User equipment capability information for carrier grouping in dual connectivity - Patents.com

Abstract

This application relates to devices and components, including apparatuses, systems, and methods, for configuring a UE for dual connectivity. In one example, a network node requests a UE to indicate a capability it supports for dual connectivity. The request may implicitly or explicitly indicate that the UE should report carrier grouping information. In response, this information is transmitted by the UE, and the network node may configure MCGs and SCGs for the UE based on the reported carrier grouping information.

Description

[Background technology]

[0001] The fifth generation mobile network (5G) is a wireless standard that aims to improve data transmission speeds, reliability, availability, etc. The standard, which is still under development, includes many details regarding cell reselection. For example, User Equipment (UE) may communicate with the network using carriers in different frequency bands, which may belong to different frequency ranges. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0002] [Figure 1] 1 illustrates an example of a network environment according to some embodiments.

[0003] [Diagram 2] 1 illustrates an example of a dual connectivity environment according to some embodiments.

[0004] [Diagram 3] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a sequence diagram illustrating signaling between a user equipment (UE) and a network node regarding band combinations according to some embodiments.

[0005] [Figure 4] 1 illustrates an example sequence diagram illustrating signaling between a UE and a network node for inquiring about UE capabilities regarding carrier grouping according to some embodiments.

[0006] [Diagram 5] 1 illustrates another example of a sequence diagram illustrating signaling between a UE and a network node for inquiring about UE capabilities regarding carrier grouping according to some embodiments.

[0007] [Figure 6]1 illustrates yet another example of a sequence diagram illustrating signaling between a UE and a network node for inquiring about UE capabilities regarding carrier grouping, according to some embodiments.

[0008] [Figure 7] 13 illustrates a further example of a sequence diagram illustrating signaling between a UE and a network node for inquiring about UE capabilities regarding carrier grouping according to some embodiments.

[0009] [Figure 8] 1 illustrates an example sequence diagram illustrating signaling between a UE and a network node for reporting UE capabilities regarding carrier grouping according to some embodiments.

[0010] [Figure 9] 1 illustrates another example of a sequence diagram illustrating signaling between a UE and a network node for reporting UE capabilities regarding carrier grouping according to some embodiments.

[0011] [Figure 10] 1 illustrates yet another example of a sequence diagram illustrating signaling between a UE and a network node for reporting UE capabilities regarding carrier grouping according to some embodiments.

[0012] [Figure 11] 1 illustrates an example of an operational flow / algorithm structure of a network node configuring carrier grouping according to some embodiments.

[0013] [Figure 12] 1 illustrates an example of an operational flow / algorithm structure for a UE reporting UE capabilities regarding carrier grouping according to some embodiments.

[0014] [Figure 13] 1 illustrates an example of a receiving component according to some embodiments.

[0015] [Figure 14] 1 illustrates an example of a UE according to some embodiments.

[0016] [Figure 15] 1 illustrates an example of a base station according to some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0017] The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth, such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc., to provide a thorough understanding of various aspects of the various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of this disclosure that various aspects of the various embodiments may be implemented in other examples that depart from these specific details. In some cases, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For purposes of this disclosure, "A or B" means (A), (B), or (A and B).

[0018] Typically, a user equipment (UE) may communicate with a network, such as one or more base stations or other network nodes, using carriers (also referred to as component carriers-CC) in different bands (also referred to as frequency bands). The different bands may belong to different frequency ranges (FR), including, for example, Frequency Range 1 (FR1) from 450 MegaHertz (MHz) to 6000 MegaHertz (MHz), Frequency Range 2 (FR2) from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz, and / or another frequency range starting at 52.6 GHz. The UE may support a particular band combination of such bands. The UE may also support dual connectivity, whereby the UE may communicate with multiple network nodes simultaneously by using bands from a band combination, one of which may be a master node (also referred to as a primary node) and another one may be a secondary node. A Master Cell Group (MCG) (also called a Primary Cell Group) may be configured for the UE, which may include multiple carriers provided by the Master node, each corresponding to a serving cell of the MCG. Similarly, a Secondary Cell Group (SCG) may be configured for the UE, which may include multiple other carriers provided by the Secondary node, each corresponding to a serving cell of the SCG.

[0019] To configure the MCG and SCG for the UE, information is exchanged between the UE and the network (e.g., master node). This information may indicate whether the UE supports dual connectivity for each band combination. For band combinations supported by the UE for dual connectivity, the information may further indicate whether the UE can support specific grouping of carrier(s) from the bands of the band combination into (e.g., MCG, SCG, or both MCG and SCG).

[0020] In certain circumstances, the number of band combinations supported by the UE for dual connectivity may be large. Furthermore, the number of carriers that can be grouped in a cell group for each supported band combination may be large. Thus, the amount of information exchange between the UE and the network may also be large, which may increase the signaling overhead. To improve the signaling overhead (e.g., reduce the amount of information), the network (e.g., master node) may be configured to indicate to the UE a request for the UE's carrier grouping capabilities for dual connectivity. Upon receiving such a request, the UE may transmit its carrier grouping information.

[0021] Different variations on this approach can be implemented, either alone or together. In one example, the request may simply indicate that the network node does not support default carrier grouping (e.g., carriers in the FR1 band are grouped into MCGs and carriers in the FR2 band are grouped into SCGs). In another example, the request may indicate specific bands that the network will deploy for dual connectivity. In yet another example, the request may further indicate whether each such specific band is associated with a synchronous or asynchronous dual connectivity deployment.

[0022] Similarly, different granularities of UE capability information can be reported. In one example, the UE reports its full set of carrier grouping information (e.g., only in response to one of the network node requests above). In another example, the UE includes only information regarding carrier groups that the network can configure. In yet another example, the UE can indicate negative capabilities, such as carrier groups that it does not support, or that the network can otherwise configure. In a further example, the UE can indicate UE requirements and / or UE constraints, such as grouping or not grouping carriers from a particular band together in the same cell group. These and other variations are described further herein below.

[0023] Below is a glossary of terms that may be used in this disclosure.

[0024] As used herein, the term "circuitry" refers to, is a part of, or includes a hardware component, such as an electronic circuit, a logic circuit, a (shared, dedicated or group) processor or (shared, dedicated or group) memory, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field-Programmable Device (FPD) (e.g., a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), a Complex PLD (CPLD), a High-Capacity PLD (HCPLD), a structured ASIC, or a programmable System-on-a-Chip (SoC)), or a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) configured to provide a described functionality. In some embodiments, the circuitry may execute one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least a portion of the described functionality. The term "circuitry" may also refer to a combination of program code with one or more hardware elements (or with circuitry used in an electrical or electronic system) to perform the functionality of the program code. In these embodiments, the combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuitry.

[0025] As used herein, the term "processor circuitry" refers to, is a part of, or includes circuitry capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations or the recording, storage, or transfer of digital data. The term "processor circuitry" may refer to an application processor, a baseband processor, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit, a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, or any other device capable of executing or running computer-executable instructions, such as program code, software modules, or functional processes.

[0026] As used herein, the term "interface circuitry" refers to, is a part of, or includes circuitry that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term "interface circuitry" may refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as, for example, a bus, an I / O interface, a peripheral component interface, a network interface card, etc.

[0027] As used herein, the term "user equipment" or "UE" refers to a device having wireless communication capabilities and may represent a remote user of network resources in a communications network. The term "user equipment" or "UE" may be considered synonymous with and may refer to client, mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, radio equipment, reconfigurable radio equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Additionally, the term "user equipment" or "UE" may include any type of wireless / wired device or any computing device that includes a wireless communication interface.

[0028] As used herein, the term "base station" refers to a device having wireless communication capabilities that is a network node of a communication network (or, more simply, a network) and may be configured as an access node in the communication network. UE access to the communication network may be managed at least in part by a base station, whereby a UE connects to the base station to access the communication network. Depending on the Radio Access Technology (RAT), a base station may be referred to as a gNodeB (gNB), eNodeB (eNB), access point, etc.

[0029] As used herein, the term "computer system" refers to any type of interconnected electronic device, computing device, or components thereof. In addition, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to various components of a computer that are communicatively coupled to each other. Furthermore, the term "computer system" or "system" may refer to multiple computing devices or multiple computing systems that are communicatively coupled to each other and configured to share computing or networking resources.

[0030] As used herein, the term "resource" refers to a physical or virtual device, a physical or virtual component in a computing environment, or a physical or virtual component in a particular device, such as a computer device, a mechanical device, memory space, processor / CPU time, processor / CPU usage, processor and accelerator load, hardware time or usage, power, input / output operations, ports or network sockets, channel / link allocation, throughput, memory usage, storage, network, database and application, workload units, etc. A "hardware resource" may refer to a computational, storage, or network resource provided by a physical hardware element(s). A "virtualized resource" may refer to a computational, storage, or network resource provided by a virtualization infrastructure to an application, device, system, etc. The term "network resource" or "communication resource" may refer to a resource accessible by a computer device / system via a communication network. The term "system resource" may refer to any kind of shared entity for providing services and may include a computing resource or a network resource. A system resource may be thought of as a set of coherent functions, network data objects or services that reside on a single host or on multiple hosts and are accessible through a clearly identifiable server.

[0031] As used herein, the term "channel" refers to any tangible or intangible transmission medium used to communicate data or data streams. The term "channel" may be synonymous or equivalent to "communication channel," "data communication channel," "transmission channel," "data transmission channel," "access channel," "data access channel," "link," "data link," "carrier," "radio frequency carrier," or any other similar term indicating a path or medium over which data is communicated. Additionally, as used herein, the term "link" refers to a connection between two devices for the purpose of transmitting and receiving information.

[0032] As used herein, the terms "instantiate," "instantiation," and the like refer to the creation of an instance. An "instance" also refers to a concrete occurrence of an object, such as may occur during the execution of program code.

[0033] The term "connected" may mean that two or more elements at a common communications protocol layer have an established signaling relationship with each other via a communications channel, link, interface, or reference point.

[0034] As used herein, the term "network element" refers to a physical or virtualized device or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless communications network services. The term "network element" may be considered or referred to as synonymous with networked computer, networking hardware, network equipment, network node, virtualized network function, and the like.

[0035] The term "information element" refers to a structural element that contains one or more fields. The term "field" refers to an information element or an individual content of a data element that contains the content. An information element may contain one or more further information elements.

[0036] 1 illustrates a network environment 100 according to some embodiments. The network environment 100 may include a UE 104 and a gNB 108. The gNB 108 may be a base station that provides a wireless access cell through which the UE 104 communicates with the gNB 108, such as a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR) cell. The UE 104 and the gNB 108 may communicate over an air interface that conforms to 3GPP technical specifications, such as those that define the Fifth Generation (5G) NR system standards.

[0037] The gNB 108 may transmit information (e.g., data and control signaling) in the downlink direction by mapping logical channels onto transport channels and mapping the transport channels onto physical channels. The logical channels may transfer data between the Radio Link Control (RLC) layer and the MAC layer, the transport channels may transfer data between the MAC layer and the PHY layer, and the physical channels may transfer information over the air interface. The physical channels may include a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH).

[0038] The PBCH may be used to broadcast system information that the UE 104 may use for initial access to a serving cell. The PBCH may be transmitted along with a Physical Synchronization Signal (PSS) and a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) in a Synchronization Signal (SS / PBCH Block) / PBCH Block. The SS / PBCH Block (SSB) may be used by the UE 104 during a cell search procedure (including cell selection and re-search) and for beam selection.

[0039] The PDSCH may be used to transport end-user application data, Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) messages, system information messages (eg, other than MIBs), and paging messages.

[0040] The PDCCH may carry DCI used by the scheduler of the gNB 108 to allocate both uplink and downlink resources. The DCI may also be used to provide uplink power control commands, configure slot formats, or indicate that preemption has occurred.

[0041] The gNB 108 may also transmit various reference signals to the UE 104. The reference signals may include Demodulation Reference Signals (DMRS) for the PBCH, PDCCH, and PDSCH. The UE 104 may compare the received version of the DMRS to the known DMRS sequence transmitted to estimate the effect of the propagation channel. The UE 104 may then apply the inverse of the propagation channel during the demodulation process of the corresponding physical channel transmission.

[0042] Reference signals may also include Channel Status Information Reference Signals (CSI-RS), which may be a multi-purpose downlink transmission that may be used for CSI reporting, beam management, connected mode mobility, radio link failure detection, beam failure detection and recovery, and fine-tuning of time and frequency synchronization.

[0043] Reference signals and information from physical channels may be mapped to resources of the resource grid. For a given antenna port, subcarrier spacing configuration, and transmission direction (e.g., downlink or uplink), there is one resource grid. The basic unit of the NR downlink resource grid may be a resource element, which may be defined by one subcarrier in the frequency domain and one Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol in the time domain. Twelve consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain may constitute a Physical Resource Block (PRB). A Resource Element Group (REG) may include, for example, 12 resource elements, one PRB in the frequency domain and one OFDM symbol in the time domain. A Control Channel Element (CCE) may represent a group of resources used to transmit the PDCCH. One CCE may be mapped to several REGs, for example, six REGs.

[0044] The UE 104 may transmit data and control information to the gNB 108 using a physical uplink channel. Different types of physical uplink channels are available, including, for example, a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH). The PUCCH carries control information, such as Uplink Control Information (UCI), from the UE 104 to the gNB 108, while the PUSCH carries data traffic (e.g., end user application data) and may carry UCI.

[0045] The UE 104 and the gNB 108 may perform beam management operations to identify and maintain desired beams for transmission in the uplink and downlink directions. Beam management may apply to both the PDSCH and PDCCH in the downlink direction, and the PUSCH and PUCCH in the uplink direction.

[0046] In one example, communication with the gNB 108 and / or base stations can use channels in Frequency Range 1 (FR1), Frequency Range 2 (FR2), and / or a Higher Frequency Range (FRH). The FR1 band includes licensed and unlicensed bands. The NR Unlicensed band (NR-U) includes frequency spectrum shared with other types of Radio Access Technologies (RATs) (e.g., LTE-LAA, WiFi, etc.). To avoid or minimize collisions between different RATs in NR-U, a listen-before-talk (LBT) procedure can be used, whereby a device must apply a Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) check before using a channel.

[0047] 1, the network environment 100 may further include a base station 112 to which the UE 104 may also connect. The base station 112 supports the same RAT as the gNB 108 (e.g., the base station 112 is also a gNB). Additionally or alternatively, the base station 112 supports another RAT (e.g., a Long-Term Evolution (LTE) eNB).

[0048] In one example, the UE 104 supports Carrier Aggregation (CA), which allows the UE 104 to simultaneously connect and exchange data with the gNB 108 or base station 112 via multiple Component Carriers (CCs). The CCs can belong to the same frequency band, in which case they are referred to as intra-band CCs. The intra-band CCs can be contiguous or non-contiguous. The CCs can also belong to different frequency bands, in which case they are referred to as inter-band CCs. A serving cell can be configured for the UE 104 to use a CC. The serving cell can be a primary cell (PCell) or a secondary cell (SCell). Through the SCell activation procedure, multiple SCells can be activated, and the component carriers of these serving cells can be intra-band contiguous, intra-band non-contiguous, or inter-band. The serving cell can be co-located or non-co-located.

[0049] The UE 104 can also support Dual Connectivity (DC), which allows the UE 104 to simultaneously transmit and receive data on multiple CCs from two serving nodes or cell groups (Master Node (MN) and Secondary Node (SN)). DC capability can be used with two serving nodes operating in the same or different RATs (e.g., MN operating in NR, SN operating in LTE). These different DC modes include, for example, Evolved-universal terrestrial radio access-New radio (EN)-DC, NR-DC, and NE-DC (where the MN is an NR gNB and the SN is an LTE eNB).

[0050] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a dual connectivity environment 200 according to some embodiments. Typically, dual connectivity (also referred to as DC) is an operation mode in which a UE 210 is configured to use radio resources of two network nodes connected via backhaul, called a master node (MN) and a secondary node (SN). Dual connectivity allows the UE 210 to simultaneously transmit and receive data on multiple carriers from two cell groups via the MN and the SN. In one example, each of the MN and the SN can be a gNB or an eNB. The cell groups can be a master cell group (MCG) provided by the MN and a secondary cell group (SCG) provided by the SN.

[0051] In the example of FIG. 2, a UE 210, similar to the UE 104 of FIG. 1, maintains two connections, one with the MCG 220 and one with the SCG 230. The MCG 220 includes multiple carriers, each corresponding to a serving cell for the UE 210. The PCell is activated while the remaining serving cells of the MCG 220 may or may not be activated. Similarly, the SCG 230 includes multiple carriers, each corresponding to a serving cell for the UE 210. A primary cell (also called a Primary Secondary Cell (PSCell)) in the SCG 230 is activated while the remaining serving cells of the SCG 230 may or may not be activated. The UE 210 supports simultaneous reception and transmission over its two connections with the MCG 220 and the SCG 230 (also called a primary leg and a secondary leg). A split bearer situation may also be supported, whereby for small amounts of data, transmission over the primary leg may be sufficient. For large amounts of data, transmission over both legs may be possible.

[0052] As mentioned above, each of the MN and SN can be a gNB or an eNB. This can result in different deployment configurations of the MCG 220 and the SCG 230. These configurations include LTE-LTE DC, LTE-NR DC, NR-LTE DC, and NR-NR DC. Furthermore, synchronous and asynchronous communication in dual connectivity can be provided. In synchronous NR-DC, the MCG 220 and the SCG 230 are frame and slot aligned (e.g., the serving cells in these two cell groups are synchronized). Conversely, in asynchronous NR-DC, the MCG 220 and the SCG 230 do not need to be frame and slot aligned (e.g., the serving cells in these two cell groups are not necessarily synchronized).

[0053] In one example, MCG 220 and SCG 230 each include a different set of carriers from the same or different sets of bands. This can result in intra-band DC, inter-band DC, and inter-band DC with intra-band components. In intra-band DC, carriers from the same band are present in MCG 220 and SCG 230. In contrast, in inter-band DC, carriers from different bands are present in MCG 220 and SCG 230. Inter-band DC with intra-band components can be a hybrid of intra-band DC and inter-band DC, whereby carriers from different bands are present in MCG 220 and SCG 230 while a cell group (e.g., MCG 220, SCG 230, or both) includes carriers from the same band.

[0054] To illustrate, consider the following example: Typically, LTE bands are numbered with a band number (e.g., LTE-1_2 indicates carrier aggregation with "LTE band 1" and "LTE band 2"). NR bands are numbered similarly, but with "n" added as a prefix to the band number (e.g., DC-n1_n2 indicates dual connectivity with "NR band n1" and "NR band n2"). In this example, the MN is an eNB and the SN is a gNB, which corresponds to an EN-DC deployment (E-UTRA-NR dual connectivity). DC-1_4_n1_n260 indicates that an EN-DC uses two LTE bands: "LTE band 1" and "LTE band 2", and two NR bands: "NR band n1" and "NR band n260"). This example corresponds to an inter-band EN-NR DC deployment. In another example, the deployment corresponds to an inter-band EN-NR DC using DC(n)1_n256 and with an intra-band component. Here, "LTE band 1" and "NR band n1" are intra-band, and "NR band n1" and "NR band 256" are inter-band.

[0055] In support of dual connectivity, UE 210 reports its capability to support band combinations. A band combination corresponds to a set of two or more bands (e.g., LTE and / or NR bands from FR1 and / or FR2 (if applicable)) from the same or different frequency ranges. For example, a band combination may be denoted as "n1, n2, n3" and corresponds to a combination of three NR bands from FR1, namely "NR band nb1", "NR band n2", and "NR band n3".

[0056] For each band combination, the UE 210 reports whether the UE 210 supports the band combination for dual connectivity. In other words, the UE 210 can indicate whether carriers within the bands of the band combination are supported by the UE 210 for dual connectivity. For example, the UE 210 reports UE capability information indicating that the UE 210 supports band combination "n1, n2, n3" for dual connectivity to a network (e.g., MN). In this case, the network can configure carriers (e.g., serving cells) from the corresponding NR bands (e.g., "NR band n1", "NR band n2", and "NR band n3") for dual connectivity of the UE 210.

[0057] In one example, in addition to or instead of indicating support for band combinations for dual connectivity, the UE 210 may indicate its support for carrier grouping between the MCG 220 and the SCG 230 by sending carrier grouping information. Carriers from the carrier grouping (also referred to as carrier grouping) are from bands that the UE 210 supports for band combinations in dual connectivity. The UE 210 indicates how these carriers can be grouped into the MCG 220 and the SCG 230. The carrier grouping information does not need to identify the carriers. Instead, the carrier grouping information may indicate bands of the band combination and how a first subset of these bands can be associated with the MCG 220 and how a second subset of these bands can be associated with the SCG 230. The network may then configure carriers (e.g., serving cells) in bands from the first subset to belong to the MCG 220 and carriers (e.g., serving cells) in bands from the second subset to belong to the SCG 230. Continuing with the example of band combination "n1, n2, n3," the carrier grouping information may indicate that the UE supports one or more carriers in "NR band n1" and "NR band n2" being grouped into the MCG 220 and one or more carriers in "NR band n3" being grouped into the SCG 230. Thus, the network may configure the MCG 220 to include one or more carriers in "NR band n1" and / or "NR band n2," and may configure the SCG 230 to include one or more carriers in "NR band n3."

[0058] If such carrier grouping information is not reported, the network can assume a default carrier grouping. For example, the default may be that for a supported band combination, carriers from the FR1 band can be grouped into MCG 220, while carriers from the FR2 band can be grouped into SCG 230. This type of reporting and / or default assumption can be used for each band combination that the UE supports for dual connectivity.

[0059] 3 illustrates an example sequence diagram 300 illustrating signaling regarding band combinations between a UE 310 and a network node 320, according to some embodiments. Generally, the sequence diagram 300 can be used to configure the UE 310 for dual connectivity, if applicable, based on the capabilities of the UE 310 associated with dual connectivity.

[0060] As shown, the sequence diagram 300 includes initiating a capability transfer procedure during registration of the UE 310 to the network via a network node 320 of the network. The procedure may be initiated for the UE 310 for which one or more access criteria are determined to be met. These criteria may relate to cell measurements, handover procedures, cell reselection, network roaming, and / or other procedures for registering the UE 310 to the network. The capability transfer procedure includes a Random Access (RACH) procedure for the UE 310 to establish an initial connection with the network. For example, a System Information Block (SIB) is transmitted from the network node 320. In response, the UE 310 initiates a new session with a randomly selected preamble. The network node 320 responds with a Random Access Response message. The UE 310 in turn transmits an RRC Connection Request message, and the network node 320 responds with an RRC Connection Setup message. The UE 310 then transmits an RRC Connection Setup message, which may indicate that the UE 310 supports dual connectivity.

[0061] Since dual connectivity is supported, the network node 320 checks with the network whether UE capability information of the UE 310 regarding dual connectivity is available (e.g., previously stored by the core network 330), such as by querying the core network 330 of the network. This capability check is shown in FIG. 3 as a capability search. If not available, RRC signaling may be exchanged between the network 320 and the UE 310 to determine UE capability information including the UE's support for band combinations for dual connectivity. The network node 320's RRC signaling may include a UE capability inquiry, which may have multiple information elements (IEs), and may be sent to the UE 310 in an RRC request message. In response, the UE 310 sends its UE capability information, which may also have multiple IEs, and may be sent in an RRC response message. The network node 320 passes this information to the core network 330 for storage therein. Otherwise, the network node 320 does not need to receive the UE capability information 310 from the UE 310 and may instead use information retrieved from the core network 330 .

[0062] Once the UE capability information is determined (e.g., from the UE 310 or from the core network 330), the network node 320 can configure various resources for the UE 310 based on the UE capability information. This can include activating a default radio bearer, configuring measurement objects, transmitting reference signals, etc. Additionally, in case of dual connectivity, this can also include configuring an MCG and an SCG for the UE. This configuration can rely on RRC signaling, including, for example, one or more RRC connection reconfiguration message(s). For example, the network node 320 can allocate a carrier (e.g., serving cell) of the MCG and can send a node addition request to a second node of the network (in this case, the network node 320 is a MN) to add the second node as an SN. This SN can allocate a carrier (e.g., serving cell) of the SCG and can respond to the network node 320 with a node addition request acknowledgment indicating the serving cell (e.g., various resources) of the SCG. The network node 320 may then send one or more RRC Connection Reconfiguration messages to the UE 310 indicating the MCG and SCG resources.

[0063] As described herein above, the UE 310 may support one or more band combinations for dual connectivity. Furthermore, the UE 310 may be pre-configured to support a particular carrier grouping for each band combination. The presence may depend, for example, on the Radio Frequency (RF) hardware of the UE 310. Furthermore, the UE 310 may receive service provider (e.g., mobile network operator) over-the-air (OTA) updates to disable some bands. Thus, the UE 310 may maintain an internal data structure (e.g., a table) indicating different variants for each band combination. Each variant indicates how carriers in the bands of the band combination may be grouped into MCGs and SCGs configured by the network node 320 for the UE 310 when these carriers are assigned by the network node 320.

[0064] To illustrate this data structure, consider the example of band combination n2A_n5A_n256A_n260_n260. This band combination is an NR band combination of four NR bands, one of which is repeated twice to show that contiguous and non-contiguous carriers can be allocated from such NR bands. In particular, the NR bands are "NR band n2A", "NR band n5A", "NR band n256", and "NR band n260" which is repeated twice. UE 310 can maintain the following data structure (shown as a table, but other types of data structures such as strings and arrays are also possible): [Table 1]

[0065] In the above table, "Variant 1" indicates that the UE 310 supports one or more carriers from "NR Band 2A" assigned to the MCG, and one or more carriers from each of "NR Band 5A," "NR Band 256A," and "NR Band 260A" assigned to the SCG. Each of the remaining variants indicates that the UE 310 supports assigning different sets to the MCG and SCG (e.g., each set represents a carrier grouping). If the default MCG-SCG allocation is that carriers from the FR1 band are grouped in the MCG and carriers from the FR2 band are grouped in the SCG (e.g., the configuration used by the network node 320 if the UE 310 does not provide its carrier grouping information), then "Variant 5" indicates that the UE 310 supports this default (because "NR Band 2A" and "NR Band 5A" are in the FR1 band and should be carrier grouped in the MCG, and "NR Band 256A" and "NR Band 260A" are in the FR2 band and should be carrier grouped in the SCG).

[0066] The above carrier grouping information may be maintained in a data structure for each band combination that the UE 310 supports for dual connectivity. The size of the data structure (e.g., amount of carrier grouping information) may be large because the number of permutations (e.g., number of possible variants) in which different carriers can be grouped may be large. Roughly speaking, for a band combination of "n" different carriers (where each carrier is from a different band), the number of ways in which the carriers can be grouped in the MCG and SCG is approximately n! ((1! x 2!)). In the above example of a band combination of five bands, this number is 60 possible carrier groupings (e.g., 60 variants) in the MCG and SCG. This number may increase if contiguous and non-contiguous variants are considered.

[0067] If the UE 310 reports carrier grouping information (e.g., information about variants) for each band combination it supports for dual connectivity, the amount of reported information may be large. In other words, the overhead signaling may be large.

[0068] Various techniques for reducing this overhead may be used, which are further described in relation to the following figures. At the lowest level of granularity, the UE 310 may report a full set of carrier grouping information only if requested by the network node 310. At the highest level of granularity, the UE 310 may report a subset of carrier grouping information, which is specific to the deployment(s) of dual connectivity band combinations by the network. The level of granularity at which the carrier grouping information is reported by the UE 310 may depend on the request of the network node 320. The more parameters the request has, the higher the level of granularity. In particular, the UE 310 may use the parameter(s) from the request as a filter to search the data structure, determine a match, and report the matched information to the network node 320. For example, the UE 310 may store logic for a query engine that uses the parameters in the query.The parameters include whether the network node 320 (or more generally the network) supports only default MCG-SCG allocations, whether the network node 320 (or more generally the network) supports non-default MCG-SCG allocations, bands that the network node 320 (or more generally the network) supports for band combinations in dual connectivity, bands that the network node 320 (or more generally the network) does not support for band combinations in dual connectivity, band combinations that the network node 320 (or more generally the network) supports for dual connectivity, This may include any or all of the following: band combinations that the network node 320 (or more generally the network) does not support; a set of bands that the network node 320 (or more generally the network) supports for synchronous deployment of dual connectivity; a set of bands that the network node 320 (or more generally the network) supports for asynchronous deployment of dual connectivity; and / or other parameters related to how the network node 320 (or more generally the network) can deploy dual connectivity: band combinations in dual connectivity, bands in band combinations, and / or carriers in bands.

[0069] FIG. 4 illustrates an example sequence diagram 400 illustrating signaling between a UE 410 and a network node 420 for inquiring about UE capabilities with respect to carrier grouping, according to some embodiments. In one example, the signaling is RRC signaling exchanged as part of the capability transfer procedure during registration, described in connection with FIG. 3. The UE 410 and the network node 420 are examples of the UE 310 and the network node 320, respectively, of FIG. 3. In this sequence diagram 400, the network node 420 may simply indicate that it supports non-default MCG-SCG assignments. Only in response to this indication does the UE 410 transmit its carrier grouping information. In other words, when the network node 420 does not provide any additional information beyond its support for non-default MCG-SCG assignments, the UE 410 indicates its full set of variants to the network node 420.

[0070] Thus, sequence diagram 400 is an example of a technique to ensure that UE 410 does not need to report carrier grouping for each band combination if the network does not intend to configure dual connectivity for UE 410. It is possible that the network does not actually support dual connectivity configuration, in which case it is useless for the UE to report all of its carrier grouping information. In this case, UE 410 reports carrier grouping information only when the network explicitly requests it to do so (assuming that the UE actually supports different carrier groupings other than the default MCG-SCG assignment, which does not require the UE to signal carrier grouping information).

[0071] In one example, the sequence diagram 400 includes the network node 420 sending a UE capability inquiry to the UE 410 and the UE 410 responding with UE capability information. The UE capability inquiry is associated with the UE 410's support for carrier grouping for dual connectivity. In one example, the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node 420 supports grouping multiple carriers from different frequency ranges into the same cell group. For example, the inquiry simply indicates that the network node 420 supports a non-default MCG-SCG assignment (or conversely, does not support a default MCG-SCG assignment). In another example, the UE capability inquiry may include a request to the UE 410 indicating that its full set of carrier grouping information should be reported. Thus, in the UE capability information, the UE may indicate its supported band combinations (e.g., for CA). For each supported band combination, the UE capability information may also indicate whether the UE 410 supports using this band combination for dual connectivity. If available, the UE capability information may indicate a corresponding portion of the carrier grouping information (e.g., a full set of variants of band combinations supported by the UE 410 for dual connectivity). For example, the UE capability information may indicate that the UE 410 supports grouping bands that form supported band combinations and that are in different frequency ranges, and carriers from different frequency ranges, into the same cell group. Additional granularity may be provided, whereby the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE supports grouping a first carrier in a first one of the bands into an MCG and grouping a second carrier in a second one of the bands into an SCG.

[0072] To illustrate, consider the following example. In response to a UE capability inquiry, the UE 410 reports that it supports band combination "n5,n6" for CA but not for DC, and band combination "n1,n3,n4" for DC (and CA). Because band combination "n5,n6" is not supported for DC, the UE 410 does not report carrier grouping information for this band combination. In contrast, because band combination "n1,n3,n4" is supported for DC, the UE 410 reports its grouping information for this band combination. In this case, assume that the UE 410 supports two variants. The first variant is "NR band n1" assigned to the MCG (e.g., one or more carriers from which are configured as corresponding serving cell(s) in the MCG), and "NR band n3" and "NR band n4" assigned to the SCG (e.g., one or more carriers from which are configured as corresponding serving cell(s) in the SCG). The second variant is "NR band n1" and "NR band n4" assigned to the MCG, and "NR band 3" assigned to the SCG. In this figure, the UE 410 reports the first variant and the second variant to the network node 420. Similar carrier configuration information for other band combinations supported by the UE for dual connectivity can be reported to the network node 420.

[0073] In response, the network node 420 may store the UE capability information (including the reported carrier aggregation information) in the network (e.g., in the core network). The network node 420 may also configure an MCG and an SCG for the UE 410 based on the reported carrier aggregation information. For example, the network node 420 may use the first variant to configure a set of carriers in "NR band n1" as a set of serving cells in the MCG and a set of carriers in "NR band n3" and / or "NR band n4" as a set of serving cells in the SCG.

[0074] FIG. 5 illustrates another example of a sequence diagram 500 illustrating signaling between a UE 510 and a network node 520 for inquiring about UE capabilities regarding carrier grouping, according to some embodiments. In one example, the signaling is RRC signaling exchanged as part of the capability transfer procedure during registration, described in connection with FIG. 3. The UE 510 and the network node 520 are examples of the UE 310 and the network node 320, respectively, of FIG. 3. The sequence diagram 500 is complementary to the sequence diagram 400 (where the network node 520 is different from the network node 420 of FIG. 4, and each such node may belong to a different network). In particular, if the network node 520 does not request the UE 510 to transmit its carrier grouping information, the UE 510 may indicate its support for band combinations for dual connectivity without reporting its carrier grouping information.

[0075] Thus, sequence diagram 500 is another example of a technique to ensure that UE 410 does not need to report carrier grouping for each band combination if the network does not intend to configure dual connectivity to UE 510. For example, if UE 510 roams into a network that does not support dual connectivity or non-default MCG-SCG assignments (and thus network node 520 does not require carrier grouping information), UE 510 will only report its UE capability information without its carrier grouping information, thus conserving the size of the UE capability by appropriately retaining the information in the UE capability IE(s).

[0076] In one example, the sequence diagram 500 includes the network node 520 sending a UE capability inquiry to the UE 510 and the UE 510 responding with UE capability information. The UE capability inquiry is associated with the UE 510's support for dual connectivity, not the carrier grouping for dual connectivity. In one example, the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node 520 does not support non-default MCG-SCG assignments (or conversely, supports only default MCG-SCG assignments). In another example, the UE capability inquiry excludes any request to the UE 510 to indicate that its full set of carrier grouping information should be reported. Thus, in the UE capability information, the UE can indicate its supported band combinations (e.g., for CA). For each supported band combination, the UE capability information can also indicate whether the UE 510 supports using this band combination for dual connectivity. However, for such band combinations, the UE does not include the corresponding portion of the carrier grouping information (eg, the full set of variants of band combinations supported by the UE 510 for dual connectivity).

[0077] To illustrate, consider the following example: In response to a UE capability inquiry, UE 510 reports that it supports band combination "n1,n2" for CA but not for DC, and band combination "n1,n3,n4" for DC (and CA). Because band combination "n1,n2" is not supported for DC, UE 510 does not report carrier grouping information for this band combination. Furthermore, although band combination "n1,n3,n4" is supported for DC, UE 510 still does not report its grouping information for this band combination because the UE capability inquiry did not request this information.

[0078] In response, the network node 520 may store the UE capability information in the network (e.g., in the core network) (instead of the carrier aggregation information, since it was not reported). The network node 520 does not configure an MCG or SCG for the UE 510.

[0079] FIG. 6 illustrates yet another example of a sequence diagram 600 illustrating signaling between a UE 610 and a network node 620 for inquiring about UE capabilities with respect to carrier grouping, according to some embodiments. In one example, the signaling is RRC signaling exchanged as part of the capability transfer procedure during registration, as described in connection with FIG. 3. The UE 610 and the network node 620 are examples of the UE 310 and the network node 320, respectively, of FIG. 3. Compared to the sequence diagram 400, the information exchange here is more granular. In this sequence diagram 600, the network node 620 may indicate the set of bands that the network node 620 (or more generally the network) supports for dual connectivity. In response to this indication, the UE 610 transmits its carrier grouping information. Here, similar to the sequence diagram 400 of FIG. 4, the carrier grouping information can be the full set of variants that the UE 610 supports. Instead, UE 610 may use the band indicator as a filter in a lookup of that data structure and report only the portion of the configuration information that corresponds to the indicated band.

[0080] Thus, sequence diagram 600 is an example of an approach in which CA is possible in the network due to several factors (e.g., the presence of MCG and SCG and inter-node coordination), but only some bands used in a cell group (e.g., SCG) are useful for the actual deployment of dual connectivity by the network. In contrast, more bands / carriers may be available for CA. In this case, the network provides the bands that the network intends to use for dual connectivity configuration, and UE 610 provides carrier grouping based on this information. UE 610 can skip information of carrier grouping that the network does not support or does not intend to use to configure dual connectivity in some bands.

[0081] In one example, the sequence diagram 600 includes the network node 620 sending a UE capability inquiry to the UE 610 and the UE 610 responding with UE capability information. The UE capability inquiry is associated with the UE 610's support for carrier grouping for dual connectivity. In one example, the UE capability inquiry indicates the network node 620's support for a set of band combinations for dual connectivity. For example, the inquiry may not only identify bands that the network supports for CA, but may also identify a subset of these bands that the network supports for DC. Thus, in the UE capability information, the UE may indicate the band combinations that it supports (e.g., for CA). From these band combinations supported for CA, the UE 610 may determine a subset of band combinations that the UE 610 supports for DC. The UE 610 may then cross-check this subset with the set of band combinations indicated by the network 620 as supported for dual connectivity. In particular, for each band combination in the subset, the UE 610 determines the bands of the band combination and whether these bands are supported by the network node 620 (or more generally the network) for dual connectivity. If so, the band combination belongs to the final set. If not, the band combination is not included in the final set. For each band combination in the final set, the UE capability information may indicate that the UE 610 supports using this band combination for dual connectivity. Furthermore, the UE capability information may indicate a corresponding portion of the carrier grouping information (e.g., the full set of variants of that band combination).

[0082] To illustrate, consider the following example: In a UE capability inquiry, the network node 620 indicates that it supports bands "n1,n2,n3,n4,n5" (e.g., for CA) and only bands "n1,n3,n4" for DC. In response, the UE 610 reports that it supports band combination "n1,n2" for CA but not for DC, and band combination "n1,n3,n4" for DC (and CA). Since band combination "n1,n2" is not supported for DC, the UE 610 does not report carrier grouping information for this band combination. In contrast, since band combination "n1,n3,n4" is supported for DC, the UE 610 reports its grouping information for this band combination. In this case, it is assumed that the UE 610 supports two variants: The first variant is "NR band n1" assigned to the MCG (e.g., one or more carriers from which are configured as corresponding serving cell(s) in the MCG), and "NR band n3" and "NR band n4" assigned to the SCG (e.g., one or more carriers from which are configured as corresponding serving cell(s) in the SCG). The second variant is "NR band n1" and "NR band n4" assigned to the MCG, and "NR band 3" assigned to the SCG. In this figure, the UE 610 reports the first and second variants to the network node 620. Similar carrier configuration information for other band combinations supported by the UE for dual connectivity can be reported to the network node 620.

[0083] In response, the network node 620 may store the UE capability information (including the reported carrier aggregation information) in the network (e.g., in the core network). The network node 620 may also configure the MCG and SCG for the UE 610 based on the reported carrier aggregation information. For example, the network node 620 may use the second variant to configure a set of carriers in "NR band n1" and / or "NR band n4" as a set of serving cells in the MCG and a set of carriers in "NR band n3" as a set of serving cells in the SCG.

[0084] FIG. 7 illustrates a further example of a sequence diagram illustrating signaling between a UE and a network node for inquiring about UE capabilities with respect to carrier grouping, according to some embodiments. In one example, the signaling is RRC signaling exchanged as part of the capability transfer procedure during registration, described in connection with FIG. 3. The UE 710 and the network node 720 are examples of the UE 310 and the network node 320, respectively, of FIG. 3. Compared to the sequence diagram 600, the information exchange here is more granular. In this sequence diagram 700, the network node 720 may indicate a set of bands that the network node 720 (or more generally the network) supports for synchronous dual connectivity and a set of bands that the network node 720 (or more generally the network) supports for asynchronous dual connectivity. In response to this indication, the UE 710 transmits its carrier grouping information. Here, similar to the sequence diagram 400 of FIG. 4, the carrier grouping information can be the full set of variants that the UE 710 supports. Alternatively, UE710 may use the indicators of the bands for synchronous DC and asynchronous DC as filters in a lookup of its data structure to report only the portions of the configuration information corresponding to the bands indicated for synchronous DC and the portions of the configuration information corresponding to the bands indicated for asynchronous DC.

[0085] Thus, sequence diagram 700 is an example of an approach where a network deployment of different carriers is not able to support both asynchronous and synchronous versions of a cell group if some carriers have (or do not have) timing linkage. For example, if a network uses "NR band n1", "NR band n2" and "NR band n3", and "NR band n1", "NR band n3" are not synchronized in time, the network cannot configure synchronous NR-DC with "NR band n1", "NR band n3". In this sequence diagram 700, the network provides a set of bands that the network intends to use only for synchronous DC deployment and a set of bands that the network intends to use for synchronous DC deployment. In response, the UE 710 indicates its supported carrier groupings based on this information. The UE 710 can skip carrier groupings that the network does not support and / or does not intend to configure.

[0086] In one example, the sequence diagram 700 includes the network node 720 sending a UE capability inquiry to the UE 710 and the UE 710 responding with UE capability information. The UE capability inquiry is associated with the UE 710's support for carrier grouping for dual connectivity. In one example, the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node 720 supports a set of band combinations for synchronous deployment of dual connectivity. Additionally or alternatively, the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node supports a set of band combinations for asynchronous deployment of dual connectivity. For example, the inquiry not only identifies bands that the network supports for CA and a subset of these bands that the network supports for DC, but also indicates which specific bands from the subset can be used by the network node 620 (or more generally the network) for synchronous DC, and which other specific bands from the subset can be used by the network node 620 (or more generally the network) for asynchronous DC. Thus, in the UE capability information, the UE can indicate the band combinations that it supports (e.g., for CA). From these band combinations supported for CA, the UE 710 can determine a subset of band combinations that the UE 710 supports for DC. The UE 710 can then cross-check this subset with the set of band combinations indicated by the network 720 as supported for synchronous dual connectivity and the set of band combinations indicated by the network 720 as supported for asynchronous dual connectivity. In particular, for each band combination in the subset, the UE 710 determines the bands of the band combination and whether these bands are supported by the network node 720 (or more generally the network) for synchronous dual connectivity or asynchronous dual connectivity. If supported for synchronous DC deployment, the band combination belongs to the first and final set associated with synchronous DC deployment.If supported for asynchronous DC deployment, the band combination belongs to the second final set associated with asynchronous DC deployment. Otherwise, the band combination is not included in the first or second final set. For each band combination in the first final set, the UE capability information may indicate that the UE 710 supports using this band combination for synchronous dual connectivity. For each band combination in the second final set, the UE capability information may indicate that the UE 710 supports using this band combination for asynchronous dual connectivity. Furthermore, the UE capability information may indicate a corresponding portion of the carrier grouping information (e.g., a full set of variants of each band combination in the first and second final sets).

[0087] To illustrate, consider the following example: In a UE capability inquiry, the network node 720 indicates that it supports bands "n1,n2,n3,n4,n5,n6,n7" (e.g., for CA), bands "n1,n2" and "n4,n7" only for synchronous DC deployment, and band "n3,n5" for asynchronous DC deployment. In response, the UE 710 reports that it supports band combination "n1,n2" for CA but not for DC, and band combinations "n4,n7" and "n3,n5" for DC (and CA). Since band combination "n1,n2" is not supported for DC, the UE 710 does not report carrier grouping information for this band combination. In contrast, since band combination "n4,n7" is supported for DC, the UE 710 reports its grouping information for this band combination. Similarly, since band combination "n3,n5" is supported for DC, the UE 710 reports its grouping information for this band combination.

[0088] In response, the network node 720 may store the UE capability information (including the reported carrier aggregation information) in the network (e.g., in the core network). The network node 720 may also configure the MCG and SCG for the UE 710 based on the reported carrier aggregation information. For example, the network node 720 may determine the supported variants associated with the "n4,n7" band combination and configure therefrom the set of carriers into the MCG and SCG for synchronous dual connectivity.

[0089] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a sequence diagram 800 illustrating signaling between a UE 810 and a network node 820 for reporting UE capabilities with respect to carrier grouping, according to some embodiments. In one example, the signaling is RRC signaling exchanged as part of the capability transfer procedure during registration, as described in conjunction with FIG. 3. The UE 810 and the network node 820 are examples of the UE 310 and the network node 320, respectively, of FIG. 3. In comparison with the sequence diagrams 400-700, the reported UE capacity information indicates negative capabilities. This negative capability may be reported in addition to or instead of the carrier configuration information (e.g., positive capability information) described in conjunction with the sequence diagrams 400-700. Typically, the negative capability information is a type of carrier grouping information. However, instead of indicating what the UE 810 can support, it indicates what it cannot support. For example, the UE capability information indicates the bands of the band combinations that the UE 810 supports for dual connectivity. The UE capability carrier grouping information may include negative capability information indicating that the UE 810 cannot support grouping a first carrier from a first subset of bands into a cell group (e.g., MCG or SCG). In certain circumstances, the data size for reporting negative capabilities is smaller than the data size for reporting positive capabilities (e.g., what the UE 810 can support). Thus, reporting negative capabilities may further reduce signaling overhead.

[0090] Thus, sequence diagram 800 is an example of an approach where the UE 810 may not be able to support only a few carrier groupings for DC (e.g., it supports a large number of variants and / or a large number of band combinations). In such a case, it may be beneficial for the UE 810 to inform the network of the carrier groupings that it does not support and allow the network to assume that all other carrier groupings are supported. Thus, as part of the UE capability response, the UE 810 may include a set of negative support capabilities for carrier groupings, such as the set of carrier groupings that it does not support, while allowing the network to assume that the UE 810 supports all other carrier groupings.

[0091] In one example, the sequence diagram 800 includes the network node 820 sending a UE capability inquiry to the UE 810 and the UE 810 responding with UE capability information. The UE capability inquiry is associated with the UE 810's support for carrier grouping for dual connectivity. This inquiry may be similar to any of the UE capability inquiries described in connection with the sequence diagrams 400-700. In the example of FIG. 8, the UE capability inquiry is similar to that of the sequence diagram 700 where the network node 810 explicitly indicates bands for synchronous dual connectivity and asynchronous dual connectivity. From this inquiry, the UE 820 can determine the band combinations that the UE 820 supports for CA, a subset of these band combinations that the UE 820 supports for DC, and, if applicable, a division of this subset between the band combinations that the UE 810 supports for synchronous DC and the band combinations that the UE 810 supports for asynchronous DC. The UE 820 can report this positive capability. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 820 can determine negative capabilities. For example, a subset of band combinations supported by the UE 820 for DC is associated with a total number of synchronization-independent variants. A band combination supported for synchronous DC is associated with a variant supported for a first number of synchronous DC. Similarly, a band combination supported for asynchronous DC is associated with a variant supported for a first number of asynchronous DC. A negative capability corresponds to a negative variant that is a difference between a synchronization-independent variant and a variant supported for synchronous DC and a variant supported for asynchronous DC. In the UE capability information, the UE 820 can indicate these negative variants.

[0092] To illustrate, consider the following example: In a UE capability inquiry, the network node 820 indicates that it supports bands "n1,n2,n3,n4,n5,n6,n7,n8,n256,n260" (e.g., for CA), and only bands "n1,n2,n8" and "n4,n7,n256" for synchronous DC deployment, and band "n3,n5,n260" for asynchronous DC deployment. In response, the UE 810 reports that it supports band combination "n1,n2" for CA but not for DC, and band combinations "n1,n2,n8" and "n2,n7,n256" for DC (and CA). As band combination "n1,n2" is not supported for DC, the UE 810 does not report carrier grouping information for this band combination. In contrast, the UE 810 reports band combinations "n1,n2,n8" and "n2,n7,n256" as being supported for DC, so the UE 810 reports their grouping information. This corresponds to positive carrier grouping information. Instead, the UE 810 reports that it does not support band combination "n3,n5,n260" for DC (in this case, the network can assume that band combinations "n1,n2,n8" and "n2,n7,n256" are supported for DC). Here, the UE 810 can simply identify band combination "n3,n5,n260" as having the attribute of not being supported for DC. Or, the UE 810 can include the corresponding part of the carrier grouping information (e.g., the variant of band combination "n3,n5,n260").

[0093] In response, the network node 820 may store the UE capability information (including the reported carrier aggregation information) in the network (e.g., in the core network). The network node 820 may also configure MCG and SCG for the UE 810 based on the reported carrier aggregation information. For example, the network node 820 may determine the supported variants associated with the "n4, n256" band combination and configure therefrom the set of carriers into the MCG and SCG for synchronous dual connectivity.

[0094] FIG. 9 illustrates another example of a sequence diagram 900 illustrating signaling between a UE 910 and a network node 920 for reporting UE capabilities with respect to carrier grouping, according to some embodiments. In one example, the signaling is RRC signaling exchanged as part of the capability transfer procedure during registration, described in relation to FIG. 3. The UE 910 and the network node 920 are examples of the UE 310 and the network node 320, respectively, of FIG. 3. In comparison with the sequence diagrams 400-700, the reported UE capacity information indicates UE constraints and / or UE requirements. The UE constraints and / or UE requirements can be reported in addition to or instead of the carrier configuration information (e.g., positive capability information) described in relation to the sequence diagrams 400-700. Typically, the UE constraint information and the UE requirement information are each a type of carrier grouping information. In a sense, the constraints can be negative versions of the requirements. Here, the UE 910 indicates some constraint(s) on grouping a set of carriers from a set of bands into a cell group, rather than indicating what it can or cannot support. If the constraint is violated, the UE 920 will not be able to support dual connectivity. For example, the carrier grouping information indicates a UE constraint on grouping a first carrier from a band into a cell group (MCG or SCG). The UE constraint may indicate that the UE 910 cannot support grouping a first carrier from a first band of bands into a cell group with a second carrier from a second band of bands. Alternatively, the UE constraint may indicate that the UE can support grouping a first carrier into a cell group without grouping a second carrier into a cell group. Similarly, the UE 910 indicates some requirement(s) on grouping a set of carriers from a set of bands into the same or different cell groups. If the requirement is not met, the UE 910 will not be able to support dual connectivity. For example, the UE requirement is to group some carriers from a band into a cell group.Alternatively, the UE requirements may indicate that the UE 910 can support grouping a first carrier from a first one of the bands into a cell group only when a second carrier from a second one of the bands is also grouped into the cell group.

[0095] Thus, the sequence diagram 900 is an example of a manner in which the UE 910 may not support a particular band in a particular cell group. For example, if "NR band n1" (e.g., at least one carrier therefrom) exists in a cell group, then "NR band n2" (e.g., at least one carrier therefrom) must not be in the same cell group. Alternatively, "NR band n3" (e.g., at least one carrier therefrom) must be in the same cell group as "NR band n1" (e.g., at least one carrier therefrom). The UE 910 could reduce signaling overhead by simply reporting such constraints and / or requirements. As part of the UE capability information, the UE 910 includes a set of associations (e.g., constraints and / or requirements) related to a particular band, and as long as the associations lead to the assignment of carriers to cell groups, the network assumes that the UE 910 supports the assignment.

[0096] In one example, sequence diagram 900 includes a network node 920 sending a UE capability inquiry to a UE 910 and the UE 910 responding with UE capability information. The UE capability inquiry is associated with the UE 910's support for carrier grouping for dual connectivity. This inquiry may be similar to any of the UE capability inquiries described in connection with sequence diagrams 400-700. In the example of FIG. 9, the UE capability inquiry is similar to that of sequence diagram 700 where the network node 910 explicitly indicates bands for synchronous dual connectivity and asynchronous dual connectivity. From this inquiry, the UE 920 can determine the band combinations that the UE 920 supports for CA, a subset of these band combinations that the UE 920 supports for DC, and, if applicable, a division of this subset between the band combinations that the UE 910 supports for synchronous DC and the band combinations that the UE 910 supports for asynchronous DC. The UE 910 can report this positive capability. Additionally or alternatively, the UE 910 may determine UE constraints and / or UE requirements. For example, for a subset of band combinations that the UE 910 supports for DC (or, more specifically, for synchronous and asynchronous DC), the UE 910 may determine that some bands from the data structure should not be grouped together in one or more cell groups to form one or more UE constraints, and determine that some bands should be grouped together to form one or more UE requirements. The UE 910 may then include relevant information regarding its determination in the UE capability information.

[0097] To illustrate, consider the following example: In a UE capability inquiry, the network node 920 indicates that it supports bands "n1,n2,n3,n4,n5,n6,n7,n8,n256,n260" (e.g., for CA), and only bands "n1,n2,n8" and "n4,n7,n256" for synchronous DC deployment, and bands "n3,n5,n260" for asynchronous DC deployment. In response, the UE 910 reports that it supports band combination "n1,n2" for CA but not for DC, and band combinations "n1,n2,n3" and "n1,n2,n5" for DC (and CA). As band combination "n1,n2" is not supported for DC, the UE 910 does not report carrier grouping information for this band combination. The UE910 also checks the variants for the bad combinations "n1, n2, n8" and "n2, n7, n256" supported for DC and determines that the variants indicate that "NR band n1" and "NR band n2" (or carriers therefrom) must be grouped in the same cell group (e.g., MCG or SCG, or one of them, depending on the support information stored in the data structure). Thus, the UE910 generates a UE requirement that "NR band n1" and "NR band n2" (or carriers therefrom) must be grouped in the same cell group. Similarly, the UE910 determines that "NR band n3" and "NR band n5" must not be grouped in the same cell group. Thus, the UE910 generates a UE constraint that "NR band n3" and "NR band n5" (or carriers therefrom) must not be grouped in the same cell group. The UE910 then indicates the UE constraint and the UE requirement in the carrier grouping information included in the UE capability information.

[0098] In response, the network node 920 may store the UE capability information (including the reported carrier aggregation information) in the network (e.g., in the core network). The network node 920 may also configure an MCG and an SCG for the UE 910 based on the reported carrier aggregation information. For example, the network node 920 may configure a set of carriers from "NR band n1" and "NR band n2" in the MCG or SCG for synchronous dual connectivity.

[0099] FIG. 10 illustrates yet another example of a sequence diagram 1000 illustrating signaling between a UE 1010 and a network node 1020 for reporting UE capabilities with respect to carrier grouping, according to some embodiments. In one example, the signaling is RRC signaling exchanged as part of the capability transfer procedure during registration, as described in connection with FIG. 3. The UE 1010 and the network node 1020 are examples of the UE 310 and the network node 320, respectively, of FIG. 3. In comparison to the sequence diagrams 400-900, the reported UE capacity information includes a combination of positive capability information, negative capability information, UE constraint information, and / or UE requirement information. Here, flexibility is achieved, whereby the network can be queried at any level of granularity, and the UE 1010 can respond with an appropriate level of capability information accordingly. Thus, sequence diagram 1000 is one example of how the network can choose to request the UE 1010 to send a combination of carrier grouping requests, and the UE 1010 can choose to provide an appropriate level of capability information (e.g., listing UE-constrained synchronous carrier grouping, separate UE-unconstrained asynchronous carrier grouping, or only actual supported carrier groupings).

[0100] To illustrate, consider the following example: In the UE capability inquiry, the network node 1020 indicates that it supports bands "n1, n2, n3, n4, n5, n6, n7, n8, n256, n260" (e.g., for CA use), bands "n1, n2, n8" and "n4, n7, n256" only for synchronous DC deployment, and bands "n3, n5, n260" for asynchronous DC deployment. The UE capability inquiry may, but does not necessarily, indicate the type(s) of carrier grouping information to be included in the response (e.g., positive capability information, negative capability information, and / or UE constraint information). If not explicitly indicated in the UE capability inquiry, the UE 1010 may select a particular type based on a default setting or based on pre-programmed logic (e.g., prioritization logic, logic determining the selection of the type(s) providing the greatest amount of information with the smallest possible data size, etc.). In the example of FIG. 10, UE 1010 reports that it supports band combination "n1, n2" for CA but not for DC, band combinations "n1, n2, n8" and "n4, n7, n256" for synchronous DC, and band combination "n3, n5, 260" for asynchronous DC, as well as UE constraints that "NR band n3" and "NR band n5" should not be grouped into an MCG, and that "N band n1" and "NR band n2" can only be assigned to an SCG.

[0101] In response, the network node 1020 may store the UE capability information (including the reported carrier aggregation information) in the network (e.g., in the core network). The network node 1020 may also configure an MCG and an SCG for the UE 1010 based on the reported carrier aggregation information. For example, the network node 1020 may configure a set of carriers from "NR band n1" and "NR band n2" in the SCG and a set of carriers from "NR band n1" and "NR band n8" in the MCG for synchronous DC.

[0102] 11 illustrates an example of an operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 for a network node to configure carrier grouping, according to some embodiments. The network node may belong to a network and may be, for example, a gNB 108, an eNB 112, or any of the network nodes 320-1020, a gNB 1500, or components thereof, such as a processor 1504, a different type of base station, or a radio network core (e.g., core network 330). The network node may configure an MCG and an SCG for a UE that supports dual connectivity.

[0103] The operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 may include determining, for a UE, that UE capability information associated with a band combination is unavailable from the network, at 1102. For example, this determination may be made as part of a capability transfer procedure during registration of the UE with the network and may include a query of the core network.

[0104] The operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 may include a UE capability inquiry, at 1104, associated with the UE's support for carrier grouping for dual connectivity. In one example, this UE capability inquiry is sent in response to determining that the UE capability information is unavailable and may be sent via RRC signaling as part of a capability transfer procedure during UE registration. Additionally, the UE capability inquiry may include various levels of granularity and / or may implicitly or explicitly request the UE to provide its carrier grouping information, as described above herein in connection with FIGS. 4-7.

[0105] The operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 may include, at 1106, receiving UE capability information from the UE in response to the UE capability query, indicating the UE's support for band combinations for dual connectivity and including carrier grouping information regarding the UE's support for grouping carriers of the band combinations into cell groups. For example, the UE capability information may indicate band combinations supported for CA, subsets supported for DC, and positive capability information, negative capability information, UE requirement information, and / or UE constraint information related to the subsets, as described above herein in connection with Figures 4-10.

[0106] The operational flow / algorithm structure 1100 may include configuring a cell group for the UE based on the UE capability information at 1108. For example, the network node is a MN and allocates radio resources using carriers from a band combination supported by the UE for an MCG. The network node may also inform another network node to be configured as a SN for the UE according to the band combination supported by the UE for an SCG. The network node may also provide information regarding MCGs and SCGs that can be provided to the UE.

[0107] 12 illustrates an example of an operational flow / algorithm structure for a UE reporting UE capabilities with respect to carrier grouping, according to some embodiments. The UE may implement the operational flow / algorithm structure 600 to determine and use the UE, which may be, for example, UE 104, any of UEs 210-1010, UE 1400, or a component thereof, for example, processor 1404. The UE may connect to a network node of a network that supports dual connectivity and may configure an MCG and SCG for the UE.

[0108] The operational flow / algorithm structure 1200 may include receiving 1202 a UE capability query from a network node associated with the UE's support for carrier grouping for dual connectivity. In one example, this UE capability query is sent as part of a capability transfer procedure during UE registration. Additionally, the UE capability query may include various levels of granularity and / or may implicitly or explicitly request the UE to provide its carrier grouping information, as described above herein in connection with FIGS. 4-7.

[0109] The operational flow / algorithm structure 1200 may include determining 1204 band combinations supported by the UE for dual connectivity. For example, parameters from the UE capability inquiry may be used as a filter in a lookup of a data structure pre-stored in the UE that associates, for each band combination supported by the UE, variants of the bands that belong to the band combination and how these variants may be allocated within an MCG or SCG.

[0110] The operational flow / algorithm structure 1200 may include, at 1206, determining carrier grouping information regarding the UE's support for grouping carriers of a band combination into cell groups. For example, the carrier grouping may be the result of a lookup, as described herein above in connection with Figures 4-10, and may include positive capability information, negative capability information, and / or UE constraint information related to the subset.

[0111] The operational flow / algorithm structure 1200 may include, at 1208, transmitting UE capability information to the network node in response to the UE capability query, indicating the UE's support for band combinations for dual connectivity and including carrier grouping information. For example, the UE capability information may indicate supported band combinations for CA, a supported subset for DC, and positive capability information, negative capability information, UE requirement information, and / or UE constraint information related to the subset, as described above herein in connection with FIGS. 4-10.

[0112] The operational flow / algorithm structure 1200 may include receiving, at 1210, another UE capability inquiry from another network node (e.g., of another network) that is associated with the UE's support for dual connectivity, but not carrier grouping for dual connectivity. For example, this UE capability inquiry may be received when the UE roams to another network and participates in another capability transfer procedure during its registration with the other network. Here, the UE capability inquiry may not implicitly or explicitly request the UE to provide its carrier grouping information (e.g., because the network does not support DC or already has this information for the UE).

[0113] The operational flow / algorithm structure 1200 may include, in response to the further UE capability inquiry, sending further UE capability information indicating UE support for band combinations for dual connectivity and excluding carrier grouping information to another network node at 1212. For example, the UE capability information may indicate supported band combinations for CA and a subset supported for DC, but includes any of positive capability information, negative capability information, UE requirement information, or UE constraint information.

[0114] 13 illustrates a receiving component 1300 of a UE 104, according to some embodiments. The receiving component 1300 may include an antenna panel 1304 including several antenna elements. Although the panel 1304 is shown with four antenna elements, other embodiments may include other numbers.

[0115] The antenna panel 1304 may be coupled to an analog beamforming (BF) component that includes several phase shifters 1308(1)-1308(4). The phase shifters 1308(1)-1308(4) may be coupled to a radio frequency (RF) chain 1312. The RF chain 1312 may amplify the received analog RF signal, downconvert the RF signal to baseband, and convert the analog baseband signal to a digital baseband signal that may be provided to a baseband processor for further processing.

[0116] In various embodiments, control circuitry that may be in the baseband processor may provide BF weights (e.g., W1 through W4), which may represent phase shift values, to the phase shifters 1308(1) through 1308(4) to provide receive beams at the antenna panel 1304. These BF weights may be determined based on channel-based beamforming.

[0117] 14 illustrates a UE 1400 according to some embodiments. The UE 1400 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with the UE 104 of FIG.

[0118] Similar to that described above with respect to the UE 104, the UE 1400 may be any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as a mobile phone, a computer, a tablet, an industrial wireless sensor (e.g., a microphone, a carbon dioxide sensor, a pressure sensor, a humidity sensor, a thermometer, a motion sensor, an accelerometer, a laser scanner, a fluid level sensor, an inventory sensor, a voltage / current meter or an actuator, etc.), a video surveillance / monitoring device (e.g., a camera or a video camera, etc.), a wearable device, a Relax IoT device, etc. In some embodiments, the UE may be a RedCap UE or an NR-Light UE.

[0119] The UE 1400 may include a processor 1404, RF interface circuitry 1408, memory / storage 1412, a user interface 1416, sensors 1420, driver circuitry 1422, a Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC) 1424, and a battery 1428. The components of the UE 1400 may be implemented as an Integrated Circuit (IC), portions thereof, discrete electronic devices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof. The block diagram of FIG. 14 is intended to illustrate a high-level view of some components of the UE 1400. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be displayed, and the components shown may be arranged differently in other implementations.

[0120] The components of the UE 1400 may be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 1432, which may represent any type of interface, input / output, bus (local, system or expansion), transmission line, trace, optical connection, etc. that allows various circuit elements (on a common or different chips or chipsets) to interact with one another.

[0121] The processor 1404 may include processor circuitry such as, for example, baseband processor circuitry (BaseBand, BB) 1404A, central processing unit circuitry (CPU) 1404B, and graphics processing unit circuitry (Graphics Processor Unit, GPU) 1404C. The processor 1404 may include any type of circuitry or processor circuitry that executes or otherwise operates computer-executable instructions, such as program code, software modules, or functional processes from memory / storage 1412 to cause the UE 1400 to perform the operations described herein.

[0122] In some embodiments, the baseband processor circuitry 1404A may access a communications protocol stack 1436 in memory / storage 1412 to communicate over a 3GPP compliant network. In general, the baseband processor circuitry 1404A may access the communications protocol stack to perform user plane functions at the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, and PDU layers, and control plane functions at the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, RRC, and non-access stratum "NAS" layers. In some embodiments, PHY layer operations may additionally / alternatively be performed by components of the RF interface circuitry 1408.

[0123] The baseband processor circuitry 1404A may generate or process baseband signals or waveforms that carry information in a 3GPP-compliant network. In some embodiments, waveforms for NR may be based on Cyclic Prefix OFDM (CP-OFDM) in the uplink or downlink and Discrete Fourier Transform Spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the uplink.

[0124] The baseband processor circuitry 1404A may also access group information 1424 from the memory / storage 1412 to determine search space groups in which several PDCCH repetitions may be transmitted.

[0125] The memory / storage 1412 may include any type of volatile or non-volatile memory that may be distributed throughout the UE 1400. In some embodiments, some of the memory / storage 1412 may be located on the processor 1404 itself (e.g., L1 and L2 caches), while other memory / storage 1412 may be external to the processor 1404 but accessed via a memory interface. The memory / storage 1412 may include any suitable volatile or non-volatile memory, such as, but not limited to, Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EPROM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), Flash memory, solid state memory, or any other type of memory device technology.

[0126] The RF interface circuitry 1408 may include transceiver circuitry and a Radio Frequency front module (RFEM) that enables the UE 1400 to communicate with other devices over a radio access network. The RF interface circuitry 1408 may include various elements disposed in the transmit or receive path. These elements may include, for example, switches, mixers, amplifiers, filters, combiner circuitry, control circuitry, etc.

[0127] In the receive path, the RFEM may receive the radiated signal from the air interface via antenna 1424 and proceed to filter and amplify the signal (using a low noise amplifier). The signal may be provided to a transceiver receiver that downconverts the RF signal to a baseband signal that is provided to a baseband processor of the processor 1404.

[0128] In the transmit path, the transmitter of the transceiver upconverts the baseband signal received from the baseband processor and provides an RF signal to the RFEM, which may amplify the RF signal using a power amplifier before the signal is radiated over the air interface via the antenna 1424.

[0129] In various embodiments, the RF interface circuitry 1408 may be configured to transmit and receive signals in a manner that complies with NR access technologies.

[0130] The antenna 1424 may comprise several antenna elements, each of which converts electrical signals into radio waves to travel through the air and converts received radio waves into electrical signals. The antenna elements may be arranged in one or more antenna panels. The antenna 1424 may have antenna panels that are omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof, allowing for beamforming and multiple-input multiple-output communication. The antenna 1424 may include microstrip antennas, printed antennas fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards, patch antennas, phased array antennas, etc. The antenna 1424 may have one or more panels designed for a particular frequency band, including bands within FR1 or FR2.

[0131] The user interface circuitry 1416 includes various input / output (I / O) devices designed to enable user interaction with the UE 1400. The user interface 1416 includes input device circuitry and output device circuitry. The input device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for accepting input, including, among others, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touch screen, a microphone, a scanner, a headset, etc. The output device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for displaying or otherwise conveying information, such as a sensor reading, an actuator position(s), or other similar information. The output device circuitry may include any number or combination of audio or visual displays, including one or more simple visual outputs / indicators (e.g., binary status indicators such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) and multi-character visual outputs), or more complex outputs such as display devices or touch screens (e.g., Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs), LED displays, quantum dot displays, projectors, etc.), with output such as text, graphics, multimedia objects, etc. generated or created from operation of the UE 1400.

[0132] Sensors 1420 may include devices, modules, or subsystems intended to detect events or changes in its environment and transmit information about the detected events (sensor data) to other devices, modules, subsystems, etc. Examples of such sensors may include, among others, inertial measurement units including accelerometers, gyroscopes, or magnetometers, microelectromechanical systems or nanoelectromechanical systems including 3-axis accelerometers, 3-axis gyroscopes, or magnetometers, level sensors, flow sensors, temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors), pressure sensors, barometric pressure sensors, gravimeters, altimeters, image capture devices (e.g., cameras or lensless apertures), light detection and ranging sensors, proximity sensors (e.g., infrared detectors, etc.), depth sensors, ambient light sensors, ultrasonic transceivers, microphones or other similar audio capture devices, etc.

[0133] The driver circuitry 1422 may include software and hardware elements that operate to control particular devices embedded in, attached to, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the UE 1400. The driver circuitry 1422 may include individual drivers that enable other components to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that may be present in or connected to the UE 1400. For example, the driver circuitry 1422 may include a display driver that controls and enables access to a display device, a touchscreen driver that controls and enables access to a touchscreen interface, a sensor driver that obtains sensor readings of the sensor circuitry 1420 and controls and enables access to the sensor circuitry 1420, a driver that obtains actuator positions of electromechanical components or controls and enables access to electromechanical components, a camera driver that controls and enables access to an embedded image capture device, and an audio driver that controls and enables access to one or more audio devices.

[0134] The PMIC 1424 may manage the power supplied to various components of the UE 1400. In particular, with respect to the processor 1404, the PMIC 1424 may control power source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion.

[0135] In some embodiments, the PMIC 1424 may control or otherwise be part of various power saving mechanisms of the UE 1400. For example, if the platform UE is in an RRC_CONNECTED state where it is still connected to a RAN node because it expects to receive traffic shortly, after some period of inactivity the platform UE may enter a state known as Discontinuous Reception Mode (DRX). During this state, the UE 1400 may power down for short intervals, thereby saving power. If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, the UE 1400 may transition to an RRC_Idle state where it disconnects from the network and does not perform operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. The UE 1400 goes into a very low power state and performs paging, waking up periodically again to listen to the network and powering down again. The UE 1400 may not be able to receive data in this state. To receive data, it must transition back to the original RRC_Connected state. In a further power saving mode, the device may be allowed to be unavailable from the network for periods longer than the paging interval (which can range from a few seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device may be completely unable to reach the network and may be completely powered down. Any data sent during this time will experience significant delays, but these delays are deemed acceptable.

[0136] The battery 1428 may provide power to the UE 1400, although in some examples the UE 1400 may be deployed in a fixed location or may have a power source coupled to a power grid. The battery 1428 may be a lithium ion battery, a metal air battery such as a zinc air battery, an aluminum air battery, a lithium air battery, or the like. In some implementations, such as vehicle-based applications, the battery 1428 may be a typical automotive lead acid battery.

[0137] 15 illustrates a gNB 1500 according to some embodiments. The gNB node 1500 may be similar to and substantially interchangeable with the gNB 108. A base station, such as the base station 112, may have the same or similar components as the gNB 1500.

[0138] The gNB 1500 may include a processor 1504, RF interface circuitry 1508, Core Network (CN) interface circuitry 1512, and memory / storage circuitry 1516.

[0139] The components of the gNB 1500 may be coupled to various other components via one or more interconnects 1528.

[0140] The processor 1504, RF interface circuitry 1508, memory / storage circuitry 1516 (including communications protocol stack 1510), antenna 1524, and interconnect 1528 may be similar to the like-named elements shown and described in connection with FIG.

[0141] The CN interface circuitry 1512 is connected to a core network, for example a fifth generation core network “5 thThe gNB 1500 may provide connectivity to the "5th Generation Core network, 5GC" using a 5GC compliant network interface protocol, such as Carrier Ethernet protocol or some other suitable protocol. Network connectivity may be provided to or from the gNB 1500 via optical fiber or wireless backhaul. The CN interface circuitry 1512 may include one or more dedicated processors or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the CN interface circuitry 1512 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0142] It is understood that use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or governmental requirements for maintaining user privacy. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and handled in a manner that minimizes the risk of unintended or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of permitted uses should be clearly indicated to users.

[0143] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components described in one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to perform one or more of the operations, techniques, processes, or methods as described in the example section below. For example, baseband circuitry described in connection with one or more of the preceding figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples described below. As another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc., as described in connection with one or more of the preceding figures, may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples described below in the example section.

[0144] Working Example Further exemplary embodiments are provided in the following sections.

[0145] Example 1 includes a method. The method is implemented by a user equipment (UE). The method includes: receiving a UE capability inquiry from a network node, the UE capability inquiry being associated with the UE's support for carrier grouping for dual connectivity, determining a band combination supported by the UE for dual connectivity, determining carrier grouping information regarding the UE's support for grouping carriers of the band combination into a cell group, and in response to the UE capability inquiry, transmitting UE capability information to the network node indicating the UE's support for the band combination for dual connectivity and including the carrier grouping information regarding the dual connectivity.

[0146] Example 2 includes a method. The method is implemented by a network node. The method includes: sending a UE capability query to a user equipment (UE), the UE capability query being associated with the UE's support for carrier grouping for dual connectivity; receiving UE capability information from the UE in response to the UE capability query, the UE capability information indicating the UE's support for band combinations for dual connectivity, the UE capability information including carrier grouping information regarding the UE's support for grouping carriers of the band combinations into cell groups for dual connectivity; and configuring a cell group for dual connectivity for the UE based on the UE capability information.

[0147] Example 3 includes the method of any one of Examples 1-2 above, wherein the UE capability query indicates that the network node supports grouping multiple carriers from different frequency ranges in the same cell group for dual connectivity.

[0148] Example 4 includes the method of any one of Examples 1 to 3 above, wherein the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node supports a set of band combinations for dual connectivity, the set including the band combinations.

[0149] Example 5 includes the method of any one of Examples 1 to 4 above, wherein the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node supports a set of band combinations for synchronous deployment of dual connectivity, the set including the band combination.

[0150] Example 6 includes the method of any one of Examples 1 to 5 above, wherein the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node supports a set of band combinations for asynchronous deployment of dual connectivity, and the set includes the band combination.

[0151] Example 7 includes the method of any one of Examples 1-6 above, wherein the UE capability information indicates a plurality of bands in different frequency ranges forming a band combination, and the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE supports grouping carriers from the different frequency ranges into cell groups for dual connectivity.

[0152] Example 8 includes the method of any one of Examples 1 to 7 above, wherein the second capability information is set to indicate that the UE can support a third measurement gap configuration only if the first capability information is set to indicate that the UE can support the first measurement gap configuration and the second measurement gap configuration, the UE capability information indicates a plurality of bands of the band combination, and the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE supports grouping a first carrier in a first band of the plurality of bands into a master cell group (MCG) and grouping a second carrier in a second band of the plurality of bands into a secondary cell group (SCG).

[0153] Example 9 includes the method of any one of Examples 1-8 above, wherein the UE capability information indicates a plurality of bands of the band combination, and the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE cannot support grouping a first carrier from a first subset of the plurality of bands into a cell group for dual connectivity.

[0154] Example 10 includes the method of any one of Examples 1 to 9 above, wherein the UE capability information indicates a plurality of bands of the band combination, and the carrier grouping information indicates a UE constraint on grouping a first carrier from the plurality of bands into a cell group for dual connectivity.

[0155] Example 11 includes the method of any one of Examples 1-10 above, wherein the UE capability information indicates a plurality of bands of the band combination, and the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE cannot support grouping a first carrier from a first band of the plurality of bands in a cell group with a second carrier from a second band of the plurality of bands for dual connectivity.

[0156] Example 12 includes the method of example 11, and further indicates that the carrier grouping information can support the UE to group the first carrier in a cell group without grouping the second carrier in a cell group for dual connectivity.

[0157] Example 13 includes the method of any one of Examples 1 to 12 above, wherein the UE capability information indicates a plurality of bands of the band combination, and the carrier grouping information indicates a UE requirement for grouping a first carrier from the plurality of bands into a cell group for dual connectivity.

[0158] Example 14 includes the method of any one of Examples 1 to 13 above, wherein the UE capability information indicates a plurality of bands of the band combination, and the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE can support grouping a first carrier from a first band of the plurality of bands into the cell group only when a second carrier from a second band of the plurality of bands is also grouped into the cell group for dual connectivity.

[0159] Example 15 includes the method of any one of Examples 1-14 above, wherein the UE capability information indicates a plurality of bands of the band combination, the carrier grouping information indicates a UE constraint on grouping a first carrier from the plurality of bands into a cell group for dual connectivity, and the carrier grouping information further indicates a UE requirement for grouping a second carrier from the plurality of bands into a cell group for dual connectivity.

[0160] Example 16 includes the method of any one of Examples 1-15 above, the method further including receiving another UE capability query from the other network node, the UE capability query being associated with the UE's support for dual connectivity but not carrier grouping for dual connectivity, and in response to the other UE capability query, transmitting another UE capability information to the other network node indicating the UE's support for band combinations for dual connectivity and excluding the carrier grouping information.

[0161] Example 17 includes the method of any one of Examples 1 to 16 above, wherein the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node supports grouping multiple carriers from different frequency ranges into a cell group, and the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE supports grouping multiple carriers from different frequency ranges into a cell group for dual connectivity.

[0162] Example 18 includes the method of any one of Examples 1 to 17 above, wherein the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node supports a set of band combinations for dual connectivity, the set including the band combination, and the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE supports grouping a first carrier in a first band from the band combination into a Master Cell Group (MCG) and grouping a second carrier in a second band from the band combination into a Secondary Cell Group (SCG).

[0163] Example 19 includes the method of any one of Examples 1 to 18 above, wherein the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node supports a synchronous deployment of dual connectivity or a set of band combinations for synchronous deployment, the set including the band combination, and the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE cannot support grouping a first carrier from the band combination into a cell group for synchronous deployment or synchronous deployment.

[0164] Example 20 includes a UE including means for performing one or more elements of the method described or related to any of Examples 1-19.

[0165] Example 21 includes one or more non-transitory computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of the UE, cause the UE to perform one or more elements of a method described or related to any one of Example 1 and Examples 3-19.

[0166] Example 22 includes a UE that includes logic, modules, or circuitry for performing one or more elements of a method described or related to any one of Examples 3-19.

[0167] Example 23 includes a UE including one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of a method described or related to any one of Examples 1 and Examples 3 to 19.

[0168] Example 24 includes a system including means for performing one or more elements of the method described or related to any one of Examples 1 and 3-19.

[0169] Example 25 includes a network node including means for performing one or more elements of the method described or related to any one of Examples 2-15 and Examples 16-19.

[0170] Example 26 includes one or more non-transitory computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a network node, cause the network node to perform one or more elements of a method described or related to any one of Examples 2-15 and Examples 16-19.

[0171] Example 27 includes a network node that includes logic, modules, or circuitry for performing one or more elements of the method described or related to any one of Examples 2-15 and Examples 16-19.

[0172] Example 28 includes a network node including one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media including instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any one of Examples 2-15 and Examples 16-19.

[0173] Example 29 includes a system including means for performing one or more elements of the method described or related to any one of Examples 2-15 and Examples 16-19.

[0174] Any of the above examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples) unless otherwise stated. The foregoing description of one or more implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise embodiments disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

[0175] Although the above embodiments have been described in considerable detail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated, and it is intended that the following claims be interpreted to include all such variations and modifications.

Claims

1. A method performed by a network node, comprising the steps of: sending, to a user equipment (UE), a UE capability inquiry including an indication of a carrier grouping for dual connectivity, where the carrier grouping includes bands usable by a network node; receiving UE capability information from the UE in response to the UE capability inquiry, the UE capability information indicating support of the UE for a band combination for the dual connectivity, the UE capability information including carrier grouping information regarding the UE's support for grouping carriers of the band combination into cell groups for the dual connectivity, where the carrier grouping information is included in the UE capability information in response to the indication being included in the UE capability inquiry; and configuring the cell group for the dual connectivity for the UE based on the UE capability information.

2. 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node supports grouping multiple carriers from different frequency ranges in a same cell group for the dual connectivity.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node supports a set of band combinations for the dual connectivity, the set including the band combination.

4. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node supports a set of band combinations for synchronous deployment of dual connectivity, the set including the band combination.

5. 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node supports a set of band combinations for asynchronous deployment of dual connectivity, the set including the band combination.

6. A method comprising: processing a user equipment (UE) capability inquiry received from a network node, the UE capability inquiry including an indication of a carrier grouping for dual connectivity, the carrier grouping including bands available at the network node; determining a band combination supported by the UE for the dual connectivity; determining carrier grouping information regarding the UE's support for grouping carriers of the band combination into cell groups; and in response to the UE capability inquiry, causing the network node to transmit UE capability information indicating support of the UE for the band combination for the dual connectivity and including the carrier grouping information for the dual connectivity, wherein the carrier grouping information is included in the UE capability information in response to the indication being included in the UE capability inquiry.

7. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the UE capability information indicates a plurality of bands forming the band combination and located in different frequency ranges, and the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE supports grouping carriers from the different frequency ranges into the cell group for the dual connectivity.

8. 8. The method of claim 6 or 7, wherein the UE capability information indicates a plurality of bands of the band combinations, and the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE supports grouping a first carrier in a first band of the plurality of bands into a Master Cell Group (MCG) and grouping a second carrier in a second band of the plurality of bands into a Secondary Cell Group (SCG).

9. 8. The method of claim 6 or 7, wherein the UE capability information indicates a plurality of bands of the band combination, and the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE cannot support grouping a first carrier from a first subset of the plurality of bands in the cell group for the dual connectivity.

10. 8. The method of claim 6 or 7, wherein the UE capability information indicates a plurality of bands of the band combination, and the carrier grouping information indicates a UE restriction on grouping a first carrier from the plurality of bands into the cell group for the dual connectivity.

11. 11. The method of claim 6, 7, or 10, wherein the UE capability information indicates a plurality of bands of the band combinations, and the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE cannot support grouping a first carrier from a first band of the plurality of bands with a second carrier from a second band of the plurality of bands in the cell group for the dual connectivity.

12. 12. The method of claim 11, wherein the carrier grouping information further indicates that the UE can support grouping the first carrier in the cell group for the dual connectivity without grouping the second carrier in the cell group.

13. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the UE capability information indicates a plurality of bands of the band combination, and the carrier grouping information indicates a UE requirement for grouping a first carrier from the plurality of bands into the cell group for the dual connectivity.

14. 11. The method of claim 6, wherein the UE capability information indicates a plurality of bands of the band combinations, and the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE can support grouping a first carrier from a first band of the plurality of bands into the cell group only when a second carrier from a second band of the plurality of bands is also grouped into the cell group for the dual connectivity.

15. 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the UE capability information indicates a plurality of bands of the band combination, the carrier grouping information indicates a UE restriction on grouping a first carrier from the plurality of bands into the cell group for the dual connectivity, and the carrier grouping information further indicates a UE requirement for grouping a second carrier from the plurality of bands into the cell group for the dual connectivity.

16. receiving another UE capability inquiry from another network node, the inquiry being associated with the UE's support for the dual connectivity rather than the carrier grouping for the dual connectivity; in response to the other UE capability inquiry, sending other UE capability information to the other network node indicating support of the UE for the band combination for the dual connectivity, the other UE capability information excluding the carrier grouping information; 16. The method of any one of claims 6 to 15, further comprising:

17. A user equipment (UE), one or more processors; When executed by the one or more processors, the UE is Process a user equipment (UE) capability inquiry received from a network node and including an indication of a carrier grouping for dual connectivity, where the carrier grouping includes bands available at the network node; determining a band combination supported by the UE for the dual connectivity; determining carrier grouping information regarding the UE's support for grouping carriers of the band combination into cell groups; and one or more memories storing computer-readable instructions configured to cause the network node to transmit, in response to the UE capability inquiry, UE capability information indicating support of the UE for the band combination for the dual connectivity and including the carrier grouping information for the dual connectivity, wherein the carrier grouping information is included in the UE capability information in response to the indication being included in the UE capability inquiry.

18. 18. The UE of claim 17, wherein the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node supports grouping multiple carriers from different frequency ranges into the cell group, and the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE supports grouping the multiple carriers from the different frequency ranges into the cell group for the dual connectivity.

19. 19. The UE of claim 17 or 18, wherein the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node supports a set of band combinations for the dual connectivity, the set including the band combination, and the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE supports grouping a first carrier in a first band from the band combination into a Master Cell Group (MCG) and grouping a second carrier in a second band from the band combination into a Secondary Cell Group (SCG).

20. 19. The UE of claim 17 or 18, wherein the UE capability inquiry indicates that the network node supports a set of band combinations for synchronous or asynchronous deployment of the dual connectivity, the set including the band combination, and the carrier grouping information indicates that the UE cannot support grouping a first carrier from the band combination into the cell group for the synchronous or asynchronous deployment.

21. The method of claim 1, wherein the carrier grouping information includes only grouping information regarding bands usable by the network node.

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