs scheduling to allocate radio resources (such as frequency bandwidth and transmission power that can be used by each user terminal) to each user terminal in TTI units. Note that the definition of TTI is not limited to this.

[0142] The TTI may be a transmission time unit for a channel-encoded data packet (transport block), a code block, a code word, etc., or may be a processing unit for scheduling, link adaptation, etc. When a TTI is given, the time interval (e.g., the number of symbols) in which a transport block, a code block, a code word, etc. are actually mapped may be shorter than the TTI.

[0143] In addition, when one slot or one minislot is called TTI, one or more TTIs (i.e., one or more slots or one or more minislots) may be the minimum time unit of scheduling. Also, the number of slots (minislots) constituting the minimum time unit of scheduling may be controlled.

[0144] A TTI having a time length of 1 ms may be called a normal TTI (TTI in LTE Rel. 8-12), a normal TTI, a long TTI, a normal subframe, a normal subframe, a long subframe, a slot, etc. A TTI shorter than a normal TTI may be called a shortened TTI, a short TTI, a partial or fractional TTI, a shortened subframe, a short subframe, a minislot, a subslot, a slot, etc.

[0145] In addition, a long TTI (e.g., a normal TTI, a subframe, etc.) may be interpreted as a TTI having a time length exceeding 1 ms, and a short TTI (e.g., a shortened TTI, etc.) may be interpreted as a TTI having a TTI length shorter than the TTI length of a long TTI and equal to or greater than 1 ms.

[0146] A resource block (RB) is a resource allocation unit in the time domain and the frequency domain, and may include one or more consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may be the same regardless of the numerology, for example, 12. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may be determined based on the numerology.

[0147] In addition, the time domain of the RB may include one or more symbols and may be one slot, one minislot, one subframe, or one TTI in length. Each of one TTI, one subframe, etc. may be composed of one or more resource blocks.

[0148] One or more RBs may be called a physical resource block (PRB), a sub-carrier group (SCG), a resource element group (REG), a PRB pair, an RB pair, or the like.

[0149] Furthermore, a resource block may be composed of one or more resource elements (REs). For example, one RE may be a radio resource region of one subcarrier and one symbol.

[0150] A Bandwidth Part (BWP), which may also be referred to as a fractional bandwidth, may represent a subset of contiguous common resource blocks (RBs) for a numerology on a carrier, where the common RBs may be identified by the index of the RBs relative to a common reference point of the carrier. PRBs may be defined in a BWP and numbered within the BWP.

[0151] The BWP may include a BWP for UL (UL BWP) and a BWP for DL ​​(DL BWP). One or more BWPs may be configured for a UE within one carrier.

[0152] At least one of the configured BWPs may be active, and the UE may not expect to transmit or receive a given signal / channel outside the active BWP. Note that the terms "cell", "carrier", etc. in this disclosure may be replaced with "BWP".

[0153] The above-mentioned structures of radio frames, subframes, slots, minislots, symbols, etc. are merely examples. For example, the number of subframes included in a radio frame, the number of slots per subframe or radio frame, the number of minislots included in a slot, the number of symbols and RBs included in a slot or minislot, the number of subcarriers included in an RB, the number of symbols in a TTI, the symbol length, the cyclic prefix (CP) length, etc. may be changed in various ways.

[0154] The terms "connected," "coupled," or any variation thereof, refer to any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and may include the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are "connected" or "coupled" to each other. The coupling or connection between elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, "connected" may be read as "access." As used in this disclosure, two elements may be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" to each other using at least one of one or more wires, cables, and printed electrical connections, as well as electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency range, microwave range, and optical (both visible and invisible) range, as some non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples.

[0155] The reference signal may also be abbreviated as Reference Signal (RS), and may be called a pilot depending on the applicable standard.

[0156] As used in this disclosure, the phrase "based on" does not mean "based only on," unless expressly stated otherwise. In other words, the phrase "based on" means both "based only on" and "based at least on."

[0157] The "means" in the configuration of each of the above devices may be replaced with "part," "circuit," "device," etc.

[0158] Any reference to an element using a designation such as "first," "second," etc., used in this disclosure does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations may be used in this disclosure as a convenient way to distinguish between two or more elements. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not imply that only two elements may be employed therein or that the first element must precede the second element in some way.

[0159] When the terms "include," "including," and variations thereof are used in this disclosure, these terms are intended to be inclusive, as is the term "comprising." Further, as used in this disclosure, the term "or" is not intended to be an exclusive or.

[0160] In this disclosure, where articles have been added due to translation, such as a, an, and the in English, the disclosure may include that the nouns following these articles are in the plural form.

[0161] As used in this disclosure, the terms "determining" and "determining" may encompass a wide variety of actions. "Determining" and "determining" may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, search, inquiry (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), ascertaining, and the like. "Determining" and "determining" may also include receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., sending information), input, output, accessing (e.g., accessing data in a memory), and the like. In addition, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc., to be a "judgment" or "decision." In other words, "judgment" and "decision" can include considering some action to be a "judgment" or "decision." In addition, "judgment" can be interpreted as "assuming," "expecting," "considering," etc.

[0162] In the present disclosure, the term "A and B are different" may mean "A and B are different from each other." The term may also mean "A and B are each different from C." Terms such as "separate" and "coupled" may also be interpreted in the same way as "different."

[0163] Although the present disclosure has been described in detail above, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described in the present disclosure. The present disclosure can be implemented in modified and altered forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. Therefore, the description of the present disclosure is intended to be illustrative and does not have any limiting meaning on the present disclosure. [Explanation of symbols]

[0164] 10. Wireless communication systems 20 NG-RAN 30 5GC 35 AMF 100A, 100B gNB 110 Radio transmitter 120 Radio receiver 130 RA Processing Section 140 System information transmission unit 145 Handover processing unit 150 Control section 200UE 210 Radio transmitter 220 Radio receiving unit 225 System Information Reception Unit 230 RA Processing Section 240 Slice Selection 250 Control section 1001 Processor 1002 Memory 1003 Storage 1004 Communication equipment 1005 Input Device 1006 Output device 1007 Bus

Claims

1. A transmitter for transmitting broadcast information to terminals within a cell; a control unit that includes information regarding slices for each frequency supported via the cell in the broadcast information; A radio base station comprising:

2. A transmitter that transmits a message of a radio resource control layer to a terminal in a cell; a control unit for including in the message information regarding slices per frequency supported via the cell; A radio base station comprising:

3. A receiving unit that receives broadcast information broadcast within a cell; a control unit that performs cell selection based on information about slices for each frequency supported via the cell, the slices being included in the broadcast information; A terminal comprising:

4. A receiver for receiving a radio resource control layer message; a control unit that performs cell selection based on information about slices per frequency supported via a camped cell, the information being included in the message; A terminal comprising:

5. A terminal according to claim 3 or 4, The control unit is a terminal that performs cell selection based on information regarding a priority of a frequency and a slice for each frequency.

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