Method, apparatus and system for preventing radio link failure due to shadowing

Abstract

Among other things, a method is disclosed that includes receiving communication reports indicative of information regarding at least one wireless link between a base station of a mobile communication network and a user device, at least some of the communication reports indicating an angle of arrival for each wireless link and an angle of departure for each wireless link, determining shadowing information based at least in part on the communication reports and a location of the base station and a location of the user device, the shadowing information indicating each wireless link and a time when shadowing of each wireless link occurred, and providing the shadowing information if the shadowing information is determined. Further disclosed are apparatus, computer programs, and systems accordingly.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The following disclosure relates to the field of mobile communication networks, and more particularly to preventing radio link failures due to blockages in the radio link. [Background technology]

[0002] Next generation (6G) mobile communications are envisioned to actively localize, i.e., extend the current 5G network, which can only transmit / receive devices, to a physical-biological network, where the mobile network can sense the state and behavior of passive objects in its environment.

[0003] 5G has already introduced Frequency Range 2 (FR2) with higher carrier frequencies, with the 28 GHz mm-wave band being one of the first FR2 frequency bands. 6G is expected to further extend to even higher frequencies in the THz range (>300 GHz). While higher frequency bands enable much larger communication bandwidths and thus much higher throughput, they are increasingly susceptible to occlusion due to reduced diffraction (the "bending" of radio signals around object corners) and increased attenuation by objects. For example, Transmit Receive Points (TRPs) provided by respective base stations and mobiles (e.g., UEs) can thus direct signal energy via beamforming, resulting in a so-called beam-based air interface.

[0004] Narrow transmit (Tx) and receive (Rx) beams, typically with a beam half-power width (HPBW) of only a few degrees, require permanent beam adaptation / refinement to maintain a working communication link between the UE and its serving TRP (e.g., base station) because signal strength can rapidly degrade outside the main lobe of the beam. More importantly, rotation of the object / machine to which the UE is attached (or held by a human) can cause this object (human) to block the communication path between the respective UE and its serving cell / TRP, leading to additional strength attenuation of the signal. Equally, other (passive) objects can block the communication link when they move into the communication path, or vice versa if the UE itself moves behind such a (possibly static) object.

[0005] Currently, beam pairs, e.g., Tx and Rx beam pairs for each base station and each UE, respectively (downlink, or vice versa for uplink), are switched when periodic channel measurements identify that another beam pair is (e.g., sufficiently) better than the current beam pair. This type of reactive beam management works well as long as the link is largely degraded by beam misalignment (slight misalignment), however, it can fail if signal quality degrades rapidly due to obstructions, causing radio link failure (RLF) before the beam is switched.

[0006] One envisioned use case for sensing in 6G is therefore to predict whether passive objects are likely to block any ongoing communication links and to estimate their movements in the near future in order to locate passive objects and proactively switch beams before the link fails.

[0007] For example, when targeting highly reliable and low latency communications (URLLC) in wireless networks (e.g., mobile networks) in the FR2 band, it is possible to mitigate communication interruptions caused by sudden obstruction by (large) objects. One solution is to use dual / multiple connectivity to rely on a fully maintained secondary link to return to during obstruction / failure of the primary link until the beam search / refinement / update procedure restores the primary link. The secondary link can be an FR1 low frequency carrier from the same TRP or another FR2 carrier from a second TRP. Another subject is to proactively switch beams or handover to another TRP before obstruction / obstruction occurs or is about to occur. Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] However, with such active beam switching, and in future sensing-enabled 6G mobile networks, a central entity, hereafter called the Sensing Management Function (SMF), can collect all sensing information and obtain from it a digital twin of the environment the mobile network is located in. However, what sensing does not provide is the communication path between the TRP and the UE in the mobile communication network. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] According to a first exemplary aspect, a method is disclosed, the method comprising: receiving communication reports indicating information about at least one radio link between a base station of a mobile communication network and a user device, at least some of the communication reports indicating an angle of arrival of each radio link and an angle of departure of each radio link; - determining shadowing information based at least in part on the communication reports and on the locations of the base stations and the user devices, the shadowing information indicating each wireless link and a time when the shadowing of each wireless link occurred; providing occlusion information when occlusion information is determined; and Includes:

[0010] The method may, for example, be performed and / or controlled by a device, e.g., a central entity or a server (e.g., a central entity) hosting a function of the mobile communication network. Such a function may be an SMF. Alternatively, the method may be performed and / or controlled by two or more devices, e.g., a server cloud including at least two servers. For example, the method may be performed and / or controlled by using at least one processor of the central entity or server.

[0011] According to a second exemplary aspect, a method is disclosed, the method comprising: - transmitting communication reports indicating information about at least one wireless link between the apparatus and a user device, at least some of the communication reports indicating at least one of an angle of arrival of the respective wireless link or an angle of departure of the respective wireless link; receiving shadowing information indicating each wireless link and the time when the shadowing of each wireless link occurred; If no occlusion information is received, - determining shadowing information based at least in part on the communication reports and the locations of the base stations and the user devices, the shadowing information indicating each wireless link and a time when the shadowing of each wireless link occurred; determining at least one measure to mitigate the shadowing of each wireless link based at least in part on the received or determined shadowing information; - applying at least one of the measures decided upon; and Includes:

[0012] The method may be performed and / or controlled by, for example, an apparatus, for example, a base station such as a gNB or eNB of a mobile communication network, or a base station providing or hosting at least one TRP. For example, the method may be performed and / or controlled by using at least one processor of the base station.

[0013] According to a third exemplary aspect, a method is disclosed, the method comprising: - transmitting communication reports indicating information about at least one radio link between the device and a base station of a mobile communication network, at least some of the communication reports indicating at least one of an angle of arrival of a respective radio link or an angle of departure of a respective radio link; applying at least one measure to mitigate the shadowing of each radio link; Includes:

[0014] The method may for example be performed and / or controlled by an apparatus, such as a user equipment or user device of a mobile communication network, for example the method may be performed and / or controlled by using at least one processor of the user equipment or user device.

[0015] According to a further exemplary aspect, a computer program is disclosed which, when executed by a processor, causes an apparatus, e.g., a server, to perform and / or control operations of the methods according to the first, second and / or third exemplary aspects.

[0016] The computer program can be stored on a computer-readable storage medium, in particular a tangible and / or non-transitory medium. The computer-readable storage medium can be, for example, a disk or a memory. The computer program can be stored on the computer-readable storage medium in the form of instructions that encode the computer-readable storage medium. The computer-readable storage medium can be intended to participate in the operation of a device such as an internal or external memory, for example a read-only memory (ROM) or a hard disk of a computer, or can be intended for distribution of the program, such as an optical disk.

[0017] According to a further exemplary aspect, an apparatus is disclosed that is configured to or includes respective means for performing and / or controlling the methods according to the first, second and / or third exemplary aspects.

[0018] The means of the apparatus may be implemented in hardware and / or software. They may, for example, comprise at least one processor for executing computer program code to perform the required functions and / or at least one memory for storing the program code. Alternatively, they may, for example, comprise circuitry designed to perform the required functions and implemented, for example, in a chipset or chip such as an integrated circuit. Generally, the means may, for example, comprise one or more processing means or processors.

[0019] According to a further exemplary aspect, an apparatus is disclosed that includes at least one processor and at least one memory containing computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code being configured by the at least one processor to cause the apparatus, e.g., the apparatus, to at least perform and / or control a method according to the first, second and / or third exemplary aspect.

[0020] The above-disclosed apparatus according to any aspect can be a module or component of a device, such as a chip. Alternatively, the disclosed apparatus according to any aspect can be a device, such as a server or a server cloud. The disclosed apparatus according to any aspect can include only the disclosed components, such as a means, a processor, and a memory, or can further include one or more additional components.

[0021] According to a further exemplary aspect, a first device according to the first exemplary embodiment disclosed above and a second device according to the second exemplary embodiment disclosed above; - at least one device according to the third exemplary embodiment disclosed above; A system is disclosed comprising:

[0022] According to a further exemplary aspect, a second device according to the second exemplary embodiment disclosed above; and at least one device according to the third exemplary embodiment disclosed above; and A system is disclosed comprising:

[0023] Any disclosure herein relating to any exemplary aspect should be understood to equally disclose any subject matter according to the respective exemplary aspect, e.g., any subject matter relating to an apparatus, a method, a computer program, and a computer-readable medium. Thus, for example, disclosure of method steps should also be considered as disclosure of means for performing and / or configured to perform the respective method steps. Similarly, disclosure of means for performing and / or configured to perform method steps can also be considered as disclosure of the method steps themselves. The same holds true for any passage describing at least one processor, at least one memory including computer program code, and the at least one memory and computer program code configured, by the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to perform at least the steps.

[0024] For convenience, here is a list of the abbreviations used below. 5G (5th Generation) 5GS 5G System 6G 6th generation AMF Access and Mobility Management Functions AoA angle of arrival AoD departure angle BSAI Beam Selection Assistance Information eNB eNodeB (base station) FR1 Frequency Range 1 (cm wave, <7.125GHz) FR2 Frequency Range 2 (mm wave, >24GHz) gNB gNode B (base station) HPBW Half-power beamwidth LMF location management function LoS line of sight MAC Media Access Control NAS non-access layer NCGI NR Cell Global Identity NG-RAN Next generation RAN nLoS (non-line of sight) NR New Radio Communication NRPPa NR Positioning Protocola PHY physical layer RAN Radio Access Network RLF Radio Link Failure RRC Radio Resource Control Rx Receiver / Receiver SAP Sensing Access Point SMF Sensing Management Function SRB Signaling Radio Bearer TDOA Time of Arrival Distance TRP Sending (and) Receiving Point Tx Transmitter / Transmit UE User Equipment (also called mobile device or user device) Exemplary features and exemplary embodiments of all aspects are described in further detail below.

[0025] The UE or user device according to the third exemplary aspect described above also refers to an apparatus according to the third exemplary aspect below. It may be a user device of a mobile communication network (also called a cellular network), for example, a 3G, LTE / 4G, 5GNR, 5G, or 6G network. Furthermore, it may be a mobile or portable device, for example, a handset, a smartphone, a tablet, a laptop, or any other mobile device. In various embodiments, it may be a vehicle that moves in the air, underwater, or on land, for example, an airplane or drone, a ship, a car, or a truck. It may also be a robot, a sensor device, a wearable device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a machine-type communication (TC) device, etc.

[0026] As used herein, each wireless link can be understood as a means of (e.g., wireless) communication between a first entity and a second entity (e.g., a device of the first and / or second exemplary embodiment and a device of the third exemplary embodiment). The communication can be unidirectional or bidirectional. The communication can be established via a mobile communication network or directly between the respective entities via so-called ad-hoc communication. The wireless link can be established via one or more antenna elements or antenna arrays included by or connectable to the respective entities. Each wireless link can be a certain beam that can be radiated (e.g., and therefore received) via one or more antenna elements or antenna panels. Each wireless link can be represented by at least one beam pair, e.g., one beam representing the Tx side of the communication between the entities and one beam representing the Rx side of the communication between the entities. Each wireless link can be identifiable by a respective identifier, ID.

[0027] Each such wireless link may be subject to blockage. Blockage, as used herein, may be caused by a physical barrier of an object (e.g., a wall, a building, a car, a tree, etc.) between the wireless links, where the object attenuates or blocks the radio waves so that the radio waves cannot at least partially pass through, preventing the radio waves of each of the wireless links from taking a direct path through the object. Such an object may be a machine to which the respective user device is attached, or may be a user (human) holding the user device.

[0028] The communication report indicates information about at least one radio link between a base station (e.g., the apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment) and a user device (e.g., the apparatus of the third exemplary embodiment) of a mobile communication network. The communication report is received by the apparatus of the first exemplary embodiment. The apparatus of the first exemplary embodiment may be a function of a mobile communication network, such as an SMF. Such an SMF may be a function of a core network of the mobile communication network, which may optionally be hosted by a central entity. One or more user devices (e.g., the apparatus of the third exemplary embodiment) and one or more base stations (e.g., the apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment) may communicate with each other and / or with such an SMF, for example, to transmit sensing measurements or sensing measurement reports. Such an SMF may be an additional function (e.g., in accordance with the 5GS communication standard) that can communicate with the respective AMF and / or LMF of the mobile communication network as well as a session management function of the overall 5GS architecture (e.g., as disclosed in 3GPP TS23.501). It can be left open whether the apparatus (e.g., SMF) of the first exemplary embodiment can be a separate entity, e.g., having a specific interface with the respective LMF and / or AMF, or whether the apparatus (e.g., SMF) of the first exemplary embodiment can be integrated into the LMF. Both implementation variants are considered to work equally well, since, for example, the application layer protocol (e.g., only) used to transmit (e.g., carry) the relevant messages can be changed. Each such SMF can include or be able to learn about communication links within the mobile communication network and / or can include or be able to inform the respective mobile communication network about (e.g., possible) blockage of one of the respective communication radio links. The communication report can be or be included by a respective signaling message.

[0029] At least some of the communication reports indicate the angle of arrival (AoA) of each radio link and the angle of departure (AoD) of each radio link. For example, a signaling framework such as uplink control information (UCI) in the case of PHY and / or a MAC control element (CE) in the case of MAC layer signaling can be used for communication. Furthermore, respective radio resource control (RRC) information elements transmittable via RRC signaling can be defined such that an apparatus (e.g., a base station such as a gNB) of the second exemplary aspect can configure an apparatus (e.g., a user device) of the third exemplary aspect to provide (e.g., report) the AoA and / or AoD (e.g., in the form of a respective communication report).

[0030] The shadowing information is determined based at least in part on the communication report and the locations of the base stations and the user devices. The locations of the base stations (e.g., the apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment) and / or the locations of the user devices (e.g., the apparatus of the third exemplary embodiment) can be determined or collected (e.g., obtained, for example, via a lookup query of the LMF). The shadowing information indicates each wireless link. For example, the shadowing information can indicate whether each wireless link is affected by shadowing or if it is likely to be affected by shadowing. Thus, the shadowing information can represent a certain probability that can be predicted regarding the determination of the shadowing information.

[0031] Furthermore, the shielding information indicates the time when the shielding of each wireless link occurred. This time may represent, for example, a time predicted by the device of the first exemplary embodiment. The time may be determined (e.g., predicted) together with the determination of the shielding information. Both the time and each wireless link included by the shielding information may represent a current shielding or may represent a future (possible) shielding of the respective wireless link. The latter may be determined or evaluated based on a predetermined threshold, to name a few, but not limited to, examples, to determine whether shielding is likely.

[0032] After the shadowing information is determined, the shadowing information can be provided (e.g., transmitted) to, for example, a base station (e.g., an apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment) and / or a user device (e.g., an apparatus of the third exemplary embodiment). For example, each base station (e.g., an apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment) can then decide (e.g., determine) whether and / or how to mitigate potential shadowing occurring or potentially occurring on each radio link, for example, by determining a respective means. More details in this regard are disclosed below. Additionally or alternatively, an ad-hoc communication reporting procedure can be defined. Such an ad-hoc communication procedure can be performed and / or controlled by providing (and thus receiving) communication reports directly from, for example, the apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment (e.g., a base station) and / or directly from the apparatus of the third exemplary embodiment (e.g., a user device), thus not via a mobile communication network. Furthermore, signaling can be enabled from each base station (e.g., a gNB) and each user device (e.g., via the base station) to each SMF (e.g., an apparatus of the first exemplary embodiment).

[0033] Additionally, ad hoc notification messages may be defined or enabled from each such SMF to each such base station (e.g., gNB).

[0034] The shadowing information may further include, for example, a value indicating how strong each shadowing is or is expected to be. The value may be an integer value between 0 and 1, where 0 may be no shadowing and 1 may be a shadowing blocking all wireless links. For example, a value of 1 may mean that the respective wireless link is subject to full attenuation, e.g., the received signal power is 0 behind the shadowing. Additionally or alternatively, a value may be given as, for example, an estimated additional attenuation caused by the shadowing / blocker (e.g., in dB, e.g., 30 dB for a 1000-fold weaker signal, to name a few non-limiting examples).

[0035] Example embodiments of all exemplary aspects may enable each device (e.g., each SMF) of the first exemplary aspect to assist in beam recovery, e.g., to block one or more radio link failures (RLFs), by providing respective occlusion information.

[0036] For example, beam recovery can be performed by the base station. Example embodiments of all exemplary aspects can target tight communication beams (e.g., beam patterns) with 5G NR TRPs in FR2 due to high antenna element counts (e.g., antenna panels with 64 or more antenna elements) and therefore the FR2 general large carrier bandwidth required for one or more of the example embodiments. Furthermore, these tight communication beams (e.g., only these) used in FR2 can cause some shadowing issues and be subject to RLF in the first place. Example embodiments can be utilized in these situations and represent one example of an applicable scenario.

[0037] According to an exemplary embodiment of the first exemplary aspect, determining the occlusion information further comprises: - Determining whether each wireless link is subject to shading.

[0038] Determining whether each wireless link is subject to obstruction can be performed and / or controlled based at least in part on determining whether each wireless link is a LoS or nLoS wireless link. In the latter case, determining whether each wireless link is subject to obstruction can additionally require determining how much reflection occurs along the communication path, and thus the number of times a wireless signal is reflected along the communication path from the sender to the receiver.

[0039] Such a communication path can be either LoS or nLoS. In the latter case, a wireless signal may be reflected via a single (e.g., cluster) reflector. Such reflections can be characterized by the respective positions of each device (e.g., user device) of the third exemplary embodiment and each TRP (enabled or provided by each device of the second exemplary embodiment), and the respective AoA and AoD of the wireless link as seen from the perspective of the TRP and / or each user device. LoS communication paths may also have reflections of the wireless signal; however, in contrast to nLoS communication paths, at least a portion of the wireless signal can be received without being affected by any reflections. For example, an nLoS communication path with two or more reflections may additionally require that the respective positions of two (e.g., cluster) reflectors can be determined. The respective positions can be determined, for example, by a sensing procedure. For example, such a sensing procedure may include an SMF determining multiple SAPs to enable scanning of an area, requesting a first SAP to receive a probe signal transmitted by a second SAP configured by the SMF to transmit the probe signal, the first SAP transmitting a scan measurement to the SMF after receiving the probe signal to provide information about the area, and the SMF aggregating the scan measurement with other scan measurements from other SAPs to generate a digital twin of the sensed area. Communication paths with three or more reflections may generally be too weak to contribute significant energy and may therefore be ignored. However, it will be appreciated that the number of reflections may not be of further concern as long as sufficient energy is present at the receiver end of each wireless link.

[0040] The AoA and AoD are provided (e.g., reported) to the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect by the apparatus of the third exemplary aspect (e.g., a user device) and / or the apparatus of the second exemplary aspect (e.g., a respective base station such as a gNB that provides a respective TRP) via a presented communication report.

[0041] Both the AoA and AoD can be indicated in the respective communication reports relative to a global coordinate system (e.g., known to all entities) or in a relative manner, e.g., relative to one or more antenna elements or antenna panels of each of the second and / or third exemplary aspects of the respective device. In a relative manner, the orientation of each antenna needs to be known, e.g., by the respective SMF. The AoA and AoD of each radio link can be indicated as beam indices, e.g., which can provide the orientation of one or more antenna elements or antenna panels, and possibly a beam codebook, made known to the first exemplary aspect of the device (e.g., SMF). If such beam codebook may not be known by the first exemplary aspect of the device, the respective beam codebook can be learned from the third exemplary aspect of the device (e.g., user device) and / or the second exemplary aspect of the device (e.g., gNBs with their own TRPs acting as SAPs, e.g., via TRP information request / response messages), to name a few, but not limiting, examples. Each communication report (e.g., in the form of a message or included by such a message) can optionally contain or include one or more locations of the respective device determined by localization. Periodically, such locations can be made known to the device (e.g., SMF) of the first exemplary aspect, for example, from the respective LMFs of the mobile communication network, or because both can be integrated together into a single entity. The respective identities of the device (e.g., each user device) of the third exemplary aspect and / or the device (e.g., each TRP / base station) of the second exemplary aspect can be provided by the respective application layer protocols transported by the interfaces N1 / N2 / NL1. Using at least one of such respective interfaces, each communication report can be provided (e.g., delivered / transmitted) so that the device (e.g., SMF) of the first exemplary aspect can infer the location from which the communication report (e.g., message) originated.This further allows determining which TRP and user device AoA and / or AoD and optionally the location / position of the respective entities (eg, TRP and user device) are related.

[0042] When there may be multiple (e.g., at least two) communication paths between each user device and a base station (e.g., gNB), for example chosen by and unique within each base station, or when there is at most a single communication path per cell (as is the case in current communication standards), additional means for disambiguation can be used by the NG Cell Global Identity (NCGI) (e.g., 3GPP TS23.003).

[0043] According to exemplary embodiments of all exemplary aspects, the communication report further includes at least one of a radio link identifier of the respective radio link or a cell identifier of the cell serving the respective radio link.

[0044] In order to characterize (e.g., future) shadowing of each radio link and to be able to perform and / or control at least one measure to optimally block RLF, each device of the second exemplary aspect corresponding to communication with an apparatus (e.g., a user device) of the third exemplary aspect may benefit from knowing a respective identifier of the radio link, or at least a respective cell identifier of a cell handling the respective radio link, so that each radio link can be determined (e.g., obtained) based at least in part on knowledge of the cell identifier and the entity of the respective radio link. Furthermore, for proactive shadowing mitigation, it may be advantageous for the respective shadowing information to include, in addition to each radio identifier that may be blocked or may be affected by shadowing (e.g., has a certain probability), a time (start time) when each shadowing will or will begin to occur (e.g., is predicted to occur). Each apparatus (e.g., a base station) of the second exemplary aspect can infer a communication path from a user device's (e.g., an apparatus of the third exemplary aspect) specific signaling connection, for example, while receiving the blocking information (e.g., included or represented by a blocking notification message) or via a link identifier that may be included by a communication report if the respective base station has previously included a radio link identifier in its communication report (e.g., message).

[0045] According to an exemplary embodiment of the first exemplary aspect, the communication report is received from a base station, or the communication report is divided into a first communication report received from the base station and a second communication report received from the user device.

[0046] In this case, the communication report can be divided into a first communication report received from a base station (e.g., an apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment) and a second communication report received from a user device (e.g., an apparatus of the third exemplary embodiment). The communication report received from the base station can include information (only) about each wireless link from the perspective of the base station (e.g., the AoA of each wireless link). The communication report received from the user device can include information (only) about each wireless link from the perspective of the user device (e.g., the AoD of each wireless link), to name a few, but not limited to, examples.

[0047] Furthermore, as part of (e.g., continuous) sensing operations that may be performed and / or controlled (e.g., by an apparatus capable of providing communication reports so that the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect can receive the communication reports), for example, within a coverage area of ​​a mobile communication network, sensing-enabled base stations and / or user devices may report sensed objects to the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect (e.g., respective SMFs) according to their respective sensing configurations (e.g., that may be managed by the respective apparatus of the first exemplary aspect, e.g., SMFs). Thus, for example, whenever the respective base stations switch serving beam pairs for the respective user devices, the respective SMFs may be updated with new AoAs and AoDs via respective communication report messages, as disclosed above.

[0048] According to exemplary embodiments of all exemplary aspects, a communication report is transmitted by each UE and / or each base station (e.g., gNB) after the AoA / AoD is changed.

[0049] According to an exemplary embodiment of the first exemplary aspect, the shielding information is determined based on one or more additional communication reports regarding one or more radio links of other respective user devices present in the cell of the respective radio link.

[0050] For example, potential (and, e.g., previously identified) occlusions occurring on each wireless link can be utilized to check whether each occlusion also occurs on each wireless link of at least one other user device (which can also be an apparatus of the third exemplary aspect). Thus, the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect can aggregate information based on, for example, multiple (e.g., at least two) communication reports that the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect may have received from various entities.

[0051] According to exemplary embodiments of all exemplary aspects, the occlusion information includes one or more of the following information: - the location of the shielding, - the dimensions of the shielding, - the velocity of the occlusion, including its direction, e.g., represented by a vector; - the angular range of occlusion, e.g., with respect to angles of arrival and / or angles of departure, as seen by each base station and / or each user device; - duration of occlusion, -Signal attenuation due to obstructions.

[0052] One or more of the above information that may be included by the occlusion information (e.g., each) may include the uncertainty of the determined estimation / prediction, e.g., as an integer value between at least 0 and 1, to name a few non-limiting examples.

[0053] Optionally, each occlusion information (e.g., blocker notification message) may include or contain information, hereinafter also referred to as beam selection assistance information (BSAI), to further assist in determining (e.g., determined by the device of the second exemplary aspect) at least one action, such as selecting a new wireless link or, to name a few, but not limited to, a wireless link that will not be immediately affected by the occlusion.

[0054] As briefly described above, in accordance with a method that can be performed and / or controlled by the first exemplary embodiment apparatus, the second exemplary embodiment apparatus can transmit a respective communication report indicating information regarding at least one wireless link between the second exemplary embodiment apparatus and a user device (e.g., a third exemplary embodiment apparatus). In response to the transmitted communication report, for example, if the first exemplary embodiment apparatus determines that a respective wireless link served by the second exemplary embodiment apparatus has experienced or is likely to experience a shadowing, the second exemplary embodiment apparatus can receive shadowing information. Alternatively, if the second exemplary embodiment apparatus does not receive such shadowing information, the second exemplary embodiment apparatus can determine the shadowing information itself. In this case, the shadowing information can be determined at least in part based on the communication report transmitted by the second exemplary embodiment apparatus (e.g., because the communication report may include, for example, the AoA / AoD of each wireless link), the location of the second exemplary embodiment apparatus, and the location of the user device (e.g., a third exemplary embodiment apparatus). The determined shadowing information indicates the respective wireless links and the time at which shadowing of the respective wireless links occurred, or the time at which shadowing was determined to occur with a certain probability, as disclosed above with respect to the first exemplary embodiment.

[0055] The apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment further determines at least one action. Each such at least one action can be, for example, a possible beam switch utilized by the wireless link, whereby the wireless link is radiated and received from a different AoA / AoD. Furthermore, the at least one action can be, for example, a possible handover to be performed to mitigate the shadowing of each wireless link represented by the received or determined shadowing information. The apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment then applies the determined at least one action.

[0056] According to an exemplary embodiment of the second exemplary aspect, the method further comprises: receiving from a user device (e.g., via PHY or MAC signaling) at least one of an angle of arrival or an angle of departure for each wireless link; - aggregating at least one of the angles of arrival or departure for each received wireless link into a communication report, the communication report being aggregated such that the communication report further includes at least one of the angles of arrival or departure and an identifier of each wireless link used by the device.

[0057] In a first variant, for example, the AoA may be received by the apparatus of the second exemplary aspect from a respective user device (e.g., the apparatus of the third exemplary aspect) as, for example, part of PHY or MAC signaling. This may be performed and / or controlled, for example, by the apparatus of the second exemplary aspect, for example, by a previous RRC configuration. The apparatus of the second exemplary aspect may further aggregate the received AoA together with the AoD and a radio link identifier (ID) into a single communication report (e.g., included by a respective message) and transmit the respective communication report to the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect (e.g., a respective SMF).

[0058] According to exemplary embodiments of all exemplary aspects, the communication report includes multiple sets (eg, at least two) of information regarding multiple wireless links.

[0059] Each communication report may contain or include multiple (e.g., at least two) sets of AoAs, AoDs (e.g., as beam pairs) and respective Radio Link IDs. One such set may therefore relate to one (e.g., switched) beam pair served by the apparatus of the second exemplary aspect. The actual information contained by or within the communication report may be different from the unchanged information, which may, for example, be omitted, and / or the AoA / AoD may be differentially coded such that the AoA / AoD value represents a value difference from the respective last communication report transmitted by the apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment, or the respective radio link ID may be omitted if there is a single communication path (e.g., only this one) between the apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment and the respective user device, to name just a few examples of variations that the apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment may perform and / or control when transmitting a communication report, such as a very initial or repeated transmission of a communication report intended to perform and / or control a status update of one or more respective radio links served by the apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment.

[0060] In a second variant, the user device can directly transmit (e.g., send) a communication report, for example, as an NAS message (e.g., via the N1 interface). This can be a first communication report of a communication report that can be divided as disclosed above. The apparatus of the second exemplary aspect can then include a unique AoD in the communication report (e.g., via the N2 interface). If there can be multiple active / serving communication paths between the apparatus of the second exemplary aspect and the user device, each (e.g., both) such communication report can include or contain the NCGI of the cell (e.g., and thereby the TRP) where a beam switch may have occurred for disambiguation purposes.

[0061] It will be understood that the apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment may receive the respective shielding information if and / or at a time (e.g., only) when the apparatus of the first exemplary embodiment determines the respective shielding information and provides the respective shielding information to the apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment. Thus, if the respective shielding information is not received, each of determining at least one action and applying at least one action may not be performed by the apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment. Alternatively, if the respective shielding information is received and the received shielding information does not indicate a respective shielding that may occur for the respective wireless link, each of determining at least one action and applying at least one action may not be performed by the apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment.

[0062] The apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment may be a sensing-enabled base station. Such a sensing-enabled base station (e.g., gNB) may, for example, rely on its own sensing to detect one or more possible occlusions. For example, the apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment may transmit (e.g., provide) via PHY or MAC signaling, as disclosed above, the respective positions / locations of user devices (e.g., provided via existing standardized positioning via the LMF of the mobile communication network, etc.) and the AoA seen by the user devices.

[0063] According to an exemplary embodiment of the second exemplary aspect, if at least one of the angles of arrival or departure (e.g., values) for the respective radio links is not received from the user device (e.g., prior to transmission of the communication report), the communication report further includes a cell identifier of the cell serving the respective radio link. Such respective communication report can be transmitted directly to the apparatus (e.g., SMF) of the first exemplary aspect.

[0064] The apparatus of the third exemplary aspect (e.g., a respective user device) transmits (e.g., to the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect (e.g., a respective SMF) and / or to the apparatus of the second exemplary aspect (e.g., a respective base station)) respective communication reports received by the apparatus of the first exemplary aspect and / or the apparatus of the second exemplary aspect, at least some of the communication reports indicating at least one of an angle of arrival of a respective wireless link or an angle of departure of a respective wireless link.

[0065] Based on the transmitted (e.g., provided) communication report, the apparatus of the third exemplary aspect can be triggered to perform and / or control at least one action. The at least one action can be at least one action provided by the apparatus of the second exemplary aspect. Thus, the apparatus of the third exemplary aspect can apply at least one action when necessary to mitigate the shadowing of the respective wireless link. The apparatus of the third exemplary aspect can, for example, apply at least one action to perform and / or control beam switching of the respective wireless link, or to participate in or be handed over to a different cell for the respective wireless link, to name a few non-limiting examples.

[0066] According to an exemplary embodiment of the third exemplary aspect, if at least one of the angles of arrival or departure for the respective radio links is not transmitted to the base station, the communication report includes a cell identifier of the cell handling the respective radio link, in which case the respective communication report can be transmitted directly to the device of the first exemplary aspect.

[0067] It should be understood that the offerings in this section are merely examples and not limitations.

[0068] The features and example embodiments described above may equally relate to different aspects.

[0069] Other features will become apparent from the following detailed description considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood, however, that the drawings are drawn for purposes of illustration only and not as a definition of limitations, to which reference must be made to the appended claims. It should be further understood that the drawings are not drawn to scale and that they are merely intended to conceptually illustrate the structures and procedures described herein. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0070] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a system according to an exemplary aspect. [Figure 2] 3 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment of a method according to a first exemplary aspect; [Figure 3] 4 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment of a method according to a second exemplary aspect. [Figure 4] 10 is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment of a method according to a third exemplary aspect. [Figure 5] 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a system according to an exemplary aspect. [Figure 6] 1 is a signaling flow diagram illustrating an example embodiment in accordance with all exemplary teachings. [Figure 7] 10 is another signaling flow diagram illustrating an example embodiment according to the second and third exemplary aspects; [Figure 8] 1 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus configured to perform a method according to the first, second or third exemplary aspect; DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0071] The following discussion will be helpful in providing a better understanding and is understood to supplement the discussion set forth in the Summary section of this specification above and should be read in conjunction with the Summary section.

[0072] FIG. 1 is a high-level schematic block diagram illustrating a system 100 according to an exemplary embodiment.

[0073] The system 100 includes a user device 130 (e.g., an apparatus of the third exemplary embodiment) and a base station 120 (e.g., an apparatus of the second exemplary embodiment), which provides a TRP here. The user device 130 and the base station 120 can communicate with each other via a mobile communication network (not shown). Part of such a mobile communication network can be an SMF (e.g., an apparatus of the first exemplary embodiment not shown in FIG. 1 , see FIG. 5 which is shown). As shown in FIG. 1 , two potential blockages 140-1 and 140-2 are blocking the LoS wireless link between the user device 130 and the base station 120. The blockage 140-1 is currently between the wireless link established between the user device 130 and the base station 120 and blocks the LoS, thereby causing the wireless link established between the user device 130 and the base station 120 to be nLoS. The blockage 140-2 is not between the wireless links indicated by the dashed and solid arrows pointing to the user device 130 and the base station 120. As indicated by the arrows of the obstructions 140-1 and 140-2, each obstruction may move in a fixed direction, rotate, or a combination thereof. For example, the obstruction 140-1 moves in the direction of the wireless link indicated by the solid line representing the current wireless link. The obstruction 140-2 may move between the solid wireless links, and therefore, at least one action may be taken to prevent the obstruction of the wireless link from occurring. Such at least one action may be a beam pattern switch, as indicated by the two dashed arrows of the wireless link between the user device 130 and the base station 120. This action is indicated by a rounded dashed arrow pointing from the two solid arrows of the wireless link to the two dashed arrows, and the rounded dashed arrow is shown for both the wireless links of the user device 130 and the base station 120. Furthermore, the obstruction 140-2 may also move between the wireless links between the user device 130 and the base station 120. Reflections (eg, walls or objects) 110-1 and 110-2 may reflect the wireless link, thereby establishing communication between the user device 130 and the base station 120 via the wireless link as nLoS communication.

[0074] For example, to enable the above-described switching to occur, an embodiment of an example according to all exemplary aspects may enable the SMF of the mobile communication network to receive communication reports from the user device 130 and / or from the base station 120, the communication reports indicating information regarding at least one radio link between the base station 120 of the mobile communication network and the user device 130, at least some of the communication reports indicating an angle of arrival and an angle of departure of each radio link, as indicated by two arrows starting from the user device 130 and the base station 120 and returning to the user device 130 and the base station 120 at a certain angle. Based on the received communication reports, shadowing information is determined. The communication reports are further determined based on the location of the base station 120 and the location of the user device 130, and the shadowing information indicates each radio link and the time when shadowing of each radio link occurred. The determined shadowing information is then provided to, for example, the base station 120, to mitigate potential shadowing. The base station 120 decides to take at least one measure, here, a switch in the beam pattern used for each radio link.

[0075] For example, when targeting highly reliable and low latency communication (URLLC) in wireless networks in the FR2 band, communication interruptions must be mitigated. Such interruptions may be due to sudden obstruction by one or more (e.g., large) objects, such as obstructions 140-1 and 140-2. One solution may be to use dual / multiple connectivity to recover during the obstruction / failure of the primary link and rely on a fully maintained secondary link until the beam search / refinement / update procedure restores the primary link. The secondary link may be a low-frequency carrier in FR1 from the same TRP or another FR2 carrier from a second TRP. This obviously has drawbacks, such as increased power consumption and blocking of resources available to parts of the mobile communication network. Example embodiments of all exemplary aspects provide at least one measure to proactively switch beams or handover to another TRP before obstruction occurs.

[0076] A sensing-enabled mobile communication network (e.g., 6G), and in particular a central entity (e.g., an apparatus of the first exemplary aspect, such as a Sensing Management Function (SMF)), can collect (e.g., all) sensing information and from this derive a digital twin of the environment in which the mobile communication network is located. However, what sensing does not provide is the TRP (e.g., hosted by each base station 120) and / or the communication paths between the base stations (e.g., base stations 120) and user devices (e.g., user devices 130) of the mobile communication network. Furthermore, when the SMF determines that a communication path in the digital twin may soon be blocked, the SMF may have the ability to influence the communication path to mitigate the predicted obstruction. While determining the position and movement of an object via sensing is straightforward, determining the effective attenuation that an object may cause to a signal when it crosses a communication path is relatively difficult. However, effective attenuation is not required for all exemplary embodiment of the exemplary aspect.

[0077] Furthermore, for example, in a 5G mobile communication network, a respective Location Management Function (LMF) maintains the location of such TRPs and user devices, for example, by an active positioning method (such as TDOA). The SMF maintains the location of passive (non-communicating) objects by sensing. The LMF and SMF can be integrated or can be separate entities. If the LMF and SMF are separate, it can be advantageous for the SMF to determine the location of (e.g., all) TRPs and user devices for the purpose of determining (e.g., all) communication paths. This can be provided to the SMF either by the LMF, for example, by defining respective interfaces and protocols between the LMF and SMF, or by the base station, for example, by extending communication report messages (e.g., communication reports of all exemplary aspects) with the location of one or more of the TRPs and user devices.

[0078] Such an example embodiment may have the advantage of minimal impact on standardization, as only (e.g., only) PHY or MAC signaling to convey the AoA of the user device is required to be standardized, but may not have the benefit of occlusion prediction, such as only (e.g., only) passive objects that may be used by the gNB itself and objects that have a free LoS path between the occlusion / object and (one of) the base station's TRPs being taken into account.

[0079] 2 is a flow chart 200 illustrating an example embodiment of a method according to the first exemplary aspect, which may be performed, for example, by an SMF of a mobile communication network.

[0080] In a first step 201, a communication report is received. The communication report indicates information about at least one wireless link between a base station (e.g., base station 120 of FIG. 1) and a user device (e.g., user device 130 of FIG. 1) of the mobile communication network, at least a portion of the communication report indicating an angle of arrival for each wireless link and an angle of departure for each wireless link. The communication report can be obtained (e.g., received) from the base station and / or the user device.

[0081] In a second step 202, shadowing information is determined. The shadowing information is determined based at least in part on the communication reports, the locations of the base stations and the locations of the user devices, and the shadowing information indicates each wireless link and the time when shadowing of each wireless link occurred.

[0082] In a third step, the determined shadowing information is provided, for example by transmitting the determined shadowing information to, for example, a base station.

[0083] 3 is a flow chart 300 illustrating an example embodiment of a method according to the second exemplary aspect, which may be performed, for example, by a base station of a mobile communication network (e.g., base station 120 of FIG. 1).

[0084] In a first step 301, a communication report is transmitted, for example, to an SMF (e.g., an apparatus of the first exemplary aspect). Additionally or alternatively, such a communication report may be received from a user device (e.g., user device 130 of FIG. 1 ), for example, via MAC / PHY signaling. The communication report indicates information regarding at least one wireless link between the apparatus executing flowchart 300 and the user device (e.g., user device 130 of FIG. 1 ), at least some of the communication reports indicating at least one of an angle of arrival of the respective wireless link or an angle of departure of the respective wireless link.

[0085] In a second step 302a, the shadowing information is received. The shadowing information may be received from the respective SMF. In addition to or as an alternative to step 302a, for example, if the shadowing information is not received (e.g., from the SMF), in step 302b, the device executing and / or controlling flowchart 300 may determine the respective shadowing information. To this end, optionally, the respective communication reports may be received from the user devices.

[0086] The shadowing information is determined based at least in part on the communication reports also sent in step 301, the location of the base station and the location of the user device.

[0087] In a third step 303, at least one action to mitigate the shadowing of the respective radio link is determined. The at least one action is determined based at least in part on the received shadowing information (see step 302a) or at least in part on the determined shadowing information (see step 302b). Additionally or alternatively, the shadowing information may be received, but the base station may decide (e.g., decide) not to mitigate the predicted shadowing because, for example, there is no data to send to the user device and / or the user device may (or was) in RRC_INACTIVE state and / or no alternative is available and / or it accepts the risk of shadowing when the shadowing information indicates high uncertainty (e.g., and the quality of service requirements of the user device can tolerate a certain probability of failure), to name a few non-limiting examples.

[0088] In a fourth step 304, at least one determined measure is applied, for example, switching the respective beam or handing over the respective radio link to another cell, to name a few, but not limited to, examples.

[0089] 4 is a flow chart 400 illustrating an example embodiment of a method according to the third exemplary aspect, which may be performed, for example, by a user device of a mobile communication network (e.g., user device 130 of FIG. 1).

[0090] In a first step 401, a communication report is transmitted. The communication report may be transmitted to a base station (e.g., base station 120 of FIG. 1) and / or to an SMF (not shown in FIG. 1) of the mobile communication network. At least a portion of the communication report indicates at least one of the angle of arrival of the respective radio link or the angle of departure of the respective radio link and the cell identifier of the cell handling the respective radio link between the device performing and / or controlling flowchart 400 and the base station. The communication report may be transmitted via PHY and / or MAC signaling.

[0091] In a second step 402, at least one action is applied, the at least one action being applied to mitigate the shadowing of the respective radio link. To this end, a device executing and / or controlling flowchart 400 may receive instructions (e.g., via PHY or MAC or RRC signaling) that may trigger the application of the at least one action.

[0092] FIG. 5 illustrates one or more parts of the current 3GPP 5G System (5GS) architecture as amended by sensing access points (SAPs) and respective SMFs of entities involved in sensing (e.g., the device of the first exemplary aspect, as well as the session management functions of the overall 5G architecture contained by 3GPP TS23.501), which may be utilized by example embodiments of all exemplary aspects.

[0093] The system 500 of FIG. 5 can enable implementation of all exemplary aspects. The system 500 includes a user device 530 (e.g., an apparatus of the third exemplary aspect), a radio access network (RAN) 550, an AMF 560 having connections to an SMF 561 (e.g., an apparatus of the first exemplary aspect), and an LMF 562. The RAN 550 is a next-generation (NG) RAN and includes two exemplary base stations (e.g., an apparatus of the second exemplary aspect), gNB 520-1 and gNB 520-2, where gNB 520-1 hosts two TRPs as SAPs. The lines connecting different entities / parts shown in FIG. 5 have respective interface reference signs on each illustrated line, highlighting in an exemplary manner which of the respective interfaces can be used for communication of the connected entities via each line. For example, gNB 520-1 and gNB-2 can communicate via an Xn interface. Each of gNB 520-1 and gNB 520-2 can communicate with AMF 560 via the N2 / NG-C interface. UE 530 can communicate with gNB 520-1, which hosts the respective cell in which UE 530 is located, via the uU interface, for example, and can further communicate with AMF 560 via the N1-interface. AMF 560 can communicate with LMF 562 via the NL1-interface, and LMF 562 can also have access to the NL7 interface. The same can apply to SMF 561, especially if LMF 562 and SMF 561 are integrated as a single entity. Furthermore, if SMF and LMF are not integrated, it is assumed that the respective equivalents of interfaces NL1 and NL7 are defined for AMF-SMF and SMF-SMF communication, respectively.

[0094] A sensing-enabled user device ("UE", e.g., an apparatus of the third exemplary aspect) and a base station ("gNB", e.g., an apparatus of the second exemplary aspect) act as SAPs and communicate with the SMF to report sensing measurements, e.g., according to previous configuration and sensing requests by the SMF. Whether the SMF is a separate entity with its own interface with the LMF and Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), or is integrated into the LMF, makes no difference for all exemplary embodiment examples, although the respective application layers (e.g., just) the interfaces carrying such messages may be slightly different.

[0095] Figure 6 shows a signaling flow diagram of an example embodiment according to all exemplary aspects. Figure 6 shows the interaction of three entities included by a system 600 according to all exemplary aspects. System 600 includes an SMF 660 (e.g., an apparatus according to a first exemplary aspect), a gNB 620 (e.g., an apparatus according to a second exemplary aspect), and a UE 630 (e.g., an apparatus according to a third exemplary aspect).

[0096] Both the UE 630 and the gNB 620 provide sensing measurement reports to the SMG 660. As part of their (e.g., continuous) sensing operations within the coverage area of ​​the RAN, sensing-enabled gNBs and UEs report sensed objects to the SMF according to their respective sensing configurations (e.g., managed by the SMF). Whenever the gNB switches the serving beam pair for the UE, the SMF is updated with the new AoA and AoD via a communication report message.

[0097] Thus, for example, if the sensing beam pair utilized for each radio link between the gNB 620 and the UE 630 is modified, in variant a) a respective communication report is transmitted from the gNB 620 to the SMF 660. To be able to transmit the communication report to the SMF 660, the gNB 630 may receive another communication report from the UE 630 indicating the AoA of each radio link. This communication report may be provided by the UE 630 to the gNB 620 via PHY or MAC signaling. The gNB 620 may have previously configured the UE 630 to do this, for example via RRC signaling, to name a few non-limiting examples. The communication report sent by gNB620 to SMF660 may be the result of aggregation performed and / or controlled by gNB630, which aggregates the AoA received from UE630 with the known AoD of each radio link and the respective radio link ID, and includes this in the communication report that is then sent from gNB630 to SMF660.

[0098] Thus, the AoA from the UE 630 can be reported to the gNB 620 as part of PHY or MAC signaling, for example, according to a previous RRC configuration (not shown) by the gNB 620. The gNB 620 can then aggregate the AoA with the AoD and link ID into a single communication report message to the SMF 660. The communication report can include multiple sets of (link ID, AoD, AoA), one set for each switched beam pair. The actual information in the communication report can be different; for example, information that did not change can be omitted and / or the angle can be separately coded as a difference from the last communication report, or the link ID can be omitted if there is only one communication path between the gNB 620 and the UE 630.

[0099] In addition to or as an alternative to variant a), in variant b), which can be performed and / or controlled by system 600, gNB 630 may not aggregate the AoA, AoD and respective radio link IDs into a communication report, but the communication report received by SMF 660 is split into a first communication report, which is then sent from UE 630 to SMF 660, and a second communication report, which is sent from gNB 630 to SMF 660. The communication report of UE 630 includes a cell identifier, here the NCGI and AoA of the respective radio link, and correspondingly, the communication report provided by gNB 620 also includes a cell identifier, here the NCGI and AoD of the respective radio link, which allows SMF 660 to merge the two communication reports.

[0100] Thus, in variant b), the UE 630 directly sends the respective communication report message, for example as a NAS message (e.g., via the N1 interface), and the gNB 630 includes in its communication report (e.g., via the N2 interface) its specific AoD (e.g., only). If there are multiple active / serving communication paths between the gNB 620 and the UE 630, both respective communication reports include the NCGI of the respective cell (and thereby the TRP) if a beam switch has occurred for disambiguation purposes.

[0101] Based on the received communication reports, the SMF 660 determines respective occlusion information ("predicted occlusion") and provides the determined occlusion information (e.g., as a respective occlusion notification) to, for example, the gNB 620, including, for example, a radio link identifier, a cell identifier NCGI, a respective start time of the occlusion, one or more parameters as respective beam selection assistance information (BSAI), or a combination thereof.

[0102] Optionally, each blocker notification message may include information called BSAI to further assist in the respective selection of a suitable new communication link, e.g., a link that will not be immediately blocked.

[0103] An example of such an optional BSAI is: -Blocker position and blocker dimensions (e.g. bounding box / cuboid, or generally a polyhedron), - the velocity of the blocker (e.g., including its direction as a vector), - the angular range of the blocked AoA and / or AoD (as seen by the gNB and / or UE); - duration of occlusion, - signal attenuation, (e.g., each) may have estimation / prediction uncertainty.

[0104] The gNB 620 determines at least one action based at least in part on the received occlusion information, for example, by determining whether and / or how to mitigate each occlusion indicated in the occlusion information. The at least one action can then be finally applied by the gNB 620 and the UE 630 (see "Possible Beam Switch / Handover" in FIG. 6).

[0105] FIG. 7 illustrates another signaling flow diagram of an example embodiment according to all exemplary aspects.

[0106] 7 illustrates the interaction of two entities included by a system 700 of all exemplary aspects. The system 700 includes a gNB 720 (e.g., an apparatus of a second exemplary aspect) and a UE 730 (e.g., an apparatus of a third exemplary aspect). In this example embodiment, the gNB 720 can perform and / or control one or more functions that can also be performed and / or controlled by a respective SMF (e.g., an apparatus of a first exemplary aspect) of a respective mobile communication network.

[0107] In system 700, the sensing-enabled gNB 720 may rely (e.g., solely) on its own sensing to detect possible obstructions / blockers, e.g., associated with the position / location of the UE 730. The position of the UE 730 may be provided via standardized positioning (e.g., via the respective LMF, see LMF 562 in FIG. 5) and the AoA of the UE 730, which the UE 730 may provide via PHY or MAC signaling, e.g., as described with respect to FIG. 6.

[0108] Compared to system 600 of Figure 6, system 700 may have reduced or minimal impact on standardization if (e.g., only) PHY or MAC signaling for conveying the AoA of UE 730 is standardized. However, if (e.g., only) passive occlusions / objects that can be sensed by the gNB 720 itself are taken into account, i.e., if (e.g., only) objects with a free LoS path between the occlusion / object and (e.g., one) gNB 720's TRP, the occlusion information may be inferior compared to system 600 of Figure 6.

[0109] 8 is a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 800 according to the first, second, or third exemplary aspects. The apparatus 800 may represent a respective central entity such as an SMF (see SMF 660 in FIG. 6), a respective user device (see UE 630 in FIG. 6), or a respective base station (see gNB 620 in FIG. 6), to name a few non-limiting examples. Equivalent entities disclosed with respect to, for example, FIGS. 1 to 7 may also be represented by the apparatus 800.

[0110] The apparatus 800 includes a processor 801, a program memory 802, a main memory 803, a communication interface 804, and a user interface 805. In various embodiments, the apparatus 800 further includes units, parts, or structural and / or functional elements. In various embodiments, the apparatus 800 is a user equipment, for example, a user equipment of a cellular network such as 5G NR.

[0111] The apparatus 800 may be configured to perform and / or control or include respective means (at least one of 801 to 805) for performing and / or controlling and / or configured to perform a method according to the first or second or third exemplary aspect. The apparatus 800 may in turn constitute an apparatus including at least one processor 801 and at least one memory 802 comprising computer program code, the at least one memory 802 and the computer program code being configured by the at least one processor 801 to cause an apparatus, e.g., the apparatus 800, to at least perform and / or control a method according to the first or second or third exemplary aspect.

[0112] The processor 801 may further control the memories 802 to 803 and / or the communication interface 904, for example.

[0113] The processor 801 is capable of executing computer program code stored in a program memory 802, which may represent, for example, a computer-readable storage medium containing program code, which, when executed by the processor 801, causes the processor 801 to perform a method according to the first, second or third exemplary aspect.

[0114] Processor 801 (and any other processors referred to in this specification) can be any suitable type of processor. Processor 801 can include, but is not limited to, one or more microprocessors, one or more processors with one or more digital signal processors, one or more processors without digital signal processors, one or more special-purpose computer chips, one or more field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), one or more controllers, one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), or one or more computers. The associated structure / hardware is programmed in a manner to perform the described functions. Processor 801 can be, for example, an application processor running an operating system.

[0115] The program memory 802 may also be included in the processor 801. This memory may, for example, be fixedly connected to the processor 801 or may be at least partially removable from the processor 801, for example in the form of a memory card or stick. The program memory 802 may, for example, be a non-volatile memory. The program memory 801 may, for example, be a FLASH memory (or a portion thereof), a ROM, PROM, EPROM and EEPROM memory (or a portion thereof), or a hard disk (or a portion thereof), to name a few examples. The program memory 802 may also include an operating system for the processor 801. The program memory 802 may also include firmware for the device 800.

[0116] The device 800 may include working or main memory 803, for example, in the form of volatile memory. The device 800 may be, for example, random access memory (RAM) or dynamic RAM (DRAM), to name a few non-limiting examples. The device 800 may be used by the processor 801, for example, when executing an operating system and / or computer programs.

[0117] The data memory (not shown) can be, for example, a non-volatile memory, for example, a FLASH memory (or a portion thereof), a ROM, PROM, EPROM and EEPROM memory (or a portion thereof), or a hard disk (or a portion thereof), to name a few examples.

[0118] The communication interface 804 enables the device 800 to communicate with other entities, such as one or more of devices 120, and / or 130 of Figure 1, and / or one or more of devices 530, 550, 560 of Figure 5, and / or one or more of devices 620, 630, 660 of Figure 6, and / or one or more of devices 720 or 730 of Figure 7, and / or other network devices, for example, of the same network, for example, a mobile communication network. The communication interface 804 may include, for example, a wireless interface (e.g., a cellular wireless communication interface and / or a WLAN interface) and / or a wirebound interface (e.g., an IP-based interface), for example, to communicate with entities via the Internet or a network backbone, for example, a 5G NR or 6G backbone, to name a few non-limiting examples.

[0119] The sensors (not shown) are optional and may include, for example, a gyroscope, a global positioning system sensor, or a received signal strength sensor.

[0120] User interface 805 is optional and may include a display for displaying information to a user and / or an input device (e.g., a keyboard, keypad, touchpad, mouse, etc.) for receiving information from a user.

[0121] Some or all of the components of the device 800 may be connected, for example, via a bus. Some or all of the components of the device 800 may be combined, for example, into one or more modules.

[0122] Furthermore, at least the following embodiments should be considered to be specifically disclosed:

[0123] Embodiment 1 receiving communication reports indicating information about at least one radio link between a base station of a mobile communication network and a user device, at least some of the communication reports indicating an angle of arrival of each radio link and an angle of departure of each communication link; - determining shadowing information based at least in part on the communication reports and on the locations of the base stations and the user devices, the shadowing information indicating each wireless link and a time when the shadowing of each wireless link occurred; - providing occlusion information when occlusion information is determined; A method comprising:

[0124] Embodiment 2 2. The method of embodiment 1, wherein determining the obstruction information further comprises determining whether each wireless link is subject to obstruction.

[0125] Embodiment 3 3. The method of embodiment 1 or embodiment 2, wherein the communication report further includes at least one of a radio link identifier of each radio link or a cell identifier of a cell serving each radio link.

[0126] Embodiment 4 A method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 3, wherein the communication report is received from a base station, or the communication report is split into a first communication report received from the base station and a second communication report received from the user device.

[0127] Embodiment 5 A method as described in any of embodiments 1 to 4, wherein the shadowing information is determined based on one or more additional communication reports regarding one or more radio links of other respective user devices present in the cell of each radio link.

[0128] Embodiment 6 - transmitting communication reports indicating information regarding at least one wireless link between the base station and the user device, at least some of the communication reports indicating at least one of an angle of arrival of the respective wireless link or an angle of departure of the respective wireless link; receiving shadowing information indicating each wireless link and the time when the shadowing of each wireless link occurred; and / or If no occlusion information is received, - determining shadowing information based at least in part on the communication reports and the locations of the base stations and the user devices, the shadowing information indicating each wireless link and a time when the shadowing of each wireless link occurred; determining at least one measure to mitigate the shadowing of each wireless link based at least in part on the received or determined shadowing information; - applying at least one of the measures decided upon; and A method comprising:

[0129] Embodiment 7 receiving (e.g., from a user device) at least one of an angle of arrival or an angle of departure for each wireless link; aggregating the received at least one of the angles of arrival or departure for each wireless link into a communication report, the communication report being aggregated such that the communication report further includes the at least one angle of arrival or angle of departure used (e.g., by a base station or device performing and / or controlling the method) and an identifier of the respective wireless link; 8. The method of embodiment 7, further comprising:

[0130] Embodiment 8 The method of embodiment 6 or embodiment 7, wherein if at least one of the angles of arrival or departure for each radio link is not received (e.g., from a user device), the communication report further includes a cell identifier of the cell handling the respective radio link.

[0131] Embodiment 9 - transmitting communication reports indicating information about at least one radio link between the user device and a base station of the mobile communication network, at least some of the communication reports indicating at least one of an angle of arrival of the respective radio link or an angle of departure of the respective radio link; applying at least one measure to mitigate the shadowing of each radio link; A method comprising:

[0132] Embodiment 10 A method as described in embodiment 9, wherein if at least one of the angles of arrival or departure for each radio link is not transmitted (e.g., to a base station), the communication report includes a cell identifier of the cell handling the respective radio link.

[0133] Embodiment 11 A first device comprising respective means for carrying out the method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 5.

[0134] Embodiment 12 A first device including at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause at least the device to perform and / or control a method according to any one of embodiments 1 to 5.

[0135] Embodiment 13 A second device comprising respective means for carrying out the method according to any one of embodiments 6 to 8.

[0136] Embodiment 14 A second device including at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause at least the device to perform and / or control a method according to any one of embodiments 6 to 8.

[0137] Embodiment 15 A third device comprising respective means for carrying out the method according to any of embodiments 9-10.

[0138] Embodiment 16 A third device including at least one processor and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause at least the device to perform and / or control a method according to any one of embodiments 9 to 10.

[0139] Embodiment 17 A computer program that, when executed by a processor, causes an apparatus, for example an apparatus according to any of embodiments 11 to 16, to perform and / or control the operations and / or steps of the method according to any of embodiments 1 to 10.

[0140] Embodiment 18 A computer program product comprising a computer program according to embodiment 17.

[0141] Embodiment 20 a first device according to at least one of embodiments 11 or 12 and a second device according to at least one of embodiments 13 or 14; a third device according to at least any of embodiments 15 or 16; and A system comprising:

[0142] Embodiment 21 a second device according to at least any of embodiments 13 or 14; and a third device according to at least any of embodiments 15 or 16; and A system comprising:

[0143] Any presented connections in the described embodiments should be understood herein to be in the manner in which the involved components are operatively coupled. Thus, connections may be direct or indirect with any number or combination of intervening components, and may simply be functional relationships between components.

[0144] Furthermore, any of the methods, processes, and operations described or illustrated herein may be implemented using executable instructions stored on a computer-readable storage medium (e.g., disk, memory, etc.) that reside on and are executed by a general-purpose or special-purpose processor. References to a "computer-readable storage medium" should be understood to include special-purpose circuitry such as FPGAs, ASICs, signal processing devices, and other devices.

[0145] The expression "A and / or B" is considered to include any one of the following three scenarios: (i) A, (ii) B, and (iii) A and B. The expression "at least one of A or B," which has the same meaning as the expression "A and / or B," is also used herein. Furthermore, the article "a" should not be understood as "one," i.e., the use of the expression "an element" does not exclude the presence of further elements. The word "comprising" should be understood in an open sense, i.e., an object "comprising element A" can also include other elements in addition to element A.

[0146] It will be understood that all presented embodiments are merely exemplary, and that any feature presented for a particular example embodiment can be used by itself, or in combination with any feature presented for the same or another specific example embodiment, and / or in combination with any other feature not mentioned. In particular, it will also be understood that the exemplary embodiments presented herein are disclosed in all possible combinations with each other, unless technically feasible and the exemplary embodiments are not alternatives to each other. It will further be understood that any feature presented for an exemplary embodiment in a particular category (method / apparatus / computer program / system) can also be used in a corresponding manner in exemplary embodiments of any other category. It will also be understood that the presence of a feature in a presented exemplary embodiment does not necessarily mean that this feature forms an essential feature and cannot be omitted or substituted.

[0147] The recitation of a feature may include at least one of the consecutively listed features, or at least one of several consecutively listed features, where the feature is not necessarily inclusive of all consecutively listed features. Also, selection of listed features in any combination or selection of only one of the listed features is possible. Specific combinations of all consecutively listed features are also contemplated. Also, only one of several of the listed features is possible.

[0148] The sequence of all method steps presented above is not required, and alternative sequences are possible. In any event, the particular sequence of method steps illustrated by the figures is considered one possible sequence of method steps for each embodiment illustrated by each figure.

[0149] The subject matter has been described above by way of exemplary embodiments, and it should be noted that alternative methods and variations obvious to those skilled in the art exist and can be made without departing from the scope of the appended claims. [Explanation of symbols]

[0150] 100 systems 110-1 Reflection 110-2 Reflection 120 base station 130 user devices 140-1 Shielding 140-2 Shielding

Claims

1. A device in a mobile communication network, comprising: means for receiving communication reports indicative of information regarding at least one wireless link between a base station of the mobile communication network and a user device, at least some of the communication reports indicative of an angle of arrival for each of the wireless links and an angle of departure for each of the communication links; means for determining shadowing information based at least in part on the communication report, a location of the base station, and a location of the user device, the shadowing information indicating the respective wireless links and a time when shadowing of the respective wireless links occurred; means for providing the occlusion information once the occlusion information has been determined; 1. A device for a mobile communication network comprising:

2. The means for determining occlusion information further comprises: means for determining whether each of the wireless links is subject to shadowing; 10. The apparatus of claim 1.

3. the communication report further includes at least one of a radio link identifier of the respective radio link or a cell identifier of a cell serving the respective radio link.

3. The device according to claim 1 or 2.

4. The communication report is received from the base station, or the communication report is divided into a first communication report received from the base station and a second communication report received from the user device.

4. The device according to claim 1.

5. the shadowing information is determined based on one or more additional communication reports relating to one or more radio links of other respective user devices present in the cell of the respective radio link; 5. The device according to claim 1.

6. A device in a mobile communication network, comprising: means for transmitting communication reports indicating information regarding at least one wireless link between the apparatus and a user device, at least some of the communication reports indicating at least one of an angle of arrival of the respective wireless link or an angle of departure of the respective wireless link; means for receiving shadowing information indicative of each of the wireless links and a time when the shadowing of each of the wireless links occurred; Or if no occlusion information is received, means for determining shadowing information based at least in part on the communication report and the location of the apparatus and the location of the user device, the shadowing information indicating the respective wireless links and a time when shadowing of the respective wireless links occurred; means for determining at least one action to mitigate the obstruction of the respective wireless link based at least in part on the received obstruction information or the determined obstruction information; means for applying said at least one determined measure; 1. A device for a mobile communication network comprising:

7. means for receiving from the user device at least one of the angle of arrival or the angle of departure for the respective wireless link; means for aggregating the received at least one of the angles of arrival or the angles of departure for the respective wireless links into the communication report, the communication report being aggregated such that the communication report further includes the at least one of the angles of arrival or the angles of departure used by the device and an identifier of the respective wireless link; The apparatus of claim 7 further comprising:

8. 8. The apparatus of claim 6, wherein if at least one of the angle of arrival or the angle of departure for the respective radio link is not received from the user device, the communication report further includes a cell identifier of a cell serving the respective radio link.

9. A device in a mobile communication network, comprising: means for transmitting communication reports indicative of information regarding at least one radio link between the device and a base station of the mobile communication network, at least some of the communication reports indicative of at least one of an angle of arrival of the respective radio link or an angle of departure of the respective radio link; means for applying at least one measure to mitigate shadowing of said respective wireless link; 1. A device for a mobile communication network comprising:

10. 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein if at least one of the angle of arrival or the angle of departure for the respective wireless link was not transmitted to a base station, the communication report includes a cell identifier of a cell serving the respective wireless link.

11. receiving communication reports indicating information regarding at least one wireless link between a base station of the mobile communication network and a user device, at least some of the communication reports indicating an angle of arrival of the respective wireless link and an angle of departure of the respective communication link; determining shadowing information based at least in part on the communication report, the location of the base station, and the location of the user device, the shadowing information indicating the respective wireless links and a time when shadowing of the respective wireless links occurred; providing the occlusion information when the occlusion information is determined; and A method comprising:

12. transmitting communication reports indicating information regarding at least one wireless link between the apparatus and a user device, at least some of the communication reports indicating at least one of an angle of arrival of the respective wireless link or an angle of departure of the respective wireless link; receiving shadowing information indicative of each wireless link and a time when shadowing of each wireless link occurred; or If no occlusion information is received, determining shadowing information based at least in part on the communication report and the location of the base station and the location of the user device, the shadowing information indicating the respective wireless links and a time when shadowing of the respective wireless links occurred; determining at least one action to mitigate the shadowing of the respective wireless link based at least in part on the received shadowing information or the determined shadowing information; applying said determined at least one measure; and A method comprising:

13. transmitting communication reports indicating information about at least one radio link between the device and a base station of the mobile communication network, at least some of the communication reports indicating at least one of an angle of arrival of the respective radio link or an angle of departure of the respective radio link; applying at least one measure to mitigate shadowing of said respective wireless link; A method comprising:

14. A computer program which, when executed by a processor, causes an apparatus to perform and / or control the acts and / or steps of the method according to any of claims 11 to 13.

15. at least one of a first device according to any one of claims 1 to 5 or a second device according to any one of claims 6 to 9; at least one third device according to claim 9; A system comprising:

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