Ambient Mono Internet Security Architecture

Abstract

Systems and techniques for wireless communication are provided. For example, the process may include receiving shared credentials from a provisioning service, which are shared between a device and an application function; generating tag information; encoding a portion of the tag information based on the shared credentials in order to generate encoded tag information; and broadcasting the encoded tag information.

Description

Technical Field

[0001]

[0001] Aspects of the present disclosure relate generally to wireless communications. For example, aspects of the present disclosure relate to an ambient Internet of Things (IoT) (e.g., "tag") security architecture.

Background Art

[0002]

[0002] Wireless communication systems are deployed to provide a variety of telecommunications services, including, in particular, telephone, video, data, messaging, and broadcast. Wireless communication systems have evolved through various generations, including first-generation analog wireless telephone services (1G), second-generation digital wireless telephone services (including provisional 2.5G networks), third-generation high-speed data and internet-enabled wireless services, fourth-generation services (4G) (e.g., Long-Term Evolution (LTE) or WiMax), and fifth-generation services (5G) (e.g., New Radio (NR)). Currently, many different types of wireless communication systems are in use, including cellular systems and personal communications service (PCS) systems. Known examples of cellular systems include the Analog Advanced Mobile Phone System (AMPS), and digital cellular systems based on technologies such as code division multiple access (CDMA), frequency division multiple access (FDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), and the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM). [Overview of the project]

[0003]

[0003] The following provides a simplified overview of one or more embodiments disclosed herein. Therefore, the following overview should not be considered a broad overview of all intended embodiments, nor should it be considered to identify the main or important elements of all intended embodiments, or to define the scope associated with any particular embodiment. Accordingly, the sole purpose of the following overview is to provide, in a simplified form, certain concepts relating to one or more embodiments of the mechanisms disclosed herein, prior to the detailed descriptions presented below.

[0004]

[0004] Systems, methods, apparatus, and computer-readable media for performing wireless communication are disclosed. According to at least one exemplary example, a device for wireless communication is provided. The device includes a memory system and a processor system coupled to the memory system. The processor system is configured to receive a shared credential from a provisioning service, the shared credential being shared between the device and an application function, the shared credential including a token, the token being included in tag information, and the tag information being encoded based on the public key of the token issuer, generate tag information, encode a portion of the tag information based on the shared credential to generate encoded tag information, and broadcast the encoded tag information.

[0005]

[0005] In another example, a device for wireless communication by application functionality is provided. The device includes a memory system containing instructions and a processor system coupled to the memory system. The processor system is configured to provision a shared credential to a wireless device, the shared credential being shared between the device and a wireless device, the shared credential containing a token, the token being included in tag information, and the tag information being encoded based on the public key of the token issuer, to provide information associated with the wireless device to a service on a wireless network, to receive encoded tag information from the wireless device, and to decode at least a portion of the encoded tag information based on the shared credential in order to retrieve the tag information from the wireless device.

[0006]

[0006] As another example, a device for wireless communication by a wireless network service is provided. The device includes a memory system containing instructions and a processor system coupled to the memory system. The processor system is configured to receive information associated with the wireless device from an application function coupled to the device, receive encoded tag information from the wireless device, and verify the wireless device based on the received information and encoded tag information associated with the wireless device.

[0007]

[0007] In another example, a method for wireless communication is provided. The method includes receiving a shared credential from a provisioning service, wherein the shared credential is shared between a device and an application function, the shared credential includes a token, the token is included in tag information, and the tag information is encoded based on the public key of the token issuer; generating tag information; encoding a portion of the tag information based on the shared credential in order to generate encoded tag information; and broadcasting the encoded tag information.

[0008]

[0008] As another example, a method for wireless communication by an application function is provided. The method includes provisioning a shared credential to a wireless device, wherein the shared credential is shared between a device and a wireless device, the shared credential includes a token, the token is included in tag information, and the tag information is encoded based on the public key of the token issuer; providing information associated with the wireless device to a service on a wireless network; receiving encoded tag information from the wireless device; and decoding at least a portion of the encoded tag information based on the shared credential in order to obtain the tag information from the wireless device.

[0009]

[0009] In another example, a method for wireless communication by a wireless network service is provided. The method includes receiving information associated with a wireless device from an application function, receiving encoded tag information from the wireless device, and verifying the wireless device based on the received information and encoded tag information associated with the wireless device.

[0010]

[0010] As another example, a non-temporary computer-readable medium storing instructions is provided. When an instruction is executed by a processor system, the processor system causes the processor system to receive shared credentials from a provisioning service, which are shared between a device and an application function, which include a token, which is included in tag information, which is encoded based on the public key of the token issuer, to generate tag information, to encode a portion of the tag information based on the shared credentials to generate encoded tag information, and to broadcast the encoded tag information.

[0011]

[0011] In another example, a non-temporary computer-readable medium storing instructions is provided. When the instructions are executed by the processor system, the processor system causes the wireless device to provision the shared credentials, which are shared between the device and the wireless device, which include a token, which is contained in tag information, which is encoded based on the public key of the token issuer; to provide information associated with the wireless device to the services of the wireless network; to receive encoded tag information from the wireless device; and to decode at least a portion of the encoded tag information based on the shared credentials in order to retrieve the tag information from the wireless device.

[0012]

[0012] As another example, a non-temporary computer-readable medium storing instructions is provided. When the instructions are executed by the processor system, the processor system causes the processor system to receive information associated with the wireless device from an application function coupled to the device, to receive encoded tag information from the wireless device, and to verify the wireless device based on the received information and encoded tag information associated with the wireless device.

[0013]

[0013] In another example, a device for wireless communication is provided. The device includes means for receiving a shared credential from a provisioning service, wherein the shared credential is shared between a device and an application function, the shared credential includes a token, the token is included in tag information, and the tag information is encoded based on the public key of the token issuer; means for generating tag information; means for encoding a portion of tag information based on the shared credential in order to generate encoded tag information; and means for broadcasting the encoded tag information.

[0014]

[0014] As another example, a device for wireless communication by application functionality is provided. The device includes means for provisioning a shared credential to a wireless device, wherein the shared credential is shared between a device and a wireless device, the shared credential includes a token, the token is included in tag information, and the tag information is encoded based on the public key of the token issuer; means for providing information associated with the wireless device to a wireless network service; means for receiving encoded tag information from the wireless device; and means for decoding at least a portion of the encoded tag information based on the shared credential in order to obtain the tag information from the wireless device.

[0015]

[0015] In another example, a device for wireless communication by a wireless network service is provided. The device includes means for receiving information associated with a wireless device from an application function, means for receiving encoded tag information from a wireless device, and means for verifying a wireless device based on the received information and encoded tag information associated with the wireless device.

[0016]

[0016] The embodiments generally include methods, apparatus, systems, computer program products, non-temporary computer-readable media, user equipment, base stations, wireless communication devices, and / or processing systems, as substantially described herein with reference to the drawings and the text of the specification.

[0017]

[0017] The embodiments generally include methods, apparatus, systems, computer program products, non-temporary computer-readable media, user equipment, base stations, wireless communication devices, and / or processing systems, as substantially described herein with reference to the drawings and the text of the specification.

[0018]

[0018] The above provides a fairly broad overview of the features and technical advantages of the examples provided in this disclosure so that the following “Modes for Carrying Out the Invention” may be better understood. Additional features and advantages are described below. The concepts and specific examples disclosed may be readily used as a basis for modifying or designing other structures to accomplish the same objectives of this disclosure. Such equivalent structures shall not deviate from the scope of the appended claims. The characteristics of the concepts disclosed herein, both their configuration and operation, will be better understood, along with the relevant advantages, by considering the following description in relation to the accompanying figures. Each of the figures is provided for illustrative and explanatory purposes and is not provided to define limitations on the claims.

[0019]

[0019] While various embodiments are described in this disclosure by example, those skilled in the art will understand that such embodiments can be implemented in many different configurations and scenarios. The techniques described herein can be implemented using a variety of platform types, devices, systems, shapes, sizes, and / or packaging configurations. For example, some embodiments can be implemented via integrated chip packaging or other non-modular component-based devices (e.g., end-user devices, vehicles, communication devices, computing devices, industrial equipment, retail / purchasing devices, medical devices, and / or artificial intelligence devices). The embodiments can be implemented in chip-level components, modular components, non-modular components, non-chip-level components, device-level components, and / or system-level components. Devices incorporating the described embodiments and features may include additional components and features for implementing and practicing the claimed and described embodiments. For example, the transmission and reception of wireless signals may include one or more components (e.g., hardware components including antennas, radio frequency (RF) chains, power amplifiers, modulators, buffers, processors, interleavers, adders, and / or analog adders) for analog and digital purposes. The embodiments described herein are intended to be applicable to a wide variety of devices, components, systems, distributed configurations, and / or end-user devices of various sizes, shapes, and structures.

[0020]

[0020] Other purposes and advantages relating to the embodiments disclosed herein will be apparent to those skilled in the art based on the accompanying drawings and detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify any major or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used independently to determine the scope of the claimed subject matter. The subject matter should be understood by referring to the entire specification of this patent, any or all of the drawings, and the appropriate portions of each claim.

[0021]

[0021] The foregoing, together with other features and aspects, will become more apparent with reference to the following specification, claims, and accompanying drawings. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022]

[0022] The accompanying drawings are presented to aid in the description of various aspects of the present disclosure, and are provided solely for illustration, not for limiting those aspects. [Figure 1]

[0023] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communication network in accordance with some examples. [Figure 2]

[0024] FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a design of a base station and a UE device that enables transmission and processing of signals exchanged between a User Equipment (UE) and the base station in accordance with some examples. [Figure 3]

[0025] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a non-aggregated base station in accordance with some examples. [Figure 4]

[0026] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating components of a User Equipment (UE) in accordance with some examples. [Figure 5]

[0027] FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of a Radio Frequency (RF) energy harvesting device in accordance with some examples. [Figure 6]

[0028] FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of an environment for using Ambient Internet of Things (IoT) devices in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 7]

[0029] FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating security for an ambient IoT device in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 8]

[0030] FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a token request in accordance with aspects of the present disclosure. [Figure 9]

[0031] FIG. 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an example of a process for wireless communication in accordance with some examples. [Figure 10]

[0032] This flowchart illustrates another example of the process for wireless communication, using several examples. [Figure 11]

[0033] This flowchart illustrates another example of the process for wireless communication, using several examples. [Figure 12]

[0034] A block diagram showing examples of computing systems, with several examples. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0023]

[0035] Certain embodiments of this disclosure are provided below for illustrative purposes only. Alternative embodiments can be devised without departing from the scope of this disclosure. In addition, well-known elements of this disclosure are not described in detail or are omitted so as not to obscure the relevant details of this disclosure. As will be apparent to those skilled in the art, some of the embodiments described herein can be applied independently, and some of them can be applied in combination. For illustrative purposes, specific details are provided in the following specification to provide a complete understanding of the embodiments of this application. However, it will be apparent that various embodiments can be practiced without these specific details. The figures and specification are not intended to be restrictive.

[0024]

[0036] The following description provides only exemplary embodiments and is not intended to limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the Disclosure. Rather, the following description of exemplary embodiments provides a practical description for implementing the exemplary embodiments for those skilled in the art. It should be understood that various modifications can be made to the function and arrangement of the elements without departing from the scope of this application as described in the appended claims.

[0025]

[0037] Wireless communication networks can be deployed to provide a variety of communication services, such as voice, video, packet data, messaging, broadcast, or any combination thereof, or other communication services. Wireless communication networks can support both access links and side links for communication between wireless devices. An access link can refer to any communication link between a client device (e.g., user equipment (UE), station (STA), or other client device) and a base station (e.g., a 3GPP gNB for 5G / NR, a 3GPP eNB for 4G / LTE, a Wi-Fi access point (AP), or other base station). For example, an access link may support uplink signaling, downlink signaling, connection procedures, etc. An example of an access link is a Uu link or (also called NR-Uu) interface between a 3GPP gNB and a UE.

[0026]

[0038] In various wireless communication networks, client devices can be used that can be associated with different signaling and communication needs. For example, as 5G networks expand to industrial verticals and the number of Internet of Things (IoT) devices deployed increases, network service categories such as enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), and massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC) can be expanded to better support a variety of IoT devices, including passive IoT devices and semi-passive IoT devices.

[0027]

[0039] For example, passive IoT devices and semi-passive IoT devices are relatively low-cost UEs that can be used to implement one or more sensing and communication capabilities in an IoT network or deployment. In some examples, passive and / or semi-passive IoT sensors (e.g., devices) can be used to provide sensing capabilities for various processes and use cases such as asset management, logistics, warehousing, and manufacturing. Passive and semi-passive ambient IoT devices may include one or more sensors, processors or microcontrollers, and energy harvesters to generate power from incident downlink radio frequency (RF) signals received by the passive or semi-passive ambient IoT device.

[0028]

[0040] One application example of ambient IoT devices involves tag devices (also called tags), which are often attached to items to be tracked. These tag devices are generally low-cost devices that can broadcast a message that can be received by a reader device if the tag device is detected as lost or misplaced. This message may include metadata and information such as a tag identifier (e.g., tag ID), which may be some identifier that can be used to identify the tag. However, broadcasting a message in plain text could allow replay attacks, such as spamming or impersonation, to be carried out. To provide security measures, ambient IoT devices may be provisioned with credentials (e.g., shared credentials) such as keys, alphanumeric strings, or codes that are shared between the ambient IoT device and application functions of a wireless network, or application functions coupled to a wireless network. An application function may be a functional element that provides service or application-related information to network service consumers. Messages between the ambient IoT device and the application function can then be encoded using the shared credentials. In some cases, ambient IoT devices may not have a subscription to any mobile carrier and may lack a method of authentication between the ambient IoT device and the mobile carrier. Therefore, improved security for ambient IoT devices is desired.

[0029]

[0041] Systems, devices, processes (also called methods), and computer-readable media (collectively referred to as “Systems and Techniques”) for ambient IoT security architectures are described herein. In some cases, it may be useful to enable a mobile operator to authenticate ambient IoT devices. As an example, a mobile operator and / or (separately from the mobile operator) a data clearinghouse may be configured to indirectly verify ambient IoT tag information (e.g., tag information) by storing the tag information (e.g., tag IDs and metadata) upon receipt. In some cases, the data clearinghouse may be an electronic data collection / organization system that can be operated by a mobile operator, a service provider of the ambient IoT device, the owner of the ambient IoT device, or a third party. An application function associated with an ambient IoT device may then provide the mobile operator and / or the data clearinghouse with a list of encoded tag IDs (e.g., temporary tag IDs, encrypted tag IDs, etc.). Stored tag information (e.g., messages) having encoded tag IDs on the list of encoded tag IDs may be verified and provided to the application function. Stored tag information that does not match the list of encoded tag IDs may be discarded after a certain threshold period.

[0030]

[0042] In other cases, it may be useful for the mobile carrier to directly verify ambient IoT tag information. For example, an application function may provide the mobile carrier with a tag verification key derived based on shared credentials. The ambient IoT device may use the tag verification key to encode the tag ID and / or portion of the tag information, and the mobile carrier may verify messages from the ambient IoT device based on the tag verification key. In another example, the application function may provide the mobile carrier (or data clearinghouse) with a list of valid encoded tag IDs, and the mobile carrier may verify messages received from the ambient IoT device based on the list of valid encoded tag IDs. In yet another example, the mobile carrier (or data clearinghouse) may issue tokens to the application function for the ambient IoT device. In such a case, the mobile carrier (or data clearinghouse) may be called the token issuer or token provider. The application function may provision the tokens to the ambient IoT device, and the ambient IoT device may include the tokens in broadcast messages. Next, mobile operators can verify messages from ambient IoT devices based on tokens.

[0031]

[0043] Further aspects of the system and technique will be explained with reference to the figures.

[0032]

[0044] Where used herein, the phrase "based on" should not be interpreted as referring to a closed set such as information, one or more conditions, one or more factors. In other words, the phrase "based on A" (where "A" may be information, a condition, a factor, etc.) shall be interpreted as "based on at least A" unless otherwise specified.

[0033]

[0045] As used herein, the terms “User Equipment” (UE) and “Network Entity” are not intended to be specific to or limited to any particular radio access technology (RAT) unless otherwise stated. Generally, a UE may be any wireless communication device used by a user to communicate over a wireless communication network (e.g., mobile phones, routers, tablet computers, laptop computers, and / or tracking devices), wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, smart glasses, wearable rings, and / or extended reality (XR) devices such as virtual reality (VR) headsets, augmented reality (AR) headsets or glasses, or mixed reality (MR) headsets), vehicles (e.g., automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, etc.), aircraft (e.g., airplanes, jets, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or drones, helicopters, airships, gliders, etc.), and / or Internet of Things (IoT) devices. A UE may be mobile or (for example, stationary at a given time) and may communicate with a radio access network (RAN). As used herein, the term "UE" may be interchangeably referred to as "access terminal" or "access terminal, AT," "client device," "wireless device," "subscriber device," "subscriber terminal," "subscriber station," "user terminal" or "user terminal, UT," "mobile device," "mobile terminal," "mobile station," or variations thereof. Generally, a UE may communicate with the core network via the RAN, and through the core network, a UE may be connected to external networks such as the Internet and to other UEs.Naturally, other mechanisms are also possible for the UE to connect to the core network and / or the internet via wired access networks, wireless local area networks (WLANs) (for example, based on the IEEE 802.11 communication standard), etc.

[0034]

[0046] Network entities can be implemented in an aggregated base station architecture, a monolithic base station architecture, or alternatively, a non-aggregated base station architecture, and may include one or more of the following: a central unit (CU), a distributed unit (DU), a radio unit (RU), a near-real-time (Near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or a non-real-time (Non-RT) RIC. A base station (for example, having an aggregated / monolithic or non-aggregated base station architecture) may operate according to one of several RATs when communicating with the UE, depending on the network in which it is deployed, and may instead be called an access point (AP), network node, node B (NB), evolved node B (eNB), next-generation eNB (ng-eNB), or new radio (NR) node B (also called gNB or gNodeB). Base stations may be primarily used to support wireless access by UEs, including supporting data connectivity, voice connectivity, and / or signaling connectivity for supported UEs. In some systems, base stations may provide edge node signaling capabilities, while in others, base stations may provide additional control and / or network management capabilities. The communication link on which a UE can transmit signals to a base station is called an uplink (UL) channel (e.g., reverse traffic channel, reverse control channel, access channel, etc.). The communication link on which a base station can transmit signals to a UE is called a downlink (DL) channel or forward link channel (e.g., paging channel, control channel, broadcast channel, forward traffic channel, etc.).As used herein, the term traffic channel (TCH) may refer to an uplink channel, a reverse channel, or a downlink channel and / or a forward traffic channel.

[0035]

[0047] The terms “network entity” or “base station” (for example, having an aggregated / monolithic base station architecture or a non-aggregated base station architecture) may refer to a single physical transmit / receive point (TRP) or to multiple physical TRPs, which may or may not be juxtaposed. For example, when the term “network entity” or “base station” refers to a single physical TRP, that physical TRP may be the base station’s antennas corresponding to a base station cell (or several cell sectors). When the term “network entity” or “base station” refers to multiple juxtaposed physical TRPs, those physical TRPs may be an array of antennas for the base station (for example, in a multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) system or when the base station employs beamforming). When the term “base station” refers to multiple non-juxtaposed physical TRPs, a physical TRP may be a distributed antenna system (DAS) (e.g., a network of spatially separated antennas connected to a common source via a transport medium) or a remote radio head (RRH) (e.g., a remote base station connected to a serving base station). Alternatively, a non-juxtaposed physical TRP may be a UE and a serving base station receiving measurement reports from a neighboring base station where the UE is measuring a reference radio frequency (RF) signal (e.g., or simply the “reference signal”). Since a TRP is the point at which a base station transmits and receives wireless signals, as used herein, references to transmission from a base station or reception at a base station should be understood to refer to the specific TRP of that base station.

[0036]

[0048] In some implementations that support UE positioning, a network entity or base station may not support wireless access by the UE (for example, it may not support data, voice, and / or signaling connections to the UE), but instead may transmit a reference signal to the UE that will be measured by the UE, and / or may receive and measure signals transmitted by the UE. Such a base station may be called a positioning beacon (for example, when transmitting signals to the UE) and / or a location measurement unit (for example, when receiving and measuring signals from the UE).

[0037]

[0049] As described herein, a node (which may be called a node, network node, network entity, or wireless node) is or may be included in (for example, may be a component thereof) a base station (e.g., any base station as described herein), a UE (e.g., any UE as described herein), a network controller, equipment, device, computing system, integrated access and backhaul (IAB) node, distributed unit (DU), central unit (CU), remote / radio unit (RU) (which may also be called a remote radio unit (RRU)), and / or another processing entity configured to implement any of the techniques described herein. For example, a network node may be a UE. As another example, a network node may be a base station or a network entity. As yet another example, a first network node may be configured to communicate with a second or third network node. In one aspect of this example, the first network node may be a UE, the second network node may be a base station, and the third network node may be a UE. In another aspect of this example, the first network node may be a UE, the second network node may be a base station, and the third network node may be a base station. In yet another aspect of this example, the first, second, and third network nodes may differ with respect to these examples. Similarly, references to UEs, base stations, equipment, devices, computing systems, etc. may include disclosures of that UE, base station, equipment, device, computing system, etc., which are network nodes. For example, a disclosure that a UE is configured to receive information from a base station also discloses that the first network node is configured to receive information from a second network node.Without contradiction to this disclosure, if a particular example is extended in accordance with this disclosure (for example, disclosing that a UE is configured to receive information from a base station, and that a first network node is configured to receive information from a second network node), the broader example of the narrower example should be interpreted in a broad, open-ended manner, although it may be interpreted in reverse. In the above example, which also discloses that a UE is configured to receive information from a base station and that a first network node is configured to receive information from a second network node, the first network node may refer to a first UE, a first base station, a first apparatus, a first device, a first computing system, a first set of one or more components, a first processing entity, etc., configured to receive information, and the second network node may refer to a second UE, a second base station, a second apparatus, a second device, a second computing system, a second set of one or more components, a second processing entity, etc.

[0038]

[0050] As described herein, the communication of information (e.g., arbitrary information, signals, etc.) may be described in various ways using different terminology. Disclosure of one communication term includes disclosure of other communication terms. For example, a first network node may be described as configured to transmit information to a second network node. In this example, without being inconsistent with the present disclosure, the disclosure that a first network node is configured to transmit information to a second network node includes the disclosure that a first network node is configured to provide, send, output, communicate, or transmit information to a second network node. Similarly, in this example, without being inconsistent with the present disclosure, the disclosure that a first network node is configured to transmit information to a second network node includes the disclosure that a second network node is configured to receive, retrieve, or decode information provided, sent, output, communicated, or transmitted by a first network node.

[0039]

[0051] An RF signal includes electromagnetic waves of a given frequency that transmit information through the space between a transmitter and a receiver. As used herein, a transmitter may transmit a single “RF signal” or multiple “RF signals” to a receiver. However, due to the propagation characteristics of RF signals through multipath channels, a receiver may receive multiple “RF signals” corresponding to each transmitted RF signal. The same RF signal transmitted through different paths between a transmitter and a receiver may be called a “multipath” RF signal. As used herein, an RF signal may also be called a “wireless signal” or simply a “signal” where it is clear from the context that the term “signal” refers to a wireless signal or an RF signal.

[0040]

[0052] Various aspects of the systems and techniques described herein are described below with respect to the figures. According to various aspects, Figure 1 shows an example of a wireless communication system 100. (Sometimes referred to as a wireless wide area network, WWAN, for example) The wireless communication system 100 may include various base stations 102 and various UEs 104. In some aspects, the base stations 102 may also be referred to as “network entities” or “network nodes”. One or more of the base stations 102 may be implemented in an aggregated base station architecture or a monolithic base station architecture. In addition, or instead, one or more of the base stations 102 may also be implemented in a separate base station architecture and may include one or more of a central unit (CU), distributed units (DU), radio units (RU), near-real-time (Near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC), or non-real-time (Non-RT) RIC. The base stations 102 may include macrocell base stations (e.g., high-power cellular base stations) and / or small cell base stations (e.g., low-power cellular base stations). In one embodiment, a macrocell base station may include an eNB and / or ng-eNB when the wireless communication system 100 is compatible with a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) network, or a gNB when the wireless communication system 100 is compatible with an NR network, or a combination of both, and a smallcell base station may include a femtocell, picocell, microcell, etc.

[0041]

[0053] The base station 102 may collectively form a RAN and interface with the core network 170 (e.g., an evolved packet core (EPC) or a 5G core (5GC)) via a backhaul link 122, and with one or more location servers 172 (which may be part of or outside the core network 170) via the core network 170. In addition to other functions, the base station 102 may perform functions related to transmitting user data, radio channel encryption and decryption, integrity protection, header compression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dual connectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setup and release, load balancing, non-access stratum (NAS) message delivery, NAS node selection, synchronization, RAN sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriber and equipment tracing, RAN information management (RIM), paging, positioning, and warning message delivery. The base stations 102 can communicate with each other directly or indirectly (for example, via EPC or 5GC) via a backhaul link 134 which may be wired and / or wireless.

[0042]

[0054] Base station 102 can communicate wirelessly with UE 104. Each base station 102 may provide communication coverage to a separate geographic coverage area 110. In one embodiment, one or more cells may be supported by base stations 102 within each coverage area 110. A “cell” is a logical communication entity used for communication with a base station (over some frequency resource, e.g., referred to as a carrier frequency, component carrier, carrier, band, etc.) and may be associated with an identifier (e.g., a physical cell identifier (PCI), a virtual cell identifier (VCI), a cell global identifier (CGI)) to distinguish cells operating over the same or different carrier frequencies. In some cases, different cells may be configured according to different protocol types (e.g., machine-type communication (MTC), narrowband IoT (NB-IoT), extended mobile broadband (eMBB), or others) that may provide access to different types of UEs. Since a cell is supported by a specific base station, the term "cell" may, depending on the context, refer to either or both the logical communication entity and the base station that supports the cell. In addition, since a TRP is typically the physical transmission point of a cell, the terms "cell" and "TRP" may be used interchangeably. In some cases, the term "cell" may also refer to the geographical coverage area (e.g., sector) of a base station, insofar as the carrier frequency can be detected and used for communication within a portion of the geographical coverage area 110.

[0043]

[0055] The geographical coverage areas 110 of neighboring macrocell base stations 102 may partially overlap (for example, in handover areas), and some of the geographical coverage areas 110 may be significantly overlapped by larger geographical coverage areas 110. For example, a small cell base station 102' may have a coverage area 110' that significantly overlaps with the coverage areas 110 of one or more macrocell base stations 102. A network containing both small cell base stations and macrocell base stations may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneous network may also include home eNBs (HeNBs) that may serve a limited group known as a closed subscriber group (CSG).

[0044]

[0056] The communication link 120 between base station 102 and UE 104 may include uplink (e.g., also called reverse link) transmission from UE 104 to base station 102, and / or downlink (e.g., also called forward link) transmission from base station 102 to UE 104. The communication link 120 may utilize MIMO antenna technology, including spatial multiplexing, beamforming, and / or transmit diversity. The communication link 120 may be provided using one or more carrier frequencies. Carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to the downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink than to the uplink).

[0045]

[0057] Beamforming, also known as spatial filtering, directional transmission, or directional reception, is a signal processing technique that can be used in a transmitting or receiving device (e.g., one or more of base stations 102, UE104, etc.) to shape or steer an antenna beam (e.g., a transmit beam, a receive beam) along a spatial path between the transmitting and receiving devices. Beamforming can be implemented based on combining signals communicated through the antenna elements of an antenna array such that several signals propagating in a particular orientation relative to the antenna array undergo constructive interference, while other signals undergo destructive interference. The coordination of signals communicated through antenna elements may include the transmitting or receiving device applying amplitude offset, phase offset, or both to the signals carried through the antenna elements associated with that device. The coordination associated with each antenna element may be defined by a beamforming weight set associated with a particular orientation (e.g., relative to the antenna array of the transmitting or receiving device, or to some other orientation).

[0046]

[0058] A transmitting device and / or a receiving device (e.g., one or more of the base station 102 and / or UE 104) may use beam sweeping techniques as part of the beamforming operation. For example, base station 102 (or, for example, another transmitting device) may use multiple antennas or antenna arrays (e.g., antenna panels) to perform beamforming operations for directional communication with UE 104 (or, for example, another receiving device). Some signals (e.g., synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals) may be transmitted multiple times by base station 102 (or another transmitting device) in different directions. For example, base station 102 may transmit signals according to different beamforming weight sets associated with different directions of transmission. Transmissions in different beam directions may be used (e.g., by a transmitting device such as base station 102, or by a receiving device such as UE 104) to identify the beam direction for subsequent transmission or reception by base station 102.

[0047]

[0059] Some signals, such as data signals associated with a specific receiving device, may be transmitted by the base station 102 in a single beam direction (e.g., the direction associated with a receiving device such as UE 104). In some examples, the beam direction associated with transmission along a single beam direction may be determined based on signals transmitted in one or more beam directions. For example, UE 104 may receive one or more signals transmitted by the base station 102 in different directions, and UE 104 may report to the base station 102 an indication of the signal received with the highest signal quality or otherwise acceptable signal quality.

[0048]

[0060] In some examples, transmission by a device (e.g., by base station 102 or UE104) may be performed using multiple beam directions, and the device may use a combination of digital precoding or radio frequency beamforming to generate a combined beam for transmission (e.g., from base station 102 to UE104, from transmitting device to receiving device, etc.). UE104 may report feedback indicating precoding weights for one or more beam directions, and the feedback may correspond to a configured number of beams across the system bandwidth or one or more subbands. Base station 102 may transmit reference signals that may or may not be precoded (e.g., cell-specific reference signal (CRS), channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), etc.). UE104 may provide feedback for beam selection, which may be a precoding matrix indicator (PMI) or codebook-based feedback (e.g., a multi-panel type codebook, a linear combination type codebook, a port selection type codebook). While these techniques are described with reference to signals transmitted by base station 102 in one or more directions, UE 104 may employ similar techniques for transmitting signals multiple times in different directions (e.g., to identify beam directions for subsequent transmission or reception by UE 104) or for transmitting signals in a single direction (e.g., to transmit data to a receiving device).

[0049]

[0061] A receiving device (e.g., UE104) may attempt multiple receiving configurations (e.g., directional listening) when receiving various signals from the base station 102, such as synchronization signals, reference signals, beam selection signals, or other control signals. For example, a receiving device may attempt multiple receiving directions by receiving through different antenna subarrays, processing the received signal according to different antenna subarrays, receiving according to different sets of receive beamforming weights (e.g., different directional listening weights) applied to the received signal at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, or processing the received signal according to different sets of receive beamforming weights applied to the received signal at multiple antenna elements of an antenna array, any of which may be referred to as "listening" with different receiving configurations or receiving directions. In some examples, a receiving device may use a single receiving configuration to receive along a single beam direction (e.g., when receiving a data signal). A single receiving configuration may be aligned to a beam direction determined based on listening in different receiving configuration directions (for example, a beam direction determined to have the highest signal strength, the highest signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), or, in some cases, an acceptable signal quality, based on listening in multiple beam directions).

[0050]

[0062] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a WLAN AP 150 that communicates with WLAN stations (STAs) 152 via a communication link 154 in an unlicensed frequency spectrum (e.g., 5 gigahertz (GHz)). When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, the WLAN STA 152 and / or WLAN AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) or listen before talk (LBT) procedure before communication to determine whether a channel is available. In some examples, the wireless communication system 100 may include devices (e.g., UEs) that communicate with one or more UEs 104, base stations 102, AP 150, etc., using an ultra-wideband (UWB) spectrum. The UWB spectrum can be in the range of 3.1 GHz to 10.5 GHz.

[0051]

[0063] Small cell base station 102' may operate in the licensed frequency spectrum and / or the unlicensed frequency spectrum. When operating in the unlicensed frequency spectrum, small cell base station 102' may utilize LTE or NR technology and employ the same 5GHz unlicensed frequency spectrum used by WLAN AP150. Small cell base station 102' employing LTE and / or 5G in the unlicensed frequency spectrum may enhance coverage to the access network and / or increase the capacity of the access network. NR in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as NR-U. LTE in the unlicensed spectrum may be referred to as LTE-U, licensed assisted access (LAA), or MulteFire.

[0052]

[0064] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a millimeter wave (mmW) base station 180 that can operate at millimeter wave (mmW) frequencies and / or quasi-mmW frequencies during communication with the UE 182. The mmW base station 180 may be implemented in an aggregated or monolithic base station architecture, or alternatively, in a non-aggregated base station architecture (e.g., including one or more of CU, DU, RU, quasi-RT RIC, or non-RT RIC). Extremely high frequency (EHF) is a part of RF in the electromagnetic spectrum. EHF has a range of 30 GHz to 300 GHz and wavelengths of 1 mm to 10 mm. Radio waves in this band may be called millimeter waves. Quasi-mmW can extend up to a frequency of 3 GHz with a wavelength of 100 mm. The super high frequency (SHF) band extends from 3 GHz to 30 GHz and is also called centimeter waves. Communication using the mmW and / or quasi-mmW radio frequency bands has high path loss and relatively short distances. mmW base stations 180 and UE 182 may utilize beamforming (e.g., for transmission and / or reception) over mmW communication links 184 to compensate for extremely high path loss and short distances. Furthermore, in alternative configurations, it will be understood that one or more base stations 102 may also transmit using mmW or quasi-mmW and beamforming. Accordingly, it will be understood that the above examples are merely illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the various embodiments disclosed herein.

[0053]

[0065] In some aspects related to 5G, the frequency spectrum on which a wireless network node or entity (e.g., base station 102 / 180, UE104 / 182) operates is divided into multiple frequency ranges, namely FR1 (e.g., 450–6000 megahertz (MHz)), FR2 (e.g., 24250–52600 MHz), FR3 (e.g., above 52600 MHz), and FR4 (e.g., between FR1 and FR2). In multi-carrier systems such as 5G, one of the carrier frequencies is called the "primary carrier" or "anchor carrier" or "primary serving cell" or "Pcell," while the remaining carrier frequencies are called the "secondary carrier" or "secondary serving cell" or "Scell." In carrier aggregation, the anchor carrier is the carrier operating on the primary frequency (e.g., FR1) utilized by UE104 / 182, and is the cell from which UE104 / 182 performs the initial radio resource control (RRC) connection establishment procedure or initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure. The primary carrier carries all common and UE-specific control channels and may be a carrier on a licensed frequency (however, this is not always the case). The secondary carrier is a carrier operating on a second frequency (e.g., FR2) that may be configured once an RRC connection is established between UE104 and the anchor carrier and may be used to provide additional radio resources. In some cases, the secondary carrier may be a carrier on an unlicensed frequency. Since both the primary uplink carrier and primary downlink carrier are typically UE-specific, the secondary carrier may contain only the necessary signaling information and signals, and for example, there may be no UE-specific signaling information and signals in the secondary carrier. This means that different UE104 / 182 within a cell can have different downlink primary carriers. The same applies to uplink primary carriers.The network can change the primary carrier of any UE104 / 182 at any time. This is done, for example, to balance the load on different carriers. Since a "serving cell" (whether Pcell or Scell, for example) corresponds to the carrier frequency and / or component carriers that several base stations use during communication, terms such as "cell," "serving cell," "component carrier," and "carrier frequency" can be used interchangeably.

[0054]

[0066] For example, still referring to Figure 1, one of the frequencies used by the macrocell base station 102 may be the anchor carrier (or "Pcell"), and the other frequencies used by the macrocell base station 102 and / or the mmW base station 180 may be secondary carriers ("Scell"). In carrier aggregation, base stations 102 and / or UE 104 may use a spectrum of bandwidth up to Y MHz per carrier (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100 MHz) up to a total of Yx MHz (e.g., x component carriers) for transmission in each direction. These component carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other on the frequency spectrum. Carrier allocation may be asymmetric with respect to downlink and uplink (e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated to the downlink than to the uplink). Simultaneous transmission and / or reception of multiple carriers allows UE 104 / 182 to significantly increase its data transmission rate and / or data reception rate. For example, two 20MHz carriers aggregated within a multi-carrier system would theoretically result in a data rate doubling (e.g., 40MHz) compared to the data rate achieved by a single 20MHz carrier.

[0055]

[0067] To operate on multiple carrier frequencies, base station 102 and / or UE104 may be equipped with multiple receivers and / or transmitters. For example, UE104 may have two receivers, “Receiver 1” and “Receiver 2,” where “Receiver 1” is a multiband receiver capable of tuning to a band (e.g., carrier frequency) “X” or band “Y,” and “Receiver 2” is a single-band receiver capable of tuning to band “Z” only. In this example, if UE104 is providing service on band “X,” band “X” would be called a Pcell or active carrier frequency, and “Receiver 1” would need to tune from band “X” to band “Y” (e.g., Scell) in order to measure band “Y” (and vice versa). In contrast, having a separate “Receiver 2” allows UE104 to measure band “Z” without interrupting service on band “X” or band “Y,” regardless of whether UE104 is providing service on band “X” or band “Y.”

[0056]

[0068] The wireless communication system 100 may further include a UE 164 that can communicate with a macrocell base station 102 via a communication link 120 and / or with an mmW base station 180 via a mmW communication link 184. For example, the macrocell base station 102 may support a Pcell and one or more Scells for the UE 164, and the mmW base station 180 may support one or more Scells for the UE 164.

[0057]

[0069] The wireless communication system 100 may further include one or more UEs, such as UE190, which are indirectly connected to one or more communication networks via one or more device-to-device (D2D) peer-to-peer (P2P) links (sometimes referred to as, for example, "sidelinks"). In the example in Figure 1, UE190 has a D2D P2P link 192 with one of the UEs 104 connected to one of the base stations 102 (through which UE190 can indirectly obtain cellular connectivity), and a D2D P2P link 194 with a WLAN STA 152 connected to a WLAN AP 150 (through which UE190 can indirectly obtain WLAN-based internet connectivity). For example, D2D P2P links 192 and 194 may be supported by any well-known D2D RAT, such as LTE Direct (LTE-D), Wi-Fi Direct (Wi-Fi-D), and Bluetooth®.

[0058]

[0070] Figure 2 shows a block diagram of an exemplary architecture 200 of a base station 102 and a UE 104 that enables the transmission and processing of signals exchanged between a UE and a base station, according to several aspects of the present disclosure. The exemplary architecture 200 includes components of a base station 102 and a UE 104, which may be one of the base stations 102 and one of the UE 104 shown in Figure 1. The base station 102 may be equipped with T antennas 234a to 234t, and the UE 104 may be equipped with R antennas 252a to 252r, where generally T≧1 and R≧1.

[0059]

[0071] At base station 102, the transmitting processor 220 may receive data for one or more UEs from data source 212, select one or more modulation and coding schemes (MCS) for each UE based on channel quality indicators (CQIs) received from the UEs, process (e.g., encode and modulate) the data for each UE based on the selected MCS for that UE, and provide data symbols to all UEs. The transmitting processor 220 may also process system information (e.g., regarding semi-static resource partitioning information, SRPI) and control information (e.g., CQI requests, authorizations, upper-layer signaling), and provide overhead symbols and control symbols. The transmitting processor 220 may also generate reference symbols for reference signals (e.g., cell-specific reference signals (CRS)) and synchronization signals (e.g., primary synchronization signals (PSS) and secondary synchronization signals (SSS)). The transmit (TX) multi-input multi-output (MIMO) processor 230 may perform spatial processing (e.g., precoding) on ​​data symbols, control symbols, overhead symbols, and / or reference symbols where applicable, and may provide T output symbol streams to T modulators (MODs) 232a-232t. The modulators 232a-232t are shown as a combined modulator-demodulator (MOD-DEMOD). In some cases, the modulators and demodulators may be separate components. Each modulator 232a-232t may process a separate output symbol stream (e.g., for a frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) scheme, etc.) to obtain an output sample stream.Each modulator 232a–232t may further process the output sample stream (e.g., convert to analog, amplify, filter, and upconvert) to acquire a downlink signal. T downlink signals may each be transmitted from modulators 232a–232t via T antennas 234a–234t. According to certain embodiments described in more detail below, a synchronization signal can be generated using location coding to transmit additional information.

[0060]

[0072] In UE104, antennas 252a-252r may each receive downlink signals from base station 102 and / or other base stations, and may provide the received signals to one or more demodulators (DEMODs) 254a-254r. Demodulators 254a-254r are shown as a combined modulator-demodulator (MOD-DEMOD). In some cases, the modulator and demodulator may be separate components. Each demodulator 254a-254r may modify the received signal (e.g., filtering, amplification, downconversion, and digitization) to obtain an input sample. Each demodulator 254a-254r may further process the input sample (e.g., for OFDM, etc.) to obtain a received symbol. The MIMO detector 256 may acquire received symbols from all R demodulators 254a to 254r, perform MIMO detection on those received symbols where applicable, and provide the detected symbols. The receiving processor 258 may process the detected symbols (e.g., demodulate and decode), provide the data for the decoded UE 104 to the data sink 260, and provide the decoded control information and system information to the controller / processor 280. The channel processor may determine the reference signal received power (RSRP), received signal strength indicator (RSSI), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), channel quality indicator (CQI), etc.

[0061]

[0073] On the uplink, at UE104, the transmit processor 264 may receive and process data from data source 262 and control information (for reporting, including RSRP, RSSI, RSRQ, CQI, etc.) from controller / processor 280. The transmit processor 264 may also generate reference symbols for one or more reference signals (for example, based on beta values ​​or sets of beta values ​​associated with those one or more reference signals). The symbols from the transmit processor 264 may be precoded by the TX MIMO processor 266, further processed by modulators 254a-254r (for example, for DFT-s-OFDM, CP-OFDM, etc.), and transmitted to base station 102. At base station 102, uplink signals from UE 104 and other UEs are received by antennas 234a-234t, processed by demodulators 232a-232t, detected (e.g., if applicable) by MIMO detector 236, and may be further processed by receiving processor 238 to obtain decoded data and control information sent by UE 104. The receiving processor 238 may provide the decoded data to data sink 239 and the decoded control information to controller (e.g., processor) 240. Base station 102 may include a communication unit 244 and communicate with network controller 231 via the communication unit 244. Network controller 231 may include a communication unit 294, a controller / processor 290, and memory 292.

[0062]

[0074] In some embodiments, one or more components of UE104 may be contained within the housing. The controller 240 of base station 102, the controller / processor 280 of UE104, and / or any other component(s) of Figure 2 may perform one or more techniques related to implicit UCI beta value determination for NR.

[0063]

[0075] Memories 242 and 282 can store data and program code for base station 102 and UE 104, respectively. Scheduler 246 can schedule UEs for data transmission over downlink, uplink, and / or sidelink.

[0064]

[0076] In some aspects, the deployment of communication systems, such as 5G New Radio (NR) systems, can be configured in multiple ways using various components or parts. In a 5G NR system or network, network nodes, network entities, network mobility elements, radio access network (RAN) nodes, core network nodes, network elements, or network equipment such as base stations (BS), or one or more units (or one or more components) that perform base station functions, can be implemented in an aggregated or unaggregated architecture. For example, a BS (e.g., node B (NB), evolutionary NB (eNB), NR BS, 5G NB, access point (AP), transceiver point (TRP), or cell) can be implemented as an aggregated base station or an unaggregated base station (also known as a standalone BS or monolithic BS).

[0065]

[0077] An aggregated base station may be configured to utilize a radio protocol stack that is physically or logically integrated within a single RAN node. A non-aggregated base station may be configured to utilize a protocol stack that is physically or logically distributed among two or more units (e.g., one or more central units or centralized units (CUs), one or more distributed units (DUs), or one or more radio units (RUs)). In some embodiments, the CUs may be implemented within a RAN node, and one or more DUs may be co-located with the CUs, or instead, geographically or virtually distributed across one or more other RAN nodes. The DUs may be implemented to communicate with one or more RUs. Each of the CUs, DUs, and RUs may also be implemented as a virtual unit, i.e., a virtual central unit (VCU), a virtual distributed unit (VDU), or a virtual radio unit (VRU).

[0066]

[0078] The operation or network design of a base station type may take into account the aggregation characteristics of the base station functions. For example, non-aggregated base stations may be used in integrated access backhaul (IAB) networks, open radio access networks (O-RAN (e.g., network configurations supported by the O-RAN Alliance)), or virtualized radio access networks (e.g., virtualized radio access networks, vRAN, also known as cloud radio access networks, C-RAN). Non-aggregation may involve distributing functions across two or more units in various physical locations, and virtually distributing the functions of at least one unit, which can allow for flexibility in network design. Various units of a non-aggregated base station, or a non-aggregated RAN architecture, can be configured for wired or wireless communication with at least one other unit.

[0067]

[0079] Figure 3 shows an exemplary architecture of a non-aggregated base station 300. The non-aggregated base station 300 architecture may include one or more central units (CUs) 310 that can communicate directly with the core network 320 via a backhaul link, or indirectly with the core network 320 via one or more non-aggregated base station units (e.g., a near-real-time (Near-RT) RAN intelligent controller (RIC) 325 via an E2 link, or a non-real-time (Non-RT) RIC 315 associated with a Service Management and Orchestration (SMO) framework 305, or both). The CUs 310 may communicate with one or more distributed units (DUs) 330 via their respective midhaul links, such as an F1 interface. The DUs 330 may communicate with one or more radio units (RUs) 340 via their respective fronthaul links. The RUs 340 may communicate with their respective UEs 104 via one or more radio frequency (RF) access links. In some implementations, the UE104 can be serviced simultaneously by multiple RU340s.

[0068]

[0080] Each of the units shown in Figure 3 and / or described herein (e.g., CU310, DU330, RU340, and quasi-RT RIC325, non-RT RIC315, and SMO framework 305) includes, or may be coupled to, one or more interfaces configured to receive or transmit signals, data, or information (e.g., signals collectively) via a wired or wireless transmission medium. Each of the units, or any associated processor or controller providing instructions to the communication interfaces of those units, can be configured to communicate with one or more of the other units via a transmission medium. For example, a unit may include a wired interface configured to receive signals from or transmit signals to one or more of the other units via a wired transmission medium. In addition, those units may include a wireless interface that may include a receiver, transmitter, or transceiver (e.g., a radio frequency (RF) transceiver) configured to receive or transmit or send / receive signals via a wireless transmission medium to one or more of the other units.

[0069]

[0081] In some embodiments, the CU310 may host one or more higher-layer control functions. Such control functions may include Radio Resource Control (RRC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), and Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP). Each control function can be implemented using interfaces configured to communicate signals with other control functions hosted by the CU310. The CU310 may be configured to handle user plane functions (e.g., Central Unit-User Plane, CU-UP), control plane functions (e.g., Central Unit-Control Plane, CU-CP), or a combination thereof. In some implementations, the CU310 can be logically divided into one or more CU-UP units and one or more CU-CP units. When implemented in an O-RAN configuration, the CU-UP units can communicate bidirectionally with the CU-CP units via interfaces such as the E1 interface. The CU310 can be implemented to communicate with the DU330 as needed for network control and signaling.

[0070]

[0082] The DU330 may correspond to a logic unit that includes one or more base station functions for controlling the operation of one or more RU340s. In some embodiments, the DU330 is part of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3 rdDepending on the functional division as defined by the Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the DU330 may host one or more of the following: a radio link control (RLC) layer, a medium access control (MAC) layer, and one or more higher-level physical (PHY) layers (e.g., modules related to forward error correction (FEC) coding and decoding, scrambling, modulation and demodulation, etc.). In some embodiments, the DU330 may further host one or more lower-level PHY layers. Each layer (or module) may be implemented using an interface configured to communicate signals with other layers (and modules) hosted by the DU330, or with control functions hosted by the CU310.

[0071]

[0083] Lower-layer functions can be implemented by one or more RU340s. In some deployments, RU340s controlled by DU330s may correspond to logical nodes hosting RF processing functions, or lower PHY layer functions (e.g., fast Fourier transform (FFT), inverse FFT (iFFT), digital beamforming, physical random access channel (PRACH) extraction and filtering), or both, based on functional partitioning such as lower-layer functional partitioning. In such architectures, one or more RU340s can be implemented to handle over-the-air (OTA) communication with one or more UE104s. In some implementations, the real-time and non-real-time modes of control plane communication and user plane communication with the RU340(one or more) can be controlled by the corresponding DU330s. In some scenarios, this configuration can enable the DU(singular or plural)330 and CU310 to be implemented in cloud-based RAN architectures such as vRAN architectures.

[0072]

[0084] The SMO framework 305 may be configured to support RAN deployment and provisioning of non-virtualized and virtualized network elements. For non-virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 305 may be configured to support the deployment of dedicated physical resources for RAN coverage requirements that can be managed via an operation and maintenance interface (e.g., the O1 interface). For virtualized network elements, the SMO framework 305 may be configured to interact with a cloud computing platform (e.g., open cloud (O-Cloud) 390) to perform network element lifecycle management (e.g., instantiating virtualized network elements) via a cloud computing platform interface (e.g., the O2 interface). Such virtualized network elements may include, but are not limited to, the CU310, DU330, RU340, and quasi-RT RIC325. In some implementations, the SMO framework 305 may communicate with hardware embodiments of the 4G RAN, such as the open eNB (O-eNB) 311, via the O1 interface. In addition, in some implementations, the SMO framework 305 can communicate directly with one or more RU340s via the O1 interface. The SMO framework 305 may also include a non-RT RIC315 configured to support the functionality of the SMO framework 305.

[0073]

[0085] Non-RT RIC315 may be configured to include logical functions that enable policy-based guidance for applications / functions in quasi-RT RIC325, including non-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources, artificial intelligence / machine learning (AI / ML) workflows including model training and updating, or applications / functions in quasi-RT RIC325. Non-RT RIC315 may be coupled to quasi-RT RIC325 or communicate with quasi-RT RIC325 (e.g., via the A1 interface). Quasi-RT RIC325 may be configured to include logical functions that enable quasi-real-time control and optimization of RAN elements and resources through data acquisition and actions via an interface connecting one or more CU310s, one or more DU330s, or both, and O-eNBs to quasi-RT RIC325 (e.g., via the E2 interface).

[0074]

[0086] In some implementations, the non-RT RIC315 may receive parameter or external enrichment information from an external server to generate an AI / ML model that will be deployed in the quasi-RT RIC325. Such information may be utilized by the quasi-RT RIC325 and may be received in the SMO framework 305 or the non-RT RIC315 from a non-network data source or from a network function. In some examples, the non-RT RIC315 or quasi-RT RIC325 may be configured to tune the behavior or performance of the RAN. For example, the non-RT RIC315 may monitor long-term trends and patterns in performance and employ an AI / ML model to take corrective actions through the SMO framework 305 (e.g., reconfiguration via O1) or through the creation of a RAN management policy (e.g., A1 policy).

[0075]

[0087] Figure 4 shows an example of a computing system 470 for a wireless device 407. The wireless device 407 may include client devices such as UEs (e.g., UE104, UE152, UE190) or other types of devices (e.g., stations (STAs) configured to communicate using a Wi-Fi interface) that can be used by end users. For example, the wireless device 407 may include mobile phones, routers, tablet computers, laptop computers, tracking devices, wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, glasses, extended reality (XR) devices such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), or mixed reality (MR) devices), Internet of Things (IoT) devices, vehicles, aircraft, and / or other devices configured to communicate over a wireless communication network. The computing system 470 includes software and hardware components that can be electrically or communicatively coupled (e.g., or otherwise communicate as needed) via bus 489. For example, the computing system 470 includes one or more processors 484. One or more processors 484 may include one or more CPUs, ASICs, FPGAs, APs, GPUs, VPUs, NSPs, microcontrollers, dedicated hardware, any combination thereof, and / or other processing devices or processing systems. Bus 489 may be used by one or more processors 484 for communication between cores and / or for communication with one or more memory devices 486.

[0076]

[0088] The computing system 470 may also include one or more memory devices 486, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs) 482, one or more SIMs 474, one or more modems 476, one or more wireless transceivers 478, antennas 487, one or more input devices 472 (e.g., a camera, mouse, keyboard, touch-sensitive screen, touchpad, keypad, microphone, etc.), and one or more output devices 480 (e.g., a display, speaker, printer, etc.).

[0077]

[0089] In some embodiments, the computing system 470 may include one or more radio frequency (RF) interfaces configured to transmit and / or receive RF signals. In some examples, the RF interface may include components such as one or more modems 476, one or more wireless transceivers 478, and / or antennas 487. One or more wireless transceivers 478 may transmit and receive wireless signals (e.g., signals 488) via antennas 487 from one or more other devices, such as other wireless devices, network devices (e.g., base stations such as eNBs and / or gNBs, Wi-Fi access points (APs) such as routers, range extenders, etc.), cloud networks, etc. In some examples, the computing system 470 may include multiple antennas or antenna arrays that can facilitate simultaneous transmission and reception. Antennas 487 may be omnidirectional antennas capable of transmitting and receiving radio frequency (RF) signals in any direction. Wireless signals 488 may be transmitted over a wireless network. The wireless network may be any wireless network, such as a cellular network or telecommunications network (e.g., 3G, 4G, 5G, etc.), a wireless local area network (e.g., a Wi-Fi network), a Bluetooth® network, and / or other networks.

[0078]

[0090] In some examples, the wireless signal 488 may be transmitted directly to other wireless devices using sidelink communication (e.g., using the PC5 interface, using the DSRC interface, etc.). The wireless transceiver 478 may be configured to transmit an RF signal for performing sidelink communication via the antenna 487 according to one or more transmit power parameters that may be associated with one or more tuned modes. The wireless transceiver 478 may also be configured to receive sidelink communication signals with different signal parameters from other wireless devices.

[0079]

[0091] In some examples, one or more wireless transceivers 478 may include an RF front end that includes one or more components, among many others, such as an amplifier, a mixer (e.g., also called a signal multiplier) for signal down-conversion, a frequency combiner (e.g., also called an oscillator) that provides a signal to the mixer, a baseband filter, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), and one or more power amplifiers. The RF front end can generally handle the selection of the wireless signal 488 and its conversion to baseband or intermediate frequencies, and can convert the RF signal to the digital domain.

[0080]

[0092] In some cases, the computing system 470 may include an encoding-decoding device (or coding-decoding device, CODEC) configured to encode and / or decode data transmitted and / or received using one or more wireless transceivers 478. In some cases, the computing system 470 may include an encryption-decoding device or component configured to encrypt and / or decrypt data transmitted and / or received by one or more wireless transceivers 478 (for example, in accordance with AES and / or DES standards).

[0081]

[0093] Each of the one or more SIMs 474 may securely store an international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) number and associated key assigned to a user of the wireless device 407. The IMSI and key may be used to identify and authenticate the subscriber when accessing the network, provided by the network service provider or operator associated with the one or more SIMs 474. One or more modems 476 may modulate one or more signals to encode information for transmission using one or more wireless transceivers 478. One or more modems 476 may also demodulate signals received by one or more wireless transceivers 478 to decode transmitted information. In some examples, one or more modems 476 may include Wi-Fi modems, 4G (or LTE) modems, 5G (or NR) modems, and / or other types of modems. One or more modems 476 and one or more wireless transceivers 478 may be used to communicate data for one or more SIMs 474.

[0082]

[0094] The computing system 470 may also include (and / or communicate with) one or more non-temporary machine-readable storage media or storage devices (e.g., one or more memory devices 486), such storage media or storage devices may include, but are not limited to, local and / or network-accessible storage mechanisms, disk drives, drive arrays, optical storage devices, RAM and / or ROM, which may be programmable, flash-updatable, etc. Such storage devices may be configured to implement any suitable data storage mechanism, including, but are not limited to, various file systems, database structures, etc.

[0083]

[0095] In various embodiments, the functions may be stored as one or more computer program products (e.g., instructions or code) in one or more memory devices 486 and executed by one or more processors 484 and / or one or more DSPs 482. The computing system 470 may also include software elements (e.g., located in one or more memory devices 486), including other code such as an operating system, device drivers, executable libraries, and / or one or more application programs, and one or more application programs may include computer programs that implement the functions provided in various embodiments and / or may be designed to implement the methods described herein and / or to constitute the system described herein.

[0084]

[0096] Figure 5 shows an example architecture of a radio frequency (RF) energy harvesting device 500, as illustrated by several examples. The RF energy harvesting device 500 can be a type of ambient IoT device. As will be described in more detail below, the RF energy harvesting device 500 can harvest RF energy from one or more RF signals received using the antenna 590. As used herein, the term “energy harvesting” may be used interchangeably with “power harvesting.” In some embodiments, an “energy harvesting device” may be a device capable of performing energy harvesting (EH). For example, as used herein, the term “energy harvesting device” may be used interchangeably with the terms “EH-enabled device” or “energy harvesting-enabled device.” In some embodiments, the energy harvesting device 500 can be implemented as an Internet of Things (IoT) device, as will be described in more detail below, and can be implemented as a sensor, etc. In other embodiments, the energy harvesting device 500 can be implemented as a radio-frequency identification (RFID) tag or various other RFID devices.

[0085]

[0097] The energy harvesting device 500 includes one or more antennas 590 that can be used to transmit and receive one or more wireless signals. For example, the energy harvesting device 500 can use the antennas 590 to receive one or more downlink signals and transmit one or more uplink signals. An impedance matching component 510 can be used to match the impedance of the antennas 590 to the impedance of one or more (or all) of the receiving components included in the energy harvesting device 500. In some examples, the receiving components of the energy harvesting device 500 may include a demodulator 520 (for example, to demodulate a received downlink signal), an energy harvester 530 (for example, to harvest RF energy from a received downlink signal), a regulator 540, a microcontroller unit (MCU) 550, and a modulator 560 (for example, to generate an uplink signal). In some cases, the receiving components of the energy harvesting device 500 may further include one or more sensors 570.

[0086]

[0098] The downlink signal can be received from one or more transmitters. For example, the energy harvesting device 500 may receive the downlink signal from a network node or network entity that is included in the same wireless network as the energy harvesting device 500. In some cases, the network entity may be a base station, gNB, etc., that communicates with the energy harvesting device 500 using a cellular communication network. For example, the cellular communication network may be implemented according to 3G, 4G, 5G, and / or other cellular standards (including future standards such as 6G and above).

[0087]

[0099] In some cases, the energy harvesting device 500 can be implemented as a passive or semi-passive energy harvesting device that performs passive uplink communication by modulating and reflecting downlink signals received via antenna 590. Passive or semi-passive energy harvesting devices may also be called passive or semi-passive EH-enabled devices, respectively. For example, passive and semi-passive energy harvesting devices may not be able to generate and transmit uplink signals without first receiving a downlink signal that can be modulated and reflected. In other examples, the energy harvesting device 500 can be implemented as an active energy harvesting device that utilizes a powered transceiver to perform active uplink communication. An active energy harvesting device can generate and transmit uplink signals without first receiving a downlink signal (for example, by using an on-device power supply to provide energy to its powered transceiver).

[0088]

[0100] An active or semi-passive energy harvesting device (for example, also called an active EH-enabled device or a semi-passive EH-enabled device, respectively) may include one or more energy storage elements 585 (for example, collectively called an “energy reservoir”). For example, one or more energy storage elements 585 may include a battery, a capacitor, and the like. In some examples, one or more energy storage elements 585 may be associated with a boost converter 580. The boost converter 580 can receive at least a portion of the energy harvested by the energy harvester 530 as input (for example, the remainder of the harvested energy is provided as instantaneous power to operate the energy harvesting device 500). In some embodiments, the boost converter 580 may be a boost converter that increases the voltage from its input to its output (for example, it steps down the current from its input to its output). In some examples, a boost converter 580 can be used to boost the harvested energy generated by the energy harvester 530 to a voltage level associated with charging one or more energy storage elements 585. The active or semi-passive energy harvesting device may include one or more energy storage elements 585 and one or more boost converters 580. The number of energy storage elements 585 may be the same as or different from the number of boost converters 580 included in the active or semi-passive energy harvesting device.

[0089]

[0101] A passive energy harvesting device (also known as a “passive EH-enabled device” for example) does not include an energy storage element 585 or other on-device power sources. For example, a passive energy harvesting device may be powered using only RF energy harvested from downlink signals (e.g., using an energy harvester 530). As previously stated, a semi-passive energy harvesting device may include one or more energy storage elements 585 and / or other on-device power sources. The energy storage element 585 of a semi-passive energy harvesting device can be used to augment or supplement the RF energy harvested from downlink signals. In some cases, the energy storage element 585 of a semi-passive energy harvesting device may be storing insufficient energy to transmit uplink communications without first receiving downlink communications (e.g., minimum transmit power of the semi-passive device > capacity of the energy storage element). An active energy harvesting device may include one or more energy storage elements 585 and / or other on-device power sources that can power uplink communications without using supplemental harvested RF energy (e.g., minimum transmit power of the active device < capacity of the energy storage element). The energy storage elements (one or more) 585 included in the active energy harvesting device and / or semi-passive energy harvesting device may be charged using harvested RF energy.

[0090]

[0102] As described above, passive and semi-passive energy harvesting devices transmit uplink communications by performing backscatter modulation to modulate and reflect the received downlink signal. The received downlink signal is used to provide both power (for performing demodulation, local processing, and modulation, for example) and a carrier wave for uplink communications (for example, a reflection of the downlink signal). For example, a portion of the downlink signal may be backscattered as the uplink signal, and the remainder of the downlink signal may be used to perform energy harvesting.

[0091]

[0103] An active energy harvesting device can transmit uplink communications without performing backscatter modulation and without receiving a corresponding downlink signal (for example, the active energy harvesting device includes an energy storage element for supplying power and a powered transceiver for generating a carrier wave for uplink communications). In the absence of a downlink signal, passive and semi-passive energy harvesting devices cannot transmit uplink signals (e.g., passive communications). An active energy harvesting device can transmit uplink signals as desired, without relying on receiving a downlink signal to transmit an uplink signal (e.g., active communications).

[0092]

[0104] In examples where the energy harvesting device 500 is implemented as a passive or semi-passive energy harvesting device, a continuous carrier downlink signal is received using the antenna 590 and can be modulated (e.g., remodulated) for uplink communication. In some cases, the modulator 560 can be used to modulate the reflected (e.g., backscattered) portion of the downlink signal. For example, the continuous carrier may be a continuous sine wave (e.g., a sine or cosine waveform), and the modulator 560 can perform modulation based on changing one or more of the amplitude and phase of the backscattered reflection. Based on modulating the backscattered reflection, the modulator 560 can encode digital symbols (e.g., binary symbols or a system of more complex symbols) that represent uplink communication or data messages. For example, the uplink communication may represent sensor data or other information associated with one or more sensors 570 included in the energy harvesting device 500.

[0093]

[0105] As described above, the impedance matching component 510 can be used to match the impedance of antenna 590 to the receiving component of energy harvesting device 500 when receiving a downlink signal (e.g., when receiving a continuous carrier). In some examples, during backscattering operation (e.g., when transmitting an uplink signal), modulation can be performed based on intentionally mismatching the antenna input impedance, causing a portion of the incident downlink signal to be backscattered. The phase and amplitude of the backscattered reflection can be determined based on the impedance load on antenna 590. Digital symbol and / or binary information can be encoded (e.g., modulated) on the backscattered reflection based on changing the antenna impedance (e.g., changing the impedance mismatch between antenna 590 and the remaining components of energy harvesting device 500). Changing the antenna impedance to modulate the phase and / or amplitude of the backscattered reflection can be done using modulator 560.

[0094]

[0106] As shown in Figure 5, a portion of the downlink signal received using antenna 590 can be provided to demodulator 520, which performs demodulation and provides downlink communication (e.g., carried or modulated over the downlink signal) to a microcontroller unit (MCU) 550 or other processors included in the energy harvesting device 500. The remaining portion of the downlink signal received using antenna 590 can be provided to energy harvester 530, which harvests RF energy from the downlink signal. For example, energy harvester 530 may harvest RF energy based on performing AC-DC (alternating current-to-direct current) conversion, where the AC current is generated from the sinusoidal carrier of the downlink signal, and the converted DC current is used to power the energy harvesting device 500. In some embodiments, energy harvester 530 may include one or more rectifiers for performing AC-DC conversion. The rectifiers may include one or more diodes or thin-film transistors (TFTs). In one exemplary example, the energy harvester 530 may include one or more Schottky diode-based rectifiers. In some cases, the energy harvester 530 may include one or more TFT-based rectifiers.

[0095]

[0107] The output of the energy harvester 530 is a DC current generated (e.g., harvested) from a portion of the downlink signal supplied to the energy harvester 530. In some embodiments, the DC current output of the energy harvester 530 may vary with the input supplied to the energy harvester 530. For example, an increase in the input current to the energy harvester 530 can be associated with an increase in the output DC current generated by the energy harvester 530. In some cases, the MCU 550 may be associated with a narrow bandwidth of acceptable DC current values. The regulator 540 can be used to eliminate or otherwise reduce fluctuations (one or more) in the DC current generated as output by the energy harvester 530. For example, the regulator 540 can eliminate or smooth spikes (e.g., increases) in the DC current output by the energy harvester 530 (e.g., so that the DC current supplied by the regulator 540 as input to the MCU 550 remains below a first threshold). In some cases, the regulator 540 can eliminate or otherwise compensate for any drop or decrease in the DC current output by the energy harvester 530 (for example, so that the DC current provided by the regulator 540 as input to the MCU 550 remains above a second threshold).

[0096]

[0108] In some embodiments, the harvested DC current (e.g., generated by the energy harvester 530 and adjusted upward or downward as needed by the regulator 540) can be used to power one or more additional components included in the MCU 550 and the energy harvesting device 500. For example, the harvested DC current can be additionally used to power one or more (or all) of the following: impedance matching components 510, demodulator 520, regulator 540, MCU 550, sensor 570, modulator 560, etc. For example, the sensor 570 and modulator 560 can receive at least a portion of the harvested DC current that remains after the MCU 550 (e.g., not consumed by the MCU 550). In some cases, the harvested DC current output by the regulator 540 can be supplied to the MCU 550, modulator 560, and sensor 570 in series, in parallel, or in a combination thereof.

[0097]

[0109] In some examples, sensor 570 may be used to acquire sensor data (e.g., sensor data associated with the environment in which the energy harvesting device 500 is located). Sensor 570 may include one or more sensors, which may be of the same or different types (one or more). In some embodiments, one or more (or all) of sensors 570 may be configured to acquire sensor data based on control information contained in a downlink signal received using antenna 590. For example, one or more of sensors 570 may be configured based on downlink communication acquired by demodulating a downlink signal received using demodulator 520. In one exemplary example, sensor data may be transmitted based on using modulator 560 to modulate (e.g., change one or more of its amplitude and / or phase) the backscattered reflection of a continuous carrier wave received by antenna 590. Based on modulating the backscattered reflection, modulator 560 may encode digital symbols (e.g., binary symbols or a system of more complex symbols) representing uplink communication or data messages. In some examples, the modulator 560 can generate an uplink backscatter modulated signal based on receiving sensor data directly from the sensor 570. In some examples, the modulator 560 can generate an uplink backscatter modulated signal based on sensor data received from the MCU 550 (for example, based on the MCU 550 receiving sensor data directly from the sensor 570).

[0098]

[0110] In some cases, ambient IoT devices (e.g., tag devices) can be implemented as active devices, semi-passive energy harvesting devices, and passive energy harvesting devices. In some scenarios, ambient IoT devices can be used to locate and / or track lost or misplaced items. For example, an ambient IoT device may be attached to an item by its owner (e.g., a user). If the owner loses or misplaces the item, the owner may be able to locate and / or track the location of the attached ambient IoT device to help find the item. In the case of some ambient IoT devices, if the item and the attached ambient IoT device are misplaced by the owner, the ambient IoT may broadcast a notification message using a relatively low-energy protocol such as the Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) protocol. Other ambient IoT devices may modulate backscatter reflections to generate a notification message. A nearby relay device (e.g., a reader device), such as a wireless device (which may not necessarily be associated with the owner of the ambient IoT device), may receive the notification message and send it to a cloud service along with location information associated with the relay device. The owner can then access the cloud service to access the location information as a proxy for the location of the ambient IoT device and attached items.

[0099]

[0111] In some cases, ambient IoT devices may be relatively low-cost devices with relatively limited (or no) power supply. Therefore, such ambient IoT devices may have limited (or no) ability to perform complex operations such as implementing a full cellular communication protocol stack, supporting cryptographic processing beyond the minimum, maintaining sessions or states over time, actively sending messages, or accessing SIM credentials.

[0100]

[0112] Figure 6 shows an example of an environment 600 for using an ambient IoT device according to an aspect of this disclosure. In Figure 6, an ambient IoT device 602 may be provisioned by an ambient IoT service 604 to operate with an application function 606. For example, the ambient IoT service 604 may provide the ambient IoT device 602 with tag identification information (ID) and / or credentials shared with the application function 606. The ambient IoT device 602 may be an active device, a passive energy harvesting device, or a semi-passive energy harvesting device. The tag ID may contain identification information for the ambient IoT device 602, and the tag ID may be concealed. For example, the tag ID may be hashed, encrypted, scrambled, etc. In some cases, the tag ID may also contain metadata. This metadata may contain information to help route, identify, and / or provide additional information about the associated ambient IoT device. Examples of metadata may include an increment number, an address to the associated data clearinghouse (e.g., a URL / code / service identifier), and sensor data (e.g., for ambient IoT devices with sensors). Credentials may be used to enable ambient IoT devices 602 to communicate with application functions 606. Credentials may be associated with a specific application function 606 (e.g., which may run on multiple physical devices), and tag IDs may not be dependent on a public land mobile network (PLMN). A PLMN may be a mobile operator's wireless network.

[0101]

[0113] In some cases, tags can transmit tag ID and credential information (e.g., via backscatter in the case of passive or semi-passive devices), which can be received by reader devices 608A, 608B, and 608C. For example, a signal from ambient IoT device 602 containing the tag ID and credential can be received by reader (e.g., relay) device 608B. Reader devices such as reader devices 608A-608C (collectively, reader device 608) may be wireless devices that receive signals from ambient IoT devices and report the received signals to the wireless network. Reader device 608 may be associated with a specific PLMN (e.g., subscribed to a service on a PLMN). As shown in Figure 6, reader device 608B may be associated with PLMNA 610A, and reader device 608B may relay signals received from ambient IoT device 602 to PLMNA 610A.

[0102]

[0114] In some cases, the reader device 608B may transmit enrichment data along with the relayed signal from the ambient IoT device 602. Examples of this enrichment data may include GNSS location information (e.g., provided via GNSS satellite-based systems 622 such as GPS, GLONASS, GNSS, BDS), adjacent cell IDs, sensor data, etc., and the enrichment data to be transmitted may consist of, for example, the PLMNA 610A associated with the reader device 608B, the manufacturer or operating system of the reader device 608B, and the standards to which the reader device 608B conforms. In some cases, the enrichment data may be concealed by, for example, hashing, encryption, scrambling, etc. In some cases, the reader device 608 may also transmit a backscatter signal for use by the ambient IoT device 602.

[0103]

[0115] A PLMN such as PLMNA610A may provide communication services with ambient IoT devices such as ambient IoT device 602 as a service to one or more data clearing houses, such as data clearing house A612A and data clearing house B612B (collectively, data clearing house 612). For example, PLMNA610A may receive information transmitted by reader device 608B (e.g., signals and enrichment data from ambient IoT device 602), verify and / or process the enrichment data to generate service data. PLMNA610A may then forward the signals and service data from ambient IoT device 602 to a data clearing house associated with ambient IoT device 602, such as data clearing house B612B. In some cases, PLMNA610A may determine which of data clearing houses 612 to forward to based on metadata included with the tag ID (e.g., URL / code / service identifier of data clearing house 612). In some cases, the PLMNA610A may collect enrichment data from multiple reader devices 608 and process this data as service data. For example, the PLMNA610A may collect enrichment data such as temperature information from multiple reader devices 608, average this data (for example, for reader devices 608 in a particular area), and transmit this data to the data clearinghouse B612B as part of the service data.

[0104]

[0116] In some cases, for example, if the owner of ambient IoT device 602 is attempting to retrieve information from ambient IoT device 602 (for example, if ambient IoT device 602 is lost / misplaced), application function 606 may receive a request from the owner or the like to retrieve information about ambient IoT device 602. Application function 606 may then perform a tag lookup from data clearinghouse B612B based on credentials and / or tag ID. Data clearinghouse B612B may return signals and associated service data (if any) from ambient IoT device 602.

[0105]

[0117] As described above, ambient IoT device 602 may have limited processing and cryptographic capabilities and may not be able to perform security operations that other UEs can perform. For example, ambient IoT device 602 may not have a subscription to any mobile carrier (e.g., PLMN610A, 610B, and 610C) and may not have a way to authenticate between ambient IoT device 602 and a mobile carrier (for example, ambient IoT device 602 may not be able to identify itself to a mobile carrier, and ambient IoT device 602 may not be able to identify a mobile carrier). Therefore, a security architecture for ambient IoT device 602 may be desired.

[0106]

[0118] Figure 7 is a block diagram showing the security of an ambient IoT device 700 according to an aspect of this disclosure. In some cases, security functions for the ambient IoT device 702 may be managed by an application function 704, and end-to-end credential management and security protection may operate between the ambient IoT device 702 and the application function 704. For example, the ambient IoT device 702 may transmit tag information, including a tag ID and metadata. In some cases, the tag information may be an unstructured binary string of a limited and / or predefined size. In some cases, the tag ID and / or metadata may be protected based on credentials shared between the ambient IoT device 702 and the application function 704. In some cases, the tag ID may be protected (e.g., encrypted, encoded, and derived based on a shared key with the application function). For example, the tag ID may be encoded using shared credentials, the public key of the application function 704, the public key of the ambient IoT function, the public key of the data clearinghouse, etc. If tag IDs are protected, routing information may be provided along with the message (for example, as part of metadata).

[0107]

[0119] In some cases, tag information may also include routing information. Routing information can indicate where messages from ambient IoT devices can be directed on the network. For example, routing information could be a URL / URI for an application function 704 associated with an ambient IoT device 702.

[0108]

[0120] The tag ID credentials may be based on public-key or symmetric-key cryptography, or on tokens. The credentials help enhance the privacy of the ambient IoT device 702 by allowing portions of messages sent by the IoT device 702 to be concealed in a similar manner to a subscription-concealed identifier (SUCI) using an elliptic curve integrated encryption scheme (ECIES). If the credentials for the tag ID are based on public-key cryptography, the credentials may be based on the public key of the owner of the ambient IoT device 702. In some cases, the owner of the ambient IoT device 702 may be a user of the ambient IoT device 702. In other cases, the owner of the ambient IoT device 702 may be a network or a third party.

[0109]

[0121] In some cases, tag ID credentials can be based on symmetric key cryptography. In some cases, symmetric key cryptography can be useful when message size is a concern. In some cases, a symmetric key can be used to generate a temporary tag ID. A freshness parameter can be used with the symmetric key to generate the temporary tag ID, allowing it to be modified (e.g., not static). In some cases, the freshness parameter can be based on a timer (e.g., the time the temporary tag ID was generated), a period (e.g., the time range the temporary tag ID was generated), a counter number, a random number, or a pseudorandom number. In some cases, the freshness parameter can also be used with public-key based cryptography. In some cases, a symmetric key can be used to generate a temporary public / private key pair and a corresponding key identifier. The key identifier can be derived from the public key or be the public key itself, and the key identifier can be used as the tag ID.

[0110]

[0122] In some cases, tag ID credentials may be based on tokens. Tokens may be used as proof of authorization for service access, and tokens may be issued by an application function of an ambient IoT service (e.g., service access) or a mobile carrier (e.g., for network access). In such cases, the application function of the ambient IoT service or the mobile carrier may be referred to as the token issuer or token provider. Issued tokens may be provisioned to ambient IoT devices 702 by an ambient IoT provisioning service 604. In some cases, tokens may be included as part of metadata for accessing ambient IoT services. In some cases, the provisioning service may be a service that prepares / configures devices and / or services, such as ambient IoT devices 702, to work with services, such as the application function 704.

[0111]

[0123] As described above, credentials can be shared between the ambient IoT device 702 and the application function 704 as part of a provisioning process, such as by the ambient IoT provisioning service 604 in Figure 6. The reader device 706 can receive messages from the ambient IoT device 702 and acquire enrichment data. For example, the reader device 706 can acquire location data or other information from its sensors as enrichment data. The reader device 706 can then send the messages from the ambient IoT device 702 along with the enrichment data to the PLMN 708 associated with the reader device 706 (e.g., the PLMN 708 to which the reader device 706 subscribes). The reader device 706 can secure its transmission to the PLMN 708 using standard security protocols supported by the PLMN. For example, the reader device 706 can securely transmit its data to the ambient IoT function 710 in 3GPP / 4G / 5G PLMN using existing protocols such as transport layer security (TLS), based on a generic bootstrapping architecture (GBA), authentication and key management (AKMA), etc.

[0112]

[0124] After a transmission from the reader device 706 is received by the PLMN 708, messages and enrichment data from the ambient IoT device 702 can be processed by the network (e.g., the core network 170 in Figure 1). In some cases, the enrichment data can be passed to an ambient IoT function 710. The ambient IoT function 710 may include one or more analytical functions 712, which may validate and / or process the enrichment data to generate service data. For example, the ambient IoT function 710 may collect enrichment data such as temperature, and the analytical function 712 may process the data by generating a moving average temperature as service data. If the tag ID is protected, the service data may be prepared based on the protected tag ID. Alternatively, if a temporary tag ID is used, the service data may be prepared based on the temporary tag ID. The ambient IoT function 710 can send messages and service data from the ambient IoT device 702 to a data clearinghouse 714 and / or application function 704, which are secured using existing network data exchange procedures and / or protocols, such as those associated with a network exposure function (NEF), application service provider (ASP), and TLS security. In some cases, the ambient IoT function 710, data clearinghouse 714, application function 704, and / or any combination thereof may be combined into a single entity on the network.

[0113]

[0125] As described above, end-to-end security may be provided between the ambient IoT device 702 and the application function based on credentials for the tag ID, and the application function 704 may be able to verify the tag information (e.g., the tag ID and / or metadata sent by the ambient IoT device 702, protected by credentials). In some cases, it may be useful to allow a mobile carrier (e.g., operating the PLMN 708, the ambient IoT function 710, and possibly the data clearing house 714) to authenticate the ambient IoT device 702.

[0114]

[0126] In some cases, the mobile carrier (e.g., PLMN708 and ambient IoT function 710) and the data clearinghouse 714 (if separate from the mobile carrier) may be configured to indirectly verify ambient IoT tag information. In the case of indirect verification, when the mobile carrier receives a message from the ambient IoT device 702 (e.g., via the reader device 706), the mobile carrier may store the message (e.g., tag ID and metadata). The application function 704 may generate a list of encoded tag IDs associated with the application function 704 (e.g., temporary tag ID, encrypted tag ID, etc.), and the application function 704 may request the mobile carrier to provide the messages associated with the encoded tag IDs in the list of encoded tag IDs. The mobile carrier may compare the list of encoded tag IDs with the stored messages (e.g., stored tag information) to determine a matching message, and then provide the application function 704 with the messages and service data associated with the encoded tag IDs in the list of encoded tag IDs. The mobile operator implicitly validates ambient IoT devices based on consistent messages, while unsolicited messages (e.g., inconsistent messages) are not implicitly validated by the mobile operator. Any unsolicited messages and / or service data may be discarded after a certain threshold period, as these messages are assumed to originate from unvalidated ambient IoT devices 702. It should be noted that in some cases, the encoded tag ID may be periodically modified by the ambient IoT device 702 (e.g., refreshed based on a freshness parameter), and the application function 704 may be able to generate a refreshed encoded tag ID from shared credentials (e.g., based on a freshness parameter).

[0115]

[0127] In some cases, it may be useful to allow the tag information of ambient IoT devices 702 to be directly verified by mobile carriers. For example, it may be useful to allow mobile carriers to directly verify ambient IoT messages to avoid the need to locally store ambient IoT messages while waiting for them to be requested.

[0116]

[0128] One exemplary technique to enable a mobile carrier to directly validate ambient IoT messages may include the application function 704 providing the mobile carrier with a tag validation key. This tag validation key may be derived based on shared credentials between the application function 704 and the ambient IoT device 702. For example, both the application function 704 and the ambient IoT device 702 may derive the tag validation key based on shared credentials and one or more parameters (e.g., a mobile carrier identifier, a network device identifier, a time interval, a timer, a counter number, a random number, or a pseudo-random number). Incorporating a freshness parameter may allow the applicability of the tag validation key to be limited in scope (e.g., time, mobile carrier, etc.), providing flexibility, for example, when tag information is transmitted through different mobile carriers. In some cases, the generated tag validation key may be used for a specific period of time. The application function 704 may provide the generated tag validation key to the mobile carrier. The ambient IoT device 702 may use a tag verification key to encode the tag ID and / or portion of the tag information. The mobile carrier can then verify the message received from the ambient IoT device 702 by using the tag verification key to decrypt the tag ID and / or portion of the tag information and determine whether the message is valid. Invalid ambient IoT messages may be dropped, but valid ambient IoT messages may be sent to the application function 704 along with the corresponding service data.

[0117]

[0129] In some cases, encoding the tag ID and / or portion of the tag information and maintaining a tag verification key separately from the shared credentials may not be appropriate for all types of ambient IoT devices. Another technique to enable mobile operators to directly verify ambient IoT messages may include application function 704 providing the mobile operator (or data clearinghouse 714) with a list of valid encoded tag IDs. For example, application function 704 and ambient IoT device 702 may generate temporary tag IDs based on shared credentials and one or more freshness parameters (e.g., mobile operator identifiers for time intervals, timers, counters, random numbers, or pseudo-random numbers). In some cases, the generated temporary tag IDs may be used for a specific period of time. Application function 704 may then provide the mobile operator with a list of valid tag IDs for ambient IoT devices associated with application function 704 for a given period of time. Ambient IoT device 702 may include the temporary tag IDs as tag IDs for transmitted messages. A mobile communications operator may determine whether a received ambient IoT message is valid by comparing its tag ID (for example, from a reader device 706) with a list of valid tag IDs. Invalid ambient IoT messages may be dropped, while valid ambient IoT messages may be sent to application function 704 along with the corresponding service data. In some cases, the length of the tag ID may be long enough, such as 128 bits, to avoid the possibility of collisions.

[0118]

[0130] In some cases, the mobile operator or data clearinghouse 714 may verify the tag ID (as opposed to, for example, a temporary tag ID). To enable tag ID verification while still providing privacy to ambient IoT devices, the tag ID may be encoded using the public key of the mobile operator or data clearinghouse 714, and the public key (or the tag ID encrypted using the public key) may be provisioned to the ambient IoT device (for example, through a provisioning procedure, such as through a provisioning service like the ambient IoT provisioning service 604 in Figure 6 as part of manufacturing the ambient IoT device). If the tag ID is encoded using the public key of the mobile operator or data clearinghouse 714, the mobile operator or data clearinghouse may be provided with the tag ID of the ambient IoT device by, for example, an application function 704, and the encoded tag ID may be decrypted using the private key of the mobile operator or data clearinghouse 714. Service data may then be prepared based on the encrypted or decrypted tag ID.

[0119]

[0131] Another technique to enable a mobile network operator to directly verify ambient IoT messages may include the mobile network operator (or data clearinghouse 714) issuing tokens to an application function 704 for an ambient IoT device 702. Figure 8 is a block diagram showing a token request 800 according to an aspect of this disclosure. In some cases, the token may be issued by an entity (e.g., a token issuer) that can verify a tag ID without knowing the tag ID. As shown in Figure 8, the entity issuing the token may be an ambient IoT function 810 (e.g., for a mobile network operator) or a data clearinghouse 814 (e.g., if the data clearinghouse 814 is separate from the mobile network operator). In some cases, the token may be issued via a separate logical function of the ambient IoT function 810 or the data clearinghouse 814. Token requests, issuance, and verification may be performed in substantially the same manner as between the ambient IoT function 810 and the data clearinghouse.

[0120]

[0132] In some cases, a token may include a serial number and a message authentication code (MAC). The serial number may be a number assigned to the token by the issuing entity (e.g., ambient IoT function 810 or data clearinghouse 814). The MAC may be created using the issuing entity's private key. In some cases, a signature may also be included in the token.

[0121]

[0133] As shown in the figure, application function 804 may request a token from ambient IoT function 810 820A (or request a token from data clearinghouse 814 820B), and upon request 822A, ambient IoT function 810 (or upon request 822B, data clearinghouse 814) may provide a token to application function 804. In some cases, application function 804 may aggregate the requested tokens. In some cases, the token may be tag ID specific. Application function 804 may then provision the token to ambient IoT device 802 824 (through a provisioning procedure, such as through a provisioning service like ambient IoT provisioning service 604 in Figure 6). Alternatively, a symmetric key may be provisioned to ambient IoT device 802, and the symmetric key (and freshness parameter) may be used to generate a token. This generated token may be used as a one-time token.

[0122]

[0134] When using tokens in a message, the ambient IoT device 802 may encrypt the tag information using the issuing entity's public key, including the encrypted token along with the tag information (for example, as part of the message metadata attached to the message). The token may be encrypted to avoid replay attacks. The encrypted message may be sent to a mobile carrier. After being received by the mobile carrier, the message may be decrypted by the issuing entity. The issuing entity may then use its private key to decrypt the tag information and verify that the token included with the tag information was issued by the issuing entity. If the token was issued by the issuing entity, the associated ambient IoT message is valid. Note that the decrypted tag information may be meaningless to the token issuing entity. Invalid ambient IoT messages may be dropped, but valid ambient IoT messages may be sent to the application function 704 along with the corresponding service data.

[0123]

[0135] Figure 9 is a flowchart showing an example of process 900 for wireless communication. Process 900 may be executed by a first wireless device (e.g., a computing device) or by a component or system of the first wireless device (e.g., a chipset). The first wireless device may be a wireless device such as the energy harvesting device 500 in Figure 5, a computing system 1200, or an UE (e.g., a mobile device such as a cell phone, a network-connected wearable device such as a wristwatch, an extended reality device such as a virtual reality (VR) device or an augmented reality (AR) device, a vehicle or a component or system of a vehicle, or other types of UEs), or other types of network nodes. In some examples, process 900 may be executed by the UE and / or the energy harvesting device. In some cases, the UE may be the energy harvesting device. The operation of process 900 may be implemented as a software component running and operating on one or more processors (e.g., processor 1210 in Figure 11 or other processors (one or more)). Furthermore, the transmission and reception of signals by network devices in process 900 may be enabled, for example, by one or more antennas, one or more transceivers (e.g., wireless transceivers) (one or more), and / or other communication components (e.g., the transmitting processor 220, receiving processor 238, TX MIMO processor 230, MIMO detector 236, modulators (one or more) / demodulators (one or more) 232a-232t, and / or antennas (one or more) 234a-234t, the communication interface 1240 in Figure 12, or other antennas (one or more), transceivers (one or more), and / or components (one or more)).

[0124]

[0136] In block 902, a computing device (or its components) may receive shared credentials from a provisioning service (e.g., ambient IoT provisioning service 604 in Figure 6), which are shared between the device (ambient IoT device 602 in Figure 6, ambient IoT device 702 in Figure 7) and an application function (e.g., application function 606 in Figure 6, application function 704 in Figure 7), which include a token, which is contained in tag information, and the tag information is encoded based on the public key of the token issuer. In some cases, the shared credentials may further include the public key of the application function. In some cases, the token issuer includes at least one of a wireless network service or a data clearing house coupled to a wireless network. In some examples, the token is received from the application function.

[0125]

[0137] In block 904, a computing device (or its components) may generate tag information. In some cases, the tag information includes a tag identifier (ID) and metadata.

[0126]

[0138] In block 906, a computing device (or its components) may encode a portion of the tag information based on shared credentials in order to generate encoded tag information. In some examples, the tag ID is encoded based on shared credentials, and the tag information further includes routing information. In some cases, the tag ID is further encoded based on freshness parameters, which include at least one of a period, counter number, timer, or pseudorandom number. In some examples, the tag ID is encoded based on a tag verification key, which is generated based on shared credentials and one or more parameters configured by the application function. In some cases, the tag ID is encoded based on the public key of a wireless network service or the public key of a data clearinghouse. In some cases, the configured parameters are network identification information, frequency band, network device identification information, or any combination thereof.

[0127]

[0139] In block 908, a computing device (or its components) may broadcast encoded tag information.

[0128]

[0140] Figure 10 is a flowchart showing an example of process 1000 for wireless communication. Process 1000 may be executed by a device (e.g., a computing device) or by a component or system of a device (e.g., a chipset) configured as an application function (e.g., application function 606 in Figure 6, application function 704 in Figure 7, application function 804 in Figure 8). The device may be coupled to or part of a core network (e.g., core network 170 in Figure 1), and the device may be a server device such as a computing system 1200 configured to provide and / or receive data from a UE (e.g., UE 104 in Figure 1, wireless device 407 in Figure 4, mobile devices such as mobile phones, network-connected wearables such as watches, extended reality devices such as virtual reality (VR) devices or augmented reality (AR) devices, vehicles or components or systems of vehicles, or other types of UEs) or other types of network nodes. The operation of process 1000 can be implemented as a software component that runs and operates on one or more processors (for example, processor 1210 in Figure 12 or other processors (one or more)).

[0129]

[0141] In block 1002, a computing device (or its components) may provision shared credentials to a wireless device, which are shared between the device (e.g., application function 606 in Figure 6, application function 704 in Figure 7) and the wireless device (ambient IoT device 602 in Figure 6, ambient IoT device 702 in Figure 7), and the shared credentials include a token, which is contained in tag information, and the tag information is encoded based on the public key of the token issuer. In some cases, a device (e.g., an application function) may provision shared credentials to a wireless device via a provisioning service (e.g., ambient IoT provisioning service 604 in Figure 6). For example, a device may provide a set of shared credentials to a provisioning service, which may provide information about ambient IoT devices provisioned using the shared credentials. In some examples, the shared credentials may further include the public key of the application function.

[0130]

[0142] In block 1004, a computing device (or its components) may provide information associated with a wireless device to a service of a wireless network. In some cases, the information associated with a wireless device provided to the service includes at least one of a list of encoded tag IDs, a tag verification key, and a request for a token for the wireless device. In some examples, the information associated with a wireless device provided to the service includes a list of encoded tag IDs that are valid for a certain period of time. In some cases, the information associated with a wireless device provided to the service includes a tag verification key, and the computing device (or its components) may generate a tag verification key based on shared credentials and one or more parameters configured by an application function, and decode the encoded tag IDs of the tag information based on the tag verification key. In some examples, the information associated with a wireless device provided to the service includes a request for a token, the token is issued by a token issuer, and the computing device (or its components) may receive a token in response to a request for a token and provide the token and the public key of the token issuer to the wireless device. In some cases, the token issuer includes at least one of a service of a wireless network or a data clearinghouse coupled to the wireless network. In some cases, the configured parameters are network identification information, frequency band, network device identification information, or any combination thereof.

[0131]

[0143] In block 1006, a computing device (or its components) may receive encoded tag information from a wireless device. In some cases, the tag information includes an encoded tag identifier (ID) and metadata. In some examples, the encoded tag ID and token are encrypted based on the token issuer's public key.

[0132]

[0144] In block 1008, a computing device (or its components) may decode at least a portion of the encoded tag information based on shared credentials in order to obtain tag information from a wireless device.

[0133]

[0145] Figure 11 is a flowchart showing an example of process 1100 for wireless communication. Process 1100 may be performed by a device (e.g., a computing device) or by a component or system of a device (e.g., a chipset) configured as an ambient IoT function (e.g., ambient IoT function 710 in Figure 7, ambient IoT function 810 in Figure 8). The device may be coupled to or part of a core network (e.g., core network 170 in Figure 1), and the device may be a server device such as a computing system 1200 configured to provide and / or receive data from a UE (e.g., UE 104 in Figure 1, wireless device 407 in Figure 4, mobile devices such as cell phones, network-connected wearables such as watches, extended reality devices such as virtual reality (VR) devices or augmented reality (AR) devices, vehicles or components or systems of vehicles, or other types of UEs) or other types of network nodes. The operation of process 1100 can be implemented as a software component that runs and operates on one or more processors (for example, processor 1210 in Figure 12 or other processors (one or more)).

[0134]

[0146] In block 1102, a computing device (or its components) may receive information associated with a wireless device (ambient IoT device 602 in Figure 6, ambient IoT device 702 in Figure 7) from an application function (e.g., application function 606 in Figure 6, application function 704 in Figure 7, application function 804 in Figure 8) coupled to the device (e.g., ambient IoT function 710 in Figure 7, ambient IoT function 810 in Figure 8). In some cases, the information associated with a wireless device provided to the service includes at least one of a list of encoded tag IDs, a tag verification key, and a request for a token for the wireless device. In some cases, information associated with a wireless device received from an application function includes a list of encoded tag IDs, and the computing device (or its components) stores the received tag information, receives a request from the application function for the received tag information which includes encoded tag IDs, determines that the encoded tag IDs correspond to a portion of the stored tag information, and can provide the received tag information to the application function. Verification of the wireless device is based on the determination that the encoded tag IDs correspond to a portion of the stored tag information. In some cases, information associated with a wireless device received from an application function includes a list of encoded tag IDs, and the computing device (or its components) stores the received tag information, determines that the received tag information has been stored for a period exceeding a threshold period without being requested by the application function, and can discard the received encoded tag information. In some cases, information associated with a wireless device received from an application function includes a tag verification key, and the computing device (or its components) can decode the encoded tag IDs of the tag information based on the tag verification key and provide the tag information to the application function based on the decoded tag IDs.In some cases, information associated with a wireless device received from an application function includes a request for a token, and a computing device (or its components) may issue a token to the application function in response to the request. In some cases, the encoded tag ID and token are encrypted based on the public key associated with the device.

[0135]

[0147] In block 1104, a computing device (or its components) may receive encoded tag information from a wireless device. In some cases, the tag information includes an encoded tag identifier (ID) and metadata.

[0136]

[0148] In block 1106, a computing device (or its components) may verify a wireless device based on received information and encoded tag information associated with the wireless device. In some cases, the computing device (or its components) may decode encoded tag information from the wireless device using a secret key associated with the device to obtain a token, determine that the obtained token is consistent with the issued token, and, based on the determination that the obtained token is consistent with the issued token, provide the tag information to an application function.

[0137]

[0149] In some cases, a computing device or apparatus may include a variety of components, such as one or more input devices, one or more output devices, one or more processors, one or more microprocessors, one or more microcomputers, one or more cameras, one or more sensors, and / or other components (one or more) configured to perform the steps of the process described herein. In some examples, a computing device may include a display, one or more network interfaces configured to communicate and / or receive data, any combination thereof, and / or other components (one or more). One or more network interfaces may be configured to communicate and / or receive wired data and / or wireless data, including data in accordance with 3G, 4G, 5G, and / or other cellular standards, data in accordance with WiFi (802.11x) standards, data in accordance with Bluetooth® standards, data in accordance with Internet Protocol (IP) standards, and / or other types of data.

[0138]

[0150] Components of computing devices may be implemented in circuits. For example, these components may include, and / or be implemented using, one or more programmable electronic circuits (e.g., microprocessors, graphics processing units (GPUs), digital signal processors (DSPs), central processing units (CPUs), and / or other suitable electronic circuits), electronic circuits, or other electronic hardware, and / or may include, and / or be implemented using, computer software, firmware, or any combination thereof for performing the various operations described herein.

[0139]

[0151] Processes 900, 1000, and 1100 are presented as logical flow diagrams, and their operations represent sequences of operations that can be implemented in hardware, computer instructions, or a combination thereof. In relation to computer instructions, an operation represents a computer-executable instruction stored on one or more computer-readable storage media that, when executed by one or more processors, performs the operation described. Generally, computer-executable instructions include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures, etc., that perform a particular function or realize a particular data type. The order in which their operations are described is not intended to be interpreted as limiting, and any number of the described operations can be combined in any order and / or in parallel to implement those processes.

[0140]

[0152] In addition, processes 900, 1000, and 1100, and / or other processes described herein, may be carried out under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, and may be implemented as code (e.g., executable instructions, one or more computer programs, or one or more applications) that is executed collectively on one or more processors, by hardware, or in combination thereof. As described above, the code may be stored on a computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium in the form of a computer program containing multiple instructions that can be executed by one or more processors. The computer-readable or machine-readable storage medium may be non-temporary.

[0141]

[0153] Figure 12 shows an example of a system for implementing a particular aspect of the present technology. Specifically, Figure 12 shows an example of a computing system 1200, which may be, for example, an internal computing system, a remote computing system, a camera, or any computing device comprising any of these components, the components of this system communicating with each other using a connection 1205. The connection 1205 may be a physical connection using a bus, or a direct connection to a processor 1210, such as in a chipset architecture. The connection 1205 may also be a virtual connection, a networked connection, or a logical connection.

[0142]

[0154] In some embodiments, the computing system 1200 is a distributed system in which the functions described herein may be distributed across a data center, a plurality of data centers, a peer network, and so on. In some embodiments, one or more of the system components described represent many such components, each performing some or all of the functions described. In some embodiments, these components may be physical or virtual devices.

[0143]

[0155] An exemplary system 1200 includes at least one processing unit (CPU or processor) 1210, and connections 1205 that communicatively connect various system components, including system memory 1225 such as read-only memory (ROM) 1220 and random access memory (RAM) 1225, to the processor 1210. The computing system 1200 may include a high-speed memory cache 1215 that is directly connected to the processor 1210, connected in close proximity to the processor 1210, or integrated as part of the processor 1210.

[0144]

[0156] The processor 1210 may include an arbitrary general-purpose processor, hardware or software services such as services 1232, 1234, and 1236 stored in a memory device 1230 configured to control the processor 1210, and a dedicated processor in which software instructions are incorporated into the actual processor design. The processor 1210 may be a completely self-contained computing system that includes multiple cores or processors, a bus, a memory controller, a cache, etc. A multicore processor may be symmetric or asymmetric.

[0145]

[0157] To enable user interaction, the computing system 1200 includes an input device 1245 which can represent any number of input mechanisms, such as a microphone for speech, a touch-sensitive screen for gesture or graphical input, a keyboard, a mouse, motion input, or speech. The computing system 1200 may also include an output device 1235 which may be one or more of several output mechanisms. In some cases, a multimodal system may allow the user to provide multiple types of input / output to communicate with the computing system 1200.

[0146]

[0158] The computing system 1200 may include a communication interface 1240 that can comprehensively control and manage user input and system output. The communication interface may use wired transceivers and / or wireless transceivers to perform or facilitate the reception and / or transmission of wired or wireless communications, and the wired transceivers and / or wireless transceivers may include audio jacks / plugs, microphone jacks / plugs, universal serial bus (USB) ports / plugs, Apple® Lightning® ports / plugs, Ethernet ports / plugs, fiber optic ports / plugs, proprietary wired ports / plugs, 3G, 4G, 5G, and / or other cellular data network wireless signal transmission, Bluetooth® wireless signal transmission, Bluetooth® Low Energy (BLE) wireless signal transmission, IBEACON® wireless signal transmission, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) wireless signal transmission, near-field communications (NFC) wireless signal transmission, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC) wireless signal transmission, 802.11 Wi-Fi wireless signal transmission, wireless local area network (WLAN) signal transmission, and visible light communications (Visible Light This includes wireless signal transmission using methods such as Microwave Communication (VLC), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Infrared (IR) communications, Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) signal transmission, Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) signal transmission, Ad Hoc network signal transmission, Radio signal transmission, Microwave signal transmission, Infrared signal transmission, Visible light signal transmission, Ultraviolet light signal transmission, Wireless signal transmission along the electromagnetic spectrum, or any combination thereof.The communication interface 1240 may also include one or more GNSS receivers or transceivers used to determine the location of the computing system 1200 based on the reception of one or more signals from one or more satellites associated with one or more Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) systems. The GNSS systems include, but are not limited to, the United States-based Global Positioning System (GPS), the Russia-based Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS), the China-based Beidou Navigation Satellite System (BDS), and the Europe-based Galileo GNSS. There are no restrictions on operation on any particular hardware configuration; therefore, the fundamental features described herein can be easily superseded as improved hardware or firmware configurations are developed.

[0147]

[0159] The storage device 1230 may be a non-volatile memory device and / or a non-temporary memory device and / or a computer-readable memory device, such as a magnetic cassette, flash memory card, solid memory device, digital multipurpose disk, cartridge, floppy disk, flexible disk, hard disk, magnetic tape, magnetic strip / stripe, any other magnetic storage medium, flash memory, memristor memory, any other solid memory, compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM) optical disc, rewritable compact disc (CD) optical disc, digital video disk (DVD) optical disc, Blu-ray disc (BDD) optical disc, holographic optical disc, another optical medium, secure digital (SD) card, micro secure digital (microSD) card, Memory Stick® card, smart card chip, EMV chip, subscriber identity module (SIM) card, mini / micro / nano / pico SIM card, or another integrated circuit (integrated Circuits, ICs) Chips / Cards, Random Access Memory (RAM), Static RAM (SRAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), Programmable Read-Only Memory (PROM), Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), Flash EPROM, Cache Memory (e.g., Level 1 (L1) cache, Level 2 (L2) cache, Level 3 (L3) cache, Level 4 (L2) cache)4. It may be a hard disk or other type of computer-readable medium capable of storing computer-accessible data, such as L4 cache, Level 5 (L5) cache, or other (L#) cache, resistive random-access memory (RRAM / ReRAM), phase change memory (PCM), spin transfer torque RAM (STT-RAM), another memory chip or cartridge, and / or any combination thereof.

[0148]

[0160] The storage device 1230 may include software services, servers, services, etc., which cause the processor 1210 to perform functions when code defining such software is executed by the processor 1210. In some embodiments, a hardware service that performs a particular function may include software components stored on a computer-readable medium in relation to necessary hardware components such as the processor 1210, connection 1205, and output device 1235 in order to perform that function. The term “computer-readable medium” includes, but is not limited to, portable or non-portable storage devices, optical storage devices, and various other media capable of storing, containing, or transporting instructions (one or more) and / or data. The computer-readable medium may include non-transient media capable of storing data, and such non-transient media does not include carrier waves and / or transient electronic signals that propagate wirelessly or via wired connections. Examples of non-transient media may include, but are not limited to, magnetic disks or magnetic tapes, optical storage media such as compact disks (CDs) or digital versatile disks (DVDs), flash memory, memory, or memory devices. Computer-readable media may store code and / or machine-executable instructions that may represent procedures, functions, subprograms, programs, routines, subroutines, modules, software packages, classes, or any combination of instructions, data structures, or program statements. Code segments may be coupled to other code segments or hardware circuits by passing and / or receiving information, data, arguments, parameters, or memory contents. Information, arguments, parameters, data, etc., may be passed, forwarded, or transmitted via any preferred means, including memory sharing, message passing, token passing, and network transmission.

[0149]

[0161] Specific details are given in the above description to provide a complete understanding of the embodiments and examples provided herein, but those skilled in the art will understand that this application is not limited thereto. Therefore, while exemplary embodiments of this application are described in detail herein, it should be understood that the concepts of the present invention can be embodied and employed in various other ways, and that, unless limited by the prior art, the appended claims are intended to be interpreted as including such variations. The various features and embodiments of this application described above may be used individually or in combination. Furthermore, embodiments may be used in any number of environments and applications other than those described herein without departing from the broader scope of this specification. Therefore, this specification and the drawings should be considered illustrative and not limiting. For illustrative purposes, the methods are described in a particular order. It should be understood that in alternative embodiments, the methods may be carried out in an order different from the order described.

[0150]

[0162] For clarity of explanation, in some cases the technology may be presented as including individual functional blocks, which include devices, device components, and steps or routines of methods embodied in software or a combination of hardware and software. Additional components other than those shown in the figures and / or described herein may be used. For example, circuits, systems, networks, processes, and other components may be shown as components in the form of block diagrams, so as not to obscure the aspects with unnecessary details. In other cases, well-known circuits, processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques may be shown without unnecessary details, so as not to obscure the aspects.

[0151]

[0163] Furthermore, those skilled in the art will understand that various exemplary logic blocks, modules, circuits, and algorithmic steps described in relation to the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented as electronic hardware, computer software, or a combination of both. To clearly demonstrate this hardware-software compatibility, various exemplary components, blocks, modules, circuits, and steps have been outlined above in relation to their functions. Whether such functions are implemented as hardware or executed as software depends on the specific application and the design constraints imposed on the overall system. Those skilled in the art may implement the described functions in various ways for specific applications, but such implementation decisions should not be construed as causing a departure from the scope of this disclosure.

[0152]

[0164] Individual embodiments may be described above as processes or methods represented as flowcharts, flow diagrams, data flow diagrams, structural diagrams, or block diagrams. While flowcharts may describe operations as sequential processes, many operations may be performed in parallel or simultaneously. Furthermore, the order of operations can be rearranged. A process terminates when its operations are complete, but it may have additional steps not shown in the diagram. A process may correspond to a method, function, procedure, subroutine, subprogram, etc. When a process corresponds to a function, its termination may correspond to the function returning to a calling function or main function.

[0153]

[0165] The processes and methods described above may be implemented using computer-executable instructions stored on or otherwise available from computer-readable media. Such instructions may include, for example, instructions and data that cause a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, or a processing device to perform a particular function or set of functions, or otherwise configure a general-purpose computer, a dedicated computer, or a processing device to perform a particular function or set of functions. The portion of computer resources used may be accessible via a network. Computer-executable instructions may be, for example, binaries, or intermediate format instructions such as assembly language, firmware, or source code. Examples of computer-readable media that may be used to store the instructions, information used, and / or information created in the methods described above include magnetic disks or optical disks, flash memory, USB devices with non-volatile memory, and networked storage devices.

[0154]

[0166] In some embodiments, computer-readable storage devices, media, and memory may include cables or wireless signals, such as bitstreams. However, when referred to, non-temporary computer-readable storage media expressly exclude media such as energy, carrier signals, electromagnetic waves, and signals themselves.

[0155]

[0167] Those skilled in the art will understand that information and signals can be represented using any of a variety of different technologies and techniques. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, and chips, which may be mentioned throughout the above description, can in some cases be represented by voltage, electric current, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, light fields or optical particles, or any combination thereof, depending in part on the specific application, desired design, corresponding technology, etc.

[0156]

[0168] Various exemplary logic blocks, modules, and circuits described in relation to the embodiments disclosed herein may be implemented or executed using hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description languages, or any combination thereof, and may take on any of various form factors. When implemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, program code or code segments (e.g., computer program products) that perform the required tasks may be stored in computer-readable or machine-readable media. One or more processors may perform the required tasks. Examples of form factors include laptops, smartphones, mobile phones, tablet devices or other space-saving personal computers, personal digital assistants, rack-mount devices, and standalone devices. The functions described herein may also be embodied in peripheral devices or add-in cards. Such functions may also, as a further example, be implemented on circuit boards of different chips or on different processes running in a single device.

[0157]

[0169] Instructions, a medium for transmitting such instructions, computing resources for executing those instructions, and other structures supporting such computing resources are exemplary means for providing the functions described in this disclosure.

[0158]

[0170] The program code may be executed by a processor system which may include one or more processors, such as one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), general-purpose microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field programmable logic arrays (FPGAs), or other equivalent integrated or discrete logic circuit configurations. Such a processor system may be configured to implement any of the techniques described herein. The general-purpose processor may be a microprocessor, but alternatively, the processor may be any conventional processor, controller, microcontroller, or state machine. The processor system may also be implemented as a combination of computing devices, e.g., a combination of a DSP and a microprocessor, multiple microprocessors, one or more microprocessors in conjunction with a DSP core, or any other such configuration. Thus, the term “processor system” as used herein may mean any of the structures described herein, any combination thereof, or any other structure or device suitable for implementing the techniques described herein.

[0159]

[0171] Those skilled in the art will understand that the symbols or terms used herein, less than ("<") and greater than (">"), may be replaced without departing from the scope of this description by the symbols less than or equal to ("≦") and greater than or equal to ("≧"), respectively.

[0160]

[0172] When a component is described as "configured to perform a particular operation," such configuration can be achieved, for example, by designing electronic circuits or other hardware to perform the operation, by programming programmable electronic circuits (e.g., a microprocessor or other suitable electronic circuit) to perform the operation, or by any combination thereof.

[0161]

[0173] The phrases “connected to ~” or “communicatively connected to ~” refer to any component that is physically connected to another component, either directly or indirectly, and / or any component that communicates with another component, either directly or indirectly (for example, connected to another component via a wired or wireless connection and / or other suitable communication interface).

[0162]

[0174] Any claim wording or other wording that states "at least one of" a set and / or "one or more" of a set indicates that one member of that set, or multiple members of that set (in any combination), satisfy the claim. For example, any claim wording that states "at least one of A and B" or "at least one of A or B" means A, B, or A and B. In another example, any claim wording that states "at least one of A, B, and C" or "at least one of A, B, or C" means A, B, C, or A and B, or A and C, or B and C, or A and B and C, or any overlapping information or data (e.g., A and A, B and B, C and C, A and A and B, etc.), or any other order, overlap, or combination of A, B, and C. The phrases "at least one of" and / or "one or more" of a set do not limit the set to items listed within it. For example, the claim wording "at least one of A and B" or "at least one of A or B" could mean A, B, or A and B, and may also include items not listed within the set of A and B. The phrases "at least one" and "one or more" are used interchangeably herein.

[0163]

[0175] The wording of a claim that includes phrases such as “at least one processor configured to do so,” “one or more processors configured to do so,” or “one or more processors configured to do so,” or any other wording, indicates that one or more processors (in any combination) can perform the associated operations (one or more). For example, the wording of a claim that includes “at least one processor configured to do X, Y, and Z” means that a single processor can perform operations X, Y, and Z, or that each of several processors can task a particular subset of operations X, Y, and Z, or that a group of several processors can work together to perform operations X, Y, and Z, so that several processors can perform X, Y, and Z together. In another example, the wording of a claim that includes “at least one processor configured to do X, Y, and Z” may mean that any single processor can perform only one subset of operations X, Y, and Z.

[0164]

[0176] When one or more elements are mentioned that perform a function (e.g., steps of a method), one element may perform all of the functions, or two or more elements may perform the functions collectively. When two or more elements perform a function collectively, each function does not have to be performed by each of those elements (e.g., different functions may be performed by different elements), and / or each function does not have to be performed entirely by only one element (e.g., different elements may perform different sub-functions of a function). Similarly, when one or more elements are mentioned that are configured to cause another element (e.g., a device) to perform a function, one element may be configured to cause the other elements to perform all of the functions, or two or more elements may be collectively configured to cause the other elements to perform the functions.

[0165]

[0177] Where referring to an entity (e.g., any entity or device described herein) that performs a function or is configured to perform a function (e.g., a step of a method), the entity may be configured to have one or more elements perform the function (individually or collectively). One or more components of the entity may include at least one memory, at least one processor, at least one communication interface, another component configured to perform one or more (or all) of the functions, and / or any combination thereof. Where referring to an entity that performs a function, the entity may be configured to have one component perform all of the functions, or to have two or more components collectively perform the functions. When an entity is configured to have two or more components collectively perform the functions, each function does not have to be performed by each of those components (e.g., different functions may be performed by different components), and / or each function as a whole does not have to be performed by only one component (e.g., different components may perform different subfunctions of the function).

[0166]

[0178] Exemplary embodiments of this disclosure include the following:

[0167]

[0179] Embodiment 1. A device for wireless communication, comprising a memory system including instructions, and a processor system coupled to the memory system, wherein the processor system is configured to receive shared credentials from a provisioning service, the shared credentials being shared between the device and an application function, the shared credentials including a token, the token being included in tag information, and the tag information being encoded based on the public key of the token issuer, generate tag information, encode a portion of the tag information based on the shared credentials to generate encoded tag information, and broadcast the encoded tag information.

[0168]

[0180] Embodiment 2. The device according to Embodiment 1, wherein the tag information includes a tag identifier (ID) and metadata.

[0169]

[0181] Embodiment 3. The device according to Embodiment 2, wherein the tag ID is encoded based on shared credentials, and the tag information further includes routing information.

[0170]

[0182] Embodiment 4. The device according to Embodiment 3, wherein the tag ID is further encoded based on a freshness parameter which includes at least one of a period, a counter, a timer, or a pseudorandom number.

[0171]

[0183] Embodiment 5. The device according to any one of Embodiments 2 to 4, wherein the tag ID is encoded based on a tag verification key, and the tag verification key is generated by an application function based on shared credentials and one or more configured parameters.

[0172]

[0184] Embodiment 6. The device according to any one of Embodiments 2 to 5, wherein the tag ID is encoded based on the public key of a wireless network service or the public key of a data clearinghouse.

[0173]

[0185] Embodiment 7. The device according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 6, wherein the shared credentials include the public key of the application function.

[0174]

[0186] Embodiment 8. The device according to Embodiment 5, wherein the configured parameters are network identification information, frequency band, network device identification information, or any combination thereof.

[0175]

[0187] Embodiment 9. The device according to Embodiment 1, wherein the token issuer includes at least one of a wireless network service or a data clearing house coupled to a wireless network.

[0176]

[0188] Embodiment 10. A device according to any one of Embodiments 1 to 9, wherein a token is received from an application function.

[0177]

[0189] Embodiment 11. A device for wireless communication by application functionality, comprising a memory system having instructions, and a processor system coupled to the memory system, wherein the processor system is configured to provision a shared credential to a wireless device, the shared credential being shared between the device and a wireless device, the shared credential comprising a token, the token being included in tag information, and the tag information being encoded based on the public key of the token issuer, to provide information associated with the wireless device to a wireless network service, to receive encoded tag information from the wireless device, and to decode at least a portion of the encoded tag information based on the shared credential in order to obtain the tag information from the wireless device.

[0178]

[0190] Embodiment 12. The device according to Embodiment 11, wherein the tag information includes an encoded tag identifier (ID) and metadata.

[0179]

[0191] Embodiment 13. The device according to Embodiment 12, wherein the information associated with the wireless device provided to the service includes at least one of a list of encoded tag IDs, a tag verification key, and a request for a token for the wireless device.

[0180]

[0192] Embodiment 14. The device according to Embodiment 13, wherein the information associated with the wireless device provided to the service includes a list of encoded tag IDs that are valid over a period of time.

[0181]

[0193] Embodiment 15. The device according to Embodiment 13 or 14, wherein the information associated with the wireless device provided to the service includes a tag verification key, and the processor system is further configured to generate a tag verification key based on one or more parameters configured by shared credentials and application functions, and to decode an encoded tag ID of the tag information based on the tag verification key.

[0182]

[0194] Embodiment 16. A device according to any one of embodiments 13 to 15, wherein information associated with a wireless device provided to a service includes a request for a token, the token is issued by a token issuer, and the processor system is further configured to receive the token in response to the request for a token and provide the token and the public key of the token issuer to the wireless device.

[0183]

[0195] Embodiment 17. The device according to Embodiment 16, wherein the token issuer includes at least one of a wireless network service or a data clearing house coupled to a wireless network.

[0184]

[0196] Embodiment 18. The device according to Embodiment 16 or 17, wherein the encoded tag ID and token are encrypted based on the public key of the token issuer.

[0185]

[0197] Embodiment 19. A device according to any one of Embodiments 13 to 18, wherein the shared credentials include the public key of the application function.

[0186]

[0198] Embodiment 20. A device for wireless communication by a wireless network service, comprising a memory system having instructions and a processor system coupled to the memory system, wherein the processor system is configured to receive information associated with a wireless device from an application function coupled to the device, receive encoded tag information from the wireless device, and verify the wireless device based on the received information and encoded tag information associated with the wireless device.

[0187]

[0199] Embodiment 21. The device according to Embodiment 20, wherein the tag information includes an encoded tag identifier (ID) and metadata.

[0188]

[0200] Embodiment 22. The device according to Embodiment 21, wherein the information associated with the wireless device provided to the service includes at least one of a list of encoded tag IDs, a tag verification key, and a request for a token for the wireless device.

[0189]

[0201] Embodiment 23. The device according to Embodiment 21 or 22, wherein information associated with a wireless device received from an application function includes a list of encoded tag IDs, and the processor system is further configured to store the received tag information, receive a request from the application function for the received tag information, which includes encoded tag IDs, determine that the encoded tag IDs correspond to a portion of the stored tag information, and provide the received tag information to the application function, and the verification of the wireless device is based on the determination that the encoded tag IDs correspond to a portion of the stored tag information.

[0190]

[0202] Embodiment 24. The device according to any one of embodiments 21 to 23, wherein information associated with a wireless device received from an application function includes a list of encoded tag IDs, and the processor system is further configured to store the received tag information, determine that the received tag information has been stored for a period exceeding a threshold period without being requested by the application function, and discard the received encoded tag information.

[0191]

[0203] Embodiment 25. The device according to any one of Embodiments 21 to 24, wherein information associated with a wireless device received from an application function comprises a tag verification key, and the processor system is further configured to decode an encoded tag ID of the tag information based on the tag verification key, and to provide the tag information to the application function based on the decoded tag ID.

[0192]

[0204] Embodiment 26. The device according to any one of embodiments 21 to 25, wherein information associated with a wireless device received from an application function includes a request for a token, and the processor system is further configured to issue a token to the application function in response to the request for a token.

[0193]

[0205] Embodiment 27. The device according to Embodiment 26, wherein the encoded tag ID and token are encrypted based on the public key associated with the device.

[0194]

[0206] Embodiment 28. The device according to Embodiment 27, wherein the processor system is further configured to decode encoded tag information from a wireless device using a secret key associated with the device in order to obtain a token, determine that the obtained token is consistent with an issued token, and provide the tag information to an application function based on the determination that the obtained token is consistent with an issued token.

[0195]

[0207] Embodiment 29. A method for wireless communication, comprising: receiving a shared credential from a provisioning service, wherein the shared credential is shared between a device and an application function, the shared credential includes a token, the token is included in tag information, and the tag information is encoded based on the public key of the token issuer; generating tag information; encoding a portion of the tag information based on the shared credential in order to generate encoded tag information; and broadcasting the encoded tag information.

[0196]

[0208] Embodiment 30. The method of Embodiment 29, wherein the tag information includes a tag identifier (ID) and metadata.

[0197]

[0209] Embodiment 31. The method according to Embodiment 30 or 31, wherein the tag ID is encoded based on shared credentials, and the tag information further includes routing information.

[0198]

[0210] Embodiment 32. The method according to Embodiment 31, wherein the tag ID is further encoded based on a freshness parameter which includes at least one of a period, a counter, a timer, or a pseudorandom number.

[0199]

[0211] Embodiment 33. The method according to any one of embodiments 30 to 32, wherein the tag ID is encoded based on a tag verification key, and the tag verification key is generated by an application function based on shared credentials and one or more configured parameters.

[0200]

[0212] Embodiment 34. The method according to any one of embodiments 30 to 33, wherein the tag ID is encoded based on the public key of a wireless network service or the public key of a data clearinghouse.

[0201]

[0213] Embodiment 35. Any method of Embodiments 29 to 34, wherein the shared credentials include the public key of the application function.

[0202]

[0214] Embodiment 36. The method according to any one of Embodiments 29 to 35, wherein the configured parameters are network identification information, a frequency band, network device identification information, or any combination thereof.

[0203]

[0215] Embodiment 37. The method according to Embodiment 29, wherein the token issuer includes at least one of a wireless network service or a data clearinghouse coupled to a wireless network.

[0204]

[0216] Embodiment 38. The method according to any one of Embodiments 29 to 37, wherein the token is received from an application function.

[0205]

[0217] Embodiment 39. A method for wireless communication by application functionality, comprising: provisioning a shared credential to a wireless device, wherein the shared credential is shared between a device and a wireless device, the shared credential includes a token, the token is included in tag information, and the tag information is encoded based on the public key of the token issuer; providing information associated with the wireless device to a wireless network service; receiving encoded tag information from the wireless device; and decoding at least a portion of the encoded tag information based on the shared credential in order to obtain the tag information from the wireless device.

[0206]

[0218] Embodiment 40. The method of Embodiment 39, wherein the tag information includes an encoded tag identifier (ID) and metadata.

[0207]

[0219] Embodiment 41. The method of Embodiment 40, wherein the information associated with a wireless device provided to the service includes at least one of a list of encoded tag IDs, a tag verification key, and a request for a token for the wireless device.

[0208]

[0220] Embodiment 42. The method according to Embodiment 41, wherein the information associated with a wireless device provided to the service includes a list of encoded tag IDs that are valid over a period of time.

[0209]

[0221] Embodiment 43. The method according to Embodiment 41 or 42, wherein the information associated with a wireless device provided to the service includes a tag verification key, and the method further comprises an application function generating a tag verification key based on shared credentials and one or more configured parameters, and decrypting an encoded tag ID of tag information based on the tag verification key.

[0210]

[0222] Embodiment 44. The method according to any one of embodiments 41 to 43, wherein information associated with a wireless device provided to the service includes a request for a token, the token is issued by a token issuer, and the method further includes receiving a token in response to a request for a token, and providing the token and the public key of the token issuer to the wireless device.

[0211]

[0223] Embodiment 45. The method of Embodiment 44, wherein the token issuer includes at least one of a wireless network service or a data clearinghouse coupled to a wireless network.

[0212]

[0224] Embodiment 46. The method according to Embodiment 44 or 45, wherein the encoded tag ID and token are encrypted based on the public key of the token issuer.

[0213]

[0225] Embodiment 47. Any method of Embodiments 41 to 46, wherein the shared credentials include the public key of the application function.

[0214]

[0226] Embodiment 48. A method for wireless communication by a wireless network service, comprising: receiving information associated with a wireless device from an application function; receiving encoded tag information from a wireless device; and verifying a wireless device based on the received information and encoded tag information associated with the wireless device.

[0215]

[0227] Embodiment 49. The method of Embodiment 48, wherein the tag information includes an encoded tag identifier (ID) and metadata.

[0216]

[0228] Embodiment 50. The method according to Embodiment 49, wherein the information associated with a wireless device provided to the service includes at least one of a list of encoded tag IDs, a tag verification key, and a request for a token for the wireless device.

[0217]

[0229] Embodiment 51. The method according to Embodiment 49 or 50, wherein information associated with a wireless device received from an application function includes a list of encoded tag IDs, and the method further includes storing the received tag information, receiving a request from the application function for the received tag information, which includes encoded tag IDs, determining that the encoded tag IDs correspond to a portion of the stored tag information, and providing the received tag information to the application function, wherein the verification of the wireless device is based on the determination that the encoded tag IDs correspond to a portion of the stored tag information.

[0218]

[0230] Embodiment 52. The method according to any one of Embodiments 49 to 51, wherein the information associated with a wireless device received from an application function includes a list of encoded tag IDs, and the method further comprises storing the received tag information, determining that the received tag information has been stored for a period exceeding a threshold period without being requested by the application function, and discarding the received encoded tag information.

[0219]

[0231] Embodiment 53. The method according to any one of embodiments 49 to 52, wherein information associated with a wireless device received from an application function includes a tag verification key, and the method further comprises decrypting an encoded tag ID of tag information based on the tag verification key, and providing the tag information to the application function based on the decrypted tag ID.

[0220]

[0232] Embodiment 54. The method of any one embodiment 49 to 53, wherein information associated with a wireless device received from an application function includes a request for a token, and the method further comprises issuing a token to the application function in response to the request for a token.

[0221]

[0233] Embodiment 55. The method according to Embodiment 54, wherein the encoded tag ID and token are encrypted based on the public key associated with the device.

[0222]

[0234] Embodiment 56. The method of Embodiment 55, further comprising: decrypting encoded tag information from a wireless device using a secret key associated with the device in order to obtain a token; determining that the obtained token is consistent with the issued token; and providing the tag information to an application function based on the determination that the obtained token is consistent with the issued token.

[0223]

[0235] Embodiment 57. A non-temporary computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor system, causes the processor system to receive shared credentials from a provisioning service, generate tag information, encode a portion of the tag information based on the shared credentials in order to generate encoded tag information, and broadcast the encoded tag information.

[0224]

[0236] Embodiment 58. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 57, wherein the tag information includes a tag identifier (ID) and metadata.

[0225]

[0237] Embodiment 59. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 58, wherein the tag ID is encoded based on shared credentials, and the tag information further includes routing information.

[0226]

[0238] Embodiment 60. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 59, wherein the tag ID is further encoded based on a freshness parameter which includes at least one of a period, a counter number, a timer, or a pseudorandom number.

[0227]

[0239] Embodiment 61. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to any one of Embodiments 58 to 60, wherein the tag ID is encoded based on a tag verification key, and the tag verification key is generated by an application function based on shared credentials and one or more configured parameters.

[0228]

[0240] Embodiment 62. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to any one of Embodiments 58 to 61, wherein the tag ID is encoded based on the public key of a wireless network service or the public key of a data clearinghouse.

[0229]

[0241] Embodiment 63. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to any one of Embodiments 57 to 62, wherein the shared credentials include the public key of the application function.

[0230]

[0242] Embodiment 64. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 61, wherein the configured parameters are network identification information, frequency band, network device identification information, or any combination thereof.

[0231]

[0243] Embodiment 65. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 64, wherein the token issuer includes at least one of the following: a wireless network service or a data clearinghouse coupled to a wireless network.

[0232]

[0244] Embodiment 66. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 64 or 65, which receives the token from an application function.

[0233]

[0245] Embodiment 67. A non-temporary computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor system, causes the processor system to provision a shared credential to a wireless device, the shared credential being shared between a device and a wireless device, the shared credential comprising a token, the token comprising tag information, and the tag information being encoded based on the public key of the token issuer; cause the shared credential to provide information associated with the wireless device to a wireless network service; cause the wireless device to receive encoded tag information from the wireless device; and cause the encoded tag information to decode at least a portion of the tag information based on the shared credential in order to retrieve the tag information from the wireless device.

[0234]

[0246] Embodiment 68. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 67, wherein the tag information includes an encoded tag identifier (ID) and metadata.

[0235]

[0247] Embodiment 69. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 68, wherein the information associated with a wireless device provided to the service includes at least one of a list of encoded tag IDs, a tag verification key, and a request for a token for the wireless device.

[0236]

[0248] Embodiment 70. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 69, wherein the information associated with a wireless device provided to the service includes a list of encoded tag IDs that are valid for a certain period of time.

[0237]

[0249] Embodiment 71. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 69 or 70, wherein information associated with a wireless device provided to a service includes a tag verification key, and an instruction causes a processor system to generate a tag verification key based on one or more parameters configured by shared credentials and application functions, and decode the encoded tag ID of the tag information based on the tag verification key.

[0238]

[0250] Embodiment 72. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to any one of Embodiments 69 to 71, wherein the information associated with a wireless device provided to the service includes a request for a token, the token is issued by a token issuer, and the instruction causes a processor system to receive a token in response to a request for a token and to provide the token and the public key of the token issuer to the wireless device.

[0239]

[0251] Embodiment 73. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 72, wherein the token issuer includes at least one of the following: a wireless network service or a data clearinghouse coupled to a wireless network.

[0240]

[0252] Embodiment 74. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 72 or 73, wherein the encoded tag ID and token are encrypted based on the public key of the token issuer.

[0241]

[0253] Apparatus 75. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to any one of Apparatus 69 to 74, wherein the shared credentials include the public key of the application function.

[0242]

[0254] Embodiment 76. A non-temporary computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processor system, cause the processor system to receive information associated with a wireless device from an application function coupled to the wireless device, receive encoded tag information from the wireless device, and verify the wireless device based on the received information and encoded tag information associated with the wireless device.

[0243]

[0255] Embodiment 77. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 76, wherein the tag information includes an encoded tag identifier (ID) and metadata.

[0244]

[0256] Embodiment 78. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 77, wherein the information associated with a wireless device provided to the service includes at least one of a list of encoded tag IDs, a tag verification key, and a request for a token for the wireless device.

[0245]

[0257] Embodiment 79. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 77 or 78, wherein information associated with a wireless device received from an application function includes a list of encoded tag IDs, and the instruction further causes a processor system to store the received tag information, receive a request from the application function for the received tag information, which includes encoded tag IDs, determine that the encoded tag IDs correspond to a portion of the stored tag information, provide the received tag information to the application function, and verify the wireless device based on the determination that the encoded tag IDs correspond to a portion of the stored tag information.

[0246]

[0258] Embodiment 80. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to any one of Embodiments 77 to 79, wherein the information associated with a wireless device received from an application function includes a list of encoded tag IDs, and the instruction further causes a processor system to store the received tag information, determine that the received tag information has been stored for a period exceeding a threshold period without being requested by the application function, and discard the received encoded tag information.

[0247]

[0259] Embodiment 81. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to any one of Embodiments 77 to 80, wherein information associated with a wireless device received from an application function comprises a tag verification key, and the instruction further causes a processor system to decode an encoded tag ID of the tag information based on the tag verification key, and provide the tag information to the application function based on the decoded tag ID.

[0248]

[0260] Embodiment 82. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to any one of Embodiments 77 to 81, wherein information associated with a wireless device received from an application function includes a request for a token, and the instruction further causes a processor system to issue a token to the application function in response to the request for a token.

[0249]

[0261] Embodiment 83. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 82, wherein the encoded tag ID and token are encrypted based on a public key associated with the device.

[0250]

[0262] Embodiment 84. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to Embodiment 83, wherein the instruction further causes a processor system to decode encoded tag information from a wireless device using a secret key associated with the device in order to obtain a token, to determine that the obtained token is consistent with an issued token, and to provide the tag information to an application function based on the determination that the obtained token is consistent with an issued token.

[0251]

[0263] Embodiment 85. A device for wireless communication comprising one or more means for performing an operation according to any one embodiment of Embodiments 29 to 56 and 87.

[0252]

[0264] Embodiment 86. A device according to any one of Embodiments 13 to 15, wherein the configured parameters are network identification information, a frequency band, network device identification information, or any combination thereof.

[0253]

[0265] Embodiment 87. The method according to any one of Embodiments 41 to 43, wherein the configured parameters are network identification information, a frequency band, network device identification information, or any combination thereof.

[0254]

[0266] Embodiment 88. A non-temporary computer-readable medium according to any one of Embodiments 69 to 71, wherein the configured parameters are network identification information, frequency band, network device identification information, or any combination thereof.

Claims

1. A device for wireless communication, A memory system including instructions, The system comprises a processor system coupled to the memory system, and the processor system is Shared credentials, which are shared between the device and the application function, are received from the provisioning service. Tag information is generated such that the shared credentials include a token, the token is included in the tag information, and the tag information is encoded based on the public key of the token issuer. In order to generate encoded tag information, a portion of the tag information is encoded based on the shared credentials, A device configured to broadcast the encoded tag information.

2. The device according to claim 1, wherein the tag information includes a tag identifier (ID) and metadata.

3. The device according to claim 2, wherein the tag ID is encoded based on the shared credentials, and the tag information further includes routing information.

4. The device according to claim 3, wherein the tag ID is further encoded based on a freshness parameter which includes at least one of a period, a counter, a timer, or a pseudorandom number.

5. The device according to claim 2, wherein the tag ID is encoded based on a tag verification key, and the tag verification key is generated based on the shared credentials and one or more parameters configured by the application function.

6. The device according to claim 5, wherein the one or more configured parameters include at least one of network identification information, frequency band, network device identification information, or any combination thereof.

7. The device according to claim 2, wherein the tag ID is encoded based on the public key of a wireless network service or the public key of a data clearinghouse.

8. The device according to claim 1, wherein the shared credentials include the public key of the application function.

9. The device according to claim 1, wherein the issuer of the token includes at least one of a wireless network service or a data clearinghouse coupled to the wireless network.

10. The device according to claim 1, wherein the token is received from the application function.

11. A method for wireless communication, Shared credentials are shared between the device and the application functionality, and receiving shared credentials from the provisioning service. To generate tag information, wherein the shared credentials include a token, the token is included in the tag information, and the tag information is encoded based on the public key of the token issuer; To generate encoded tag information, a portion of the tag information is encoded based on the shared credentials, A method comprising broadcasting the encoded tag information.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the tag information includes a tag identifier (ID) and metadata.

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the tag ID is encoded based on the shared credentials, and the tag information further includes routing information.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the tag ID is further encoded based on a freshness parameter which includes at least one of a period, a counter, a timer, or a pseudorandom number.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein the tag ID is encoded based on a tag verification key, and the tag verification key is generated based on the shared credentials and one or more parameters configured by the application function.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the one or more configured parameters include at least one of network identification information, frequency band, network device identification information, or any combination thereof.

17. The method according to claim 12, wherein the tag ID is encoded based on the public key of a wireless network service or the public key of a data clearinghouse.

18. The method according to claim 11, wherein the shared credentials include the public key of the application function.

19. The method according to claim 11, wherein the issuer of the token includes at least one of a wireless network service or a data clearinghouse coupled to the wireless network.

20. The method according to claim 11, wherein the token is received from the application function.

21. A device for wireless communication using application functions, A memory system including instructions, The system comprises a processor system coupled to the memory system, and the processor system is Provisioning a shared credential to a wireless device, wherein the shared credential is shared between the device and the wireless device, the shared credential includes a token, the token is included in tag information, and the tag information is encoded based on the public key of the token issuer. The information associated with the aforementioned wireless device is provided to the wireless network service, The wireless device receives encoded tag information, A device configured to decode at least a portion of the encoded tag information based on the shared credentials in order to obtain tag information from the wireless device.

22. The device according to claim 21, wherein the tag information includes an encoded tag identifier (ID) and metadata.

23. The information associated with the wireless device provided to the service is A list of encoded tag IDs, Tag verification key and The device according to claim 22, comprising at least one of: a request for a token for a wireless device.

24. The device according to claim 23, wherein the information associated with the wireless device provided to the service includes the list of encoded tag IDs that are valid for a period of time.

25. The information associated with the wireless device provided to the service includes a tag verification key, and the processor system, The application function generates the tag verification key based on the shared credentials and one or more configured parameters. The device according to claim 23, further configured to decode the encoded tag ID of the tag information based on the tag verification key.

26. A device for wireless communication via a wireless network service, A memory system including instructions, The system comprises a processor system coupled to the memory system, and the processor system is The application function coupled to the wireless device receives information associated with the device, The wireless device receives encoded tag information, A device configured to verify the wireless device based on the received information associated with the wireless device and the encoded tag information.

27. The device according to claim 26, wherein the tag information includes an encoded tag identifier (ID) and metadata.

28. The information associated with the wireless device provided to the service is A list of encoded tag IDs, Tag verification key and The device according to claim 27, comprising at least one of: a request for a token for a wireless device.

29. The information associated with the wireless device received from the application function includes a list of encoded tag IDs, and the processor system The received tag information is stored, A request for the received tag information, including an encoded tag ID, is received from the application function. It is determined that the encoded tag ID corresponds to a portion of the stored tag information, The device according to claim 27, further configured to provide the received tag information to the application function, wherein verification of the wireless device is based on the determination that the encoded tag ID corresponds to a portion of the stored tag information.

30. The information associated with the wireless device received from the application function includes a list of encoded tag IDs, and the processor system The received tag information is stored, It is determined that the received tag information is stored for a period exceeding the threshold period without being requested by the application function. The device according to claim 27, further configured to discard the received encoded tag information.

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