Adaptive system and method for monitoring reference signals (RS) for user equipment (UE) power saving.

Abstract

To provide an embodiment for resource monitoring and power saving in user equipment (UE) operating according to discontinuous reception (DRX) in a new radio (NR) wireless communication system.SOLUTION: UE operating in a DRX mode monitors for wake-up opportunities in control signals prior to the DRX ON time. When a wake opportunity is detected, the UE monitors channel state information (CSI) resource signals (RS) prior to the DRX ON time. When no wakeup opportunity is detected, at least some of the UEs remain in sleep mode before the DRX ON time.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 5

Description

Technical Field

[0001] (Cross - Reference to Related Applications) This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62 / 806,637, filed on Feb. 15, 2019, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

[0002] Various embodiments may generally relate to the field of wireless communication.

Background Art

[0003] Mobile communication has evolved significantly from early voice systems to today's highly sophisticated integrated communication platforms. The next - generation wireless communication system, 5G, or New Radio (NR), provides access to information and sharing of data at any time and anywhere by various users and applications. NR is expected to be a unified network / system and to satisfy significantly different and sometimes conflicting performance dimensions and services. Such diverse multi - dimensional requirements are driven by various services and applications. Generally, NR will evolve based on 3GPP LTE - Advanced together with additional potential new radio access technologies (RATs) to enrich people's lives with better and seamless wireless connection solutions. NR enables everything to be wirelessly connected and to deliver high - speed and rich content and services.

Summary of the Invention

[0004] Some embodiments of the present disclosure include systems, devices, methods, and computer - readable media for use in a wireless network for resource monitoring and power saving in a user equipment (UE) operating in accordance with discontinuous reception in New Radio (NR).

[0005] Some embodiments include a method for new radio (NR) communication. The method includes a user device (UE) receiving a first control signaling on a first resource and determining whether the first control signaling includes a wake-up opportunity that instructs the UE to wake up before the UE's discontinuous receive (DRX) ON time and monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The method further includes the UE monitoring a channel status information (CSI) reference signal (RS) on a second resource based on the detection of the wake-up opportunity, the second resource being located between the first resource and the DRX ON time of the first control signaling.

[0006] In a further embodiment, the method includes performing monitoring before the DRX ON time, and the method further includes performing a second monitoring of the second CSI-RS during the DRX ON time.

[0007] In a further embodiment, the method further includes the first control signaling directing a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource to report a CSI report based on the monitored CSI-RS, and the method further includes transmitting the CSI report to the base station via the PUCCH resource during DRX ON time.

[0008] In a further embodiment, the method further includes the UE not reporting CSI feedback before, during, or after the DRX ON time.

[0009] In a further embodiment, the method further includes keeping at least a portion of the UE in sleep mode before the DRX ON time, based on the fact that no wake-up opportunity is detected before the DRX ON time.

[0010] In a further embodiment, the method further includes the wake-up opportunity triggering a UE to monitor an aperiodic on-demand reference signal (RS), the aperiodic RS offset being obtained from the wake-up opportunity.

[0011] Some embodiments include user equipment (UE) for wireless communication, which includes a wireless front-end circuit and a processor circuit. The wireless front-end circuit is configured to receive a first control signaling from a base station on a first resource. The processor circuit is configured to determine whether the first control signaling includes a wake-up opportunity that instructs the UE to wake up before the UE's discontinuous receive (DRX) ON time to monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The processor circuit is further configured to use the wireless front-end circuit and, based on the detection of the wake-up opportunity, monitor a channel status information (CSI) reference signal (RS) on a second resource, the second resource located between the first resource and the DRX ON time of the first control signaling.

[0012] Some embodiments further include monitoring being performed before the DRX ON time, and the processor circuitry is further configured to monitor a second CSI-RS during the DRX ON time using a wireless front-end circuitry.

[0013] Some embodiments further include a first control signaling that directs a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource to report a CSI report based on the monitored CSI-RS, and further configure the processor circuitry to generate a CSI report based on the monitored CSI and transmit the CSI report to the base station via the PUCCH resource using the radio front-end circuitry during DRX ON time.

[0014] Some embodiments further include the fact that the processor circuit is configured not to report CSI feedback before, during, or after the DRX ON time, based on the condition that at least one condition is met.

[0015] Some embodiments further include the processor circuitry being configured to keep at least a portion of the UE in sleep mode prior to the DRX ON time, based on the fact that no wake-up opportunity is detected before the DRX ON time.

[0016] Some embodiments further include the wake-up opportunity triggering a processor circuit to further monitor an aperiodic on-demand reference signal (RS), the aperiodic RS offset being obtained from the wake-up opportunity.

[0017] Some embodiments further include a non-transient computer-readable medium in which instructions causing the UE to perform an operation are stored, when executed by one or more processors of the user equipment (UE). The operation includes receiving a first control signaling on a first resource and determining whether the first control signaling includes a wake-up opportunity that instructs the UE to wake up before the UE's discontinuous receive (DRX) ON time and monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). Based on the detection of the wake-up opportunity, the operation further includes monitoring a channel status information (CSI) reference signal (RS) on a second resource, the second resource located between the first resource and the DRX ON time of the first control signaling.

[0018] In some embodiments, the first control signaling directs a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource to report a CSI report based on the monitored CSI-RS, and the operation further includes transmitting the CSI report to the base station via the PUCCH resource during DRX ON time.

[0019] In some embodiments, the non-transient computer-readable medium includes further actions, such as keeping at least a portion of the UE in sleep mode before the DRX ON time, based on the fact that no wake-up opportunity is detected before the DRX ON time.

[0020] In some embodiments, the monitoring is performed before the DRX ON time, and the operation further includes performing a second monitoring of the second CSI-RS during the DRX ON time.

[0021] A detailed description of the embodiments directed to those skilled in the art is described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0022] [Figure 1] Shows a discontinuous reception (DRX) duty cycle according to some embodiments. [Figure 2] Shows an example of a channel state information (CSI) report for a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) according to some embodiments. [Figure 3] Shows an example of wake-up signal (WUS) detection according to some embodiments. [Figure 4A] Shows user equipment (UE) monitoring according to some embodiments. [Figure 4B] Shows user equipment (UE) monitoring according to some embodiments. [Figure 4C] [[ID=Z27]]Shows user equipment (UE) monitoring according to some embodiments. [Figure 5] Shows a flowchart of an exemplary method of UE operation during the DRX mode according to an exemplary embodiment. [Figure 6] Shows a flowchart of a further exemplary method of UE operation during the DRX mode according to an exemplary embodiment. [Figure 7] Shows an exemplary system architecture according to some embodiments. [Figure 8] Shows another exemplary system architecture according to some embodiments. [Figure 9] Shows another exemplary system architecture according to some embodiments. [Figure 10] Shows a block diagram of an exemplary infrastructure facility according to some embodiments. [Figure 11]Block diagrams of exemplary platforms in several embodiments are shown. [Figure 12] Block diagrams of exemplary baseband circuits and front-end modules according to several embodiments are shown. [Figure 13] Block diagrams of various protocol functions that may be implemented in a wireless communication device according to several embodiments are shown. [Figure 14] Block diagrams of exemplary core network components according to several embodiments are shown. [Figure 15] The following are block diagrams of exemplary components of a system for supporting NFV according to several embodiments. [Figure 16] This is a block diagram of an exemplary computer system that can be used to implement various embodiments.

[0023] The features and advantages of the embodiments will become more apparent from the detailed description below when interpreted in conjunction with the drawings. Here, similar reference numerals identify corresponding elements throughout the drawings. In the drawings, similar reference numerals generally indicate identical, functionally similar, and / or structurally similar elements. The drawing in which the element first appears is indicated by the leftmost digit (or number) in the corresponding reference numeral. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0024] The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numerals may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, specific details such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, and techniques are described for illustrative purposes only, not for limitation, to provide a complete understanding of the various aspects of the various embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art who are interested in this disclosure that various aspects of the various embodiments may be implemented in other embodiments that deviate from these specific details. In some cases, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary details. For the purposes of this document, "A or B" means (A), (B), or (A and B).

[0025] User equipment (UE) can be triggered before or at the start of the discontinuous reception (DRX) ON time to monitor and / or process the reference signal (RS) in a timely manner. The trigger can be configured dynamically or quasi-statically for the UE.

[0026] If a Wake-Up Signal (WUS) opportunity is configured before DRX ON, the WUS can be used to trigger the UE to monitor and receive the RS, facilitating one or more of the following: channel / beam tracking, channel status information / radio resource management (CSI / RRM) measurements, and more granular synchronization. The trigger may be explicitly indicated by the WUS or a higher-layer configuration, or it may be implicitly obtained based on one or more of the following: WUS signaling, DRX cycles, and other DRX configuration parameters.

[0027] This disclosure may enable more efficient link adaptation, at least at the start of DRX ON. This can lead to the skipping of several RS opportunities, thereby promoting UE power savings.

[0028] The methods disclosed herein assume that the UE is configured with DRX and operates with one or more active DRX configurations. When a DRX cycle is configured, the active time (see 3GPP Specification 38.321) is: The duration during which drx-onDurationTimer, drx-InactivityTimer, drx-RetransmissionTimerDL, drx-RetransmissionTimerUL, or ra-ContentionResolutionTimer is running, The time a scheduling request is sent and pending on a physical uplink control (UL) channel (PUCCH), or This includes a period of time when a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) that directs a new transmission addressed to the cell radio network transient identifier (C-RNTI) of a MAC (Media Access Control) entity has not been received after a successful reception of a random access response for a random access preamble that is not selected by the MAC entity between contention-based random access preambles.

[0029] If the UE's MAC entity is not active during the active time, the UE does not need to report a CSI feedback report regarding the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH). DL UE or cell-specific signaling, such as DL UE or channel status reference signal (CSI-RS), tracking reference signal (TRS), or synchronization sequence (SS) transmission opportunities, may be configured independently of the DRX configuration. Therefore, the transmission opportunities do not necessarily need to be well-aligned with a given DRX configuration in order to benefit PDCCH scheduling and other transmissions during DRX ON.

[0030] To prevent the UE from waking up and the DRX ON becoming empty (for example, because there is no downlink control information (DCI) to be transmitted on the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)), a wake-up signal (WUS) transmission may be considered before or at the start of DRX ON.

[0031] Here, the upper-layer signaling may include RRC signaling, MAC-CE signaling, etc. WUS may be transmitted, for example, on PDCCH or in sequence. Method 1

[0032] In some embodiments, the UE may be configured with an RRC having DRX functionality as shown in Figure 1. Furthermore, a period and subframe offset for the generation of CSI-RS are configured for the UE. For CSI-RS resources that are not in active time (including the time while the onDurationTimer, drx-InactivityTimer, drx-RetransmissionTimer, or mac-ContentionResolutionTimer are operating), the UE may assume, as shown in Figure 1, that when one associated wake-up signal (WUS) 100 is detected by the UE during a warm-up window 120, a configured periodic CSI-RS 110 is transmitted or enabled to derive CSI information.

[0033] In Figure 1, warm-up windows 120 and 140 can be configured in the upper layers based on the DRX configuration, such as length and position within the time domain. The UE may assume that there is no CSI-RS transmission in opportunity 180 if the relevant WUS is not detected in the configured resource 130 within the warm-up window 140 of the DRX cycle 170, and therefore the UE may skip the CSI calculation and the CSI report for the corresponding PUCCH resource, compared to Figure 2 below, which shows an example of reporting a CSI report for PUCCH.

[0034] In other words, the UE monitors the CSI-RS outside of DRX ON only after successfully detecting the presence of a wake-up signal (WUS). The UE monitors the CSI-RS during DRX ON / active time as usual. The presence / detection of a WUS triggers the UE to monitor and process the RS for CSI report feedback if an RS opportunity may occur between the WUS transmission opportunity and the DRX ON start time. Since the DRX ON time immediately follows, the UE has a CSI feedback opportunity in PUCCH during the next active time.

[0035] If WUS is not configured, the UE will always monitor and process CSI-RS immediately before DRX ON, regardless of whether DRX ON has a scheduled packet or not, if configured. In such exemplary embodiments, it is assumed that CSI-RS is still configured periodically for the UE, and if there is at least one opportunity for CSI-RS transmission following WUS transmission, the UE may skip or monitor it based on WUS detection.

[0036] In some embodiments, a periodic CSI-RS is configured for the UE, as shown in Figure 2. The UE monitors and processes the CSI-RS following a WUS trigger and then provides a CSI report in PUCCH during the active time.

[0037] Figure 1 illustrates a CSI RS opportunity triggered before DRX ON, but the opportunity may also occur at the start of DRX ON.

[0038] In another embodiment, the WUS may dynamically trigger or instruct (e.g., including a message or information) whether the UE should monitor the CSI-RS. For example, in some embodiments, the UE may have just received and processed a CSI-RS and therefore can skip one or more opportunities. In some embodiments, the WUS signaling may explicitly instruct, by a bit field such as one bit, whether to monitor / process or skip any subsequent CSI-RS opportunities before or at the start of DRX ON.

[0039] Figure 3 shows an embodiment in which WUS detection does not necessarily mean that the UE monitors / processes the CSI-RS. The UE may determine whether or not to monitor based on the WUS indication. In some embodiments, the UE may implicitly obtain a trigger based on one or more of the following: WUS detection, DRX cycles, etc. For example, if the DRX cycle is short (e.g., less than 40ms), the UE may skip the CSI-RS for every K=>1 DRX cycle before or at the start of DRX ON.

[0040] In some embodiments, an additional on-demand RS may be configured for the UE, causing it to monitor and / or process the RS only when certain conditions are met, such as WUS detection, an explicit indication in the WUS signal, or one or more rules / signaling configured by a higher layer, or an implicit indication, and the implicit indication may be obtained based on one or more DRX configuration parameters, such as WUS detection or a DRX cycle.

[0041] In some embodiments, WUS detection may trigger a UE to monitor aperiodic on-demand RS, and the aperiodic RS offset and resource / density may be pre-configured. The offset can be obtained from WUS transmission opportunities or from slot boundaries after WUS transmission.

[0042] In some embodiments, a PUCCH resource for non-periodic RS-based CSI reporting may be pre-configured and occur at the start of the active time initiated by DRX ON.

[0043] In some embodiments, the UE can be configured with an upper layer having this feature, i.e., additional / aperiodic / on-demand, i.e., RS reception if possible, only if the UE is expected to receive such an upper layer before or at the start of DRX ON.

[0044] In some embodiments, the WUS can explicitly instruct a non-periodic CSI-RS trigger and optionally also instruct a PUCCH resource indicator. The offset and resource of the CSI_RS position can be pre-configured as described above.

[0045] In some embodiments, the UE may monitor / process aperiodic CSI-RS based on both WUS detection and DRX cycles. For example, if the UE wakes up on the last N=>1 DRX cycle, the aperiodic / on-demand RS transmission may be skipped. In this case, the UE does not need to expect aperiodic RS even though a WUS has been received. The opportunity for aperiodic RS may occur between the WUS and the start of DRX ON, or at the start of DRX ON.

[0046] Figure 4A in the upper panel shows an example where the UE monitors for aperiodic RS after WUS detection. Figure 4B in the middle panel shows that WUS detection does not necessarily mean RS transmission; rather, the UE determines that no RS has been transmitted based on one or more of the following: explicit indication in WUS, DRX cycle length, or the state of previous DRX cycles, such as when the most recent DRX cycle UE was ON. Figure 4C in the lower panel shows a case where aperiodic RS opportunity occurs at the start of DRX ON. Method 2

[0047] In conventional DRX operation, the inactivity timer starts after the UE receives PDCCH while DRX is ON.

[0048] In some embodiments disclosed herein, the UE may receive additional signaling from the network and skip or sleep (GTS) PDCCH monitoring for a given or instructed duration.

[0049] In some embodiments, if the inactivity timer has been operating following a past PDCCH reception and the UE has received GTS signaling from the network, the UE may keep the inactivity timer counter ON. In other words, if the PDCCH instructs the UE to skip PDCCH monitoring for a period of time, such as a GTS signal, the UE will neither start nor restart the drx-Inactivity timer. If the inactivity timer stops with GTS signaling and restarts after the UE wakes up, the longer ON time may increase the UE's power consumption.

[0050] In some embodiments, the UE may wake up after a short sleep while DRX is ON, and the inactivity timer may not expire. Subsequently, when the UE receives another PDCCH instructing a new data transmission (DL or UL), the inactivity timer restarts in the same manner as normal DRX operation.

[0051] Figures 5 and 6 show flowcharts of one or more embodiments. The methods shown in these figures may be performed by one or more components such as application circuits, baseband circuits, and processors, which are described below with reference to Figures 7 to 16. In one or more embodiments, one or more of the steps shown in Figures 5 and 6 may be omitted, repeated, and / or performed in an order different from the order shown in Figures 5 and 6. Accordingly, the scope of the invention should not be considered to be limited to a specific sequence of steps shown in Figures 5 and 6. The steps shown in these figures may be implemented as computer-readable instructions stored on a computer-readable medium, and when the instructions are executed, they cause a processor to perform the methods shown in these figures. Additionally or alternatively, the steps shown in Figures 5 and 6 may be implemented in a hardcoded processor or processor circuit that includes a state machine that performs a specific logical function.

[0052] Figure 5 shows a method 500 for new radio (NR) communication. In step 502, the method includes the user equipment (UE) receiving a first control signaling on a first resource in a first bandwidth portion. In step 504, the method includes determining whether the first control signaling includes a wake-up opportunity that instructs the UE to wake up before the discontinuous receive (DRX) ON / active time to monitor the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). In step 506, based on the detection of the wake-up opportunity, the method includes monitoring a channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS) on a second resource, the second resource located between the first resource of the first control signaling and the DRX ON time. Alternatively, based on the detection of no wake-up opportunity, the method includes keeping at least a portion of the UE in sleep mode before the DRX ON time. In step 508, the method includes generating and transmitting a CSI report based on the monitored CSI-RS, the CSI report being transmitted to the corresponding base station.

[0053] Figure 6 further illustrates several embodiments 600 that further modify Method 500. The CSI-RS resource may be configured periodically, as shown in 608. Alternatively, as shown in 610, the CSI-RS opportunity is triggered by the detection of a first control signaling. The CSI-RS transmission opportunity may also be triggered by aperiodic on-demand CSI-RS, as shown in 612. In some embodiments, the CSI-RS resource, offset, and PUCCH resource can be configured in a higher-layer protocol, as shown in 614. Alternatively, the first control signaling can direct the PUCCH resource to report the CSI, as shown in 616. Also, as shown in 618, WUS detection may trigger the UE to monitor aperiodic on-demand reference signal (RS), and the aperiodic RS offset is obtained from a WUS transmission opportunity or from a slot boundary after WUS transmission.

[0054] The functions and / or processes shown in flow diagrams 500 and 600 can be executed by one or more of the application circuits 1005 or 1105, the baseband circuits 1010 or 1110, and / or the processor 1614.

[0055] In some embodiments, electronic devices, networks, systems, chips or components, or parts thereof or implementations, described in the following sections of this Specification may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques or methods, or parts thereof, described herein. System and Implementation

[0056] Figure 7 shows exemplary architectures of System 700 of a network according to various embodiments. The following description describes exemplary System 700 operating in conjunction with 5G or NR system standards, such as those provided by LTE system standards and 3GPP technical specifications. However, exemplary embodiments are not limited in this respect, and the embodiments described may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as future 3GPP systems (e.g., 6th generation (6G)) systems and IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.).

[0057] As shown in Figure 7, system 700 includes UE701a and UE701b (collectively referred to as "UE701"). In this example, UE701 is illustrated as a smartphone (e.g., a portable touchscreen mobile computing device capable of connecting to one or more cellular networks), but may include any mobile or non-mobile computing device such as consumer devices, mobile phones, smartphones, feature phones, tablet computers, wearable computer devices, personal digital assistants (PDAs), pagers, wireless handsets, desktop computers, laptop computers, infusion infotainment (IVI), in-vehicle entertainment (ICE) devices, instrument clusters (ICs), head-up display (HUD) devices, on-board diagnostic (OBD) devices, dash-top mobile devices (DMEs), mobile data terminals (MDTs), electronic engine management systems (EEMS), electronic / engine control units (ECUs), electronic engine / engine control modules (ECMs), embedded systems, microcontrollers, control modules, engine management systems (EMSs), networked or "smart" appliances, MTC devices, M2M, IoT devices, and / or similar.

[0058] In some embodiments, any of the UE701 may include an IoT UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that leverage short-term UE connectivity. The IoT UE may utilize technologies such as M2M or MTC to exchange data with MTC servers or devices via PLMN, ProSe or D2D communication, sensor networks, or IoT networks. M2M data exchange or MTC data exchange may also be the exchange of machine activation data. The IoT network describes interconnected IoT UEs, which may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the Internet infrastructure) via short-term connectivity. The IoT UEs may run background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connectivity within the IoT network.

[0059] UE701 may be configured to connect to RAN710, for example, to be communicatively coupled. In embodiments, RAN710 may be an NG RAN or 5G RAN, E-UTRAN, or a legacy RAN such as UTRAN or GERAN. As used herein, the terms "NG RAN," etc., refer to RAN710 operating in an NR or 5G system 700, and the terms "E-UTRAN," etc., refer to RAN710 operating in an LTE or 4G system 700. UE701 utilizes connection (or channel) 703 and connection 704, respectively, which each include a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below).

[0060] In this embodiment, connections 703 and 704 are shown as air interfaces to enable communicable coupling and may be cellular communication protocols such as GSM protocol, CDMA network protocol, PTT protocol, POC protocol, UMTS protocol, 3GPP LTE protocol, 5G protocol, NR protocol, and / or any other communication protocols discussed herein. In this embodiment, UE 701 can further exchange communication data directly via ProSe interface 705. ProSe interface 705 may alternatively be referred to as SL interface 705 and may include one or more logical channels, including but not limited to PSCCH, PSSCH, PSDCH, and PSBCH.

[0061] It is shown that UE701b is configured to access AP706 (also known as “WLAN node 706,” “WLAN706,” “WLAN terminal 706,” “WT706,” etc.) via connection 707. Connection 707 may include a local wireless connection such as a connection conforming to any IEEE 802.11 protocol, and AP706 will have a Wi-Fi (Wireless Fidelity)® router. In this example, AP706 connects to the internet without connecting to the core network of the wireless system, as shown in the figure (described in more detail below). In various embodiments, UE701b, RAN710 and AP706 may be configured to utilize LWA operation and / or LWIP operation. LWA operation may involve UE701b in RRC_CONNECTED, configured by RAN nodes 711a-711b to utilize LTE and WLAN radio resources. LWIP operation may involve UE701b using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 707) via an IPsec protocol tunnel to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) transmitted over connection 707. The IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header, thereby protecting the original header of the IP packet.

[0062] RAN710 may include one or more AN nodes or RAN nodes 711a and 711b (collectively referred to as “RAN node 711”) that enable connections 703 and 704. As used herein, the terms “access node,” “access point,” etc., may describe equipment that provides radio baseband functionality for data and / or voice connections between the network and one or more users. These access nodes may be referred to as BS, gNB, RAN node, eNB, NodeBs, RSUs, TRxP, or TRP, etc., and may comprise ground stations (e.g., ground access points) or satellite stations that provide effective communication range within a geographical area (e.g., cell). As used herein, the terms “NG RAN node,” etc., may refer to a RAN node 711 operating in an NR or 5G system 700 (e.g., gNB), and the term “E-UTRAN node” may refer to a RAN node 711 operating in an LTE or 4G system 700 (e.g., eNB). According to various embodiments, the RAN node 711 may be implemented as one or more dedicated physical devices, such as macrocell base stations and / or low-power (LP) base stations, for providing femtocells, picocells, or other similar cells that have a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity, or higher bandwidth compared to macrocells.

[0063] In some embodiments, all or part of the RAN node 711 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network, which may be referred to as CRAN and / or virtual baseband unit pool (vBBUP). In these embodiments, CRAN or vBBUP may implement RAN functional partitioning such as PDCP partitioning, where the RRC and PDCP layers are operated by CRAN / vBBUP and other L2 protocol entities are operated by individual RAN node 711; MAC / PHY partitioning, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, and MAC layers are operated by CRAN / vBBUP and the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN node 711; or "lower PHY" partitioning, where the upper part of the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC, and PHY layers are operated by CRAN / vBBUP and the lower part of the PHY layer is operated by individual RAN node 711. This virtualized framework allows the freed processor cores of the RAN node 711 to run other virtualized applications. In some implementations, individual RAN nodes 711 may represent individual gNB-DUs connected to gNB-CUs via individual F1 interfaces (not shown in Figure 7). In these implementations, a gNB-DU may include one or more remote radio heads or RFEMs (see, e.g., Figure 10), and the gNB-CU may be operated by a server located in RAN 710 (not shown) or by a server pool in a manner similar to CRAN / vBBUP. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the RAN nodes 711 may be next-generation eNBs (ng-eNBs), which are RAN nodes that provide E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminals to UE 701 and are connected to 5GC (e.g., CN920 in Figure 9) via an NG interface.

[0064] In a V2X scenario, one or more of the RAN nodes 711 can be or may fulfill the role of an RSU. The term “Road Side Unit” or “RSU” can refer to any transport infrastructure entity used for V2X communication. An RSU may be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or stationary (or relatively stationary) UE, and an RSU implemented in or by a UE may be called a “UE-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by an eNB may be called an “eNB-type RSU,” an RSU implemented in or by a gNB may be called a “gNB-type RSU,” and so on. In one example, an RSU is a computing device coupled to a roadside radio frequency circuit that provides connectivity support to a passing vehicle UE701 (vUE701). An RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry for storing intersection map shapes, traffic statistics, media, and applications / software for sensing and controlling oncoming vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU can operate in the 5.9GHz Direct Short Range Communication (DSRC) band to provide very low latency communication required for high-speed events such as collision avoidance and traffic warnings. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU can operate in the cellular V2X band to provide the aforementioned low latency communication, as well as other cellular communication services. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU can operate as a Wi-Fi hotspot (2.4GHz band) and / or provide connectivity to one or more cellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communication. Some or all of the RSU's computing devices and radio frequency circuits can be packaged in a weatherproof enclosure suitable for outdoor installation and may include a network interface controller to provide wired connectivity (e.g., Ethernet) to a traffic signal controller and / or backhaul network.

[0065] Any of the RAN nodes 711 can terminate the air interface protocol and become the first contact point for the UE 701. In some embodiments, any of the RAN nodes 711 can perform various logical functions for the RAN 710, including, but not limited to, radio network controller (RNC) functions such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management, data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

[0066] According to some embodiments, UE701 can be configured to communicate with each other or with any of the RAN nodes 711 using OFDM communication signals via multi-carrier communication channels according to various communication technologies, such as OFDMA communication technology (e.g., for downlink communication) or SC-FDMA communication technology (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communication), but not limited thereto, and the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. OFDM signals may include multiple orthogonal subcarriers.

[0067] In some embodiments, a downlink resource grid can be used for downlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes 711 to UE701, while uplink transmissions can utilize similar techniques. The grid can be a time-frequency grid, also called a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which represents the physical resources of the downlink within each slot. Such a time-frequency plane representation is a common convention in OFDM systems, making radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one slot in the radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit of the resource grid is denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid contains a number of resource blocks, which describe the mapping of specific physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block contains a set of resource elements, which in the frequency domain can represent the minimum amount of resources that can currently be allocated. There are several different physical downlink channels that are transmitted using such resource blocks.

[0068] According to various embodiments, UE701 and RAN node 711 communicate data (e.g., transmit and receive) over an authorized medium (also called the “authorized spectrum” and / or “authorized band”) and an unauthorized shared medium (also called the “unauthorized spectrum” and / or “unauthorized band”). The authorized spectrum may include channels operating in a frequency range of approximately 400 MHz to approximately 3.8 GHz, and the unauthorized spectrum may include a 5 GHz band.

[0069] To operate in the unlicensed spectrum, UE701 and RAN node 711 may operate using LAA, eLAA, and / or feLAA mechanisms. In these implementations, UE701 and RAN node 711 may perform one or more known medium detection and / or carrier detection operations to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum are unavailable or otherwise occupied before transmission in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium / carrier detection operations may be performed according to the listen-before-talk (LBT) protocol.

[0070] LBT is a mechanism in which equipment (e.g., UE701, RAN node 711, etc.) detects a medium (e.g., a channel or carrier frequency) and transmits when it is detected that the medium is idle (or when it is detected that a particular channel within the medium is not occupied). The medium detection operation may include a CCA that utilizes at least an ED to determine the presence or absence of other signals on the channel in order to determine whether the channel is occupied or cleared. This LBT mechanism enables cellular / LAA networks to coexist with active systems in unlicensed spectrum and other LAA networks. The ED may include detecting RF energy over an intended transmission bandwidth over a period of time and comparing the detected RF energy to a predetermined or set threshold.

[0071] Typically, the current systems in the 5GHz band are WLANs based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs employ a contention-based channel access mechanism called CSMA / CA. Here, if a WLAN node (e.g., a mobile station (MS) such as UE701, AP706, etc.) intends to transmit, the WLAN node may first perform CCA before transmitting. Furthermore, a backoff mechanism is used to avoid collisions in situations where two or more WLAN nodes perceive a channel as idle and transmit simultaneously. The backoff mechanism may be a randomly drawn counter within the CWS, which increases exponentially when a collision occurs and is reset to a minimum value when the transmission is successful. LBT mechanisms designed for LAA are somewhat similar to the CSMA / CA of WLANs. In some implementations, the LBT procedure for DL ​​or UL transmit bursts, including PDSCH or PUSCH transmits respectively, may have an LAA conflict window with a variable length between the XECCA slot and the YECCA slot, where X and Y are the minimum and maximum values ​​of the CWS for LAA. For example, the minimum CWS for LAA transmission may be 9 microseconds (μs), but the size of the CWS and MCOT (e.g., transmit burst) may be based on government regulatory requirements.

[0072] The LAA mechanism is built upon the CA technology of the LTE Advanced System. In CA, each aggregated carrier is called a CC. A CC can have a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20 MHz, and up to five CCs can be aggregated, so the maximum aggregated bandwidth is 100 MHz. In FDD systems, the number of aggregated carriers may differ between DL and UL, with the number of UL CCs being less than or equal to the number of DL element carriers. In some cases, individual CCs may have different bandwidths than other CCs. In TDD systems, the number of CCs and the bandwidth of each CC are usually the same for DL ​​and UL.

[0073] CA also includes individual serving cells that provide individual CCs. For example, CCs in different frequency bands experience different path loss, so the effective communication range of a serving cell may differ. A primary service cell, or PCell, can provide PCCs to both UL and DL and can handle RRC and NAS-related activities. Other serving cells are called SCells, and each SCell can provide individual SCCs to both UL and DL. SCCs can be added and removed as needed, while changing the PCC may require the UE701 to undergo a handover. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all SCells can operate on the unlicensed spectrum (referred to as "LAA SCells"), and LAA SCells are supported by PCells operating on the licensed spectrum. If a UE consists of two or more LAA SCells, the UE can receive UL grants on the configured LAA SCells, indicating different PUSCH start locations within the same subframe.

[0074] The PDSCH carries user data and upper-layer signaling to the UE701. The PDCCH carries, among other things, information regarding the transport format and resource allocation associated with the PDSCH channel. It can also notify the UE701 of the transmission format, resource allocation, and HARQ information for the uplink shared channel. Typically, downlink scheduling (allocating control and shared channel resource blocks to the UE701b in the cell) may be performed on one of the RAN nodes 711 based on channel quality information fed back from one of the UE701s. Downlink resource allocation information may be transmitted on the PDCCH used for each of the UE701s (e.g., the allocated PDCCH).

[0075] PDCCH transmits control information using CCEs. Before being mapped to resource elements, PDCCH complex numerical symbols may first be organized into quartets and then swapped using subblock interleavers for rate matching. Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, and each CCE can correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as REGs. Four quad-phase-shifted modulation (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. A PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more CCEs depending on the size of the DCI and the channel state. There may be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation level, L=1, 2, 4, or 8).

[0076] Some embodiments may use a concept for resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some embodiments may utilize an EPDCCH that uses a PDSCH resource for transmitting control information. The EPDCCH may be transmitted using one or more ECCEs. As above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements known as EREGs. In some situations, an ECCE may have a different number of EREGs.

[0077] RAN nodes 711 may be configured to communicate with each other via interface 712. In embodiments where system 700 is an LTE system (e.g., CN720 is EPC820 in Figure 8), interface 712 may be an X2 interface 712. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes 711 (e.g., two or more eNBs) connected to EPC720, and / or between two eNBs connected to EPC720. In some implementations, the X2 interface may include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U may provide a flow control mechanism for user data packets transmitted over the X2 interface and may be used to communicate information regarding the distribution of user data between eNBs. For example, X2-U may provide specific sequence number information for user data transferred from MeNB to SeNB, information regarding the success of sequence delivery of PDCP PDUs from SeNB to UE701 for user data, information regarding PDCP PDUs that were not delivered to UE701, and information regarding the current minimum desired buffer size in SeNB for sending UE user data. X2-C may provide LTE in-access mobility functions, load management functions, and inter-cell interference adjustment functions, including context transfer from source eNB to target eNB and user plane transport control.

[0078] In embodiments where System 700 is a 5G or NR system (for example, when CN720 is 5GC920 in Figure 9), Interface 712 may be an Xn interface 712. The Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes 711 connected to 5GC720 (e.g., two or more gNBs), between a RAN node 711 connected to 5GC720 (e.g., a gNB) and an eNB, and / or between two eNBs connected to 5GC720. In some implementations, the Xn interface may include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U provides unguaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and can support / provide data transfer and flow control functions. The Xn-C provides mobility support for connected mode UE701 (e.g., CM-CONNECTED), including, among other functions, management and error handling functions, functions to manage the Xn-C interface, and functions to manage UE mobility for connected mode between one or more RAN nodes 711. Mobility support may include context transfer from the old (source) serving RAN node 711 to the new (target) serving RAN node 711 and control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) serving RAN node 711 and the new (target) serving RAN node 711. The Xn-U protocol stack may include a transport network layer built on top of the Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer and a GTP-U layer on top of the UDP and / or IP layer to carry user plane PDUs. The Xn-C protocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol (called the Xn Application Protocol (Xn-AP)) and a transport network layer built on top of SCTP. SCTP may be on top of the IP layer and may provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. Point-to-point transmission is used in the transport IP layer to deliver signaling PDUs.In other implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and / or Xn-C protocol stack may be the same as or similar to the user plane and / or control plane protocol stacks shown and described herein.

[0079] RAN710 is shown to be communicatively coupled to a core network, in this embodiment, a core network (CN)720. CN720 may comprise a plurality of network elements 722 configured to provide various data and telecommunications services to customers / subscribers (e.g., users of UE701) connected to CN720 via RAN710. The components of CN720 may be implemented on a single physical node or separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from machine-readable or computer-readable media (e.g., non-temporary machine-readable storage media). In some embodiments, NFV can be used to virtualize any or all of the above network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in more detail below). Logical instantiations of CN720 may be referred to as network slices, and some logical instantiations of CN720 may be referred to as network subslices. The NFV architecture and infrastructure may be used to virtualize one or more network functions on physical resources, including a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches, or may be run on dedicated hardware. In other words, an NFV system can be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0080] Generally, the application server 730 may be an element that provides applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTSPS domain, LTEPS data service, etc.). The application server 730 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., VoIP session, PTT session, group communication session, social networking service, etc.) for the UE701 via the EPC720.

[0081] In the embodiment, CN720 may be a 5GC (referred to as "5GC720," etc.), and RAN710 may be connected to CN720 via NG interface 713. In the embodiment, NG interface 713 can be divided into two parts: an NG user plane (NG-U) interface 714 that carries traffic data between RAN node 711 and UPF, and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface 715 that is a signaling interface between RAN node 711 and AMF. The embodiment in which CN720 is a 5GC720 will be described in more detail with reference to Figure 9.

[0082] In some embodiments, CN720 may be a 5GCN (referred to as "5GC720," etc.), and in other embodiments, CN720 may be an EPC. When CN720 is an EPC (referred to as "EPC720," etc.), RAN710 may be connected to CN720 via S1 interface 713. In some embodiments, S1 interface 713 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 714 that carries traffic data between RAN node 711 and S-GW, and an S1-MME interface 715 that is a signaling interface between RAN node 711 and MME. An exemplary architecture in which CN720 is an EPC720 is shown in Figure 8.

[0083] Figure 8 shows an exemplary architecture of system 800 including a first CN820 in various embodiments. In this example, system 800 can implement an LTE standard in which CN820 is EPC820, corresponding to CN720 in Figure 7. Furthermore, UE801 may be the same as or similar to UE701 in Figure 7, and E-UTRAN810 may be the same as or similar to RAN710 in Figure 7, and may be a RAN that includes the aforementioned RAN node 711. CN820 may comprise MME821, S-GW822, P-GW823, HSS824, and SGSN825.

[0084] The MME821 may have functions similar to the control plane of the legacy SGSN and may perform MM functions to track the current location of the UE801. The MME821 may perform various MM procedures to manage access mobility modes such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. MM (also called "EPSMM" or "EMM" in the E-UTRAN system) can refer to all applicable procedures, methods, data storage, etc., used to maintain knowledge about the current location of the UE801, provide confidentiality of user identity, and / or perform other similar services to the user / subscriber. Each UE801 and MME821 may include an MM or EMM sublayer, and an MM context may be established in the UE801 and MME821 when the attach procedure is successfully completed. The MM context may be a data structure or database object that stores MM-related information for the UE801. MME821 may be coupled to HSS824 via the S6a reference point, to SGSN825 via the S3 reference point, or to S-GW822 via the S11 reference point.

[0085] SGSN825 may be a node that services the UE801 by tracking the location of individual UE801s and performing security functions. Furthermore, among other functions, SGSN825 can perform EPC-to-node signaling for mobility between 2G / 3G and E-UTRAN 3GPP access networks, PDN and S-GW selection specified by MME821, processing of time zone functions of UE801 specified by MME821, and MME selection for handover to the E-UTRAN 3GPP access network. An S3 reference point between MME821 and SGSN825 can enable the exchange of user and bearer information for 3GPP-to-access network mobility in idle and / or active states.

[0086] The HSS824 can have a database of network users, which includes subscriber-related information to support the handling of communication sessions for network entities. The EPC820 can have one or more HSS824s depending on the number of mobile subscribers, equipment capacity, network organization, etc. For example, the HSS824 can provide support for routing / roaming, authentication, authorization, naming / addressing resolution, location dependencies, etc. An S6a reference point between the HSS824 and the MME821 can enable the transfer of subscriber and authentication data for authenticating / authorizing user access to the EPC820 between the HSS824 and the MME821.

[0087] S-GW822 may terminate the S1 interface 713 ("S1-U" in Figure 8) to RAN810 and route data packets between RAN810 and EPC820. In addition, S-GW822 may be a local mobility anchor point for RAN node handovers and may also provide an anchor for 3GPP inter-node mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, billing, and certain policy enforcement. The S11 reference point between S-GW822 and MME821 can provide a control plane between MME821 and S-GW822. S-GW822 may be coupled with P-GW823 via the S5 reference point.

[0088] The P-GW823 can terminate the SGi interface to the PDN830. The P-GW823 may route data packets between the EPC820 and an external network, such as the network containing the application server 730 (alternatively referred to as "AF"), via the IP interface 725 (see, for example, Figure 7). In embodiments, the P-GW823 can be communicably coupled to the application server (application server 730 in Figure 7 or PDN830 in Figure 8) via the IP communication interface 725 (see, for example, Figure 7). The S5 reference point between the P-GW823 and the S-GW822 may provide user plane tunneling and tunnel management between the GW823 and the S-GW822. The S5 reference point may also be used for the relocation of the S-GW822 when, due to the mobility of the UE801, the S-GW822 needs to connect to the non-collocated P-GW823 for the required PDN connectivity. P-GW823 may further include nodes for policy enforcement and billing data collection (e.g., PCEF (not shown)). In addition, the SGi reference point between P-GW823 and the packet data network (PDN) 830 may be, for example, an external public, private PDN, or an internal packet data network for providing IMS services. P-GW823 may be coupled with PCRF826 via a Gx reference point.

[0089] PCRF826 is the policy and billing control element of EPC820. In a non-roaming scenario, a single PCRF826 may exist within the Home Public Land Mobile Network (HPLMN) associated with the Internet Protocol Connectivity Access Network (IP-CAN) session of UE801. In a roaming scenario with local breakout of traffic, there may be two PCRFs associated with the IP-CAN session of UE801: a Home PCRF (H-PCRF) in the HPLMN and a Visited PCRF (V-PCRF) in the Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). PCRF826 may be communicably connected to the application server 830 via P-GW823. The application server 830 can signal PCRF826 to instruct a new service flow and select QoS and billing parameters. PCRF826 can provision this rule to a PCEF (not shown) with appropriate TFT and QCI, and initiate the QoS and billing specified by the application server 830. A Gx reference point between PCRF826 and P-GW823 may enable the transfer of QoS policies and billing rules from PCRF826 to PCEF in P-GW823. An Rx reference point may exist between PDN830 (or "AF830") and PCRF826.

[0090] Figure 9 shows the architecture of system 900 including a second CN920 in various embodiments. System 900 is shown to include UE901, which may be the same as or similar to the UE701 and UE801 described above; (R)AN910, which may be the same as or similar to the RAN710 and RAN810 described above and may include the RAN node 711 described above; DN903, which may be, for example, operator services, internet access, or third-party services; and 5GC920. 5GC920 may include AUSF922, AMF921, SMF924, NEF923, PCF926, NRF925, UDM927, AF928, UPF902, and NSSF929.

[0091] UPF902 can function as an anchor point for internal and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point interconnecting to DN903, and a branching point to support multi-homed PDU sessions. UPF902 can also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, enforce the user-plane portion of policy rules, lawfully intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform user-plane QoS processing (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL / DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), perform transport-level packet marking on uplinks and downlinks, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggers. UPF902 may include uplink classifiers to support routing traffic flows to the data network. DN903 can represent various network operator services, internet access, or third-party services. DN903 may include, or be similar to, the previously discussed application server 730. UPF902 can interact with SMF924 via an N4 reference point between SMF924 and UPF902.

[0092] AUSF922 may store data for authentication of UE901 and handle authentication-related functions. AUSF922 can facilitate a general authentication framework for various access types. AUSF922 can communicate with AMF921 via the N12 reference point between AMF921 and AUSF922, and can communicate with UDM927 via the N13 reference point between UDM927 and AUSF922. In addition, AUSF922 may represent a Nausf service-based interface.

[0093] AMF921 may be involved in registration management (e.g., to register UE901), connectivity management, reachability management, mobility management, and lawful interception of AMF-related events, as well as access authentication and authorization. AMF921 may be the endpoint of the N11 reference point between AMF921 and SMF924. AMF921 may provide transport for SM messages between UE901 and SMF924 and act as a transparent proxy for routing SM messages. AMF921 may also provide transport for SMS messages between UE901 and SMSF (not shown in Figure 9). AMF921 may function as a SEAF, which may include interaction between AUSF922 and UE901 and receiving intermediate keys established as a result of the authentication process of UE901. If USIM-based authentication is used, AMF921 may obtain security material from AUSF922. AMF921 may also include an SCM function that receives keys from the SEA to be used to derive access network-specific keys. Furthermore, AMF921 may be the termination point of the RANCP interface, and may include or be an N2 reference point between (R)AN910 and AMF921, and AMF921 may be the termination point of NAS(N1) signaling, enabling NAS encryption and integrity protection.

[0094] The AMF921 can also support NAS signaling using the UE901 via the N3IWF interface. The N3IWF can be used to provide access to untrusted entities. The N3IWF may be the endpoint of the N2 interface between the control plane's (R)AN910 and the AMF921, or the endpoint of the N3 reference point between the user plane's (R)AN910 and the UPF902. Thus, the AMF921 can handle N2 signaling from the SMF924 and AMF921 for PDU sessions and QoS, encapsulate / decapsulate packets for IPSec and N3 tunneling, mark N3 user plane packets on the uplink, and implement QoS corresponding to N3 packet marking, taking into account the QoS requirements associated with such marking received via N2. The N3IWF can also relay uplink and downlink control plane NAS signaling between the UE901 and AMF921 via the N1 reference point between the UE901 and AMF921, and can relay uplink and downlink user plane packets between the UE901 and UPF902. The N3IWF also provides a mechanism for establishing an IPsec tunnel with the UE901. The AMF921 can represent a Namf service-based interface and can be the endpoint of the N14 reference point between two AMF921s, and the N17 reference point between the AMF921 and the 5G-EIR (not shown in Figure 9).

[0095] UE901 may need to register with AMF921 to receive network services. RM is used to register or unregister UE901 with the network (e.g., AMF921) and to establish a UE context within the network (e.g., AMF921). UE901 may operate in either the RM-REGISTERED or RM-DEREGISTERED state. In the RM-DEREGISTERED state, UE901 is not registered with the network, and the UE context within AMF921 does not hold valid location or routing information for UE901, so that UE901 is not reachable by AMF921. In the RM-REGISTERED state, UE901 is registered with the network, and the UE context within AMF921 can hold valid location or routing information for UE901, so that UE901 is reachable by AMF921. In the RM-REGISTERED state, among other things, UE901 may perform mobility registration update procedures, periodic registration update procedures triggered by the expiration of a periodic update timer (for example, to notify the network that UE901 is still active), update UE capability information, or perform registration update procedures to renegotiate network and protocol parameters.

[0096] The AMF921 can store one or more RM contexts for the UE901, each RM context associated with a specific access to the network. The RM context may, among other things, be a data structure, database object, etc., that indicates or stores registration status and periodic update timers for each access type. The AMF921 may also store a 5GCMM context, which may be the same as or similar to the (E)MM context described above. In various embodiments, the AMF921 can store the CE mode B restriction parameters of the UE901 in the associated MM context or RM context. The AMF921 may also, if necessary, derive values ​​from UE usage configuration parameters already stored in the UE context (and / or MM / RM context).

[0097] The CM may be used to establish and release signaling connections between the UE901 and the AMF921 via the N1 interface. The signaling connections are used to enable NAS signaling exchange between the UE901 and the CN920 and include both signaling connections between the UE and the AN (e.g., RRC connection for non-3GPP access or UE-N3IWF connection) and the N2 connection for the UE901 between the AN (e.g., RAN910) and the AMF921. The UE901 may operate in one of two CM states: CM-IDLE mode or CM-CONNECTED mode. When the UE901 is operating in the CM-IDLE state / mode, the UE901 does not need to have an established NAS signaling connection with the AMF921 via the N1 interface, and there may be (R)AN910 signaling connections for the UE901 (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connections). When UE901 is operating in CM-CONNECTED state / mode, UE901 may have an established NAS signaling connection with AMF921 via the N1 interface, and may also have (R)AN910 signaling connections for UE901 (e.g., N2 and / or N3 connections). Establishment of an N2 connection between (R)AN910 and AMF921 can cause UE901 to transition from CM-IDLE mode to CM-CONNECTED mode, and UE901 can transition from CM-CONNECTED mode to CM-IDLE mode when the N2 signaling between (R)AN910 and AMF921 is released.

[0098] SMF924 may be involved in SM (e.g., establishing, modifying, and releasing sessions, including maintaining tunnels between UPF and AN nodes), UE IP address allocation and management (including optional authorization), selection and control of UP functions, configuring traffic steering in UPF to route traffic to appropriate destinations, terminating interfaces toward policy control functions, controlling policy enforcement and some QoS, lawful interception (of SM events and interfaces to LI systems), terminating the SM portion of NAS messages, downlink data notification, initiating AN-specific SM information sent to AN via AMF on N2, and determining the SSC mode of a session. SM can refer to the management of PDU sessions, and PDU sessions or “session” can refer to PDU connectivity services that perform or enable the exchange of PDUs between UE901 and data network (DN)903 identified by a data network name (DNN). A PDU session is established upon a UE901 request, modified in response to UE901 and 5GC920 requests, and can be released upon UE901 and 5GC920 requests using NAS SM signaling exchanged via the N1 reference point between UE901 and SMF924. 5GC920 may trigger a specific application in UE901 upon a request from an application server. In response to receiving a trigger message, UE901 may pass the trigger message (or relevant parts / information of the trigger message) to one or more identified applications within UE901. These identified applications within UE901 can establish a PDU session to a specific DNN. SMF924 can check whether a UE901 request conforms to the user subscription information associated with UE901. In this regard, SMF924 may request to obtain and / or receive update notifications regarding SMF924-level subscription data from UDM927.

[0099] The SMF924 may include the following roaming functions: local enforcement processing for applying QoS SLA (VPLMN), billing data collection and billing interface (VPLMN), lawful interception (within the VPLMN of SM events and interfaces to the LI system), and support for interaction with external DNs for the transmission of signaling for authorization / authentication of PDU sessions by external DNs. An N16 reference point between two SMF924s may be included in system 900, which may be between another SMF924 in a visited network and an SMF924 in the home network in a roaming scenario. In addition, the SMF924 may represent an Nsmf service-based interface.

[0100] NEF923 may provide means for securely exposing services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third parties, internal exposure / re-exposure, application functions (e.g., AF928), edge computing, or fog computing systems. In such embodiments, NEF923 can authenticate, authorize, and / or slow down AFs. NEF923 may also translate information exchanged with AF928 and information exchanged with internal network functions. For example, NEF923 can translate between AF service identifiers and internal 5GC information. NEF923 may also receive information from other network functions (NFs) based on the capabilities exposed by those other network functions. This information may be stored in NEF923 as structured data or in data storage NFs using a standardized interface. The stored information can then be re-exposed by NEF923 to other NFs and AFs and / or used for other purposes such as analysis. Furthermore, NEF923 can present an Nnef service-based interface.

[0101] The NRF925 supports service discovery functionality, receiving NF discovery requests from NF instances and providing NF instances with information about discovered NF instances. The NRF925 also maintains information about available NF instances and their supported services. As used herein, terms such as “instance” and “instantiation” can refer to the creation of an instance, and “instance” can refer to the specific occurrence of an object that may occur, for example, during the execution of program code. In addition, the NRF925 can represent an Nnrf service-based interface.

[0102] The PCF926 can provide and enforce policy rules for control plane functions (one or more), and can also support an integrated policy framework to control network behavior. The PCF926 may also implement a FE to access subscription information related to policy decisions in the UDR of the UDM927. The PCF926 can communicate with the AMF921 via the N15 reference point between the PCF926 and the AMF921, and in roaming scenarios, this may include PCF926 and AMF921 in the visited network. The PCF926 may communicate with the AF928 via the N5 reference point between the PCF926 and the AF928, and may communicate with the SMF924 via the N7 reference point between the PCF926 and the SMF924. System 900 and / or CN920 may also include an N24 reference point between the PCF926 (in the home network) and the PCF926 in the visited network. Furthermore, the PCF926 can present an Npcf service-based interface.

[0103] UDM927 can process subscriber-related information to support the processing of communication sessions for network entities and can store subscriber data for UE901. For example, subscriber data may be communicated between UDM927 and AMF921 via an N8 reference point between UDM927 and AMF921. UDM927 can include two parts: application FE and UDR (FE and UDR are not shown in Figure 9). UDR can store structured data for subscriber and policy data for UDM927 and PCF926, and / or exposure and application data for NEF923 (including PFD for application discovery and application request information for multiple UE901). A Nudr service-based interface may be presented by UDR221 to enable UDM927, PCF926, and NEF923 to access specific sets of stored data, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notifications of relevant data changes in UDR. The UDM may include a UDM FE responsible for processing credentials, location management, and enrollment management. Several different frontends can serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authorization credential processing, user identification processing, access permission, enrollment / mobility management, and subscription management. The UDR can interact with the SMF924 via an N10 reference point between the UDM927 and the SMF924. The UDM927 can also support SMS management, and the SMS-FE implements application logic similar to that described above. In addition, the UDM927 may represent a Nudm service-based interface.

[0104] AF928 can influence traffic routing applications, provide access to NCE, and interact with policy frameworks for policy control. NCE may also be a mechanism that allows 5GC920 and AF928 to exchange information with each other via NEF923, which can be used in edge computing implementations. In such an implementation, network operators and third-party services can be hosted in proximity to the access points of the UE901 attachment, achieving efficient service delivery with reduced end-to-end latency and load on the transport network. In an edge computing implementation, 5GC can select a UPF902 adjacent to the UE901 and perform traffic steering from UPF902 to DN903 via the N6 interface. This may be based on UE join data, UE location, and information provided by AF928. In this way, AF928 can influence UPF (re)selection and traffic routing. When AF928 is considered a trusted entity based on operator deployment, the network operator can allow AF928 to directly interact with the relevant NF. Furthermore, AF928 can present a Naf service-based interface.

[0105] NSSF929 can select a set of network slice instances to serve UE901. NSSF929 can also, if necessary, determine mappings to authorized NSSAI and subscribed S-NSSAI. NSSF929 can also determine a list of AMF sets, or candidate AMFs, 921 used to serve UE901, by querying NRF925, depending on the preferred configuration. The selection of a set of network slice instances for UE901 may also be triggered by an AMF921, to which UE901 registers by interacting with NSSF929, which may lead to changes. NSS929 can interact with AMF921 via the N22 reference point between AMF921 and NSS929. It can communicate with another NSS929 in the visited network via the N31 reference point (not shown in Figure 9). Furthermore, NSSF929 can present an NNSSF service-based interface.

[0106] As mentioned above, CN920 may include an SMSF that is involved in SMS join checks and verification and can relay SM messages between UE901 and other entities such as SMS-GMSC / IWMSC / SMS routers. SMS can also interact with AMF921 and UDM927 for notification procedures to indicate that UE901 is available for SMS forwarding (e.g., setting a flag that the UE is unreachable and notifying UDM927 if UE901 is available for SMS).

[0107] CN120 may also include other elements not shown in Figure 9, such as a data storage system / architecture, 5G-EIR, and SEPP. The data storage system may include an SDSF, UDSF, etc. Any NF can store unstructured data in and retrieve it from a UDSF (e.g., a UE context) via an N18 reference point (not shown in Figure 9) between any NF and a UDSF. Individual NFs can share a UDSF to store each piece of unstructured data, or each individual NF may have its own UDSF located in or near its own NF. Furthermore, a UDSF may present a Nudsf service-based interface (not shown in Figure 9). The 5G-EIR may be an NF that checks the status of a PEI to determine whether a particular device / entity is blacklisted from the network, and the SEPP may be an opaque proxy that performs topology hiding, message filtering, and policing on the PLMN-to-PLMN control plane interface.

[0108] Furthermore, there may be more reference points and / or service-based interfaces between NF services within an NF. However, these interfaces and reference points are omitted from Figure 9 for clarity. For example, CN920 may include an Nx interface, which is an inter-CN interface between the MME (e.g., MME821) and AMF921, to enable interworking between CN920 and CN820. Other exemplary interfaces / reference points may include the N5g-EIR service-based interface presented by the 5G-EIR, the N27 reference point between the NRF in the visited network and the NRF in the home network, and the N31 reference point between the NSSF in the visited network and the NSSF in the home network.

[0109] Figure 10 shows illustrative components of infrastructure equipment 1000 in various embodiments. Infrastructure equipment 1000 (or "System 1000") can be implemented as a base station, a radio head, RAN nodes such as RAN node 711 and / or AP706 described above, application server 730, and / or any other elements / devices described herein. In other examples, System 1000 may be implemented in or by the UE.

[0110] System 1000 includes an application circuit 1005, a baseband circuit 1010, one or more radio front-end modules (RFEMs) 1015, a memory circuit 1020, a power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 1025, a power T circuit 1030, a network controller circuit 1035, a network interface connector 1040, a satellite positioning circuit 1045, and a user interface 1050. In some embodiments, device 1000 may include additional elements such as memory / storage, a display, a camera, a sensor, or an input / output (I / O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in two or more devices. For example, the circuit may be included separately in two or more devices for a CRAN, vBBU, or other similar implementation.

[0111] Application circuit 1005 may include, but is not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and low dropout regulators (LDOs), interrupt controllers, SPI, I 2The application circuit 1005 includes one or more circuits such as a serial interface, including a C or Universal Programmable Serial Interface Module; a timer counter including a Real-Time Clock (RTC), interval and watchdog timers; general-purpose input / output (I / O or IO); a memory card controller such as a Secure Digital (SD) Multimedia Card (MMC); a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface; a Mobile Industrial Processor Interface (MIPI) interface; and a Joint Test Access Group (JTAG) test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuit 1005 may be coupled to or include memory / storage elements and may be configured to execute instructions stored in memory / storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the system 1000. In some implementations, the memory / storage elements may be on-chip memory circuits, which may include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory, and / or any other type of memory device technology as described herein.

[0112] The processor of application circuit 1005 may include, for example, one or more processor cores (CPUs), one or more application processors, one or more graphics processing units (GPUs), one or more reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISC machine (ARM) processors, one or more composite instruction set computing (CISC) processors, one or more digital signal processors (DSPs), one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, or any preferred combination thereof. In some embodiments, application circuit 1005 may include a dedicated processor / controller operating according to various embodiments herein, or may be a dedicated processor / controller. For example, the processor of application circuit 1005 may include one or more Intel Pentium®, Core®, or Xeon® processors, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen® processors, Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), or Epyc® processors, ARM-based processors provided by ARM Holdings, Ltd. such as the ARM Cortex-A family of processors, and MIPS-based designs provided by MIPS Technologies, Inc. such as ThunderX2®, MIPS Warrior, or P-class processors provided by Cavium® Inc. In some embodiments, system 1000 may not utilize application circuit 1005 and instead may include, for example, a dedicated processor / controller for processing IP data received from EPC or 5GC.

[0113] In some implementations, the application circuit 1005 may include one or more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, etc. These one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, computer vision (CV) and / or deep learning (DL) accelerators. For example, the programmable processing device may include one or more field-programmable devices (FPDs), such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), such as composite PLDs (CPLDs) and high-capacitance PLDs (HCPLDs), ASICs, such as structured ASICs, and programmable SoCs (PSoCs). In such implementations, the circuitry of the application circuit 1005 may include logic blocks or logic fabrics, and other interconnected resources that can be programmed to perform various functions, such as procedures, methods, and functions of the various embodiments described herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of the application circuit 1005 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random access memory (SRAM), antifuse, etc.)) used to store logic blocks, logic fabric, data, etc. in a lookup table (LUT).

[0114] The baseband circuit 1010 may be implemented, for example, as a soldering board containing one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Various hardware electronic elements of the baseband circuit 1010 are described below with reference to Figure 12.

[0115] The user interface circuit 1050 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with the system 1000, or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interaction with the system 1000. The user interface may include, but is not limited to, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), one or more indicators (e.g., light-emitting diodes (LEDs)), a physical keyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, a speaker or other audio light-emitting device, a microphone, a printer, a scanner, a headset, a display screen or display device, etc. The peripheral component interface may include, but is not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power interface, etc.

[0116] The wireless front-end module (RFEM) 1015 may include a millimeter-wave (millimeter-wave) RFEM and one or more submillimeter-wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, one or more submillimeter-wave RFICs may be physically separated from the millimeter-wave RFEM. The RFICs may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, for example, antenna array 1211 in Figure 12 below), and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both millimeter-wave and submillimeter-wave radio functions may be implemented within the same physical RFEM 1015 incorporating both millimeter-wave and submillimeter-wave antennas.

[0117] The memory circuit 1020 may include one or more volatile memories, including dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and / or synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), and non-volatile memories (NVM), including high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly called flash memory), phase-change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc., and may incorporate Intel® and Micron® three-dimensional (3D) crosspoint (XPOINT) memory. The memory circuit 1020 may be implemented as one or more solder-packaged integrated circuits, socket memory modules, and plug-in memory cards.

[0118] The PMIC1025 may include a voltage regulator, a surge protector, a power alarm detection circuit, and one or more backup power sources such as a battery or capacitor. The power alarm detection circuit may detect one or more of the brownout (undervoltage) and surge (overvoltage) conditions. The power T circuit 1030 can supply power drawn from the network cable to provide both power and data connectivity to the infrastructure equipment 1000 using a single cable.

[0119] The network controller circuit 1035 can provide network connectivity using standard network interface protocols such as Ethernet, Ethernet over a GRE tunnel, Ethernet over Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS), or any other suitable protocol. Network connectivity may be provided to and from infrastructure equipment 1000 via the network interface connector 1040 using physical connections that may be electrical (commonly referred to as "copper wiring"), optical, or wireless. The network controller circuit 1035 may include one or more dedicated processors and / or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the network controller circuit 1035 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

[0120] The positioning circuit 1045 includes circuits for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcast by a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) positioning network. Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include the US Global Positioning System (GPS), Russia's Global Navigation System (GLONASS), the European Union's Galileo system, China's Beidou Navigation Satellite System, regional navigation systems, or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., navigation by Indian Constellation (NAVIC), Japan's Quasi-Zenith Satellite System (QZSS), France's Doppler Orbitography and Radio Positioning Integrated by Satellite (DORIS)). The positioning circuit 1045 includes various hardware elements for communicating with components of the positioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes (e.g., hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, and antenna elements to facilitate OTA communication). In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 1045 may include a Micro-Technology for Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (Micro-PNT) IC for performing position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance using a master timing clock. The positioning circuit 1045 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 1010 and / or RFEM 1015 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 1045 may also provide position data and / or time data to the application circuit 1005, which can use the data to synchronize its operation with various infrastructure (e.g., RAN node 711, etc.).

[0121] The components shown in Figure 10 can communicate with each other using interface circuits that include any number of bus and / or interconnect (IX) technologies, such as industry standard architecture (ISA), extended ISA (EISA), peripheral component interconnect (PCI), extended peripheral component interconnect (PCIx), PCI Express (PCIe), or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus used, for example, in an SoC-based system. In particular, 2 Other bus / IX systems may include C interfaces, SPI interfaces, point-to-point interfaces, and power buses.

[0122] Figure 11 shows an example of platform 1100 (or "device 1100") according to various embodiments. In embodiments, the computer platform 1100 may be suitable for use as UE 701, 801, application server 730, and / or any other elements / devices described herein. Platform 1100 may include any combination of the components shown in the embodiments. The components of platform 1100 may be implemented as integrated circuits (ICs) adapted for computer platform 1100, parts thereof, individual electronic devices, or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof, or as components incorporated into the chassis of a larger system. The block diagram in Figure 11 is intended to show a high-level diagram of the components of platform 1100. However, some of the components shown may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the components shown may occur in other implementation forms.

[0123] The application circuit 1105 is not limited to these, but may include one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one or more LDOs, interrupt controllers, SPIs, and I 2The application circuit 1105 includes circuits such as a serial interface, including an RTC, an interval and watchdog timer, a timer counter, general-purpose I / O, a memory card controller such as an SD MMC, a USB interface, a MIPI interface, and a JTAG test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuit 1105 may be coupled to memory / storage devices or may include memory / storage elements and may be configured to execute instructions stored in memory / storage devices to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the system 1100. In some implementations, the memory / storage elements may be on-chip memory circuits, which may include any suitable volatile and / or non-volatile memory such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid-state memory, and / or any other type of memory device technology as described herein.

[0124] The processor of the application circuit 1105 may include, for example, one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one or more GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, one or more CISC processors, one or more DSPs, one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, multithreaded processors, ultra-low voltage processors, embedded processors, several other known processing elements, or any preferred combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuit 1005 may include, or may not be, a dedicated processor / controller operating according to various embodiments herein.

[0125] For example, the processor in application circuit 1105 may include an Intel® Architecture Core®-based processor such as Quark®, Atom®, i3, i5, i7, or an MCU-class processor, or another such processor available from Intel® Corporation in Santa Clara, California. The processor in application circuit 1105 may also be one or more of the following: Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) Ryzen® processors or Accelerated Processing Units (APUs), Apple® Inc.'s A5-A9 processors, Qualcomm® Technologies, Inc.'s Snapdragon® processors, Texas Instruments, Inc.'s Open Multimedia Applications Platform (OMAP)® processors, MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, Inc. such as MIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors, ARM-based designs licensed from ARM Holdings such as ARM Cortex-A, Cortex-R, and Cortex-M families of processors, or similar. In some implementations, application circuit 1105 may be part of a system-on-a-chip (SoC) where application circuit 1105 and other components are formed as a single integrated circuit or as part of a single package such as an Intel® Corporation Edison® or Galileo® SoC board.

[0126] Additionally or alternatively, the application circuit 1105 may include, but is not limited to, one or more field-programmable devices (FPDs) such as FPGAs, programmable logic devices (PLDs) such as composite PLDs (CPLDs) and high-capacitance PLDs (HCPLDs), ASICs such as structured ASICs, and programmable SoCs (PSoCs). In such embodiments, the circuit of the application circuit 1105 may include logic blocks or logic fabrics and other interconnected resources that can be programmed to perform various functions such as procedures, methods, and functions of the various embodiments described herein. In such embodiments, the circuit of the application circuit 1105 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., static random-access memory (SRAM), antifuse, etc.)) used to store logic blocks, logic fabrics, data, etc. in a lookup table (LUT).

[0127] The baseband circuit 1110 may be implemented, for example, as a soldering board containing one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Various hardware electronic elements of the baseband circuit 1110 are described below with reference to Figure 12.

[0128] The RFEM1115 may include a millimeter-wave RFEM and one or more submillimeter-wave radio frequency integrated circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, one or more submillimeter-wave RFICs may be physically separated from the millimeter-wave RFEM. The RFICs may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, for example, antenna array 1211 in Figure 12 below), and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. In alternative implementations, both millimeter-wave and submillimeter-wave radio functions may be implemented within the same physical RFEM1115 incorporating both millimeter-wave and submillimeter-wave antennas.

[0129] The memory circuit 1120 may include any number and types of memory devices used to provide a given amount of system memory. For example, the memory circuit 1120 may include one or more volatile memories, including dumb access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), and / or synchronous dynamic RAM (SDRAM), as well as non-volatile memories (NVM), including high-speed electrically erasable memory (commonly called flash memory), phase-change random access memory (PRAM), magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuit 1120 may be developed according to the Joint Electron Devices Engineering Council (JEDEC) low-power double data rate (LPDDR) based designs, such as LPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, etc. The memory circuit 1120 may be implemented as one or more soldered-on integrated circuits, single-die packages (SDP), dual-die packages (DDP) or quad-die packages (Q17P), socket-type memory modules, dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) including microDIMMs or miniDIMMs, and / or soldered onto a motherboard via a ball grid array (BGA). In low-power implementations, the memory circuit 1120 may be an on-die memory or register associated with the application circuit 1105. To provide persistent storage of information such as data, applications, and operating systems, the memory circuit 1120 may include one or more mass storage devices, including, among others, solid-state disk drives (SSDDs), hard disk drives (HDDs), micro HDDs, resistive random-access memory, phase-change memory, holographic memory, or chemical memory. For example, the computer platform 1100 may incorporate three-dimensional (3D) crosspoint (XPOINT) memory from Intel® and Micron®.

[0130] The removable memory circuit 1123 may include devices, circuits, enclosures / casings, ports or receptacles used to connect portable data storage devices to the platform 1100. These portable data storage devices can be used for high-capacity storage purposes and may include, for example, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, microSD cards, xD Image cards, etc.), as well as USB flash drives, optical discs, external HDDs, etc.

[0131] Platform 1100 may also include interface circuits (not shown) used to connect external devices to platform 1100. External devices connected to platform 1100 via the interface circuits include sensor circuits 1121 and electromechanical components (EMC) 1122, as well as removable memory devices coupled to removable memory circuits 1123.

[0132] The sensor circuit 1121 includes a device, module, or subsystem whose purpose is to detect an event or change in its environment and to transmit information about the detected event (sensor data) to other devices, modules, subsystems, etc. Examples of such sensors include, among others, inertial measuring units (IMUs) including accelerometers, gyroscopes, and / or magnetometers; microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) or nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) equipped with a 3-axis accelerometer, a 3-axis gyroscope, and / or magnetometer; level sensors, flow sensors, temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors); pressure sensors, barometric pressure sensors; gravimeters; altimeters; image capture devices (e.g., cameras or lensless apertures); light-detection ranging (LiDAR) sensors; proximity sensors (e.g., infrared detectors, etc.); depth sensors; ambient light sensors; ultrasonic transceivers; microphones or other similar audio capture devices.

[0133] EMC1122 includes devices, modules, or subsystems intended to enable platform 1100 to change its state, position, and / or orientation, or to move or control a mechanism or (sub)system. Furthermore, EMC1122 may be configured to generate and transmit messages / signaling to other components of platform 1100 to indicate the current state of EMC1122. Examples of EMC1122 include one or more power switches, relays including electromechanical relays (EMRs) and / or solid-state relays (SSRs), actuators (e.g., valve actuators), audible sound generators, visual warning devices, motors (e.g., DC motors, stepper motors), wheels, thrusters, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks, and / or other similar electromechanical components. In embodiments, platform 1100 is configured to operate one or more EMC1122 based on one or more captured events and / or commands or control signals received from service providers and / or various clients.

[0134] In some implementations, the interface circuit may connect the platform 1100 to the positioning circuit 1145. The positioning circuit 1145 includes circuitry for receiving and decoding signals transmitted / broadcast by the GNSS positioning network. Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include the US GPS, Russia's GLONASS, the European Union's Galileo system, China's Beidou navigation satellite system, regional navigation systems, or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., NAVIC, Japan's QZSS, France's DORIS, etc.). The positioning circuit 1145 includes various hardware elements for communicating with components of the positioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes (e.g., hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, and antenna elements to facilitate OTA communication). In some embodiments, the positioning circuit 1145 may include a Micro-PNT IC for performing position tracking / estimation without GNSS assistance using a master timing clock. The positioning circuit 1145 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuit 1010 and / or RFEM 1115 to communicate with nodes and components of the positioning network. The positioning circuit 1145 may also provide location data and / or time data to the application circuit 1105, which may use the data to synchronize its operation with various infrastructure (e.g., radio base stations) for turn-by-turn navigation applications.

[0135] In some implementations, the interface circuit may connect the platform 1100 to a Near Field Communication (NFC) circuit 1140. The NFC circuit 1140 is configured to provide contactless short-range communication based on the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) standard, and magnetic field induction is used to enable communication between the NFC circuit 1140 and an NFC-enabled device outside the platform 1100 (e.g., an "NFC touchpoint"). The NFC circuit 1140 comprises an NFC controller coupled to an antenna element and a processor coupled to the NFC controller. The NFC controller may be a chip / IC that provides NFC functionality to the NFC circuit 1140 by running NFC controller firmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack may be run by the processor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmware may be run by the NFC controller to control the antenna element to radiate a near-range RF signal. The RF signal can power a passive NFC tag (e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transmit stored data to the NFC circuit 1140, or initiate data transmission between the NFC circuit 1140 adjacent to the platform 1100 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphone or NFC-enabled POS terminal).

[0136] The driver circuit 1146 may include software and hardware elements that operate to control specific devices that are integrated into, mounted on, or otherwise communicatively coupled to the platform 1100. The driver circuit 1146 may include individual drivers that enable other components of the platform 1100 to interact with or control various input / output (I / O) devices that are present in or may be connected to the platform 1100. For example, the driver circuit 1146 may include a display driver for controlling and allowing access to a display device, a touchscreen driver for controlling and allowing access to the touchscreen interface of the platform 1100, a sensor driver for acquiring sensor readings from the sensor circuit 1121 and controlling and allowing access to the sensor circuit 1121, an EMC driver for acquiring actuator positions from the EMC 1122 and / or controlling and allowing access to the EMC 1122, a camera driver for controlling and allowing access to an embedded capture device, and an audio driver for controlling and allowing access to one or more audio devices.

[0137] The power management integrated circuit (PMIC) 1125 (also called the “power management circuit 1125”) can manage the power supplied to various components of platform 1100. Specifically, with respect to the baseband circuit 1110, the PMIC 1125 can control power source selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion. If platform 1100 is powered by battery 1130, for example, if this device is included in UE701, 801, then the PMIC 1125 may often be included.

[0138] In some embodiments, the PMIC 1125 can control or otherwise be part of various power-saving mechanisms of platform 1100. For example, if platform 1100 is in the RRC_Connected state and is still connected to a RAN node because it is expected to receive traffic soon, after a period of inactivity, the platform can enter a state known as discontinuous receive mode (DRX). During this state, platform 1100 can briefly reduce power, thereby saving energy. If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period, platform 1100 can transition to the RRC_Idle state, disconnect from the network, and not perform operations such as channel quality feedback or handover. Platform 1100 enters a very low power state, performs paging, wakes up again periodically to listen to the network, and then powers down again. Platform 1100 does not need to receive data in this state. To receive data, it must transition to the RRC_Connected state. An additional power-saving mode may allow the device to disable the network for a longer period than the paging interval (ranging from seconds to several hours). During this time, the device can be completely disconnected from the network and have its power cut off entirely. Any data transmitted during this time will experience a significant delay, which is assumed to be acceptable.

[0139] The battery 1130 can supply power to the platform 1100, although in some examples the platform 1100 may be mounted in a fixed position or have a power source connected to a power grid. The battery 1130 may be a lithium-ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, or a lithium-air battery. In some implementations, such as V2X applications, the battery 1130 may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

[0140] In some implementations, the battery 1130 may include a Battery Management System (BMS) or a battery monitoring integrated circuit, or be a “smart battery” coupled thereto. The BMS may be included in the platform 1100 to track the charge state (SoCh) of the battery 1130. The BMS may also be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 1130 to provide fault predictions such as the health state (SoH) and functional state (SoF) of the battery 1130. The BMS may communicate information about the battery 1130 to the application circuit 1105 or other components of the platform 1100. The BMS may also include an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter that allows the application circuit 1105 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 1130 or the current flow from the battery 1130. Battery parameters may be used to determine the operations that the platform 1100 can perform, such as the transmit frequency, network operation, and sensing frequency.

[0141] A power block, or another power source coupled to the electrical grid, may be coupled to the BMS to charge the battery 1130. In some embodiments, the power block may be replaced with a wireless power receiver, which can wirelessly acquire power, for example, via a loop antenna in a computer platform 1100. In these embodiments, a wireless battery charging circuit may be included in the BMS. The specific charging circuit selected may depend on the size of the battery 1130 and therefore the current required. Charging can be performed using, among other things, the Airfuel standard published by the Airfuel Alliance, the Qi wireless charging standard published by the Wireless Power Consortium, or the Rezence charging standard published by the Alliance for Wireless Power.

[0142] The user interface circuit 1150 includes various input / output (I / O) devices located within or connected to the platform 1100, and may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with the platform 1100, and / or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interaction with the platform 1100. The user interface circuit 1150 includes an input device circuit and an output device circuit. The input device circuit includes, among other things, any physical or virtual means for receiving input, including one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touchscreen, a microphone, a scanner, a headset, etc. The output device circuit includes any physical or virtual means for displaying information, such as sensor readings, actuator positions, or other similar information, or for conveying information in other ways. The output device circuit may include any number and / or combination of audio or visual displays, including, among other things, one or more simple visual outputs / indicators (e.g., light-emitting diodes (LEDs)) and multi-digit character visual outputs, or more complex outputs such as display devices or touchscreens (e.g., liquid crystal displays (LCDs), LED displays, quantum dot displays, projectors, etc.), and outputs such as characters, graphics, multimedia objects are generated from the operation of platform 1100. The output device circuit may also include speakers or other audio emitting devices, printers, and / or similar. In some embodiments, the sensor circuit 1121 may be used as an input device circuit (e.g., an image capture device, a motion capture device, etc.), and one or more EMCs may be used as output device circuits (e.g., actuators for providing haptic feedback, etc.). In another embodiment, an NFC circuit with an NFC controller coupled to an antenna element and a processing device may be included for reading electronic tags and / or connecting to another NFC-enabled device.Peripheral component interfaces include, but are not limited to, non-volatile memory ports, USB ports, audio jacks, and power interfaces.

[0143] Although not shown, the components of platform 1100 can communicate with each other using appropriate bus or interconnection (IX) technology, which may include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI, PCIx, PCIe, Time Trigger Protocol (TTP) systems, FlexRay systems, or any number of other technologies. The bus / IX may be a proprietary bus / IX used in, for example, an SoC-based system. 2 Other bus / IX systems may include C interfaces, SPI interfaces, point-to-point interfaces, and power buses.

[0144] Figure 12 shows exemplary components of the baseband circuit 1210 and the radio front-end module (RFEM) 1215 according to various embodiments. The baseband circuit 1210 corresponds to the baseband circuits 1010 and 1110 in Figures 10 and 11, respectively. The RFEM 1215 corresponds to the RFEMs 1015 and 1115 in Figures 10 and 11, respectively. As shown, the RFEM 1215 may include at least a radio frequency (RF) circuit 1206, a front-end module (FEM) circuit 1208, and an antenna array 1211 coupled together as shown.

[0145] The baseband circuit 1210 includes circuitry and / or control logic configured to perform various radio / network protocols and radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuit 1206. Radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation / demodulation, coding / decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, the modulation / demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuit 1210 may include fast Fourier transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping / demapping functions. In some embodiments, the coding / decoding circuitry of the baseband circuit 1210 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, or low-density parity check (LDPC) encoder / decoder functions. Embodiments of modulation / demodulation and encoder / decoder functions are not limited to these embodiments, and other embodiments may include other suitable functions. The baseband circuit 1210 is configured to process baseband signals received from the receiving signal path of the RF circuit 1206 and generate baseband signals for the transmitting signal path of the RF circuit 1206. The baseband circuit 1210 is configured to interface with the application circuits 1005 / 1105 (see Figures 10 and 11) for generating and processing baseband signals and for controlling the operation of the RF circuit 1206. The baseband circuit 1210 can handle various radio control functions.

[0146] The aforementioned circuitry and / or control logic of the baseband circuit 1210 may include one or more single or multicore processors. For example, one or more processors may include a 3G baseband processor 1204A, a 4G / LTE baseband processor 1204B, a 5G / NR baseband processor 1204C, or several other baseband processors 1204D of existing, developing, or future generations (e.g., 6th generation (6G)). In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 1204A-1204D may be contained in modules stored in memory 1204G and executed via a central processing unit (CPU) 1204E. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of the baseband processors 1204A-1204D may be provided as hardware accelerators (e.g., FPGAs, ASICs, etc.) loaded with appropriate bitstreams or logic blocks stored in the corresponding memory cells. In various embodiments, memory 1204G can store program code for a real-time operating system (RTOS) that, when executed by the CPU 1204E (or other baseband processor), causes the CPU 1204E (or other baseband processor) to manage resources, schedule tasks, and so on for the baseband circuit 1210. Examples of RTOS include Operating System Embedded (OSE) (trademark) provided by Enea®, Nucleus RTOS (trademark) provided by Mentor Graphics®, Versatile Real-Time Executive (VRTX) provided by Mentor Graphics®, ThreadX (trademark) provided by Express Logic®, FreeRTOS, REX OS provided by Qualcomm®, OKL4 provided by Open Kernel (OK)Labs®, or any other suitable RTOS as described herein. Furthermore, the baseband circuit 1210 may include one or more audio digital signal processors (DSPs) 1204F.The audio DSP(s) 1204F may include elements for compression / decompression and echo removal, and in other embodiments, it may include other preferred processing elements.

[0147] In some embodiments, each of the processors 1204A to 1204E includes its own memory interface for sending and receiving data to and from memory 1204G. The baseband circuit 1210 may further include one or more interfaces that communicate with other circuits / devices, such as interfaces for sending and receiving data to and from memory outside the baseband circuit 1210; an application circuit interface for sending and receiving data to and from application circuits 1005 / 1105 in Figures 10 to 11; an RF circuit interface for sending and receiving data to and from RF circuit 1206 in Figure 12; a wireless hardware connection interface for sending and receiving data to and from one or more wireless hardware elements (e.g., near-field communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® / Bluetooth® low-energy components, Wi-Fi® components, and / or similar); and a power management interface for sending and receiving power or control signals to and from PMIC 1125.

[0148] In alternative embodiments (which may be combined with the embodiments described above), the baseband circuit 1210 includes one or more digital baseband systems coupled to a CPU subsystem, an audio subsystem, and an interface subsystem via interconnect subsystems. The digital baseband subsystems may also be coupled to a digital baseband interface and a mixed-signal baseband subsystem via another interconnect subsystem. Each of the interconnect subsystems may include several other preferred bus or interconnect technologies, such as bus systems, point-to-point connections, network-on-chip (NOC) structures, and / or those discussed herein. The audio subsystem may include DSP circuits, buffer memory, program memory, audio processing accelerator circuits, data conversion circuits such as analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters, analog circuits including one or more amplifiers and filters, and / or other similar components. In one aspect of the present disclosure, the baseband circuit 1210 may include a protocol processing circuit having one or more instances of a control circuit (not shown) to provide control functions for the digital baseband circuit and / or radio frequency circuit (e.g., radio front-end module 1215).

[0149] Although not shown in Figure 12, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1210 includes one or more individual processing units for executing one or more wireless communication protocols (e.g., a "multiprotocol baseband processor" or "protocol processing circuit mechanism") and one or more individual processing units for implementing PHY layer functions. In these embodiments, the PHY layer functions include the radio control functions described above. In these embodiments, the protocol processing circuit operates or implements various protocol layers / entities of one or more wireless communication protocols. In the first embodiment, the protocol processing circuit can operate LTE protocol entities and / or 5G / NR protocol entities when the baseband circuit 1210 and / or RF circuit 1206 are part of a millimeter-wave communication circuit or some other suitable cellular communication circuit. In the first embodiment, the protocol processing circuit operates MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, RRC, and NAS functions. In the second embodiment, the protocol processing circuit may operate one or more IEEE-based protocols when the baseband circuit 1210 and / or RF circuit 1206 are part of a Wi-Fi communication system. In the second embodiment, the protocol processing circuit operates the Wi-Fi MAC and Logical Link Control (LLC) functions. The protocol processing circuit may include one or more memory structures (e.g., 1204G) for storing program code and data for operating the protocol functions, and one or more processing cores that execute the program code and perform various operations using the data. The baseband circuit 1210 can also support wireless communication regarding two or more radio protocols.

[0150] The various hardware elements of the baseband circuit 1210 discussed herein may be implemented, for example, as a soldering board containing one or more integrated circuits (ICs), a single package IC soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more ICs. In one embodiment, the components of the baseband circuit 1210 may be suitably combined within a single chip or chipset, or they may be arranged on the same circuit board. In another embodiment, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 1210 and the RF circuit 1206 may be implemented together, for example, in a system-on-a-chip (SoC) or system-in-package (SiP). In yet another embodiment, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 1210 may be implemented as a separate SoC communicatively coupled with the RF circuit 1206 (or multiple instances of the RF circuit 1206). In yet another embodiment, some or all of the components of the baseband circuit 1210 and the application circuits 1005 / 1105 may be implemented together as individual SoCs mounted on the same circuit board (e.g., a "multi-chip package").

[0151] In some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1210 can provide communication compatible with one or more wireless technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuit 1210 can support communication with E-UTRAN or other WMAN, WLAN, or WPAN. Embodiments in which the baseband circuit 1210 is configured to support wireless communication of two or more wireless protocols may be referred to as a multimode baseband circuit.

[0152] The RF circuit 1206 can enable communication with a wireless network using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuit 1206 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc., to facilitate communication with the wireless network. The RF circuit 1206 may include a received signal path which may include a circuit for down-converting the RF signal received from the FEM circuit 1208 and providing the baseband signal to the baseband circuit 1210. The RF circuit 1206 may also include a transmitted signal path which may include a circuit for up-converting the baseband signal provided by the baseband circuit 1210 and providing the RF output signal to the FEM circuit 1208 for transmission.

[0153] In some embodiments, the receive signal path of the RF circuit 1206 may include a mixer circuit 1206a, an amplifier circuit 1206b, and a filter circuit 1206c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of the RF circuit 1206 may include a filter circuit 1206c and a mixer circuit 1206a. The RF circuit 1206 may also include a combiner circuit 1206d for combining the frequencies used by the mixer circuit 1206a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from the FEM circuit 1208 based on the combined frequency provided by the combiner circuit 1206d. The amplifier circuit 1206b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signal, and the filter circuit 1206c may be a low-pass filter (LPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signal to produce an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to the baseband circuit 1210 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero-frequency baseband signal, but this is not required. In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206a of the received signal path may include a passive mixer, but the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0154] In some embodiments, the mixer circuit 1206a in the transmit signal path may be configured to upconvert the input baseband signal based on the combined frequency provided by the combiner circuit 1206d to generate an RF output signal for the FEM circuit 1208. The baseband signal may also be provided by the baseband circuit 1210 and may be filtered by the filter circuit 1206c.

[0155] In some embodiments, the receive signal path mixer circuit 1206a and the transmit signal path mixer circuit 1206a may include two or more mixers, which may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the receive signal path mixer circuit 1206a and the transmit signal path mixer circuit 1206a may include two or more mixers, which may be arranged for image removal (e.g., Hartley image removal). In some embodiments, the receive signal path mixer circuit 1206a and the transmit signal path mixer circuit 1206a may be configured for direct down-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the receive signal path mixer circuit 1206a and the transmit signal path mixer circuit 1206a may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

[0156] In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, but the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, the RF circuit 1206 may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuit, and the baseband circuit 1210 may include a digital baseband interface for communicating with the RF circuit 1206.

[0157] In some dual-mode embodiments, separate wireless IC circuits may be provided to process the signals of each spectrum, but the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[0158] In some embodiments, the combiner circuit 1206d may be a fractional N combiner or a fractional N / N+1 combiner, but other types of frequency combiners may be preferred, so the scope of this embodiment is not limited in this respect. For example, the combiner circuit 1206d may be a combiner with a phase-locked loop having a delta-sigma combiner, a frequency multiplier, or a frequency divider.

[0159] The combiner circuit 1206d may be configured to combine the output frequencies used by the mixer circuit 1206a of the RF circuit 1206 based on the frequency input and the divider control input. In some embodiments, the combiner circuit 1206d may be a fractional N / N+1 combiner.

[0160] In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO), but this is not required. The divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuit 1210 or the application circuits 1005 / 1105, depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on the channel indicated by the application circuits 1005 / 1105.

[0161] The combiner circuit 1206d of the RF circuit 1206 may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD), and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal into either N or N+1 (e.g., based on performance) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some exemplary embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded tunable delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to divide the VCO period into Nd packets of equal phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to contribute to ensuring that the total delay across the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0162] In some embodiments, the combiner circuit 1206d may be configured to generate the carrier frequency as the output frequency, and in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency), and can be used in conjunction with the quadrature generator and divider circuits to generate multiple signals with multiple different carrier frequencies relative to each other. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, the RF circuit 1206 may include an IQ / polarity converter.

[0163] The FEM circuit 1208 may include a receive signal path that operates on the RF signal received from the antenna array 1211, amplifying the received signal and providing an amplified version of the received signal to the RF circuit 1206 for further processing. The FEM circuit 1208 may also include a transmit signal path that may include a circuit configured to amplify a signal for transmission, which is provided by the RF circuit 1206 for transmission by one or more antenna elements of the antenna array 1211. In various embodiments, amplification through the transmit or receive signal path may occur in the RF circuit 1206 alone, in the FEM circuit 1208 alone, or in both the RF circuit 1206 and the FEM circuit 1208.

[0164] In some embodiments, the FEM circuit 1208 may include a TX / RX switch for switching between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuit 1208 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuit 1208 may include an LNA for amplifying the received RF signal and providing the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to the RF circuit 1206). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuit 1208 may include a power amplifier (PA) for amplifying the input RF signal (e.g., provided by the RF circuit 1206) and one or more filters for generating an RF signal for subsequent transmission by one or more antenna elements of the antenna array 1211.

[0165] The antenna array 1211 comprises one or more antenna elements, each configured to convert electrical signals into radio waves that propagate through the air and to convert received radio waves back into electrical signals. For example, a digital baseband signal provided by the baseband circuit 1210 is converted into an analog RF signal (e.g., a modulated waveform) that is amplified and transmitted through the antenna elements of the antenna array 1211, which includes one or more antenna elements (not shown). The antenna elements may be omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof. The antenna elements may be formed in multiple arrays as known and / or described herein. The antenna array 1211 may include microstrip antennas or printed antennas fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards. The antenna array 1211 may be formed as patches of metal foils of various shapes (e.g., patch antennas) and may be coupled to the RF circuit 1206 and / or FEM circuit 1208 using metal feed wires or the like.

[0166] The processors of application circuits 1005 / 1105 and baseband circuit 1210 can be used to execute elements of one or more instances of the protocol stack. For example, the processors of baseband circuit 1210 can be used alone or in combination to perform layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processors of application circuits 1005 / 1105 may utilize data received from these layers (e.g., packet data) and may also perform layer 4 functions (e.g., TCP and UDP layers). As referred to herein, layer 3 may include the RRC layer, which is described in more detail below. As referred to herein, layer 2 may include the MAC layer, RLC layer, and PDCP layer, which are described in more detail below. As referred to herein, layer 1 may include the PHY layer of the UE / RAN node, which is described in more detail below.

[0167] Figure 13 illustrates various protocol functions that may be implemented in a wireless communication device according to various embodiments. Specifically, Figure 13 includes a configuration 1300 showing interconnections between various protocol layers / entities. The following description of Figure 13 is provided for various protocol layers / entities that operate in conjunction with 5G / NR system standards and LTE system standards, but some or all of the embodiments of Figure 13 may also be applicable to other wireless communication network systems.

[0168] The protocol layer of array 1300 may include one or more of the following: PHY1310, MAC1320, RLC1330, PDCP1340, SDAP1347, RRC1355, and NAS layer 1357, in addition to other higher-layer functions not shown. The protocol layer may include one or more service access points (e.g., items 1359, 1356, 1350, 1349, 1345, 1335, 1325, and 1315 in Figure 13) that can provide communication between two or more protocol layers.

[0169] The PHY1310 can send and receive physical layer signals 1305 that can be received or transmitted to one or more other communication devices. The physical layer signals 1305 may include one or more physical channels, as described herein. The PHY1310 may further perform link adaptation or adaptive modulation and coding (AMC), power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization and handover purposes), and other measurements used by higher layers such as the RRC1355. The PHY1310 may also further perform error detection on transport channels, forward error correction (FEC) coding / decoding of transport channels, modulation / demodulation of physical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. In embodiments, an instance of the PHY1310 can process requests and provide instructions from instances of the MAC1320 via one or more PHY-SAP1315. According to some embodiments, requests and instructions communicated via the PHY-SAP1315 may include one or more transport channels.

[0170] An instance of MAC1320 can process requests from instances of RLC1330 via one or more MAC-SAP1325s and provide instructions to the instances. These requests and instructions communicated via MAC-SAP1325s may include one or more logical channels. MAC1320 can perform mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs from one or more logical channels onto the TB delivered to PHY1310 via transport channels, demultiplexing MAC SDUs from the TB to one or more logical channels delivered to PHY1310 via transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto the TB, scheduling information reporting, error correction by HARQ, and logical channel prioritization.

[0171] An instance of RLC1330 can process requests from an instance of PDCP1340 via one or more Radio Link Control Service Access Points (RLC-SAP)1335 and provide instructions to the PDCP instance. These requests and instructions communicated via RLC-SAP1335 may include one or more RLC channels. RLC1330 can operate in multiple operating modes, including Transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), and Acknowledged Mode (AM). RLC1330 can perform forwarding of upper-layer protocol data units (PDUs), error correction via automatic repeat requests (ARQs) for AM data forwarding, and concatenation, splitting, and reassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data forwarding. The RLC1330 may also perform repartition of RLC data PDUs for AM data transmission, reorder RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transmission, detect duplicate data for UM and AM data transmission, discard RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transmission, detect protocol errors for AM data transmission, and perform RLC re-establishment.

[0172] An instance of PDCP1340 can process requests to and / or instructions to an instance of RRC1355 and / or SDAP1347, and provide instructions via one or more Packet Data Convergence Protocol Service Access Points (PDCP-SAP)1345s. These requests and instructions communicated via PDCP-SAP1345s may involve one or more radio bearers. PDCP1340 can perform header compression and decompression of IP data, maintain PDCP sequence numbers (SNs), perform in-sequence delivery of upper-layer PDUs in lower-layer re-establishment, remove duplicates of lower-layer SDUs in lower-layer re-establishment for radio bearers mapped on RLC AMs, encrypt and decrypt control plane data, perform integrity protection and integrity verification of control plane data, control timer-based data discarding, and perform security operations (e.g., encryption, decryption, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

[0173] An instance of SDAP1347 can process requests and provide instructions from one or more upper-layer protocol entities via one or more SDAP-SAP1349s. These requests and instructions communicated via SDAP-SAP1349s may include one or more QoS flows. SDAP1347 can map QoS flows to DRBs and vice versa, and can also mark QFIs in DL packets and UL packets. A single SDAP entity 1347 may be configured for individual PDU sessions. In the UL direction, NG-RAN710 can control the mapping of QoS flows to DRBs in two different ways: reflective mapping or explicit mapping. For reflective mapping, SDAP1347 in UE701 may monitor the QFI of DL packets for each DRB and apply the same mapping to packets flowing in the UL direction. With respect to DRBs, SDAP1347 in UE701 can map QoS flow IDs (one or more) and UL packets belonging to the QoS flow(one or more) corresponding to the PDU session observed in the DL packet for that DRB. To enable reflection mapping, the NG-RAN910 can mark DL packets on the Uu interface with a QoS flow ID. Explicit mapping may include the RRC1355 configuring the SDAP1347 with an explicit QoS flow as a mapping rule to the DRB, which may be stored and followed by the SDAP1347. In this embodiment, the SDAP1347 may be used only in NR implementations and not in LTE implementations.

[0174] RRC1355 can constitute one or more protocol layer configurations, which may include one or more instances of PHY1310, MAC1320, RLC1330, PDCP1340, and SDAP1347 via one or more Management Service Access Points (M-SAPs). In an embodiment, an instance of RRC1355 can process requests and provide instructions from one or more NAS entities 1357 via one or more RRC-SAPs 1356. The main services and functions of RRC1355 include broadcasting system information (e.g., contained in MIBs or SIBs related to NAS) or System Information Blocks (SIBs), broadcasting system information related to the access stratum (AS), paging, establishing, maintaining, and releasing RRC connections between UE701 and RAN710 (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification, RRC connection release), establishing, configuring, maintaining, and releasing point-to-point radio bearers, security functions including key management, inter-radio access technology (RAT) mobility, and measurement configurations for UE measurement reporting. MIBs and SIBs may each contain one or more IEs that may include individual data fields or data structures.

[0175] The NAS1357 may form the top layer of the control plane between the UE701 and the AMF921. The NAS1357 may also support the mobility and session management procedures of the UE701 to establish and maintain IP connectivity between the UE701 and the P-GW of the LTE system.

[0176] According to various embodiments, one or more protocol entities in array 1300 may be implemented in the UE701, RAN node 711, NR implementation AMF921 or LTE implementation MME821, NR implementation UPF902 or LTE implementation S-GW822 and P-GW823, etc., which are used in the control plane or user plane communication protocol stack between the devices described above. In such embodiments, one or more protocol entities that can be implemented in one or more of the UE701, gNB711, AMF921, etc., can communicate with their respective peer protocol entities that can be implemented in or on another device using the services of their respective lower-layer protocol entities to perform such communication. In some embodiments, the gNB-CU of gNB711 can host the RRC1355, SDAP1347, and PDCP1340 of the gNB, which control the operation of one or more gNB-DUs, and the gNB-DU of gNB711 can host the RLC1330, MAC1320, and PHY1310 of gNB711, respectively.

[0177] In the first example, the control plane protocol stack may comprise, from top to bottom, NAS1357, RRC1355, PDCP1340, RLC1330, MAC1320, and PHY1310. In this embodiment, the upper layer 1360 can be built on top of NAS1357, which includes IP layer 1361, SCTP1362, and Application Layer Signaling Protocol (AP) 1363.

[0178] In an NR implementation, AP1363 may be an NG application protocol layer (NGAP or NG-AP) 1363 for an NG interface 713 defined between an NG-RAN node 711 and an AMF921, or AP1363 may be an Xn application protocol layer (XnAP or Xn-AP) 1363 for an Xn interface 712 defined between two or more RAN nodes 711.

[0179] NG-AP1363 may support the functionality of NG interface 713 and may include Elementary Procedures (EPs). An NG-AP EP can be the unit of interaction between NG-RAN node 711 and AMF921. NG-AP1363 services may include two groups: UE-related services (e.g., services related to UE701) and non-UE-related services (e.g., services related to the entire NG interface instance between NG-RAN node 711 and AMF921). These services include, but are not limited to, paging functions for sending paging requests to NG-RAN nodes 711 included in a specific paging area; UE context management functions to enable AMF921 to establish, modify, and / or release UE contexts within AMF921 and NG-RAN nodes 711; mobility functions for UE701 in ECM-CONNECTED mode for in-system HOs supporting mobility within NG-RAN and inter-system HOs supporting mobility between EPS systems; NAS signaling transmission functions for transmitting or rerouting NAS messages between UE701 and AMF921; NAS node selection functions for determining the relationship between AMF921 and UE701; NG interface management functions (one or more) for configuring NG interfaces and monitoring errors via NG interfaces; warning message transmission functions to provide means for forwarding warning messages via NG interfaces or canceling ongoing broadcasts of warning messages; and Configuration functions for requesting and transferring RAN configuration information (e.g., SON information, performance measurement (PM) data, etc.) between two RAN nodes 711 via CN720. This may include a transfer function and / or other similar functions.

[0180] XnAP1363 can support the functionality of Xn Interface 712 and may include XnAP Basic Mobility Procedures and XnAP Global Procedures. XnAP Basic Mobility Procedures may include procedures used to handle UE mobility within NG RAN 711 (or E-UTRAN 810), such as handover preparation and cancellation procedures, SN status transfer procedures, UE context lookup and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, and dual connectivity-related procedures. XnAP Global Procedures may include procedures not specific to a particular UE 701, such as Xn Interface setup and reset procedures, NG-RAN update procedures, and cell activation procedures.

[0181] In an LTE implementation, AP1363 may be an S1 application protocol layer (S1-AP) 1363 for an S1 interface 713 defined between an E-UTRAN node 711 and an MME, or AP1363 may be an X2 application protocol layer (X2AP or X2-AP) 1363 for an X2 interface 712 defined between two or more E-UTRAN nodes 711.

[0182] The S1 Application Protocol Layer (S1-AP) 1363 can support the functions of the S1 interface, and, similar to the NG-AP described above, the S1-AP may include an S1-APEP. The S1-AP EP can be the unit of interaction between the E-UTRAN node 711 and the MME821 in the LTE CN720. The S1-AP 1363 services may include two groups: UE-related services and non-UE-related services. These services perform functions including, but not limited to, E-UTRAN Radio Access Bearer (E-RAB) management, UE capability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transmission, RAN Information Management (RIM), and configuration transfer.

[0183] X2AP1363 can support the functionality of X2 interface 712 and may include X2AP basic mobility procedures and X2AP global procedures. X2AP basic mobility procedures may include procedures used to handle UE mobility within E-UTRAN 720, such as handover preparation and cancellation procedures, SN status transfer procedures, UE context lookup and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, and dual connectivity-related procedures. X2AP global procedures may include procedures not specific to a particular UE 701, such as X2 interface setup and reset procedures, load indication procedures, error indication procedures, and cell activation procedures.

[0184] The SCTP layer (or SCTP / IP layer) 1362 can provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages (e.g., NGAP or XnAP messages in an NR implementation, or S1-AP or X2AP messages in an LTE implementation). SCTP 1362 can guarantee reliable delivery of signaling messages between the RAN node 711 and the AMF 921 / MME 821, partially based on the IP protocol supported by IP 1361. The Internet Protocol (IP) layer 1361 can be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. In some implementations, the IP layer 1361 can use point-to-point transmission to deliver and propagate PDUs. In this regard, the RAN node 711 may have L2 and L1 layer communication links (e.g., wired or wireless) with the MME / AMF for exchanging information.

[0185] In the second example, the user plane protocol stack may comprise, from top layer to bottom layer, SDAP1347, PDCP1340, RLC1330, MAC1320, and PHY1310. In an LTE implementation, the user plane protocol stack may be used for communication between UE701, RAN node 711, and UPF902, or for communication between S-GW822 and P-GW823. In this example, the upper layer 1351 may be built on top of SDAP1347 and may include User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and IP Security Layer (UDP / IP) 1352, General-Purpose Packet Radio Services (GPRS) Tunneling Protocol for User Plane Layer (GTP-U) 1353, and User Plane PDU Layer (UP PDU) 1363.

[0186] The transport network layer 1354 (also called the “transport layer”) may be built on top of the IP transport, and may use GTP-U1353 on top of the UDP / IP layer 1352 (including the UDP and IP layers) to carry user-plane PDUs (UP-PDUs). The IP layer (also called the “Internet layer”) may be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. The IP layer can assign IP addresses to user data packets, for example, in IPv4, IPv6, or PPP format.

[0187] GTP-U1353 can be used to carry user data within the GPRS core network and between the radio access network and the core network. The transmitted user data may be packets in any of the following formats: IPv4, IPv6, or PPP. UDP / IP1352 can provide data integrity checksums, port numbers to handle different functions at source and destination, and encryption and authentication on selected data flows. RAN nodes 711 and S-GW822 can utilize the S1-U interface to exchange user plane data via a protocol stack including L1 layer (e.g., PHY1310), L2 layer (e.g., MAC1320, RLC1330, PDCP1340, and / or SDAP1347), UDP / IP layer 1352, and GTP-U1353. The S-GW822 and P-GW823 can exchange user plane data via a protocol stack including L1, L2, UDP / IP 1352, and GTP-U 1353 using the S5 / S8a interface. As mentioned above, the NAS protocol can support the mobility and session management procedures of the UE701 in order to establish and maintain the IP connection between the UE701 and the P-GW823.

[0188] Furthermore, although not shown in Figure 13, an application layer may exist on top of AP1363 and / or the transport network layer 1354. The application layer may be a layer in which users of UE701, RAN node 711, or other network elements interact with software applications executed by, for example, application circuit 1005 or application circuit 1105. The application layer may also provide one or more interfaces for software applications to interact with the communication systems of RAN node 711, such as UE701 or baseband circuit 1210. In some implementations, the IP layer and / or application layer can provide the same or similar functionality as layers 5-7 or parts thereof of the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model (e.g., OSI layer 7 - application layer, OSI layer 6 - presentation layer, and OSI layer 5 - session layer).

[0189] Figure 14 shows the components of the core network according to various embodiments. The components of CN820 may be implemented in a single physical node or separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from machine-readable media or computer-readable media (e.g., non-temporary machine-readable storage media). In embodiments, the components of CN920 may be implemented in the same or similar manner as described herein with respect to the components of CN820. In some embodiments, NFV is used to virtualize any or all of the above-described network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in more detail below). Logical instantiations of CN820 may be referred to as network slices 1401, and individual logical instantiations of CN820 can provide specific network capabilities and network characteristics. Logical instantiations of a portion of CN820 may be referred to as network sub-slices 1402 (for example, network sub-slices 1402 are shown to include P-GW823 and PCRF826).

[0190] As used herein, terms such as “instance” and “instantiation” can refer to the creation of an instance, and “instance” can refer to the specific occurrence of an object that may occur, for example, during the execution of program code. A network instance can refer to information identifying a domain that can be used for traffic discovery and routing in the case of different IP domains or overlapping IP addresses. A network slice instance can refer to a set of resources (e.g., compute, storage, and networking resources) required to deploy a network function (NF) instance and a network slice.

[0191] For 5G systems (see, for example, Figure 9), network slices always include both a RAN portion and a CN portion. Support for network slicing relies on the principle that traffic for different slices is handled by different PDU sessions. Networks can implement different network slices through scheduling and by providing different L1 / L2 configurations. The UE901, when provided by the NAS, provides support information for network slice selection in appropriate RRC messages. While a network can support many slices, the UE does not need to support eight slices simultaneously.

[0192] A network slice may include the CN920 control plane and user plane NF, the NG-RAN910 in the serving PLMN, and the N3IWF function in the serving PLMN. Individual network slices may have different S-NSSAIs and / or different SSTs. An NSSAI includes one or more S-NSSAIs, and each network slice is uniquely identified by an S-NSSAI. Network slices may differ in terms of supported functions and network function optimizations, and / or multiple network slice instances may deliver the same service / function for different groups of UE901 (e.g., enterprise users). For example, individual network slices may deliver different committed services and / or be dedicated to a particular customer or enterprise. In this embodiment, each network slice may have different NSSAIs, having the same SST but different slice microstructures. Furthermore, a single UE may be served by one or more network slice instances simultaneously via a 5G AN and associated with eight different S-NSSAIs. Furthermore, each AMF921 instance providing services to an individual UE901 may belong to each of the network slice instances providing services to that UE.

[0193] Network slicing in NG-RAN910 includes RAN slice recognition. RAN slice recognition involves differentiated processing of traffic across different pre-configured network slices. Slice recognition in NG-RAN910 is implemented at the PDU session level by indicating the S-NSSAI corresponding to the PDU session in all signaling, including PDU session resource information. How NG-RAN910 supports slice enablement with respect to NG-RAN functionality (e.g., a set of network functions including each slice) is implementation-dependent. NG-RAN910 selects the RAN portion of a network slice using supporting information provided by UE901 or 5GC920, which unambiguously identifies one or more of the pre-configured network slices within the PLMN. NG-RAN910 also supports inter-slice resource management and policy enforcement according to SLAs. A single NG-RAN node can support multiple slices, and NG-RAN910 may also apply appropriate RRM policies of the enforced SLA to each supported slice. NG-RAN910 can also support QoS differentiation within slices.

[0194] NG-RAN910 can also use UE assistance information to select an AMF921 during initial attachment, if available. NG-RAN910 uses assistance information to route the initial NAS to an AMF921. If NG-RAN910 cannot select an AMF921 using assistance information, or if UE901 does not provide such information, NG-RAN910 sends NAS signaling to a default AMF921 that may be in the pool of AMF921s. For subsequent access, UE901 provides a temporary ID (temp ID) assigned to UE901 by 5GC920, allowing NG-RAN910 to route NAS messages to the appropriate AMF921 as long as the temp ID is valid. NG-RAN910 can recognize and reach the AMF921 associated with the temp ID; otherwise, the method for initial attachment applies.

[0195] NG-RAN910 supports resource isolation between slices. NG-RAN910 resource isolation may be achieved through RRM policies and protection mechanisms, which are necessary to avoid shortages of shared resources if one slice violates the service level agreement for another slice. In some implementations, it is possible to dedicate NG-RAN910 resources entirely to a specific slice. How NG-RAN910 supports resource isolation is implementation-dependent.

[0196] Some slices may be available only in a portion of the network. Recognition in NG-RAN910 of slices supported by neighboring cells can be beneficial for inter-frequency mobility in connected mode. Slice availability can be kept constant within the UE's registered area. NG-RAN910 and 5GC920 are responsible for processing service requests for slices that may or may not be available in a given area. Granting or denying access to a slice may depend on factors such as slice support, resource availability, and support for the requested service by NG-RAN910.

[0197] UE901 may be associated with multiple network slices simultaneously. If UE901 is associated with multiple slices simultaneously, only one signaling connection is maintained, and for intra-frequency cell reselection, UE901 attempts to camp on to the best cell. For inter-frequency cell reselection, a dedicated priority can be used to control the frequency to which UE901 is camped on. 5GC920 is for verifying that UE901 has the right to access network slices. Before receiving the initial context setup request message, NG-RAN910 may be permitted to apply several provisional / local policies based on its recognition of the specific slice that UE901 is requesting access to. During initial context setup, NG-RAN910 is notified about the slices for which resources are being requested.

[0198] The NFV architecture and infrastructure may be used to virtualize one or more NFs, or alternatively, run on dedicated hardware and virtualized on physical resources including a combination of industry-standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches. In other words, an NFV system can be used to run a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components / functions.

[0199] Figure 15 is a block diagram showing components of several exemplary embodiments of system 1500 for supporting NFV. System 1500 is shown as including VIM1502, NFVI1504, VNFM1506, VNF1508, EM1510, NFVO1512, and NM1514.

[0200] VIM1502 manages the resources of NFVI1504. NFVI1504 may include physical or virtual resources and applications (including hypervisors) used to run System 1500. VIM1502 manages the virtual resource lifecycle by NFVI1504 (e.g., creation, maintenance, and destruction of VMs associated with one or more physical resources), tracks VM instances, tracks the performance, failures, and security of VM instances and associated physical resources, and can expose VM instances and associated physical resources to other management systems.

[0201] VNFM1506 can manage VNF1508. VNF1508 can be used to execute EPC components / functions. VNFM1506 may manage the lifecycle of VNF1508 and track the performance, failures, and security of the virtual aspects of VNF1508. EM1510 can track the performance, failures, and security of the functional aspects of VNF1508. Tracking data from VNFM1506 and EM1510 may include, for example, performance measurement PM data used by VIM1502 or NFVI1504. Both VNFM1506 and EM1510 can scale up / down the amount of VNFs in system 1500.

[0202] NFVO1512 can coordinate, authorize, release, and reserve resources of NFVI1504 to provide requested services (e.g., to perform EPC functions, components, or slices). NM1514 can provide a package of end-user functions responsible for network management, which may include network elements having VNFs, non-virtualized network functions, or both (VNF management may be performed via EM1510).

[0203] Figure 16 is a block diagram showing a configuration that, in several exemplary embodiments, can read instructions from a machine-readable medium or a computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-temporary machine-readable storage medium) and execute one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Specifically, Figure 16 shows a schematic representation of a hardware resource 1600 comprising one or more processors (or processor cores) 1610, one or more memory / storage devices 1620, and one or more communication resources 1630, each of which can be communicatively coupled via a bus 1640. In embodiments utilizing node virtualization (e.g., NFV), a hypervisor 1602 may be implemented to provide execution environments for one or more network slices / subslice for utilizing the hardware resource 1600.

[0204] Processor 1610 may include, for example, processors 1612 and 1614. Processor 1610 (one or more) may be, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processor, a composite instruction set computing (CISC) processor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a DSP, for example, a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a high-frequency integrated circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any preferred combination thereof.

[0205] The memory / storage device 1620 may include main memory, disk storage, or any preferred combination thereof. The memory / storage device 1620 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, or solid-state storage.

[0206] The communication resource 1630 may include interconnection or network interface components or other devices for communicating with one or more peripheral devices 1604 or one or more databases 1606 via the network 1608. For example, the communication resource 1630 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB), cellular communication components, NFC components, Bluetooth® or Bluetooth® Low Energy components, Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components.

[0207] Instruction 1650 may include software, programs, applications, applets, apps, or other executable code to cause at least one of the processors 1610 to execute any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. Instruction 1650 may reside, whole or in part, in the processor 1610 (e.g., in the processor's cache memory), the memory / storage device 1620, or at least one of any preferred combination thereof. Furthermore, any part of instruction 1650 may be transferred to the hardware resource 1600 from any combination of peripheral device 1604 or database 1606. Thus, the memory of the processor 1610, the memory / storage device 1620, the peripheral device 1604, and the database 1606 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

[0208] For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components described in one or more of the aforementioned figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and / or methods as described in the following exemplary section. For example, the baseband circuit described above in relation to one or more of the aforementioned figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples described below. As another example, a circuit associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc., as described above in relation to one or more of the aforementioned figures may be configured to operate according to one or more of the examples described below in the exemplary section. Examples

[0209] Example 1 may include a method for new radio (NR) communication, and this method is

[0210] The UE receives a first control signaling in the first bandwidth portion, which instructs the UE to wake up and monitor the PDCCH during the DRX ON / active time.

[0211] The control signaling further indicates whether or not to monitor and process the CSI-RS in the first resource. The first resource is located between the first control signaling resource and DRX ON. The UE does not report CSI feedback to the PUCCH resource after the start of the active time.

[0212] Example 2 may include the method of Example 1 or any other example herein, in which the CSI-RS resources are configured periodically.

[0213] Example 3 may include a method of Example 2 or any other example herein in which a CSI-RS transmission opportunity is triggered by the detection of a first control signaling (i.e., aperiodic on-demand CSI-RS).

[0214] Example 4 may include the method of Example 3 or any other example described herein, where the CSI-RS resources and offsets, and the PUCCH resources are configured as upper layers.

[0215] Example 5 may include the method of Example 3 or any other example herein, in which the first control signaling directs a PUCCH resource to report a CSI.

[0216] Example 6 may include an apparatus that includes means for performing one or more elements of any of the methods described in Examples 1 to 5, or any other methods or processes described herein.

[0217] Example 7 may include one or more non-temporary computer-readable media containing instructions, wherein when an instruction is executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, the instruction causes the electronic device to execute one or more elements of any of the methods described in or related to Examples 1 to 5, or any other method or process described herein.

[0218] Example 8 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, or circuits for performing one or more elements of any of the methods described in Examples 1 to 5, or any other methods or processes described herein.

[0219] Example 9 may include any of the methods, techniques, or processes described in or related to Examples 1 to 5, or parts or portions thereof.

[0220] Example 10 is an apparatus comprising one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media containing instructions, wherein when an instruction is executed by one or more processors, the instruction causes one or more processors to execute a method, technique, or process, or part thereof, described in or related to any of Examples 1 to 5.

[0221] Example 11 may include a signal, or part or portion thereof, described in or related to any of Examples 1 to 5.

[0222] Example 12 may include signals in a wireless network as illustrated and described herein.

[0223] Example 13 may include a communication method in a wireless network as illustrated and described herein.

[0224] Example 14 may include a system for providing wireless communication as illustrated and described herein.

[0225] Example 15 may include a device for providing wireless communication as illustrated and described herein.

[0226] Any of the embodiments described above can be combined with any other embodiment (or combination of embodiments) unless otherwise specified. The foregoing descriptions of one or more implementations are illustrative and illustrative, but are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of embodiments to the exact form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in consideration of the above teachings or can be derived from practical embodiments. Abbreviation

[0227] For the purposes of this document, the following abbreviations may be applied to the examples and embodiments discussed herein, but not to the extent of limiting them.

[0228] 3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project

[0229] 4G (4th generation)

[0230] 5G (5th generation)

[0231] 5GC 5G Core Network

[0232] ACK confirmation

[0233] AF Application Function

[0234] AM confirmation mode

[0235] AMBR Aggregate Maximum Bitrate

[0236] AMF Access Mobility Management Function

[0237] AN Access Network

[0238] ANR Automatic Neighborhood Relationships

[0239] AP Application Protocol, Antenna Port, Access Point

[0240] API Application Programming Interface

[0241] APN (Access Point Name)

[0242] ARP allocation and retention priority

[0243] ARQ Automatic Resend Request

[0244] AS Access Layer

[0245] ASN.1 Abstract Syntax Notation 1

[0246] AUSF Authentication Server Function

[0247] AWGN Additional White Gaussian Noise

[0248] BCH Broadcast Channel

[0249] BER (Bit Error Rate)

[0250] BFD Beam Fault Detection

[0251] BLER Block Error Rate

[0252] BPSK (Binary Phase Shift Keying)

[0253] BRAS Broadband Remote Access Server

[0254] BSS Business Support System

[0255] BS base station

[0256] BSR Buffer Status Report

[0257] BW Bandwidth

[0258] BWP bandwidth portion

[0259] C-RNTI Cell Wireless Network Temporary Identity

[0260] CA (Certificate Authority)

[0261] CAPEX capital investment

[0262] CBRA competition-based random access

[0263] CC component carrier, country code, cryptographic checksum

[0264] CCA Clear Channel Assessment

[0265] CCE control channel element

[0266] CCCH Common Control Channel

[0267] CE Coverage Extension

[0268] CDM (Content Delivery Network)

[0269] CDMA code division multiple access

[0270] CFRA Contention-Free Random Access

[0271] CG Cell Group

[0272] CI (Cell Identity)

[0273] CID Cell ID (e.g., positioning method)

[0274] CIM Common Information Model

[0275] CIR Carrier-to-Interference Ratio

[0276] CK Cipher Key

[0277] CM Connection Management, Conditional Mandatory

[0278] CMAS Commercial Mobile Alert Service

[0279] CMD Command

[0280] CMS Cloud Management System

[0281] CO Conditional Option

[0282] CoMP Coordinated Multipoint

[0283] CORESET Control Resource Set

[0284] COTS Commercially Off-the-Shelf

[0285] CP Control Plane, Cyclic Prefix, Connection Point

[0286] CPD Connection Point Descriptor

[0287] CPE Customer Premises Equipment

[0288] CPICH Common Pilot Channel

[0289] CQI Channel Quality Indicator <00​​​​​C / R Command / Response Field Bit

[0292] CRAN Cloud Radio Access Network, Cloud RAN

[0293] CRB Common Resource Block

[0294] CRC Cyclic Redundancy Check

[0295] CRI Channel State Information Resource Indicator, CSI-RS Resource Indicator

[0296] C-RNTI Cell RNTI

[0297] CS Circuit Switching

[0298] CSAR Cloud Service Archive

[0299] CSI Channel State Information

[0300] CSI-IM CSI Interference Measurement Value

[0301] CSI-RS CSI Reference Signal

[0302] CSI-RSRP CSI Reference Signal Received Power

[0303] CSI-RSRQ CSI Reference Signal Received Quality

[0304] CSI SINR CSI Signal-to-Interference-and-Noise Ratio

[0305] CSMA Carrier Sense Multiple Access

[0306] CSMA / CA CSMA with Collision Avoidance

[0307] CSS Common Search Space, Cell-Specific Search Space

[0308] CTS Clear to Send

[0309] CW Codeword

[0310] CWS Conflict Window Size

[0311] D2D (Digital-to-Digital)

[0312] DC Dual Connectivity, Direct Current

[0313] DCI Downlink Control Information

[0314] DF Deployment Flavor

[0315] DL Downlink

[0316] DMTF Distributed Management Task Force

[0317] DPDK Dataplane Development Kit

[0318] DM-RS, DMRS demodulation reference signal

[0319] DN Data Network

[0320] DRB Data Wireless Bearer

[0321] DRS detection reference signal

[0322] DRX discontinuous reception

[0323] DSL (Domain-Specific Language Digital Subscriber Line)

[0324] DSLAM DSL Access Multiplexer

[0325] DwPTS Downlink Pilot Time Slot

[0326] E-LAN ​​Ethernet Local Area Network

[0327] E2E (End-to-End)

[0328] ECCA extended clear channel evaluation, extended CCA

[0329] ECCE extended control channel element, extended CCE

[0330] ED energy detection

[0331] EDGE GSM Evolution: Extended Data (GSM Evolution)

[0332] EGMF Exposure Governance Management Function

[0333] EGPRS Extended GPRS

[0334] EIR Device Identity Register

[0335] eLAA enhanced driver's license assist access, enhanced LAA

[0336] EM Element Manager

[0337] eMBB (Enhanced Mobile Broadband)

[0338] EMS Element Management System

[0339] eNB Advanced Node B, E-UTRAN Node B

[0340] EN-DC E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity

[0341] EPC Advanced Packet Core

[0342] EPDCCH Enhanced PDCCH, Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0343] Energy per resource element in EPRE

[0344] EPS Advanced Packet System

[0345] EREG: Enhanced REG, Enhanced Resource Element Group

[0346] ETSI (European Telecommunications Standards Institute)

[0347] ETWS Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System

[0348] eUICC Embedded UICC, Embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Card

[0349] E-UTRA Evolved UTRA

[0350] E-UTRAN - Evolved UTRAN

[0351] EV2X Enhanced V2X

[0352] F1AP F1 Application Protocol

[0353] F1-C F1 control plane interface

[0354] F1-U F1 User Plane Interface

[0355] FACCH High-Speed ​​Accompanying Control Channel

[0356] FACCH / F High-Speed ​​Accompanying Control Channel / Full Rate

[0357] FACCH / H High-Speed ​​Accompanying Control Channel / Half Rate

[0358] FACH (Forward Access Channel)

[0359] FAUSCH High-Speed ​​Uplink Signaling Channel

[0360] FB Functional Block

[0361] FBI Feedback Information

[0362] FCC (Federal Communications Commission)

[0363] FCCH Frequency Correction Channel

[0364] FDD Frequency Division Duplexing

[0365] FDM frequency division multiplexing

[0366] FDMA code division multiple access

[0367] FE Front End

[0368] FEC Forward Error Correction

[0369] Further research on FFS

[0370] FFT (Fast Fourier Transform)

[0371] feLAA further enhanced license support access, further enhanced LAA

[0372] FN Frame Number

[0373] FPGA Field-Programmable Gate Array

[0374] FR frequency range

[0375] G-RNTI GERAN Wireless Network Temporary Identity

[0376] GERAN GSM EDGE RAN, GSM EDGE Radio Access Network

[0377] GGSN Gateway GPRS Support Node

[0378] GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System)

[0379] gNB Next Generation Node B

[0380] gNB-CU gNB-Centralized Unit, Next-Generation NodeB Centralized Unit

[0381] gNB-DU gNB distributed unit, next-generation NodeB distributed unit

[0382] GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System)

[0383] GPRS General-Purpose Packet Radio Service

[0384] GSM Mobile Communications Global System, Group Special Mobile

[0385] GTP GPRS Tunneling Protocol

[0386] GPRS Tunneling Protocol for GTP-U User Plane

[0387] GTS sleep request signal (WUS related)

[0388] GUMMEI: A globally unique MME identifier.

[0389] GUTI: A globally unique temporary UE identity

[0390] HARQ Hybrid ARQ, Hybrid Automated Resend Request

[0391] HANDO, HO Handover

[0392] HFN Hyperframe number

[0393] HHO Hard Handover

[0394] HLR Home Location Register

[0395] HN Home Network

[0396] HO Handover

[0397] HPLMN Home Public Land Mobile Network

[0398] HSDPA High-Speed ​​Downlink Packet Access

[0399] HSN hopping sequence number

[0400] HSPA High-Speed ​​Packet Access

[0401] HSS Home Subscriber Server

[0402] HSUPA High-Speed ​​Uplink Packet Access

[0403] HTTP Hypertext Transfer Protocol

[0404] HTTPS is the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS is http / 1.1 over SSL, i.e., port 443).

[0405] I-Block Information Block

[0406] ICCID Integrated Card Identification

[0407] ICIC Inter-cell interference adjustment

[0408] ID, Identity, Identifier

[0409] IDFT (Inverse Discrete Fourier Transform)

[0410] IE Information Elements

[0411] IBE (Intraband Radiation)

[0412] IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)

[0413] IEI Information Element Identifier

[0414] IEIDL Information Element Identifier Data Length

[0415] IETF Internet Technology Task Force

[0416] IF Infrastructure

[0417] IM Interferometry, Intermodulation, IP Multimedia

[0418] IMC IMS Credentials

[0419] IMEI (International Mobile Device Identity)

[0420] IMGI International Mobile Group Identity

[0421] IMPI IP Multimedia Private Identity

[0422] IMPU IP Multimedia Public Identity

[0423] IMS IP Multimedia Subsystem

[0424] IMSI (International Mobile Telephone Subscriber Identification Number)

[0425] IoT (Internet of Things)

[0426] IP Internet Protocol

[0427] IPsec IP security, Internet Protocol security

[0428] IP-CAN IP Connection Access Network

[0429] IP-M IP multicast

[0430] IPv4 Internet Protocol version 4

[0431] IPv6 Internet Protocol version 6

[0432] IR infrared

[0433] IS synchronized

[0434] IRP integral reference point

[0435] ISDN Integrated Services Digital Network

[0436] ISIM IM Service Identity Module

[0437] ISO International Organization for Standardization

[0438] ISP (Internet Service Provider)

[0439] IWF interaction function

[0440] I-WLAN Interconnected WLAN

[0441] K Convolutional code constraint length, USIM individual key

[0442] kB (kilobyte) (1000 bytes)

[0443] kbps (kilobits per second)

[0444] Kc encryption key

[0445] Ki Individual Subscriber Authentication Key

[0446] Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

[0447] KQI Key Quality Indicators

[0448] KSI Keyset Identifier

[0449] ksps kilosymbols / second

[0450] KVM (Kernel Virtual Machine)

[0451] L1 layer 1 (physical layer)

[0452] L1-RSRP Layer 1 Reference Signal Received Power

[0453] L2 Layer 2 (Data Link Layer)

[0454] L3 Layer 3 (Network Layer)

[0455] LAA License Assistance Access

[0456] LAN (Local Area Network)

[0457] LBT Listen Before Talk

[0458] LCM (Lifecycle Management)

[0459] LCR Low Tip Rate

[0460] LCS Location Services

[0461] LCID (Logical Channel ID)

[0462] LI Layer Indicator

[0463] LLC Logical Link Control, Low-Level Compatibility

[0464] LPLMN Local PLMN

[0465] LPP LTE Positioning Protocol

[0466] LSB (Less Least Bit)

[0467] LTE Long-Term Evolution

[0468] LWA LTE-WLAN Aggregation

[0469] LTE / WLAN radio level integration with LWIP IPsec tunnels

[0470] LTE Long-Term Evolution

[0471] M2M (Machine to Machine)

[0472] MAC Media Access Control (Protocol Layer Context)

[0473] MAC message authentication code (security / cryptographic context)

[0474] MAC-A authentication and key matching are used in the MAC (TSG T WG3 context).

[0475] MAC-I is used for data integrity in signaling messages (TSG T WG3 context).

[0476] MANO Management and Orchestration

[0477] MBMS Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service

[0478] MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service Single Frequency Network

[0479] MCC Mobile Country Code

[0480] MCG Mastercell Group

[0481] MCOT Maximum Channel Occupancy Time

[0482] MCS Modulation and Encoding Scheme

[0483] MDAF Management Data Analysis Function

[0484] MDAS Management Data Analysis Service

[0485] Minimizing MDT drive testing

[0486] ME Mobile Devices

[0487] MeNB Master eNB

[0488] MER message error rate

[0489] MGL measurement gap length

[0490] MGRP measurement gap repetition period

[0491] MIB Master Information Block, Management Information Base

[0492] MIMO multiple input multiple output

[0493] MLC Mobile Location Center

[0494] MM Mobility Management

[0495] MME Mobility Management Entity

[0496] MN Master Node

[0497] MO measurement object, mobile transmission

[0498] MPBCH MTC Physical Notification Channel

[0499] MPDCCH MTC Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0500] MPDSCH MTC Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0501] MPRACH MTC Physical Random Access Channel

[0502] MPUSCH MTC Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0503] MPLS (Multiprotocol Label Switching)

[0504] MS mobile station

[0505] Most significant bit of the MSB

[0506] MSC Mobile Switching Center

[0507] MSI Minimum System Information, MCH Scheduling Information

[0508] MSID Mobile Station Identifier

[0509] MSIN Mobile Station Identification Number

[0510] MSISDN Mobile Subscriber ISDN Number

[0511] MT Mobile Termination, Mobile Termination

[0512] MTC (Machine-Type Communication)

[0513] mMTC (Major Multi-Tunnel Communication), Large-Scale Machine-Based Communication

[0514] MU-MIMO (Multi-User MIMO)

[0515] MWUS MTC wake-up signal, MTC WUS

[0516] NACK Negative Response

[0517] NAI (Network Access Identifier)

[0518] NAS Non-Access Layer

[0519] NCT Network Connectivity Topology

[0520] NEC Network Capability Disclosure

[0521] NE-DC NR-E-UTRA Dual Connectivity

[0522] NEF Network Disclosure Function

[0523] NF Network Function

[0524] NFP Network Forwarding Path

[0525] NFPD Network Forwarding Path Descriptor

[0526] NFV (Network Functions Virtualization)

[0527] NFVI NFV infrastructure

[0528] NFVO NFV Orchestrator

[0529] NG Next generation

[0530] NGEN-DC NG-RAN E-UTRA-NR Dual Connectivity

[0531] NM Network Manager

[0532] NMS Network Management System

[0533] N-PoP (Network Point of Presence)

[0534] NMIB, N-MIB (Narrowband MIB)

[0535] NPBCH (Narrowband Physical Broadcast Channel)

[0536] NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0537] NPDSCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0538] NPRACH Narrowband Physical Random Access Channel

[0539] NPUSCH Narrowband Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0540] NPSS Narrowband Primary Sync Signal

[0541] NSSS Narrowband Secondary Sync Signal

[0542] NR New Radio, Neighborhood Relations

[0543] NRF NF Repository Function

[0544] NRS Narrowband Reference Signal

[0545] NS Network Services

[0546] NSA Non-Standalone Operation Mode

[0547] NSD Network Services Descriptor

[0548] NSR Network Service Record

[0549] NSSAI Network Slice Selection Support Information

[0550] S-NNSAI Single NSSAI

[0551] NSSF Network Slice Selection Function

[0552] NW Network

[0553] NWUS narrowband wake-up signal, narrowband WUS

[0554] NZP (Non-Zero Power)

[0555] O&M (Operations and Maintenance)

[0556] ODU2 Optical Channel Data Unit - Type 2

[0557] OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing)

[0558] OFDMA (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access)

[0559] Out-of-band (OOB)

[0560] OOS synchronization failure

[0561] OPEX (Operating Expenses)

[0562] OSI and other system information

[0563] OSS Operation Support System

[0564] OTA over-the-air

[0565] PAPR (Peak-to-Average Power Ratio)

[0566] PAR (Peak-to-Average Ratio)

[0567] PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel

[0568] PC power control, personal computer

[0569] PCC Primary Component Carrier, Primary CC

[0570] PCell Primary Cell

[0571] PCI Physical Cell ID, Physical Cell Identity

[0572] PCEF policy and billing implementation function

[0573] PCF Policy Control Function

[0574] PCRF policy control and billing rule function

[0575] PDCP (Packet Data Convergence Protocol), Packet Data Convergence Protocol Layer

[0576] PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0577] PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol

[0578] PDN (Package Data Network), Public Data Network

[0579] PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

[0580] PDU Protocol Data Unit

[0581] PEI Permanent Equipment Identifier

[0582] PFD Packet Flow Description

[0583] P-GW PDN Gateway

[0584] PHICH Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel

[0585] PHY physical layer

[0586] PLMN Public Land Mobility Network

[0587] PIN (Personal Identification Number)

[0588] PM performance measurement

[0589] PMI Precoding Matrix Indicator

[0590] PNF Physical Network Function

[0591] PNFD Physical Network Function Descriptor

[0592] PNFR Physical Network Function Record

[0593] PTT via POC Cellular

[0594] PP, PTP (Point-to-Point)

[0595] PPP (Point-to-Point Protocol)

[0596] PRACH Physical RACH

[0597] PRB (Physical Resource Block)

[0598] PRG Physical Resource Block Group

[0599] ProSe proximity services, proximity-based services

[0600] PRS positioning reference signal

[0601] PRR Packet Receiver Radio

[0602] PS Packet Service

[0603] PSBCH Physical Sidelink Broadcast Channel

[0604] PSDCH Physical Sidelink Downlink Channel

[0605] PSCCH Physical Sidelink Control Channel

[0606] PSSCH Physical Sidelink Shared Channel

[0607] PSCell Primary SCell

[0608] PSS Primary Sync Signal

[0609] PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network)

[0610] PT-RS Phase-Tracking Reference Signal

[0611] PTT (Push-to-Talk)

[0612] PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

[0613] PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0614] QAM (Quaternary Amplitude Modulation)

[0615] QoS class of QCI identifier

[0616] QCL quasi-collocation

[0617] QFI QoS Flow ID, QoS Flow Identifier

[0618] QoS (Quality of Service)

[0619] QPSK orthogonal (quadruplicate) phase shift keying

[0620] QZSS Quasi-Zenith Satellite System

[0621] RA-RNTI Random Access RNTI

[0622] RAB Wireless Access Bearer, Random Access Burst

[0623] RACH Random Access Channel

[0624] Remote authentication dialing in RADIUS user services

[0625] RAN (Radio Access Network)

[0626] RAND (random number, used for authentication)

[0627] RAR Random Access Response

[0628] RAT (Radio Access Technology)

[0629] RAU Routing Area Update

[0630] RB Resource Block, Wireless Bearer

[0631] RBG Resource Block Group

[0632] REG resource element group

[0633] Rel release

[0634] REQ request

[0635] RF radio frequency

[0636] RI Rank Indicator

[0637] RIV Resource Indicator Value

[0638] RL Wireless Link

[0639] RLC wireless link control, wireless link control layer

[0640] RLC AM RLC Affirmative Mode

[0641] RLC UM RLC unaffirmative response mode

[0642] RLF Wireless Link Failure

[0643] RLM Wireless Link Monitoring

[0644] RLM-RS Reference signal for RLM

[0645] RM Registration Management

[0646] RMC Reference Measurement Channel

[0647] RMSI (Remaining MSI), Minimum Remaining System Information

[0648] RN relay node

[0649] RNC Wireless Network Controller

[0650] RNL (Radio Network Layer)

[0651] RNTI (Radio Network Temporary Identifier)

[0652] ROHC Robust Header Compression

[0653] RRC (Radio Resource Control), Radio Resource Control Layer

[0654] RRM Wireless Resource Management

[0655] RS reference signal

[0656] RSRP Reference Signal Received Power

[0657] RSRQ Reference Signal Reception Quality

[0658] RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator

[0659] RSU roadside unit

[0660] RSTD Reference signal time difference

[0661] RTP (Real-Time Protocol)

[0662] RTS ready to send

[0663] Round-trip time (RTT)

[0664] Rx receiver, receiver

[0665] S1AP S1 Application Protocol

[0666] S1-MME for control plane

[0667] S1-U User Plane S1

[0668] S-GW Serving Gateway

[0669] S-RNTI SRNC Wireless Network Temporary Identity

[0670] S-TMSI SAE temporary mobile station identifier

[0671] SA Standalone Operation Mode

[0672] SAE System Architecture Development

[0673] SAP Service Access Point

[0674] SAPD Service Access Point Descriptor

[0675] SAPI Service Access Point Identifier

[0676] SCC Secondary Component Carrier, Secondary CC

[0677] SCell Secondary Cell

[0678] SC-FDMA Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access

[0679] SCG Secondary Cell Group

[0680] SCM Security Context Management

[0681] SCS subcarrier spacing

[0682] SCTP Stream Controlled Transmission Protocol

[0683] SDAP Service Data Adaptive Protocol, Service Data Adaptive Protocol Layer

[0684] SDL Auxiliary Downlink

[0685] SDNF (Structured Data Storage Network) functionality

[0686] SDP Session Description Protocol

[0687] SDSF Structured Data Storage Function

[0688] SDU Service Data Unit

[0689] SEAF Security Anchor Function

[0690] SeNB SecondaryeNB

[0691] SEPP Security Edge Protection Proxy

[0692] SFI Slot Format Indication

[0693] SFTD (Spatial Frequency-Time Diversity), SFN (Spatial Frequency Network), and Frame Timing Difference

[0694] SFN System Frame Number

[0695] SgNB docigNB

[0696] SGSN Serving GPRS Support Node

[0697] S-GW Serving Gateway

[0698] SI System Information

[0699] SI-RNTI System Information RNTI

[0700] SIB System Information Block

[0701] SIM Subscriber Identification Module

[0702] SIP Session Initiation Protocol

[0703] SiP System In-Package

[0704] SL Sidelink

[0705] SLA (Service Level Agreement)

[0706] SM Session Management

[0707] SMF session management function

[0708] SMS Short Message Service

[0709] SMSF SMS function

[0710] SMTC SSB-based measurement timing configuration

[0711] SN Secondary node, sequence number

[0712] SoC (System-on-a-Chip)

[0713] SON Self-Organizing Network

[0714] SpCell dedicated cell

[0715] SP-CSI-RNTI Anti-persistent CSI RNTI

[0716] SPS Anti-Persistent Scheduling

[0717] SQN Sequence Number

[0718] SR scheduling request

[0719] SRB Signaling Radio Bearer

[0720] SRS Sounding Reference Signal

[0721] SS synchronization signal

[0722] SSB synchronous signal block, SS / PBCH block

[0723] SSBRI SS / PBCH Block Resource Indicator, Synchronization Signal Block Resource Indicator

[0724] SSC Session and Service Continuity

[0725] SS-RSRP Synchronization signal-based reference signal received power

[0726] SS-RSRQ Synchronization signal-based reference signal reception quality

[0727] SS-SINR (Synchronization Signal-Based Signal-to-Noise Ratio)

[0728] SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal

[0729] SSSG Search Space Set Group

[0730] SSSIF Search Space Set Indicator

[0731] SST Slice / Service Type

[0732] SU-MIMO (Single User MIMO)

[0733] SUL Auxiliary Uplink

[0734] TA Timing Advance, Tracking Area

[0735] TAC Tracking Area Code

[0736] TAG Timing Advance Group

[0737] TAU tracking area update

[0738] TB transport block

[0739] TBS Transport Block Size

[0740] TBD To Be Defined

[0741] TCI Transmit Configuration Indicator

[0742] TCP (TCP) Transmission and Communication Protocol

[0743] TDD time division duplex

[0744] TDM time division multiplexing

[0745] TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access)

[0746] TE terminal device

[0747] TEID Tunnel Endpoint Identifier

[0748] TFT Traffic Flow Template

[0749] TMSI (Temporary Mobile Subscriber Identity)

[0750] TNL Transport Network Layer

[0751] TPC Transmit Power Control

[0752] TPMI Transmit Precoding Matrix Indicator

[0753] TR technical report

[0754] TRP, TRxP Transmit / Receive Point

[0755] TRS Tracking Reference Signal

[0756] TRx Transceiver

[0757] TS Technical Specifications, Technical Standards

[0758] TTI transmission time interval

[0759] Tx transmission, transmitter

[0760] U-RNTI UTRAN Wireless Network Temporary Identity

[0761] UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver and Transmitter

[0762] UCI Uplink Control Information

[0763] UE User Equipment

[0764] UDM (Unified Data Management)

[0765] UDP User Datagram Protocol

[0766] UDSF Unstructured Data Storage Network Function

[0767] UICC Universal Integrated Circuit Card

[0768] UL Uplink

[0769] UM Non-affirmative response mode

[0770] UML Unified Model Language

[0771] UMTS Universal Mobile Communications System

[0772] UP User Plane

[0773] UPF User Plane Functionality

[0774] URI Uniform Resource Identifier

[0775] URL Uniform Resource Locator

[0776] URLLC: Ultra-high reliability and low latency

[0777] USB Universal Serial Bus

[0778] USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module

[0779] USS UE unique search space

[0780] UTRA UMTS Terminal Wireless Access

[0781] UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

[0782] UwPTS Uplink Pilot Time Slot

[0783] V2I Vehicle-to-Infrastructure

[0784] V2P (Vehicle-to-Pedestrian)

[0785] V2V Vehicle-to-Vehicle

[0786] V2X Vehicle-to-Everything

[0787] VIM Virtualization Infrastructure Manager

[0788] VL virtual link,

[0789] VLAN, Virtual LAN, Virtual Local Area Network

[0790] VM (Virtual Machine)

[0791] VNF Virtualization Network Function

[0792] VNFFG VNF Transfer Graph

[0793] VNFFGD VNF Transfer Graph Descriptor

[0794] VNFM VNF Manager

[0795] VoIP (Voice over IP, Voice over Internet Protocol)

[0796] VPLMN Visiting Public Mobile Land Network

[0797] VPN (Virtual Private Network)

[0798] VRB (Virtual Resource Block)

[0799] WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access

[0800] WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network)

[0801] WMAN Wireless Metropolitan Area Network

[0802] WPAN Wireless Personal Area Network

[0803] X2-C X2-Control Plane

[0804] X2-U X2-UserPlane

[0805] XML is an extensible markup language.

[0806] XRES Predicted User Response

[0807] XOR Exclusive OR

[0808] ZC Zadoff-Chu

[0809] ZP Zero Power Technical terms

[0810] For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions are applicable to, but not limited to, the examples and embodiments discussed herein.

[0811] As used herein, the term “circuit” refers to, part of, or includes, hardware components configured to provide the functions described, such as electronic circuits, logic circuits, processors (shared, dedicated, or grouped) and / or memory (shared, dedicated, or grouped), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), field-programmable devices (FPDs) (e.g., field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), composite PLDs (CPLDs), high-capacity PLDs (HCPLDs), structured ASICs, or programmable SoCs), and digital signal processors (DSPs). In some embodiments, a circuit may run one or more software or firmware programs to provide at least some of the functions described. The term “circuit” may also refer to a combination of one or more hardware elements (or a combination of circuits used in an electrical or electronic system) and program code used to perform the functions of that program code. In these embodiments, a combination of hardware elements and program code may be referred to as a particular type of circuit.

[0812] As used herein, the term “processor circuit” refers to, is part of, or includes a circuit capable of sequentially and automatically performing a series of arithmetic or logical operations, or recording, storing, and / or transferring digital data. The term “processor circuit” can also refer to one or more application processors, one or more baseband processors, a physical central processing unit (CPU), a single-core processor, a dual-core processor, a triple-core processor, a quad-core processor, and / or any other device capable of executing or operating computer executable instructions such as program code, software modules, and / or functional processes. The terms “application circuit” and / or “baseband circuit” are considered synonymous with “processor circuit” and are sometimes referred to as “processor circuit.”

[0813] As used herein, the term “interface circuit” refers to, is part of, or includes a circuit that enables the exchange of information between two or more components or devices. The term “interface circuit” may also refer to one or more hardware interfaces, such as a bus, I / O interface, peripheral component interface, network interface card, and / or similar.

[0814] As used herein, the terms “User Equipment” or “UE” refer to a device having wireless communication capabilities and may represent a remote user of network resources within a communication network. The terms “User Equipment” or “UE” may be considered synonymous with, and may be referred to by, client, mobile, mobile device, mobile terminal, user terminal, mobile unit, mobile station, mobile user, subscriber, user, remote station, access agent, user agent, receiver, wireless equipment, reconfigurable wireless equipment, reconfigurable mobile device, etc. Furthermore, the terms “User Equipment” or “UE” may include any type of wireless / wired device or any computing device including a wireless communication interface.

[0815] As used herein, the term “Network Element” refers to physical or virtualized equipment and / or infrastructure used to provide wired or wireless network services. The term “Network Element” may be considered synonymous with and / or referred to as networked computers, networked hardware, network equipment, network nodes, routers, switches, hubs, bridges, wireless network controllers, RAN devices, RAN nodes, gateways, servers, virtualized VNFs, NFVIs, etc.

[0816] As used herein, the term “computer system” refers to any type of interconnected electronic devices, computer devices, or components thereof. Furthermore, the terms “computer system” and / or “system” may refer to various components of a computer that are interconnected in a communicative manner. Furthermore, the terms “computer system” and / or “system” may refer to multiple computer devices and / or multiple computing systems that are interconnected in a communicative manner and configured to share computing resources and / or networking resources.

[0817] As used herein, terms such as “device” and “computer device” refer to computer devices or computer systems having program code (e.g., software or firmware) specifically designed to provide particular computing resources. A “virtual device” is a virtual machine image implemented by a device with a dedicated hypervisor that virtualizes or emulates a computer device or provides particular computing resources.

[0818] As used herein, the term “resource” refers to physical or virtual devices, physical or virtual components within a computing environment, and / or physical or virtual components within a particular device, such as computer devices, mechanical devices, memory space, processor / CPU time, processor / CPU usage, processor and accelerator load, hardware time or usage, power, I / O operations, ports or network sockets, channel / link allocation, throughput, memory usage, storage, networks, databases and applications, and workload units. “Hardware resources” may refer to compute, storage, and / or network resources provided by physical hardware elements. “Virtualization resources” may refer to compute, storage, and / or network resources provided to applications, devices, systems, etc., by a virtualization infrastructure. The term “network resources” or “communication resources” may refer to resources accessible by computer devices / systems via a communication network. The term “system resources” may refer to any kind of shared entity providing services, which may include compute resources and / or network resources. System resources can be thought of as a set of coherent functions, network data objects, or services that reside on a single host or multiple hosts and are accessible via a clearly identifiable server.

[0819] As used herein, the term “channel” refers to any tangible or intangible transmission medium used to communicate data or data streams. The term “channel” may be synonymous and / or equivalent to any other similar term indicating a path or medium through which data is communicated, such as “communication channel,” “data communication channel,” “transmission channel,” “data transmission channel,” “access channel,” “data access channel,” “link,” “data link,” “carrier,” “radio frequency carrier,” and / or any other similar term. Furthermore, as used herein, the term “link” refers to a connection between two devices via a RAT for the purpose of sending and receiving information.

[0820] As used herein, terms such as "instantiate" and "instantiate" refer to the creation of an instance. An "instance" also refers to the specific occurrence of an object that may occur, for example, during the execution of program code.

[0821] The terms “coupled” and “communicatively coupled” are used herein, along with their derivatives. The term “coupled” can mean that two or more elements are in direct physical or electrical contact with each other, that two or more elements are indirectly in contact with each other and interact with each other, and / or that one or more other elements are coupled or connected between elements said to be coupled to each other. The term “directly coupled” can mean that two or more elements are in direct contact with each other. The term “communicatively coupled” can mean that two or more elements can be in contact with each other via wired or other interconnections, via wireless communication channels or ink, and / or by means of communication including the same.

[0822] The term "information element" refers to a structural element that contains one or more fields. The term "field" refers to the individual contents of an information element, or a data element that contains content.

[0823] The term "SMTC" refers to an SSB-based measurement timing configuration configured by SSB-MeasurementTimingConfiguration.

[0824] The term "SSB" refers to the SS / PBCH block.

[0825] The term "primary cell" refers to the MCG cell operating at the primary frequency, during which the UE performs the initial connection establishment procedure or initiates the connection re-establishment procedure.

[0826] A "primary SCG cell" refers to an SCG cell that the UE randomly accesses when reconfiguring using the synchronization procedure for DC operation.

[0827] The term "secondary cell" refers to a cell that provides additional radio resources on top of a dedicated cell for a UE configured in a CA (Carrier Aggregation).

[0828] The term "secondary cell group" refers to a subset of serving cells that include PSCells and zero or more secondary cells for a UE composed of DCs.

[0829] The term "serving cell" refers to the primary cell for a UE in RRC_CONNECTED that is not composed of a CA / DC, and there is only one serving cell composed of primary cells.

[0830] The term "serving cell" refers to a set of cells that includes special cells and all secondary cells for UE in RRC_CONNECTED configured with CA / .

[0831] The term "dedicated cell" refers to a PCell in an MCG or a PSCell in an SCG for DC operation. Otherwise, the term "dedicated cell" refers to a P cell.

[0832] As described above, several aspects of the Technology may include, for example, the collection and use of data available from various sources to improve or enhance functionality. The Disclosure considers that in some examples, such collected data may include personal information data that uniquely identifies a particular person, or personal information data that can be used to contact a particular person or locate them. Such personal information data may include demographic data, location-based data, telephone numbers, email addresses, Twitter IDs, addresses, data or records relating to a user's health or fitness level (e.g., vital signs measurements, medication information, exercise information), birth dates, or any other identifying or personal information. The Disclosure recognizes that the use of such personal information data in the Technology may be in the user's best interest.

[0833] This disclosure assumes that entities involved in the collection, analysis, disclosure, transmission, storage, or other use of such personal data will adhere to a robust privacy policy and / or privacy practice. Specifically, such entities should implement and consistently use privacy policies and practices that are generally recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for the strict confidentiality of personal data. Such policies should be readily accessible to users and should be updated as data collection and / or use changes. Personal data from users should be collected for the lawful and legitimate use of the entity and should not be shared or sold for any other purpose. Furthermore, such collection / sharing should only be carried out after informing and obtaining the user's consent. Furthermore, such entities should consider taking all necessary steps to protect and secure access to such personal data and to ensure that others who have access to such personal data comply with those privacy policies and procedures. Furthermore, such entities may undergo third-party assessments to demonstrate their compliance with widely accepted privacy policies and practices. Furthermore, policies and practices should be adapted to the specific types of personal data being collected and / or accessed, and should comply with applicable laws and standards, including jurisdiction-specific considerations. For example, in the United States, the collection or access to certain health data may be governed by federal and / or state laws, such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), while health data in other countries may be subject to and should be addressed accordingly. Therefore, different privacy practices should be maintained in each country with respect to different types of personal data.

[0834] Notwithstanding the foregoing, the Disclosure also conceives of embodiments that allow a user to selectively prevent the use of or access to personal data. Specifically, the Disclosure conceives that hardware and / or software elements can be provided to prevent or prevent access to such personal data. For example, the technology can be configured to allow a user to selectively "opt in" or "opt out" of participating in the collection of personal data at any time, for example, during or after registration for a service. In addition to providing "opt-in" and "opt-out" options, the Disclosure conceives that it can provide notices regarding access to or use of personal data. For example, a notice may be given to the user when downloading an app that will access the user's personal data, and then again immediately before the personal data is accessed by the app.

[0835] Furthermore, the intent of this disclosure is that personal data should be managed and processed in a manner that minimizes the risk of unintentional or unauthorized access or use. This risk can be minimized by limiting data collection and deleting data when it is no longer needed. Furthermore, where applicable, data de-identification can be used in certain health-related applications to protect user privacy. De-identification can be facilitated, where appropriate, by removing specific identifiers (e.g., date of birth), controlling the amount or specificity of stored data (e.g., collecting location data at the city level rather than the address level), controlling how data is stored (e.g., aggregating data across all users), and / or by other means.

[0836] Therefore, while this disclosure can extensively cover the use of personal data to implement one or more of the disclosed embodiments, it is conceivable that these embodiments can also be implemented without requiring access to such personal data. In other words, the various embodiments of the Technology are not rendered inoperable by the absence of all or part of such personal data.

Claims

1. It is a method, The base station transmits a first control signaling to the user equipment (UE) using a first resource, The first control signaling includes a wake-up opportunity that instructs the UE to wake up before the discontinuous reception (DRX) ON time of the UE to monitor the channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS), The bit field of the first control signaling instructs the UE to monitor the CSI-RS or to skip the wake-up opportunity. Based on the detection of the wake-up opportunity and the bit field instructing the UE to monitor the CSI-RS, the first control signaling configures the UE to monitor the CSI-RS with a second resource, The second resource is located between the first resource of the first control signaling and the DRX ON time. method.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the monitoring is performed before the DRX ON time.

3. The method according to claim 2, further comprising configuring the UE to monitor a second CSI-RS during the DRX ON time.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first control signaling directs a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource to report a CSI report based on the monitored CSI-RS.

5. The method according to claim 4, further comprising receiving the CSI report from the UE via the PUCCH resource during the DRX ON time.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising keeping at least a portion of the UE in sleep mode before the DRX ON time, based on the fact that no wake-up opportunity is detected before the DRX ON time.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the wake-up opportunity triggers the UE to monitor an aperiodic on-demand reference signal (RS), and an aperiodic RS offset is obtained from the wake-up opportunity.

8. A base station for wireless communication, A processor circuit configured to generate a first control signaling, the first control signaling includes a wake-up opportunity that instructs the user equipment (UE) to wake up before the discontinuous reception (DRX) ON time of the UE to monitor a channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS), the first control signaling includes a bit field that instructs the UE to monitor the CSI-RS or to skip the wake-up opportunity, the first control signaling configures the UE to monitor the CSI-RS with a second resource based on the detection of the wake-up opportunity and the bit field instructing the UE to monitor the CSI-RS, the second resource being located between the first resource of the first control signaling and the DRX ON time, A wireless front-end circuit coupled to the processor circuit and configured to transmit the first control signaling to a user device (UE) using the first resource, A base station equipped with the necessary equipment.

9. The base station according to claim 8, wherein the monitoring is performed before the DRX ON time.

10. The base station according to claim 9, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to use the wireless front-end circuit to configure a second CSI-RS during the DRX ON time.

11. The base station according to claim 8, wherein the first control signaling directs a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource to report a CSI report based on the monitored CSI-RS.

12. The base station according to claim 11, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to receive the CSI report from the UE via the PUCCH resource during the DRX ON time.

13. The base station according to claim 8, wherein the processor circuit is further configured to keep at least a portion of the UE in sleep mode before the DRX ON time, based on the fact that no wake-up opportunity is detected before the DRX ON time.

14. The base station according to claim 8, wherein the wake-up opportunity triggers the processor circuit to further monitor an aperiodic on-demand reference signal (RS), and an aperiodic RS offset is obtained from the wake-up opportunity.

15. A non-temporary computer-readable medium on which instructions are stored, wherein when an instruction is executed by one or more processors of a base station, the base station receives the instructions. The base station is made to perform an operation that includes transmitting a first control signaling to a user device (UE) using a first resource. The first control signaling includes a wake-up opportunity that instructs the UE to wake up before the discontinuous reception (DRX) ON time of the UE to monitor the channel status information reference signal (CSI-RS), The bit field of the first control signaling instructs the UE to monitor the CSI-RS or to skip the wake-up opportunity. Based on the detection of the wake-up opportunity and the bit field instructing the UE to monitor the CSI-RS, the first control signaling configures the UE to monitor the CSI-RS with a second resource, The second resource is located between the first resource of the first control signaling and the DRX ON time. Non-temporary computer-readable media.

16. The non-transient computer-readable medium according to claim 15, wherein the first control signaling directs a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) resource to report a CSI report based on the monitored CSI-RS, and the operation further comprises transmitting the CSI report to a base station via the PUCCH resource during the DRX ON time.

17. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 15, further comprising keeping at least a portion of the UE in sleep mode before the DRX ON time, based on the fact that no wake-up opportunity is detected before the DRX ON time.

18. The non-temporary computer-readable medium according to claim 15, wherein the monitoring is performed before the DRX ON time, and the operation further comprises performing a second monitoring of the second CSI-RS during the DRX ON time.

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