Method for determining an access category and / or an establishment cause and related device

Abstract

A method of operating a user equipment (UE) is provided. In a wireless communication system, a unified access control method includes: determining an access category to be applied for an access attempt from a plurality of access categories; determining at least one access identifier from the plurality of access identifiers; determining an establishment cause for the access attempt based on the access category determined from the plurality of access categories and the at least one access identifier from the plurality of access identifiers; and transmitting a connection request message for the access attempt to a wireless communication network, wherein the connection request message includes the establishment cause determined based on the access category and the at least one access identifier.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to communications, and more particularly to wireless communications, and related methods and devices.

Background Art

[0002] Generally, all terms used herein should be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and / or implied from the context in which the term is used. All references to an element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. should be construed openly as referring to at least one instance of that element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless otherwise explicitly stated. None of the steps of any of the methods disclosed herein need to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless the step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and / or it is implicit that the step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, where appropriate. Similarly, any advantage of any of the embodiments may be applied to any other embodiment, and vice versa. Other objects, features, and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will become apparent from the following description.

[0003] When performing access to a wireless communication system, a user equipment (UE) must signal to the network that the UE wishes to obtain a communication opportunity. There are many ways in which this can be done. For example, the UE can utilize air interface resources (e.g., time, frequency) to send a short message that will instruct the network that the UE wishes to communicate. In that case, further details regarding a particular communication need may occur during subsequent communications.

[0004] Events that trigger the UE to perform a request to access a wireless communication system can be, for example, that an application, such as a software module in the UE, needs to transmit uplink user data and / or receive downlink user data, exchange signaling messages with a network node, or alternatively, a combination of both.

[0005] Considering the simplified wireless network 100 shown in FIG. 1, there is a UE (102), which communicates with an access node (104), and the access node (104) is connected to a network node (106).

[0006] In a wireless communication system compliant with the 3GPP EPS / LTE standard specification, the access node 104 generally corresponds to an evolved Node B (eNB), and the network node 106 generally corresponds to either a Mobility Management Entity (MME) and / or a Serving Gateway (SGW). However, these examples are for illustrative purposes, and the access node 104 and the network node 106 can correspond to any network node suitable for implementing the required functionality.

[0007] In 3GPP LTE, when a UE is in the idle mode, also known as the RRC_IDLE state, it initiates a random access procedure, followed by an RRC connection establishment procedure, by which requests for communication are carried out. Requests for communication can be triggered, for example, by a request to set up a new data session, an outgoing voice call, a response to paging, the need for an application in the UE to send data packets belonging to an already established data session, or a NAS signaling procedure such as a tracking area update. This trigger is first identified by the non-access stratum layer in the UE, which forwards the request to the radio resource control (RRC) layer in the UE, and the RRC layer starts the actual procedures for performing random access and RRC connection establishment.

[0008] For a high-level flowchart showing random access and RRC connection establishment, refer to Figure 2. This sequence starts with the transmission of a random access preamble (201), also known as "msg1", on a specially allocated channel or resource. When this random access preamble is received by the base station or eNB, it is followed by a random access response (202), also known as "msg2", which includes the allocation of resources for continuous signaling. In this case, the continuous signaling is an RRC connection request (203), also known as "msg3", which is the first message in the RRC connection establishment procedure.

[0009] The RRC connection request (203) message generally includes, for example, identification information of the UE or some other reference such as a random number, which is used to refer to this specific request for the connection in the response from the network in the RRC connection setup (204).

[0010] Figure 2 shows random access and RRC connection establishment in 3GPP LTE. As can be easily understood, access attempts will require air interface resources. Resources for both the initial message (201, preamble) and further signaling (202 - 205) will simply increase the radio network load in order to configure and set up the communication resources for subsequent data transfer. Note that further communication with network entities is required before any communication can take place, but these steps are omitted from Figure 2.

[0011] In some cases, such as during high load, the network may reject a UE's request for an RRC connection. In such a case, the network may send an RRC connection rejection message instead of an RRC connection setup (204). When the UE receives such a rejection, the UE may, in some cases, stay in the idle mode for the time indicated by the rejection message before making a new request. Since the network can prioritize between requests for RRC connections, for example, giving emergency calls priority over normal calls, the RRC connection request (203) message also includes the cause or reason for establishing the connection, i.e., what is defined as an RRC establishment cause in 3GPP. In LTE, the UE selects an RRC establishment cause value from seven specified values (these values are specified in 3GPP TS36.331), namely, emergency, highPriorityAccess, mt-Access, mo-Signalling, mo-Data, delayTolerantAccess, mo-VoiceCall. Which RRC establishment cause value (i.e., trigger and / or NAS signaling procedure) is selected by the UE is specified in 3GPP TS24.301 annex D.

[0012] In the future, additional establishment cause values may be desired. Thus, there may be a need for a more efficient way to determine and / or communicate establishment cause values and / or related information.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0013] According to some embodiments of the inventive concept, a method for operating a user equipment (UE) may be provided. An access category to be applied for an access attempt may be determined from a plurality of access categories, and at least one access identification information may be determined from a plurality of access identification information. An establishment cause for the access attempt may be determined based on the access category determined from the plurality of access categories and based on at least one access identification information from the plurality of access identification information. A connection request message for the access attempt may be transmitted to a wireless communication network, and the connection request message may include an establishment cause determined based on the access category and based on at least one access identification information.

[0014] Determining an establishment cause according to some embodiments of the inventive concept may reduce the size of information about the establishment cause included in a connection request message and / or may facilitate an operator-specified access category.

[0015] Included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure, incorporated in the present application, and forming a part of the present application, the accompanying drawings illustrate some non-limiting embodiments of the inventive concept.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016]

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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0017] In some situations, it may be desirable to prevent the UE from requesting an RRC connection, i.e., to prevent all the procedures shown in FIG. 2. For example, in cases of extreme overload situations such as disasters, network maintenance, or extreme radio resource congestion or extreme lack of processing capacity, it may be desirable to prevent that request. In such situations, the network may wish to reduce the overload, for example, by preventing access attempts to the cell. Also, in these cases, the network may need to prioritize between specific users and / or services during the overload situation.

[0018] To address these situations and prevent access attempts, the network may adopt something in 3GPP called access control. Access Class Barring (ACB) is an example of such a control. In short, access control is related to preventing the UE from attempting to send an access request (e.g., to start the above sequence by sending preamble 201) or reducing the likelihood of the UE attempting to send an access request. In this way, the total load in the system can be controlled. The network may, for example, divide different reasons about the UE or why the UE desires access into different classes or categories, and accordingly, the network can distinguish, for example, that some UEs and / or some events trigger access requests and reduce the likelihood of those UEs and / or events triggering access requests. For example, a given UE may belong to a certain access class, and the network can communicate via broadcast system information that in some instances some classes are restricted, i.e., not permitted to access or only permitted to access with a lower probability even if not completely restricted. When the UE receives this broadcast system information, if the UE belongs to a restricted access class, it may result in the UE not sending an access request. There are multiple variants of the access control mechanism specified for LTE, and several of them are described below. 1. Access Class Barring according to 3GPP Rel-8: In this mechanism, it is possible to restrict all access requests from the UE. Normal UEs in the access class (AC) range 0 - 9 are restricted by a probability factor also called a restriction factor and a timer also called a restriction period, but specific classes can be controlled separately. In addition to the normal classes 0 - 9, additional classes are specified to control access for other types of users, such as emergency services, public welfare enterprises, security services, etc. 2. Service Specific Access Control (SSAC): The SSAC mechanism enables the network to prohibit the UE from accessing Multimedia Telephony (MMTel) voice and MMTel video. The network broadcasts regulatory parameters (parameters similar to ACB) and a regulatory algorithm (regulation factor and random timer) similar to ACB. The actual determination of whether access is permitted is made at the UE's IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) layer. 3. Access control for Circuit-Switched FallBack (CSFB): The CSFB mechanism enables the network to prohibit CSFB users. The regulatory algorithm used in this case is similar to ACB. 4. Extended Access Barring (EAB): The EAB mechanism enables the network to prohibit low-priority UEs. The regulation is based on a bitmap where each access class (AC0 - 9) can either be regulated or permitted. 5. Access class regulation bypass: The ACB mechanism enables the omission of access class regulation for IMS voice and video users. 6. Application specific Congestion control for Data Communication (ACDC) regulation: ACDC enables the regulation of traffic with a certain application. In this solution, the application is categorized based on the global application identification information (ID) (in Android or iOS). The network broadcasts regulatory parameters (regulation factor and timer) for each category.

[0019] All variants of access control operate for UEs in the idle mode, before random access and RRC connection establishment. SSAC can also be applied for connected mode UEs, i.e., UEs in the RRC_CONNECTED state in LTE.

[0020] In LTE, before a UE attempts access towards an access node, the UE typically needs to read certain system information broadcast by the access node 104. The system information describes how access should be performed to initiate communication between the UE (102) and the access node (104). A part of this system information can be information related to access regulation. This regulation information is typically broadcast in the access network 100, and there can be different regulation information in different cells or areas. Usually, one access node (104) transmits its own regulation information. The regulation information can be configured in a way that, for example, as specified in 3GPP TS36.331 v.14.1.0, December 2016, the regulation information includes a set of access categories [1...m] and an information element that includes a regulation factor and a regulation time for each category (see the following Figure 3 showing an example of ACDC regulation information in LTE).

[0021] This regulation information for each access category will be used by the UE attempting access, which is a way for the access node to limit some accesses and prioritize some accesses over others.

[0022] The 3GPP system architecture is described below. Figure 4 shows the planes in a communication system. A communication system such as the 3GPP system is typically functionally divided vertically into a user plane 401, a control plane 402, and a management plane 403, as shown in Figure 4. This division enables independent scalability, evolution, and flexible deployment. The user plane 401 that carries user data traffic includes functions and protocols related to user data transfer, such as segmentation, reassembly, retransmission, multiplexing, encryption, etc. In the control plane 402 that carries signaling traffic, protocols and functions required to set up, release, control, and configure the user plane are found. The control plane 402 also includes functions and protocols related to, for example, UE mobility, UE authentication, control of user sessions and bearers (also known as service data flows or QoS flows). In the management plane 403 that carries administrative traffic, for example, operation and maintenance (O&M) and provisioning functions are found. Generally, there is no clear division between the control plane 402 and the management plane 403, but generally, the control plane 402 operates on a faster time scale (e.g., seconds) than the time scale (e.g., hours) on which the management plane 403 operates. Then, the user plane 401 generally operates on the fastest time scale (e.g., milliseconds).

[0023] Figure 5 shows another division of the 3GPP system into domains and layers. There are several domains, and the most important ones are the user equipment (UE) 102, the access network (AN) 502, and the core network (CN) 503. It should be understood that generally, all of the UE 102, AN 502, and CN 503 include user plane 401, control plane 402, and management plane 403 functions.

[0024] User Equipment (UE) 102 is a device that enables user access to network services. Such a device is generally a wireless terminal, such as a smartphone, equipped with a User Service Identity Module (USIM). The USIM contains credentials for uniquely and securely identifying the USIM itself. The functionality of the USIM can be embedded in a stand-alone smart card, but can also be implemented as software, for example, in a software module.

[0025] The Access Network (AN) 502, also known as the Radio Access Network (RAN), includes access nodes, or base stations, also known as eNBs and gNBs, which manage the radio resources of the access network and provide UE 102 with a mechanism to access the Core Network 503. The access network 502 depends on the radio access technology used at the radio interface between UE 102 and the access network 502. Thus, there are different flavours of access network 502 for different radio access technologies, such as E-UTRAN that supports LTE or E-UTRA radio access technology, and NG-RAN that supports new radio (or 5G) types of radio access technology.

[0026] The Core Network (CN) 503 consists of network nodes that provide support for network features and communication services, such as management of user location information, control of network features and services, switching and transmission of signalling and user data. The core network 503 also provides an interface to the external network 507. There are different types of core network 503 for different 3GPP system generations. For example, in 4G, also known as the Evolved Packet System (EPS), the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) is found. In 5G, the 5G Core (5GC) is found, which was developed as part of the 5G System (5GS).

[0027] Furthermore, the core network 503 is access-agnostic, and the interface between the access network 502 and the core network 503 enables the integration of different 3GPP and non-3GPP access types. For example, the access network 502 that supports LTE or E-UTRA radio access technology (also known as E-UTRAN), as well as the access network that supports the radio access technology of the new radio type (also known as NG-RAN), can both be connected to the 5G type of core network 503 (also known as 5GC).

[0028] The external network 507 represents here a network external to the 3GPP domain, such as the public Internet.

[0029] As shown in Figure 5, the 3GPP system is also divided horizontally into an access stratum (AS) 504 and a non-access stratum (NAS) 505, reflecting the protocol layering hierarchy. In the AS 504, functions related to the radio part of the system can be found, such as the transport of data over the radio connection and the management of radio resources. The AS 504 generally includes the functions in the access network 502 and the dialog (using the corresponding protocol) between the UE 102 and the access network 502. In the NAS 505, which can be seen as being above the AS 504 in the protocol layering hierarchy, functions that do not directly depend on the radio access technology and are generally functions in the core network, and the dialog (using the corresponding protocol) between the UE 102 and the core network 503 can be found.

[0030] In Figure 5, an application 506 is also shown above the NAS 505. The application 506 may include some parts in the UE 102, the core network 503, and the external network 507.

[0031] Figure 6 shows the protocol layers in the user plane and control plane of a 3GPP system. The control plane 402 and user plane 401 of the access stratum 504 and non-access stratum 505 are further divided into protocol layers. As shown in Figure 6, in the access stratum (AS) 504, there is one protocol layer, namely the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer 601, in the control plane 402. Since the RRC layer 601 is part of the access stratum 504, the RRC layer 601 depends on the type of radio access technology used between the UE 102 and the access network 502. Therefore, there are different flavors of RRC601 for different radio access technologies, for example, one type of RRC layer 601 for each of UTRA, E-UTRA, and the new radio type of radio access technology.

[0032] Furthermore, in the access stratum 504, there are also several protocol layers in the user plane 401, such as the Physical (PHY) layer 611, Media Access Control (MAC) layer 612, Radio Link Control (RLC) layer 613, and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer 614. In the new radio, a new layer above PDCP614 is also expected in the AS504, which is denoted as "NL" (new layer) 615 here. All protocol layers in both the user plane 401 and control plane 402 of the access stratum 504 are terminated at the network-side access network 502, such as an eNB or gNB.

[0033] In the non-access stratum (NAS) 505, there are multiple protocol layers in the control plane 402. In EPS (Evolved Packet System, also known as 4G or LTE), these layers are known as EMM (EPS Mobility Management) 603 and ESM (EPS Session Management) 604. In the 5G system, protocol layers implementing equivalent functions to EMM603 and ESM604, such as Connection Management (CM) 605, will be found.

[0034] Furthermore, in the non-access stratum (NAS) 505, there are multiple protocol layers, such as Internet Protocol (IP) 616, in the user plane 401.

[0035] The application 506 resides on top of the NAS 505, interacts with the user plane 401, and in some cases, also interacts with the control plane 402.

[0036] The unified access control in 3GPP is described below.

[0037] In particular, the ongoing development of the access control mechanism for the 5th generation cellular standard by 3GPP is to gather the existing access control mechanisms into a single mechanism that can be set and adapted to various network operator preferences. Therefore, it has been agreed that 5G will include a single access control framework known as unified access control.

[0038] Unified access control will be applied to UEs accessing the 5G core via NR (New Radio) or E-UTRA / LTE. Moreover, unified access control is applied in all UE states, but in LTE, except for one exception (SSAC), the access control mechanism is applied only for idle mode UEs.

[0039] The unified access control for 5G is currently specified in 3GPP TS22.261 (5G service requirements), 3GPP TR24.890 (5G system core network CT1 aspects), 3GPP TS38.300 (RAN stage 2), and 3GPP TS38.331 (RRC protocol specification).

[0040] According to the solutions being discussed in 3GPP, an access node (e.g., gNB or eNB) uses the system information broadcast in the RRC layer within the access stratum (AS) to indicate the access control conditions to the UE for each cell that uses access control parameters.

[0041] Furthermore, in the UE, there is a process to detect what is known as an "access attempt". An example of an access attempt is a request to set up a new session such as a new PDU session or an MMTEL voice call. Each detected access attempt is mapped onto an access category.

[0042] The access categories in TS22.261 are specified in Figure 7 which shows the access categories for 5G unified access control.

[0043] 3GPP TS22.261 also specifies what is defined as "access identification information". The UE has one or more access identification information set to reflect whether the UE is a "normal UE" or is set for use by special, generally high-priority services. An example of the UE is for operator use or for mission-critical services. The table in Figure 8 shows the access identification information for 5G unified access control specified in TS22.261.

[0044] The stage 1 requirements in TS22.261 do not specify in detail what an "access attempt" is. The definition of access attempts for each access category is currently being done by 3GPP working groups (mainly CT1 and RAN2). It should be understood that access attempts can be detected and identified in several layers in the UE, including 5GSM, 5GMM, SMSoIP, MMTEL, and RRC. However, "duplicate regulation" should be avoided, and thus, a given access attempt should be detected only at one place in the protocol stack and only once.

[0045] Generally, the layer that detects an access attempt performs mapping to an access category, triggers an access control check, and, if not permitted, performs blocking.

[0046] The entire procedure for unified access control is described below with respect to FIG. 9.

[0047] Before an access is attempted by the UE (102), an event, such as a trigger from an upper layer in the UE for sending a signaling message, needs to be associated with one of the [1...m] access categories.

[0048] To do this, the UE may be provided with instructions or rules from the network. FIG. 9 shows a signaling diagram for one exemplary procedure.

[0049] In the first step 901, the network node optionally provides rules for operator-specific access categories. In Figure 9, this information is shown as being sent from network node (106), but very well could be sent from other network nodes and sent to the UE via network node (106) or, in some cases, via another node (for example, the operator's policy functionality configures the UE (102) via the WLAN access network). If the network includes a higher-level controller or policy functionality, that information could be sent from another node hosting such controller or policy functionality. Upper layer rules can be signaled to the UE via non-access stratum (NAS) signaling from a core network node, such as an AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function), or upper layer rules can be signaled using other protocols. For example, the UE (102) can include an entity that can be configured and host access category rules signaled using the Open Mobile Alliance Device Management (OMA-DM) protocol.

[0050] Among the rules from network node (106) can be information regarding how the UE should select an access category if, for example, an access attempt relates to one or more of the PDU sessions having a requested DNN (Data Network Name) set to a particular value, i.e., a particular 5QI (5G QoS Identifier) value, or having a particular value within the IP packet header (for example, destination IP address or destination port number). The rules can also include information regarding access to various slices. For example, a small device UE (102) may wish to access, for example, an IoT-optimized slice.

[0051] When the UE 102 needs to request access to the network, such as when triggering an event in the UE that is defined as the detected access attempt 902, when there is a need to establish a new PDU session, or when there is a need to set up an MMTel voice or video call, the UE 102 first determines, in step 903, an access category based on the available rules, including what was obtained in step 901, along with the standardized rules. After determining the access category for this particular access, the UE 102 then reads, in step 905, an access restriction instruction, which is generally part of the broadcast system information. Generally, the UE 102 is required to maintain the latest version of the broadcast system information, which implies that the UE 102 often does not actually need to read the system information again and can instead use the cached system information. The UE 102 then performs, in step 906, an access restriction check using the determined access category and the access restriction instruction as inputs. In step 907, the UE performs any enforcement of the restrictions, that is, if the access is not permitted / "restricted" by the restriction check, the UE does not perform the access and instead waits for a period such as the period indicated in the access restriction instruction. However, if the access is permitted / "not restricted" by the restriction check, the UE 102 can proceed with the access attempt (such as establishing a PDU session or an MMTel voice or video call) in step 908. If the UE was in the idle mode or the RRC_INACTIVE state, the UE also needs to establish (or resume in the case of RRC_INACTIVE) an RRC connection including a random access as part of step 908.

[0052] The development of a unified access control mechanism for access restriction is currently in progress.

[0053] Figure 10 shows a model in UE102 for the interaction between NAS505 and AS504 when a regulation check is performed when an access attempt is detected as part of unified access control. Note that the regulation check can be performed whenever a new access attempt is detected and in all UE states, including RRC_IDLE, RRC_INACTIVE, and RRC_CONNECTED. Also, understand that all regulation checks should have been performed and passed when the NAS requests a signaling connection.

[0054] Currently, there are several issues. In the recent development of unified access control in 3GPP, it has been discussed to use the access category for access attempts that trigger requests for RRC connections as an alternative to the RRC establishment cause.

[0055] The main issue when directly using the access category in the RRC connection request message is that the size of the RRC connection request message (msg3) is extremely limited in order to meet the coverage requirements in all scenarios. This generally means that when considering other more important information elements such as UE identification information, the full-size access category (6 bits) may not fit into the message. In LTE, the size of the RRC establishment cause is 3 bits.

[0056] As an alternative approach, it has been suggested to use the access category as an input to determine the RRC establishment cause, i.e., the mapping from the access category to the RRC establishment cause is specified in the standard.

[0057] With this alternative approach, the above size limitation can be somewhat relaxed. However, the access category selected by the UE for an access attempt can be one of the operator-defined access categories, also known as operator-specific. The meaning of a given operator-defined access category value is not standardized and is operator-specific to the core network operator. In the case of a shared network, multiple core networks share the same RAN and access nodes. Therefore, these values generally cannot be interpreted by the RAN.

[0058] Another aspect to be addressed is how the access identification information set in the UE should be used when determining the RRC establishment cause. In LTE, UEs with any of access classes (AC) 11 - 15 generally use the highPriorityAccess value of the RRC establishment cause.

[0059] Recently, in standardization meetings and discussions, there has also been a potential need to introduce some flexibility for network operators to set the establishment cause settings and even to have network-specific cause values to adjust how the UE sets its establishment cause value. There is still no solution for how the cause values should be set for 5G / NR.

[0060] Therefore, there is a need for a method and apparatus for determining the RRC establishment cause, which - uses the access category and access identification information as inputs, - can meet the size limitation of msg3, - can handle the operator-defined access category, - provides the possibility for the network to set the establishment cause value.

[0061] Some aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other problems. Embodiments herein relate to wireless communication systems such as cellular networks. Methods, user equipment, and network nodes for transmitting and receiving messages related to wireless access are disclosed herein.

[0062] According to some embodiments, when a UE is attempting to request an RRC connection, the UE evaluates the ongoing access attempt and determines the most appropriate access attempt (this may be performed in an alternative manner, such as the access attempt that triggered the request, the most prioritized access attempt, or some other criterion). Using this selected most appropriate access attempt, the UE then determines the associated most appropriate access category value.

[0063] Often, the determination of the most appropriate access category is performed in the same manner as the determination of the access category for unified access control (i.e., regulatory check). If the determined access category for unified access control is a standardized access category, the most appropriate access category is the same as the determined access category for unified access control. If the determined access category for unified access control is an operator-specific access category, the UE uses one of several techniques, including but not limited to the following, to determine the most appropriate access category. 1. The UE selects the most appropriate access category according to the rules for selecting the access category for unified access control, without considering the operator-specific access category classification policy (i.e., only standardized access categories can be selected). 2. As part of the configuration for the operator-defined access category, a normalized access category is stored where the UE has selected to perform an access restriction check for the most appropriate access attempt. The UE then uses this stored normalized access category value as the most appropriate access category.

[0064] According to some embodiments, when the UE determines the most appropriate access category, the UE uses the most appropriate access category together with the access identification information set in the UE to select the RRC establishment cause. The method for performing this selection is generally standardized in the specification, for example, as a mapping table.

[0065] The UE can then include this selected RRC establishment cause value in the RRC connection establishment message when requesting an RRC connection.

[0066] FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a method performed by a UE according to a particular embodiment disclosed herein.

[0067] Various embodiments are proposed herein to address one or more of the problems disclosed herein. Specifically, as will be described in more detail, a UE, a network node, and methods performed by the UE and the network node are disclosed. Some embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. For example, some embodiments provide a solution for determining the RRC establishment cause, the solutions use the access category and access identification information as inputs, satisfy the size limitation of msg3, can handle the operator-defined access category, and provide the possibility for the network to set the establishment cause value setting by the UE.

[0068] According to some embodiments, by mapping access categories (especially operator-specific categories) to a smaller set of establishment cause values, the number of establishment causes that need to be defined can be reduced because, within the establishment cause value range, one code point per access category value is not required. In this way, the RRC connection request message becomes shorter and is more likely to meet the requirements regarding range and / or reliability. Further, by defining which establishment cause should be used for each individual operator-specific access category, the corresponding connection requests can be prioritized in a better (i.e., fairer) way and can also reflect criteria for determining operator-specific access categories such as DNN, 5QI, and slice. According to some embodiments, the solution also provides flexibility for defining operator-specific establishment cause values, which further differentiates connection requests. For example, it may be possible to reflect the priority between slices in the establishment causes. Also, thereby, the network can add new causes or change the meaning of existing cause values in order to reflect changes in the services supported by the network and / or the prioritization of services. Other advantages may readily become apparent to those skilled in the art. Some embodiments may have none, some, or all of the stated advantages.

[0069] With reference to the accompanying drawings, some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully. However, other embodiments are within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein and the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments described herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided as examples to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0070] The procedure used to determine the establishment cause is described below.

[0071] FIG. 12 shows some embodiments of the interaction between non-access stratum 505 and access stratum 504 in a UE to determine the cause for establishing a NAS signaling connection when the UE 102 attempts to establish a NAS signaling connection.

[0072] In step 1201, the NAS 505 detects that a NAS signaling connection is required according to a trigger specified in the NAS signaling protocol, for example, in the 5GMM protocol layer. The trigger for the need of a NAS signaling connection can be, for example, the start of a registration procedure or a request from a higher layer such as the MMTel layer for establishing a voice call. This trigger is identified by the NAS 505 as an access attempt, and an access category is selected according to the rules for unified access control. In some cases, there may be several access attempts triggered simultaneously, or when a second access attempt is detected, the first access attempt may already be in progress. To respond to multiple access attempts in those cases, the NAS 505 determines one of these multiple access attempts as the most appropriate access attempt according to the rules. In one example, the NAS 505 ranks multiple access attempts according to their priorities. For example, in one priority scheme, if an emergency call is in progress or about to start, the emergency call always has a higher priority than all other access attempts and will be determined as the most appropriate access attempt. This is just an example, and other priority schemes may also be adopted. In another example, the NAS 505 selects the most appropriate access attempt as the most recent access attempt, which is generally the access attempt that triggered the need for a NAS signaling connection. In yet another example, the NAS 505 determines the most appropriate access attempt as a random selection among all in-progress and starting access attempts. These are just a few examples, and other embodiments for determining which access attempt is considered the most appropriate may be adopted.

[0073] In step 1202, the NAS 505 derives the most appropriate access category for the most appropriate access attempt determined in step 1201. This process is described in more detail in FIG. 13.

[0074] In step 1203, the NAS 505 requests the AS 504 for an NAS signaling connection and passes to the AS 504, among other information, the most appropriate access category derived in step 1202. The AS 504, generally the RRC layer 601, is generally in the RRC_IDLE state when the NAS 505 requests an NAS signaling connection.

[0075] In step 1204, the AS 504 then maps the most appropriate access category to an establishment cause value.

[0076] In step 1205, the AS 504 performs an RRC connection establishment procedure and includes the establishment cause obtained in step 1203 in a message requesting the connection, generally an RRC connection request message.

[0077] When the RRC connection is successfully established, in step 1206, the AS 504 confirms the establishment of the NAS signaling connection to the NAS 505.

[0078] FIG. 13 shows a method for determining the most appropriate access category implemented in step 1202.

[0079] In step 1301, the UE 102, generally the NAS 505, uses rules for unified access control to determine the access category for the most appropriate access attempt determined in step 1201. Since unified access control is performed for all access attempts, this step may already have been performed before the regulatory check for the access attempt determined as the most appropriate access attempt.

[0080] In step 1302, the UE checks the type of the access category obtained in step 1301 (normalized access category or operator-specific access category).

[0081] If the access category is a normalized access category, the UE sets, in step 1303, the most appropriate access category as that access category, i.e., this normalized access category, according to the rules for unified access control.

[0082] If the access category is an operator-specific access category, the UE uses one of several alternative methods in step 1304 to determine the most appropriate access category.

[0083] In one method, the UE selects the most appropriate access category according to the rules for access category selection for unified access control, without considering the operator-specific access category classification policy (i.e., only the normalized access category can be selected).

[0084] In another method, when an operator-specific access category is set, the UE generally uses a table that may have been received from the network using NAS signaling from the core network, such as an AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function). The UE looks up the table entry for the access category obtained in step 1301 and reads the normalized access category stored in this table entry. The UE then uses this stored normalized access category value as the most appropriate access category. This table can be the same table used to represent the rules for operator-specific access category determination (as shown in FIG. 16) or a separate table.

[0085] FIG. 14 shows an exemplary procedure for mapping the most appropriate access category to the cause of establishment.

[0086] In step 1401, the UE (e.g., AS504) first obtains the access identification information set in the UE. The access identification information can be read from the USIM or UICC, or obtained using some rules described, for example, in the specification. For example, 3GPP TS22.261 states that when the UICC is allocated the special access class (AC) 11, the access identification information 11 is set in the UE. As a result of this step, the output is one or more access identification information.

[0087] In step 1402, the UE checks whether access identification information having a value of 0 is available. Generally, access identification information having a value of 0 is used when the UE has no other access identification information. In this case, the UE is a "normal UE" such as a UE without any high-priority services or high-priority subscribers.

[0088] If the access identification information is 0, the UE proceeds in step 1403 to determine the cause of establishment simply by using the value of the most appropriate access category and uses this cause of establishment in the RRC connection request message.

[0089] If there is one or more access identification information with values other than 0, the UE proceeds to determine the establishment cause using at least the access identification information in step 1404. In one example, in this case, the UE always sets the establishment cause to be "high-priority access" and uses this establishment cause in the RRC connection request message. In another example, the access identification information other than 0 is mapped to two different establishment causes such that access identification information 1 to 7 is mapped onto establishment cause high-priority access 1 and access identification information 8 to 15 is mapped onto high-priority access 2. When the establishment cause high-priority access, i.e., high-priority access 1 or high-priority access 2, is included in the RRC connection request message, that RRC connection request message instructs the network that this request should not generally be rejected and should be prioritized over accesses with other establishment causes.

[0090] In yet another example, the UE sets the establishment cause by using the value of the most appropriate access category, but also includes in the RRC connection request message, for example, an additional information element for indicating high-priority access. In yet another example, the UE uses all the access identification information (represented, for example, as a bit string) together with the establishment cause in the RRC connection request message. Or, in yet another example, different values of access identification information, such as access identification information 1 to 7 being mapped onto high-priority 1 and access identification information 8 to 15 being mapped onto high-priority 2, are mapped onto different establishment cause values. Note that the example with the additional information element for indicating high-priority and / or access identification information can be used when there is space available in the RRC connection request message.

[0091] In another example, instead of using only access identification information, when set to a non-zero number, a combination of the most appropriate access category and access identification information is used to determine the establishment cause. For example, if the appropriate access category indicates "emergency" (e.g., value 2) and access identification information with a value of 1 is set in the UE, the establishment cause value "high-priority emergency" is used.

[0092] Figure 15 shows an example of how the most appropriate access category should be mapped to an establishment cause, also known as the RRC establishment cause. It should be understood that the unified access control for 5G will be applied to both NR access and LTE access to the 5G core network. NR and LTE are two different radio access technologies, also having different RRC protocols and being specified separately. Therefore, the RRC establishment procedure is not necessarily exactly the same. For example, the RRC connection request message is not necessarily in the same format. More specifically, the establishment cause for NR-flavored RRC and the establishment cause for LTE-flavored RRC will evolve separately. Since the sets of values for these two types of establishment causes will generally be different, the mapping from the most appropriate access category for NR will be different from that for LTE.

[0093] The mapping here is just an example, and it should be understood that the mapping does not exclude the possibility that other established cause values are defined for NR and LTE. It should also be understood that the same type of mapping can be implemented for the established causes used in the NB-IoT (narrowband Internet of Things) variant of LTE or any other radio access technology. For the values 8 to 31 of the access category that are currently reserved for future use, if one of those values is defined, the corresponding mapping from the most appropriate access category value to the RRC establishment cause in NR and LTE should also be defined. For example, in NR and / or LTE, to map a new appropriate access category value to an existing established cause value, such as MO data. Or, alternatively, in NR and / or LTE, to define a new established cause value and map a new appropriate access category value to this new established cause value.

[0094] Figure 15 is a table showing an example of the mapping of the most appropriate access category value to each establishment cause value according to some embodiments of the inventive concept. Figure 16 is a table showing a table in the UE used to set the most appropriate access category according to the operator-specific access category rules according to some embodiments of the inventive concept.

[0095] The network setting of the establishment cause value is described below. According to an alternative embodiment, for the "most appropriate access attempt" with an operator-specific access category, instead of determining the most appropriate access category and mapping that access category to the establishment cause as implemented in FIGS. 13 to 15, there is an alternative solution.

[0096] In one example, as part of the setting of the operator-specific access category in the UE, the value of the establishment cause is stored. In other words, when performing RRC connection establishment triggered by the most appropriate access attempt with this specific access category, this specific establishment cause is used by the UE. This is shown in FIG. 17. For example, FIG. 17 shows in the first row that for an access attempt related to a PDU session with DNN = 18, the operator-specific access category 32 will be used in the unified access control. Further, when this specific access attempt is selected as the most appropriate access attempt to trigger RRC connection establishment, the establishment cause in the RRC connection request message is set to the value "MO data".

[0097] In another example, a similar method can be used to set the operator-specific establishment cause value. Refer to FIG. 18. For example, FIG. 18 shows in the first row that for an access attempt related to a PDU session with DNN = 18, the operator-specific access category 32 will be used in the unified access control. Further, when this specific access attempt is selected as the most appropriate access attempt to trigger RRC connection establishment, the establishment cause in the RRC connection request message is set to the value "operator-specific #8". Also, for example, as set in the second row of FIG. 18, an access attempt using slice 5 will use the operator-specific access category 33 and will be mapped onto the establishment cause operator-specific #8. Also, as set in the third row of FIG. 18, an access attempt using slice 8 (and TCP destination port 8820) will use the operator-specific access category 38 and will be mapped onto the establishment cause operator-specific #9. In this example, access usage, for example, different slices, can be mapped to different establishment causes (in this example, operator-specific #8 and operator-specific #9), and when the network receives an RRC connection request message, different handling and / or prioritization can be obtained.

[0098] It should be understood that this alternative solution, which is used to determine the establishment cause for the operator-specific access category, can be combined with the solution shown by FIGS. 13 to 15.

[0099] For example, when access identification information having a value other than 0 is set in the UE, the UE will use the establishment cause based on the access identification information even when the establishment cause for the operator-specific access category is set, as shown in FIGS. 17 to 18.

[0100] Also, for example, when the most appropriate access category is one of the standardized access categories, the UE can use the mapping to the establishment cause shown in FIG. 15 even when this alternative solution is used for the most appropriate access category which is one of the operator-specific access categories.

[0101] The embodiments described herein are shown for the case where the establishment cause is included in a message requesting an RRC connection, i.e., an RRC connection request message. Those skilled in the art will understand that this solution can also be used to determine the cause value for a request (such as an RRC resume request) to resume and / or activate an RRC connection when the UE is in the RRC_INACTIVE state. Unified access control is generally applied for this case, and thus, also, when unified access control is applied for an access attempt that triggers the transmission of a message from the UE, the most appropriate access attempt can be determined for this and similar cases.

[0102] The model of the AS-NAS interaction described here is just an example. For example, it should be understood that this solution can be applied to other models, such as when the AS and / or RRC layer determine the most appropriate access attempt and, where applicable, the most appropriate access category. It should also be understood that this solution can be applied both when the AS determines the establishment cause and when the NAS determines the establishment cause.

[0103] Next, the operation of a user equipment (UE), also referred to as a wireless device, will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 28. For example, the UE can be implemented using the structure of FIG. 19, where modules are stored in a device-readable medium 1930, also referred to as a memory, such that the modules provide instructions, and as a result, when the instructions of the modules are executed by a processing circuit element 1920, also referred to as a processor, the processing circuit element 1920 performs respective operations. Thus, the processing circuit element of the UE can transmit and / or receive communications to / from one or more network nodes 1960 of a wireless communication network through a wireless interface 1914.

[0104] In block 2801, the processing circuit element 1920 can receive an operator-specified access category from the wireless communication network through the wireless interface 1914. In block 2803, the processing circuit element 1920 can detect an access attempt based on, for example, at least one of establishing a new protocol data unit (PDU) session, setting up a voice call, and setting up a video call.

[0105] In block 2805, the processing circuit element 1920 can determine an access category from a plurality of access categories and at least one access identification information from a plurality of access identification information to be applied for the access attempt. The access category can be determined based on detecting the access attempt.

[0106] In block 2807, the processing circuit element 1920 can determine a cause for establishment for an access attempt based on an access category determined from a plurality of access categories and based on at least one access identification information from the plurality of access identification information.

[0107] In block 2809, the processing circuit element 1920 can perform an access control check for an access attempt based on an access category determined from a plurality of access categories and based on at least one access identification information from the plurality of access identification information.

[0108] In response to the access control check permitting the access attempt, the processing circuit element 1920 can proceed with the access attempt. For example, in block 2811, in response to the access control check permitting the access attempt, the processing circuit element 1920 can transmit a random access preamble for the access attempt to the wireless communication network through the wireless interface 1914, and in block 2813, after transmitting the random access preamble, the processing circuit element 1920 can receive a random access response for the access attempt (through the wireless interface 1914) to proceed with the access attempt.

[0109] In block 2815, in response to receiving the random access response, the processing circuit element 1920 can transmit a connection request message for the access attempt to the wireless communication network through the wireless interface 1914. Moreover, the connection request message can include a cause for establishment determined based on the access category and based on at least one access identification information.

[0110] The establishment cause may include one of a plurality of establishment causes, including mobile incoming access, emergency call, mobile outgoing signaling, mobile outgoing voice call, mobile outgoing data, and high-priority access. Moreover, the establishment cause may be determined as one of mobile incoming access, emergency call, mobile outgoing signaling, mobile outgoing voice call, and / or mobile outgoing data based on mapping an access category determined from a plurality of access categories to the establishment cause based on the access category and at least one access identification information. The establishment cause may be determined based on mapping an access category determined from a plurality of access categories to the establishment cause and based on at least one access identification information for the UE being 0.

[0111] The plurality of access categories may include operator-specified access categories, and the operator-specified access categories are based on at least one of a data network name and a slice identifier.

[0112] Determining the access category and at least one access identification information in block 2805 may include determining that the operator-specified access category should be applied for the access attempt, and the establishment cause may be determined based on mapping the operator-specified access category to the establishment cause. For example, the operator-specified access category may be based on at least one of a data network name and a slice identifier, and mapping the operator-specified access category may include mapping the operator-specified access category to the establishment cause for mobile outgoing data.

[0113] According to some embodiments, the establishment cause may be determined as high-priority access based on at least one access identification information for the UE being non-zero.

[0114] According to some embodiments, the connection request message of block 2815 may be a Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection request message, and the establishment cause may be an RRC establishment cause. According to some other embodiments, the connection request message may be a Radio Resource Control (RRC) resume request message, and the establishment cause is an RRC resume cause.

[0115] The various operations of FIG. 28 may be optional with respect to some embodiments of the inventive concept. For example, operations 2801, 2803, 2809, 2811, and 2813 of FIG. 28 may be optional with respect to some embodiments disclosed herein.

[0116] FIG. 19 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless network according to some embodiments of the inventive concept. The subject matter described herein may be implemented in any suitable type of system using any suitable components, but the embodiments disclosed herein are described with respect to wireless networks such as the exemplary wireless network shown in FIG. 19. For simplicity, the wireless network of FIG. 19 only illustrates network 1906, network nodes 1960 and 1960b, and WDs 1910, 1910b, and 1910c. In practice, the wireless network may further include any additional elements suitable for supporting communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device such as a landline phone, a service provider, or any other network node or end device. Among the components shown, network node 1960 and wireless device (WD) 1910 are illustrated with additional details. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate access of the wireless devices to the wireless network and / or use of services provided by or via the wireless network.

[0117] The wireless network can include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunications, data, cellular, and / or wireless network, or other similar types of systems. In some embodiments, the wireless network can be configured to operate according to a specific standard or other type of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, certain embodiments of the wireless network can implement communication standards such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards, wireless local area network (WLAN) standards such as IEEE 802.11 standards, and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standards such as Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, and / or ZigBee standards.

[0118] Network 1906 can include one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTN), packet data networks, optical networks, wide area networks (WAN), local area networks (LAN), wireless local area networks (WLAN), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks for enabling communication between devices.

[0119] Network nodes 1960 and WD1910 comprise various components that are described in more detail below. These components cooperate to provide network node and / or wireless device functionality, such as providing a wireless connection in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relays, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals, whether via a wired connection or a wireless connection.

[0120] As used herein, a network node refers to a device that is configured, constructed, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and / or with other network nodes or devices in a wireless network that enable and / or provide wireless access to the wireless device and / or perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., wireless access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., wireless base stations, Node B, and evolved Node B (eNB)). Base stations can be categorized based on the amount of coverage provided by the base station (or, alternatively, the transmission power level of the base station), in which case they may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station can be a relay node or a relay donor node that controls a relay. A network node can also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station, such as a centralized digital unit and / or a remote radio unit (RRU), sometimes referred to as a remote radio head (RRH). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may sometimes be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Further examples of network nodes include MSR devices such as multi-standard radio (MSR) BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSC, MME), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLC), and / or MDT. As another example, a network node can be a virtual network node, as described in more detail below.However, more generally, a network node can represent any suitable device (or group of devices) that is configured, constructed, and / or operable to enable access to and / or provide access to a wireless network, and / or to provide some service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network.

[0121] In FIG. 19, network node 1960 includes processing circuitry element 1970, device-readable medium 1980, interface 1990, auxiliary equipment 1984, power supply 1986, power circuitry element 1987, and antenna 1962. Network node 1960 shown in the exemplary wireless network of FIG. 19 can represent a device that includes the shown combination of hardware components, although other embodiments can include network nodes with different combinations of components. It should be understood that a network node can comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to implement the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. Moreover, while the components of network node 1960 are illustrated as a single box located within a larger box or as a single box nested within multiple boxes, in reality, a network node can comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single shown component (e.g., device-readable medium 1980 can comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

[0122] Similarly, network node 1960 can be assembled from a plurality of physically distinct components (e.g., a Node B component and an RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), each of which can have its own respective components. In some scenarios where network node 1960 comprises a plurality of distinct components (e.g., a BTS component and a BSC component), one or more of the distinct components can be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC can control a plurality of Node Bs. In such scenarios, each unique pair of Node B and RNC can, in some cases, be regarded as a single distinct network node. In some embodiments, network node 1960 can be configured to support a plurality of radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components can be replicated (e.g., separate device-readable media 1980 for different RATs), and some components can be reused (e.g., the same antenna 1962 can be shared by RATs). Network node 1960 can also include a plurality of sets of various illustrated components for different radio technologies, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth radio technologies, integrated into network node 1960. These radio technologies can be integrated into the same or different chips or sets of chips, and other components within network node 1960.

[0123] The processing circuit element 1970 is configured to perform any decision-making operation, computational operation, or similar operation (e.g., some acquisition operations) as described herein as provided by a network node. These operations performed by the processing circuit element 1970 may include processing the information acquired by the processing circuit element 1970, for example, by converting the acquired information into other information, comparing the acquired information or the converted information with the information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the acquired information or the converted information and as a result of the processing having made a decision.

[0124] The processing circuit element 1970 may comprise a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, one or more combinations of resources, or a combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic, operable to provide network node 1960 functionality either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1960 components such as device readable medium 1980. For example, the processing circuit element 1970 may execute instructions stored on the device readable medium 1980 or instructions stored in memory within the processing circuit element 1970. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits described herein. In some embodiments, the processing circuit element 1970 may include a system on chip (SOC).

[0125] In some embodiments, processing circuitry element 1970 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry element 1972 and baseband processing circuitry element 1974. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry element 1972 and baseband processing circuitry element 1974 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units such as a radio unit and a digital unit. In alternative embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry element 1972 and baseband processing circuitry element 1974 may be on the same chip or set of chips, board, or unit.

[0126] In some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as provided by a network node, base station, eNB, or other such network device may be implemented by processing circuitry element 1970 executing instructions stored in device-readable medium 1980, or in memory within processing circuitry element 1970. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry element 1970 without executing instructions stored in a separate or discrete device-readable medium, such as in a hardwired fashion. In any of those embodiments, whether or not executing instructions stored in a device-readable storage medium, processing circuitry element 1970 may be configured to implement the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry element 1970 alone, or to other components of network node 1960, but are enjoyed generally by network node 1960 as a whole, and / or by end users and the wireless network.

[0127] Device-readable medium 1980 can include, without limitation, permanent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drive, compact disc (CD) or digital video disc (DVD)), any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device that can store information, data, and / or instructions used by processing circuit element 1970. Device-readable medium 1980 can store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including one or more of an application that includes a computer program, software, logic, rules, code, tables, etc., and / or other instructions that can be executed by processing circuit element 1970 and utilized by network node 1960. Device-readable medium 1980 can be used to store calculations performed by processing circuit element 1970 and / or data received via interface 1990. In some embodiments, processing circuit element 1970 and device-readable medium 1980 can be considered integrated.

[0128] Interface 1990 is used for wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between network node 1960, network 1906, and / or WD 1910. As shown, interface 1990 comprises (one or more) ports / (one or more) terminals 1994 for sending and receiving data with network 1906, for example, over a wired connection. Interface 1990 also includes a radio front-end circuit element 1992 that is coupled to antenna 1962 or, in some embodiments, can be part of antenna 1962. The radio front-end circuit element 1992 comprises a filter 1998 and an amplifier 1996. The radio front-end circuit element 1992 can be connected to antenna 1962 and processing circuit element 1970. The radio front-end circuit element can be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1962 and processing circuit element 1970. The radio front-end circuit element 1992 can receive digital data to be sent to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuit element 1992 can convert the digital data into a wireless signal having appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filter 1998 and / or amplifier 1996. The wireless signal can then be transmitted via antenna 1962. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 1962 can collect the wireless signal, which is then converted into digital data by radio front-end circuit element 1992. The digital data can be passed to processing circuit element 1970. In other embodiments, the interface can comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0129] In some alternative embodiments, network node 1960 may not include a separate radio front-end circuit element 1992. Instead, processing circuit element 1970 may comprise a radio front-end circuit element and may be connected to antenna 1962 without a separate radio front-end circuit element 1992. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or part of RF transceiver circuit element 1972 may be regarded as part of interface 1990. In still other embodiments, interface 1990 may include one or more ports or terminals 1994, radio front-end circuit element 1992, and RF transceiver circuit element 1972 as part of a wireless unit (not shown), and interface 1990 may communicate with baseband processing circuit element 1974, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0130] Antenna 1962 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 1962 may be coupled to radio front-end circuit element 1992 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna 1962 may comprise one or more omnidirectional, sector, or panel antennas operable to transmit / receive wireless signals, for example, between 2 GHz and 66 GHz. Omnidirectional antennas may be used to transmit / receive wireless signals in any direction, sector antennas may be used to transmit / receive wireless signals from devices within a particular area, and panel antennas may be line-of-sight antennas used to transmit / receive wireless signals in a relatively straight line. In some cases, the use of two or more antennas may be referred to as MIMO. In some embodiments, antenna 1962 may be separate from network node 1960 and may be connectable to network node 1960 through an interface or port.

[0131] Antenna 1962, interface 1990, and / or processing circuit element 1970 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or some acquisition operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from a wireless device, another network node, and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 1962, interface 1990, and / or processing circuit element 1970 may be configured to perform any transmission operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signals may be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node, and / or any other network equipment.

[0132] Power circuit element 1987 may comprise a power management circuit element or be coupled to a power management circuit element and is configured to supply power for implementing the functionality described herein to the components of network node 1960. Power circuit element 1987 may receive power from power source 1986. Power source 1986 and / or power circuit element 1987 may be configured to provide power to the various components of network node 1960 in a form suitable for each respective component (e.g., at the voltage and current levels required for each respective component). Power source 1986 may be either included within power circuit element 1987 and / or network node 1960 or external to power circuit element 1987 and / or network node 1960. For example, network node 1960 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet) via an input circuit element or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuit element 1987. As a further example, power source 1986 may comprise a power source in the form of a battery or battery pack connected to or integrated within power circuit element 1987. The battery may provide backup power in the event that the external power source fails. Other types of power sources such as photovoltaic devices may also be used.

[0133] An alternative embodiment of network node 1960 may be responsible for providing some aspects of the functionality of a network node, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein, and may include additional components other than those shown in FIG. 19. For example, network node 1960 may include a user interface device for enabling the input of information to network node 1960 and for enabling the output of information from network node 1960. This may enable a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node 1960.

[0134] As used herein, a wireless device (WD) refers to a device that is capable of, configured to, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with a network node and / or another wireless device. Unless otherwise stated, the term WD may be used interchangeably with user equipment (UE) in this document. Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through the air. In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, a WD may be designed to transmit information to a network at a predetermined schedule when triggered by an internal or external event or in response to a request from the network. Examples of WDs include, but are not limited to, smartphones, mobile phones, cell phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, gaming consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback appliances, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablets, laptops, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), smart devices, wireless customer premise equipment (CPE), in-vehicle wireless terminal devices, etc. A WD may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example, by implementing 3GPP standards for sidelink communication, in which case it may be referred to as a D2D communication device. As another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurement and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurement to another WD and / or a network node. In this case, the WD may be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, and M2M devices may sometimes be referred to as machine type communication (MTC) devices in the 3GPP context. As one specific example, a WD may be a UE that implements the 3GPP narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) standard.Specific examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or household or personal electrical appliances (such as refrigerators, televisions, etc.), personal wearables (such as watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, the WD may represent a vehicle or other equipment, and the vehicle or other equipment may be capable of monitoring its operating status and / or reporting on its operating status, or other functions associated with its operation. The WD described above may represent an endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may sometimes be referred to as a wireless terminal. Further, the WD described above may be mobile, in which case the device may also sometimes be referred to as a mobile device or mobile terminal.

[0135] As shown, the wireless device 1910 includes an antenna 1911, an interface 1914, a processing circuit element 1920, a device-readable medium 1930, a user interface device 1932, an auxiliary device 1934, a power source 1936, and a power circuit element 1937. The WD 1910 may include one or more sets of the shown components for different wireless technologies supported by the WD 1910, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, to name just a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or sets of chips as other components within the WD 1910.

[0136] Antenna 1911 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals and is connected to interface 1914. In some alternative embodiments, antenna 1911 may be separate from WD1910 and may be connectable to WD1910 through an interface or port. Antenna 1911, interface 1914, and / or processing circuit element 1920 may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the WD. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from network nodes and / or another WD. In some embodiments, the radio front-end circuit element and / or antenna 1911 may be regarded as an interface.

[0137] As shown, interface 1914 includes a radio front-end circuit element 1912 and an antenna 1911. The radio front-end circuit element 1912 includes one or more filters 1918 and an amplifier 1916. The radio front-end circuit element 1912 is connected to the antenna 1911 and the processing circuit element 1920 and is configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna 1911 and the processing circuit element 1920. The radio front-end circuit element 1912 may be coupled to the antenna 1911 or may be part of the antenna 1911. In some embodiments, WD 1910 may not include a separate radio front-end circuit element 1912; rather, the processing circuit element 1920 may include a radio front-end circuit element and may be connected to the antenna 1911. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuit element 1922 may be regarded as part of the interface 1914. The radio front-end circuit element 1912 may receive digital data to be transmitted to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuit element 1912 may convert the digital data into a wireless signal having appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of the filters 1918 and / or the amplifier 1916. The wireless signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 1911. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1911 may collect the wireless signal, which is then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuit element 1912. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuit element 1920. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0138] The processing circuit element 1920 can be a microprocessor, a controller, a microcontroller, a central processing unit, a digital signal processor, an application specific integrated circuit, a field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or a combination of one or more of them, or a combination of hardware, software, and / or encoded logic, operating alone or in conjunction with other WD1910 components such as the device-readable medium 1930, to provide the WD1910 functionality. Such functionality can include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits described herein. For example, the processing circuit element 1920 can execute instructions stored in the device-readable medium 1930 or instructions stored in memory within the processing circuit element 1920 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

[0139] As shown, processing circuit element 1920 includes one or more of RF transceiver circuit element 1922, baseband processing circuit element 1924, and application processing circuit element 1926. In other embodiments, the processing circuit element may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components. In some embodiments, the processing circuit element 1920 of WD1910 may comprise a system-on-a-chip (SOC). In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuit element 1922, baseband processing circuit element 1924, and application processing circuit element 1926 may be on separate chips or a set of chips. In an alternative embodiment, some or all of baseband processing circuit element 1924 and application processing circuit element 1926 may be combined to form one chip or a set of chips, and RF transceiver circuit element 1922 may be on a separate chip or a set of chips. In yet another alternative embodiment, some or all of RF transceiver circuit element 1922 and baseband processing circuit element 1924 may be on the same chip or a set of chips, and application processing circuit element 1926 may be on a separate chip or a set of chips. In still other alternative embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuit element 1922, baseband processing circuit element 1924, and application processing circuit element 1926 may be combined within the same chip or a set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuit element 1922 may be part of interface 1914. RF transceiver circuit element 1922 may condition RF signals for processing circuit element 1920.

[0140] In some embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by the WD may be provided by processing circuitry element 1920 that executes instructions stored on a device-readable medium 1930, which in some embodiments may be a computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry element 1920 in a hard-wired manner, etc., without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium. In any of those particular embodiments, whether or not executing instructions stored on a device-readable storage medium, processing circuitry element 1920 may be configured to implement the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry element 1920 alone or to other components of the WD1910, but are enjoyed by the WD1910 as a whole and / or generally by the end user and the wireless network.

[0141] Processing circuitry element 1920 may be configured to perform any decision-making operation, computational operation, or similar operation (e.g., some acquisition operations) described herein as being performed by the WD. Such operations as performed by processing circuitry element 1920 may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry element 1920, e.g., by converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or the converted information with information stored by the WD1910, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or the converted information and as a result of the processing having made a decision.

[0142] The device-readable medium 1930 may be operable to store an application that includes one or more of a computer program, software, logic, rules, code, tables, etc., and / or other instructions that may be executed by the processing circuit element 1920. The device-readable medium 1930 may include a computer memory (e.g., random access memory (RAM) or read-only memory (ROM)), a mass storage medium (e.g., a hard disk), a removable storage medium (e.g., a compact disc (CD) or digital video disc (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device that stores information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuit element 1920. In some embodiments, the processing circuit element 1920 and the device-readable medium 1930 may be considered to be integrated.

[0143] The user interface device 1932 may provide components that enable a human user to interact with the WD1910. Such interaction can be in many forms, such as visual, auditory, tactile, etc. The user interface device 1932 may be operable to create output to the user and to enable the user to provide input to the WD1910. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface device 1932 installed on the WD1910. For example, if the WD1910 is a smartphone, the interaction may be via a touch screen, and if the WD1910 is a smart meter, the interaction may be through a screen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alarm (e.g., if smoke is detected). The user interface device 1932 may include an input interface, devices and circuits, as well as an output interface, devices and circuits. The user interface device 1932 is configured to enable input of information to the WD1910 and is connected to the processing circuit element 1920 to enable the processing circuit element 1920 to process the input information. The user interface device 1932 may include, for example, a microphone, proximity or other sensors, keys / buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuit elements. The user interface device 1932 is also configured to enable output of information from the WD1910 and to enable the processing circuit element 1920 to output information from the WD1910. The user interface device 1932 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, a vibration circuit element, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuit elements. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits of the user interface device 1932, the WD1910 may communicate with an end user and / or a wireless network, enabling the end user and / or the wireless network to benefit from the functionality described herein.

[0144] Auxiliary device 1934 is operable to provide more specific functionality that may not generally be performed by the WD. This may include specialized sensors for making measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communication, etc. The inclusion and type of components of the auxiliary device 1934 may vary depending on the embodiment and / or scenario.

[0145] Power source 1936 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources may also be used, such as an external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a battery. The WD 1910 may further include a power circuit element 1937 for distributing power from the power source 1936 to various parts of the WD 1910 that require power to perform any of the functionality described or indicated herein. The power circuit element 1937 may, in some embodiments, include a power management circuit element. The power circuit element 1937 may alternatively or additionally be operable to receive power from an external power source, in which case the WD 1910 may be connectable to an external power source (such as an electrical outlet) via an input circuit element or interface such as a power cable. The power circuit element 1937 may also, in some embodiments, be operable to distribute power from an external power source to the power source 1936. This may be, for example, for charging the power source 1936. The power circuit element 1937 may perform any formatting, conversion, or other modification on the power from the power source 1936 to make it suitable for each component of the WD 1910 to which the power is supplied.

[0146] FIG. 20 shows one embodiment of a UE according to various aspects described herein. The user equipment or UE used herein does not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated device. Instead, the UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but may not be associated with, or may not initially be associated with, a particular human user. The UE may also comprise any UE identified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including NB-IoT UEs that are not intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user. The UE 2000 shown in FIG. 20 is an example of a WD configured for communication according to one or more communication standards published by the 3GPP, such as the GSM, UMTS, LTE, and / or 5G standards of the 3GPP. As noted above, the terms WD and UE may be used interchangeably. Thus, while FIG. 20 is a UE, the components described herein are equally applicable to a WD, and vice versa.

[0147] In FIG. 20, UE2000 includes a processing circuit element 2001 operably coupled to an input / output interface 2005, a radio frequency (RF) interface 2009, a network connection interface 2011, a memory 2015 including a random access memory (RAM) 2017, a read-only memory (ROM) 2019, a storage medium 2021, etc., a communication subsystem 2031, a power supply 2013, and / or other components, or any combination thereof. The storage medium 2021 includes an operating system 2023, an application program 2025, and data 2027. In other embodiments, the storage medium 2021 may include other similar types of information. Some UEs may utilize all of the components shown in FIG. 20 or only a subset of those components. The level of integration between components may vary from UE to UE. Further, some UEs may include multiple instances of components, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0148] In FIG. 20, the processing circuit element 2001 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. The processing circuit element 2001 may be any sequential state machine operable to execute machine instructions stored in memory as a machine-readable computer program, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.), programmable logic together with appropriate firmware, a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP) together with appropriate software, one or more program built-ins, general-purpose processors, or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuit element 2001 may include two central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

[0149] In the illustrated embodiment, the input / output interface 2005 can be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, an output device, or an input / output device. The UE 2000 can be configured to use an output device via the input / output interface 2005. The output device can use the same type of interface port as the input device. For example, a USB port can be used to provide input to and output from the UE 2000. The output device can be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smart card, another output device, or any combination thereof. The UE 2000 can be configured to use an input device via the input / output interface 2005 to enable a user to capture information to the UE 2000. The input device can include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a direction pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smart card, etc. The presence-sensitive display can include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor for detecting input from a user. The sensor can be, for example, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another similar sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device can be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

[0150] In FIG. 20, the RF interface 2009 can be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. The network connection interface 2011 can be configured to provide a communication interface to the network 2043a. The network 2043a can include wired and / or wireless networks such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a communication network, another similar network, or any combination thereof. For example, the network 2043a can include a Wi-Fi network. The network connection interface 2011 can be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface used to communicate with one or more other devices on the communication network according to one or more communication protocols such as Ethernet, TCP / IP, SONET, ATM, etc. The network connection interface 2011 can implement receiver and transmitter functionality suitable for a communication network link (e.g., optical, electrical, etc.). The transmitter and receiver functions can share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively, can be implemented separately.

[0151] RAM 2017 can be configured to interface with the processing circuit element 2001 via the bus 2002 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as operating systems, application programs, and device drivers. ROM 2019 can be configured to provide computer instructions or data to the processing circuit element 2001. For example, ROM 2019 can be configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basic input / output (I / O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard, stored in non-volatile memory. The storage medium 2021 can be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disk, optical disk, floppy disk, hard disk, removable cartridge, or flash drive. In one example, the storage medium 2021 can be configured to include an operating system 2023, an application program 2025 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine, or another application, and a data file 2027. The storage medium 2021 can store any of a variety of operating systems or combinations of operating systems for use by the UE 2000.

[0152] The memory medium 2021 can be configured to include several physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), a floppy disk drive, a flash memory, a USB flash drive, an external hard disk drive, a thumb drive, a pen drive, a key drive, a high-definition digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, an internal hard disk drive, a Blu-Ray optical disc drive, a holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, an external mini dual in-line memory module (DIMM), a synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), an external micro DIMM SDRAM, a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity information (SIM / RUIM) module such as a smart card memory, other memories, or any combination thereof. The memory medium 2021 can enable the UE2000 to access computer-executable instructions, application programs, etc. stored in a temporary or non-temporary memory medium, offload data, or upload data. A manufactured product such as a manufactured product using a communication system can be tangibly embodied in the memory medium 2021, and the memory medium 2021 can comprise a device-readable medium.

[0153] In FIG. 20, the processing circuit element 2001 can be configured to communicate with the network 2043b using the communication subsystem 2031. The network 2043a and the network 2043b can be the same one or more networks or different one or more networks. The communication subsystem 2031 can be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with the network 2043b. For example, the communication subsystem 2031 can be configured to include one or more transceivers for communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another WD, UE, or base station capable of wireless communication, such as another device in a radio access network (RAN) according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE802.20, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, etc. Each transceiver can include a transmitter 2033 and / or a receiver 2035 for implementing transmitter functionality or receiver functionality suitable for a RAN link (such as frequency allocation, etc.), respectively. Further, the transmitter 2033 and the receiver 2035 of each transceiver can share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively, can be implemented separately.

[0154] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of the communication subsystem 2031 may include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) for determining location, other similar communication functions, or any combination thereof. For example, the communication subsystem 2031 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. The network 2043b may include wired and / or wireless networks such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a communication network, other similar networks, or any combination thereof. For example, the network 2043b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and / or a near-field network. The power supply 2013 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to the components of the UE 2000.

[0155] The features, benefits, and / or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of the UE2000 or may be divided across multiple components of the UE2000. Further, the features, benefits, and / or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software, or firmware. In one example, the communication subsystem 2031 may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Further, the processing circuitry 2001 may be configured to communicate with any of such components over the bus 2002. In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in a memory that, when executed by the processing circuitry 2001, implement the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any of such components may be divided between the processing circuitry 2001 and the communication subsystem 2031. In another example, the non-compute-intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware, and the compute-intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0156] FIG. 21 is a schematic block diagram showing a virtualization environment 2100 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In this context, virtualizing may mean creating a virtual version of an apparatus or device, which may include virtualizing a hardware platform, a storage device, and networking resources. Virtualization as used herein may be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or to a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device, or any other type of communication device) or a component of that device, and relates to an implementation form in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines, or containers running on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

[0157] In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 2100 hosted by one or more of the hardware nodes 2130. Further, in embodiments where the virtual nodes are not wireless access nodes or do not require wireless connectivity (e.g., core network nodes), the network nodes may be fully virtualized.

[0158] The functions may be implemented by one or more applications 2120 (alternatively, sometimes referred to as software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) operable to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. The application 2120 is operated in a virtualized environment 2100 that provides hardware 2130 comprising a processing circuit element 2160 and a memory 2190-1. The memory 2190-1 includes instructions 2195 executable by the processing circuit element 2160, whereby the application 2120 is operable to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and / or functions disclosed herein.

[0159] The virtualized environment 2100 comprises a general-purpose or special-purpose network hardware device 2130 that includes a set of one or more processors or processing circuit elements 2160, where the set of one or more processors or processing circuit elements 2160 can be a commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processor, a dedicated application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or any other type of processing circuit element that includes digital or analog hardware components or dedicated processors. Each hardware device may include a memory 2190-1, which can be a non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 2195 or software executed by the processing circuit elements 2160. Each hardware device may include one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 2170, also known as network interface cards, where the network interface controller (NIC) 2170 includes a physical network interface 2180. Each hardware device may also include a non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage medium 2190-2 that stores software 2195 and / or instructions executable by the processing circuit elements 2160. The software 2195 can include any type of software, including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers (also called hypervisors) 2150, software for executing virtual machines 2140, and software that enables it to perform the functions, features, and / or benefits described in relation to some of the embodiments described herein.

[0160] The virtual machine 2140 includes virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interfaces, and virtual storage areas and can be operated by a corresponding virtualization layer 2150 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of instances of the virtual appliance 2120 can be implemented on one or more of the virtual machines 2140, and the implementation can be done in different ways.

[0161] During operation, processing circuit element 2160 executes software 2195 to instantiate a hypervisor or virtualization layer 2150, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). The virtualization layer 2150 may present a virtual operating platform to the virtual machines 2140 that appears as networking hardware.

[0162] As shown in FIG. 21, the hardware 2130 can be a stand-alone network node with general or specific components. The hardware 2130 can include an antenna 21225 and can implement some functions through virtualization. Alternatively, the hardware 2130 can be part of a larger class of hardware (such as in the case of a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE)) that is managed through a management and orchestration (MANO) 21100 where multiple hardware nodes cooperate and in particular supervise the lifecycle management of the application 2120.

[0163] The virtualization of hardware is referred to as network function virtualization (NFV) in some contexts. NFV can be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry-standard high-volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage located within data centers and customer premise equipment.

[0164] In the context of NFV, the virtual machines 2140 can be software implementations of physical machines that run programs as if those programs were running on a physical non-virtualized machine. Each of the virtual machines 2140 forms a separate virtual network element (VNE) with that part of the hardware 2130 that executes the virtual machine, whether it is hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and / or hardware shared by that virtual machine with other virtual machines among the virtual machines 2140.

[0165] Furthermore, in the context of NFV, a virtual network function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions operating in one or more virtual machines 2140 on the hardware networking infrastructure 2130, corresponding to the application 2120 in FIG. 21.

[0166] In some embodiments, one or more radio units 21200, each including one or more transmitters 21220 and one or more receivers 21210, may be coupled to one or more antennas 21225. The radio unit 21200 may communicate directly with the hardware node 2130 via one or more suitable network interfaces and may be used in combination with virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station.

[0167] In some embodiments, some signaling may be affected using a control system 21230 that may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware node 2130 and the radio unit 21200.

[0168] FIG. 22 shows a communication network connected to a host computer via an intermediate network according to some embodiments of the inventive concept. Referring to FIG. 22, according to one embodiment, a communication system includes a communication network 2210, such as a 3GPP type cellular network, including an access network 2211, such as a wireless access network, and a core network 2214. The access network 2211 includes a plurality of base stations 2212a, 2212b, 2212c, such as NB, eNB, gNB, or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 2213a, 2213b, 2213c. Each base station 2212a, 2212b, 2212c is connectable to the core network 2214 on a wired or wireless connection 2215. A first UE 2291 located in the coverage area 2213c is configured to wirelessly connect to or be paged by the corresponding base station 2212c. A second UE 2292 in the coverage area 2213a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 2212a. Although a plurality of UEs 2291, 2292 are shown in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to situations where only one UE is in the coverage area or only one UE is connected to the corresponding base station 2212.

[0169] The communication network 2210 is itself connected to a host computer 2230, which may be embodied in the hardware and / or software of a stand-alone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, or as processing resources in a server farm. The host computer 2230 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider or may be operated by or on behalf of a service provider. The connections 2221 and 2222 between the communication network 2210 and the host computer 2230 may extend directly from the core network 2214 to the host computer 2230 or may proceed via an optional intermediate network 2220. The intermediate network 2220 may be one of a public network, a private network, or a hosted network, or a combination of two or more of them, and the intermediate network 2220 may, if any, be a backbone network or the Internet. In particular, the intermediate network 2220 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

[0170] The communication system of FIG. 22 enables connectivity between the connected UEs 2291, 2292 and the host computer 2230. The connectivity can be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 2250. The host computer 2230 and the connected UEs 2291, 2292 are configured to communicate data and / or signaling via the OTT connection 2250, mediated by the access network 2211, the core network 2214, any intermediate network 2220, and any additional infrastructure (not shown) that may be considered. The OTT connection 2250 can be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 2250 passes are unaware of the routing of the uplink and downlink communications. For example, the base station 2212 may not be notified or need not be notified about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from the host computer 2230 that is to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to the connected UE 2291. Similarly, the base station 2212 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 2291 and destined for the host computer 2230. FIG. 23 shows a host computer communicating with a user equipment via a base station over a partial wireless connection, according to some embodiments of the inventive concept. Next, an exemplary implementation of the UE, base station, and host computer described in the previous paragraph, according to one embodiment, will be described with reference to FIG. 23. In the communication system 2300, the host computer 2310 comprises hardware 2315 including a communication interface 2316 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of different communication devices of the communication system 2300. The host computer 2310 further comprises processing circuitry 2318 that may have a storage capacity and / or a processing capacity. In particular, the processing circuitry 2318 may comprise one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or combinations thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions.Host computer 2310 further comprises software 2311 that is stored in or accessible by host computer 2310 and executable by processing circuit element 2318. Software 2311 includes host application 2312. Host application 2312 may be operable to provide services to remote users, such as UE 2330, that connect via OTT connection 2350 that terminates at UE 2330 and host computer 2310. When providing services to a remote user, host application 2312 may provide user data transmitted using OTT connection 2350.

[0171] Communication system 2300 further includes base station 2320 provided in the communication system, and base station 2320 comprises hardware 2325 that enables base station 2320 to communicate with host computer 2310 and UE 2330. Hardware 2325 may include communication interface 2326 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of different communication devices of communication system 2300, and wireless interface 2327 for setting up and maintaining at least wireless connection 2370 with UE 2330 located in a coverage area (not shown in FIG. 23) served by base station 2320. Communication interface 2326 may be configured to facilitate connection 2360 to host computer 2310. Connection 2360 may be direct, or connection 2360 may pass through a core network of the communication system (not shown in FIG. 23) and / or one or more intermediate networks external to the communication system. In the illustrated embodiment, hardware 2325 of base station 2320 further includes processing circuit element 2328, and processing circuit element 2328 may comprise one or more programmable processors, application specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays, or combinations thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Base station 2320 further has software 2321 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

[0172] The communication system 2300 further includes the UE 2330 already mentioned. The hardware 2335 of the UE 2330 may include a radio interface 2337 configured to set up and maintain a radio connection 2370 with a base station serving the coverage area where the UE 2330 is currently located. The hardware 2335 of the UE 2330 further includes a processing circuitry 2338, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays, or combinations thereof (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The UE 2330 further comprises software 2331 stored in or accessible by the UE 2330 and executable by the processing circuitry 2338. The software 2331 includes a client application 2332. The client application 2332 may be operable to provide services to a human or non-human user via the UE 2330 under the support of the host computer 2310. In the host computer 2310, the running host application 2312 may communicate with the running client application 2332 via an OTT connection 2350 terminating at the UE 2330 and the host computer 2310. When providing services to the user, the client application 2332 may receive request data from the host application 2312 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 2350 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The client application 2332 may interact with the user to generate the user data provided by the client application 2332.

[0173] Note that the host computer 2310, base station 2320, and UE 2330 shown in FIG. 23 can be the same as or equivalent to one of the host computer 2230, base stations 2212a, 2212b, 2212c in FIG. 22, and one of the UEs 2291, 2292, respectively. That is, the operations inside these entities can be as shown in FIG. 23, and separately, the surrounding network topology can be the same as that in FIG. 22.

[0174] In FIG. 23, the OTT connection 2350 is abstractly depicted to show the communication between the host computer 2310 and the UE 2330 via the base station 2320 without explicit mention of the intermediary device and the exact routing of messages through these devices. The network infrastructure can determine the routing, and the network infrastructure can be configured to hide the routing from the UE 2330, from the service provider operating the host computer 2310, or from both. While the OTT connection 2350 is active, the network infrastructure can further make a determination to dynamically change the routing (e.g., based on network load distribution considerations or reconfiguration).

[0175] The wireless connection 2370 between the UE 2330 and the base station 2320 follows the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments use the OTT connection 2350 of which the wireless connection 2370 forms the last segment to improve the performance of the OTT services provided to the UE 2330. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments can improve latency and power consumption, thereby providing benefits such as better responsiveness and extended battery life.

[0176] Measurement procedures may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors that one or more embodiments improve. There may further be optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 2350 between the host computer 2310 and the UE 2330 in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedures and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 2350 may be implemented in the software 2311 and hardware 2315 of the host computer 2310 or in the software 2331 and hardware 2335 of the UE 2330, or both. In an embodiment, a sensor (not shown) may be deployed in or associated with a communication device through which the OTT connection 2350 passes, and the sensor may participate in the measurement procedure by providing values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or values of other physical quantities that the software 2311, 2331 may calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguration of the OTT connection 2350 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc., and the reconfiguration need not affect the base station 2320 and may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 2320. Such procedures and functionality are known and implementable in the art. In some embodiments, the measurement may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurement of the host computer 2310 such as throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. The measurement may be implemented in that the software 2311 and 2331 cause messages, particularly empty or "dummy" messages, to be transmitted using the OTT connection 2350 while the software 2311 and 2331 monitor propagation time, errors, etc.

[0177] FIG. 24 is a flowchart showing a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment according to some embodiments. The communication system may be the one described with reference to FIGS. 22 and 23 and includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only the reference to FIG. 24 is included in this section. In step 2410, the host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step 2411 of step 2410, the host computer provides user data by executing a host application. In step 2420, the host computer initiates a transmission to carry the user data to the UE. In an optional step 2430, the base station transmits the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the host computer to the UE according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure. In an also optional step 2440, the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0178] FIG. 25 is a flowchart showing a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment according to some embodiments. The communication system may be the one described with reference to FIGS. 22 and 23 and includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only the reference to FIG. 25 is included in this section. In step 2510 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional sub-step (not shown), the host computer provides user data by executing a host application. In step 2520, the host computer initiates a transmission to carry the user data to the UE. The transmission may proceed via the base station according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure. In an optional step 2530, the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

[0179] FIG. 26 is a flowchart showing a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment according to an embodiment. The communication system may be the one described with reference to FIGS. 22 and 23, and includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE. For the sake of simplicity of the present disclosure, only the drawing reference to FIG. 26 is included in this section. In optional step 2610, the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 2620, the UE provides user data. In optional sub-step 2621 of step 2620, the UE provides user data by executing a client application. In optional sub-step 2611 of step 2610, the UE executes a client application that provides user data in response to the received input data provided by the host computer. When providing user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the particular manner in which the user data is provided, the UE starts transmitting the user data to the host computer in optional sub-step 2630. In step 2640 of the method, the host computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure. FIG. 27 is a flowchart showing a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station, and a user equipment according to some embodiments. The communication system may be the one described with reference to FIGS. 22 and 23, and includes a host computer, a base station, and a UE. For the sake of simplicity of the present disclosure, only the drawing reference to FIG. 27 is included in this section. In optional step 2710, according to the teachings of the embodiments described throughout the present disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In optional step 2720, the base station starts transmitting the received user data to the host computer.(Optional) In step 2730, the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

[0180] Any suitable steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be implemented through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual devices. Each virtual device may comprise several of these functional units. These functional units may be processing circuit elements that may include one or more microprocessors or microcontrollers, and may be implemented via other digital hardware that may include a digital signal processor (DSP), dedicated digital logic, etc. The processing circuit elements may be set to execute program code stored in a memory that may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. The program code stored in the memory includes program instructions for executing one or more communication and / or data communication protocols, as well as instructions for performing one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuit elements may be used to cause each functional unit to perform the corresponding function according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0181] At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in the present disclosure. If there are inconsistencies between abbreviations, how the abbreviation was used above shall be given precedence. If listed multiple times below, the first listing shall be given precedence over any subsequent listing(s).

[0182] 1x RTT CDMA2000 1x radio transmission technology 3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project 5G 5th Generation 5GS 5G System 5GMM 5GS Mobility Management 5GSM 5GS Session Management 5QI 5G QoS Identifier ABS Almost Blank Subframe AMF Access and Mobility Management Function AN Access Network AN Access Node ARQ Automatic Repeat Request AS Access Stratum AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise BCCH Broadcast Control Channel BCH Broadcast Channel CA Carrier Aggregation CC Carrier Component CCCH SDU Common Control Channel SDU CDMA Code Division Multiple Access CGI Cell Global Identifier CIR Channel Impulse Response CP Cyclic Prefix CPICH Common Pilot Channel CPICH Ec / No CPICH Received Energy per Chip Divided by the Power Density in the Band CQI Channel Quality Indicator C-RNTI Cell RNTI CSI Channel State Information DCCH Dedicated Control Channel DL Downlink DM Demodulation DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal DNN Data Network Name DRX Discontinuous Reception DTX Discontinuous Transmission DTCH Dedicated Traffic Channel DUT Device Under Test E-CID Extended Cell ID (Positioning Method) E-SMLC Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center ECGI Evolved CGI eNB E-UTRAN Node B ePDCCH Extended Physical Downlink Control Channel EPS Evolved Packet System E-SMLC Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center E-UTRA Evolved UTRA E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN FDD Frequency Division Duplexing FFS Further Consideration is Needed GERAN GSM EDGE Radio Access Network gNB Base Station in NR (Corresponding to eNB in LTE) GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System GSM Global System for Mobile Communications HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest HO Handover HSPA High Speed Packet Access HRPD High Rate Packet Data LOS Line of Sight LPP LTE Positioning Protocol LTE Long-Term Evolution MAC Media Access Control MBMS Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service Single Frequency Network MBSFN ABS MBSFN Almost Blank Subframe MDT Minimization of Drive Tests MIB Master Information Block MME Mobility Management Entity MSC Mobile Switching Center NAS Non-Access Stratum NB-IoT Narrowband Internet of Things NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel NR New Radio OCNG OFDMA Channel Noise Generator OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access OSS Operation Support System OTDOA Observed Time Difference of Arrival O&M Operation and Maintenance PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel P-CCPCH Primary Common Control Physical Channel PCell Primary Cell PCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator Channel PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel PDP Profile Delay Profile PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel PGW Packet Data Network Gateway PHICH Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel PLMN Public Land Mobile Network PMI Precoder Matrix Indicator PRACH Physical Random Access Channel PRS Positioning Reference Signal PSS Primary Synchronization Signal PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel RACH Random Access Channel QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation RAN Radio Access Network RAT Radio Access Technology RLM Radio Link Management RNC Radio Network Controller RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier RRC Radio Resource Control RRM Radio Resource Management RS Reference Signal RSCP Received Signal Code Power RSRP Reference Signal Received Power or Reference Signal Received Power RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality or Reference symbol reception quality RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference SCH Synchronization Channel SCell Secondary Cell SDU Service Data Unit SFN System Frame Number SGW Serving Gateway SI System Information SIB System Information Block SMSoIP Short Message Service (SMS) over IP SNR Signal-to-Noise Ratio SON Self-Organizing Network SS Synchronization Signal SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal TDD Time Division Duplexing TDOA Time Difference of Arrival TOA Time of Arrival TSS Tertiary Synchronization Signal TTI Transmission Time Interval UAC Unified Access Control UE User Equipment UL Uplink UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module UTDOA Uplink Time Difference of Arrival UTRA Universal Terrestrial Radio Access UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network WCDMA Wideband CDMA WLAN Wireless Local Area Network

Claims

1. A method of operating a user equipment (UE) for new radio (NR) unified access control, comprising: detecting an access attempt (2803, 902, 1102) at least based on establishing a new protocol data unit (PDU) session having a data network name set to a value of a predetermined QoS identifier; determining (2805, 903, 1103) an access category from a plurality of access categories and at least one access identification information from a plurality of access identification information to be applied for the access attempt detected by the UE, wherein the access category is determined based on the access attempt, the plurality of access categories includes at least an operator-defined access category, and the operator-defined access category is based at least on the data network name set to the value of the predetermined QoS identifier; determining (2807, 1104) a cause for establishment of the access attempt based on the access category determined from the plurality of access categories and based on the at least one access identification information from the plurality of access identification information; transmitting (2815, 1105) a connection request message for the access attempt to a wireless communication network, the connection request message including the cause for establishment determined based on the access category and based on the at least one access identification information; A method comprising the above.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the cause for establishment includes one of a plurality of causes for establishment including mobile incoming access, emergency call, mobile outgoing signaling, mobile outgoing voice call, mobile outgoing data, and high priority access.

3. The cause for establishment is determined to be one of mobile incoming access, emergency call, mobile outgoing signaling, mobile outgoing voice call, and / or mobile outgoing data based on mapping the access category determined from the plurality of access categories to the cause for establishment based on the access category and based on the at least one access identification information, and / or The establishment reason is determined based on mapping the access category determined from the plurality of access categories to the establishment reason, and based on the at least one access identification information for the UE being 0, and the establishment reason is determined as a high-priority access based on the at least one access identification information for the UE being non-zero. The method according to claim 2.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the operator-specified access category is further based on a slice identifier.

5. Receiving the operator-specified access category from the wireless communication network (2801, 901) The method according to claim 4, further comprising.

6. Determining the access category and the at least one access identification information includes determining that the operator-specified access category should be applied for the access attempt, and the establishment reason is determined based on mapping the operator-specified access category to the establishment reason. The method according to claim 4 or 5.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the operator-specified access category is based on the data network name and the slice identifier, and mapping the operator-specified access category includes mapping the operator-specified access category to the establishment reason for mobile-originated data.

8. Performing an access restriction check for the access attempt (2809, 906) based on the access category determined from the plurality of access categories and based on the at least one access identification information from the plurality of access identification information; Proceeding with the access attempt (2811, 2813, 908) in response to the access restriction check permitting the access attempt; The method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising.

9. Proceeding with the access attempt includes: Transmitting a random access preamble for the access attempt to the wireless communication network (2811, 201) in response to the access restriction check permitting the access attempt; Receiving a random access response for the access attempt after transmitting the random access preamble (2813, 202); comprising; The method according to claim 8, wherein the connection request message is transmitted in response to receiving the random access response.

10. The method according to claim 1, wherein the access attempt is further detected based on at least one of setting up a voice call and setting up a video call.

11. - the connection request message is a radio resource control (RRC) connection request message, and the establishment cause is an RRC establishment cause, or - the connection request message is a radio resource control (RRC) resume request message, and the establishment cause is an RRC resume cause, The method according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

12. A user equipment (UE) for new radio (NR) unified access control, comprising: a radio interface (1914); a processing circuit element (1920) coupled to the radio interface (1914); and a device-readable medium (1930) coupled to the processing circuit element (1920), wherein the device-readable medium, when executed by the processing circuit element, causes the processing circuit element to: detect an access attempt based at least on establishing a new protocol data unit (PDU) session having a data network name set to a value of a predetermined QoS identifier; determine an access category from a plurality of access categories and at least one access identification information from a plurality of access identification information to be applied for the access attempt detected by the UE, wherein the access category is determined based on the access attempt, the plurality of access categories includes operator-defined access categories, and the operator-defined access categories are based at least on the data network name set to the value of the predetermined QoS identifier; determine an establishment cause for the access attempt based on the access category determined from the plurality of access categories and based on the at least one access identification information from the plurality of access identification information; Transmitting a connection request message for the access attempt through the wireless interface (1914) to the wireless communication network, wherein the connection request message includes the establishment cause determined based on the access category and based on the at least one access identification information, and transmitting the connection request message for the access attempt A user equipment (UE) comprising an instruction to cause the above to be performed. **Claim 13** The UE according to claim 12, wherein the establishment cause includes one of a plurality of establishment causes including mobile incoming access, emergency call, mobile outgoing signaling, mobile outgoing voice call, mobile outgoing data, and high-priority access. **Claim 14** The establishment cause is determined to be one of mobile incoming access, emergency call, mobile outgoing signaling, mobile outgoing voice call, and / or mobile outgoing data based on mapping the access category determined from the plurality of access categories to the establishment cause based on the access category and based on the at least one access identification information, and / or the establishment cause is determined based on mapping the access category determined from the plurality of access categories to the establishment cause and based on the at least one access identification information for the UE being 0, and the establishment cause is determined to be high-priority access based on the at least one access identification information for the UE being non-0. The UE according to claim 13. **Claim 15** The UE according to claim 14, wherein the operator-specified access category is further based on a slice identifier. **Claim 16** When executed by the processing circuit element, the device-readable medium causes the processing circuit element to receive the operator-specified access category from the wireless communication network through the wireless interface (1914) The UE according to claim 15, further comprising an instruction to cause the above to be performed. **Claim 17** Determining the access category and the at least one access identification information includes determining that the operator-specified access category should be applied for the access attempt, and the establishment reason is determined based on mapping the operator-specified access category to the establishment reason, and / or the operator-specified access category is based on the data network name and the slice identifier, and mapping the operator-specified access category includes mapping the operator-specified access category to the establishment reason for mobile originated data, The UE according to claim 15 or 16.

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