Conditional inclusion of feature combinations in RA reports

Abstract

Methods and systems for RA optimization are described, such as by improving the RA report as a basis for RA configuration optimization. Some proposed embodiments include applying the principle that some information can be inferred without explicit inclusion in the RA report IE to new feature combination information agreed to be included in the RA report. One aspect is to omit one of the triggering feature combination information and the used feature combination information in the RA report when the two feature combinations are identical. Some embodiments may also include an efficient way to capture in the RA report cases where the triggering feature combination has changed during the course of the random access procedure. Some embodiments allow more information covering new features to be included in the RA report in a data-efficient manner.

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] Cross-referencing of related information This application claims the benefit of U.S. priority application No. 63 / 422,276, filed on November 3, 2022, entitled "Conditional inclusion of feature combination in RA report".

[0002] This disclosure relates in general to the field of wireless communication, and more particularly to cell reselection techniques. [Background technology]

[0003] RACH settings in NR SIB1 (System Information Block 1), which is part of the system information broadcast in a cell, includes configuration parameters that inform the UE about the relationship between RA (Random Access) related resources and the expected behavior of the UE (User Equipment) in the context of a random access procedure. RA related settings mainly include the following: • Setting up PRACH (Physical Random Access Channel) opportunities in the time domain and frequency domain. • Msg1 / MsgA subcarrier interval. • RA preamble range. • SSB (Synchronized Signal Block) vs. RACH (Random Access Channel) opportunity and preamble set mapping. • Some kind of optional RA preamble classification information. • Various parameters related to the behavior of the UE during random access procedures, such as the RA type (i.e., 4-step RA or 2-step RA), the RSRP (reference signal received power) threshold for selection, the RSRP threshold for selection of SSB, the RA response window, the MsgB response window, the conflict resolution timer, the power ramping step, the number of MsgA transmissions before switching to 4-step RA, and the maximum number of RA preamble transmissions before abandoning the RA procedure. • PUSCH settings for the PUSCH (physical uplink shared channel) portion of MsgA in a 2-step RA.

[0004] The most relevant IEs for NR (New Radio) RACH configuration are RACH-ConfigGeneric, RACH-ConfigCommon, RACH-ConfigGenericTwoStep-r16, and RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStep-r16. The two former configure a 4-step RA configuration, and the two latter configure a 2-step RA configuration. For 2-step RAs, the IEs (information elements) MsgA-ConfigCommon-r16 and MsgA-PUSCH-Config-r16 are also relevant. All of these IEs are included in the SIB1 in the broadcasted system information (if the RA type in question is supported in the cell). Furthermore, in connection with handover (reconfiguration with synchronization), the UE can receive RACH configuration for the target cell via dedicated signaling (in a handover command from the target gNB (i.e., RRCReconfiguration (Radio Resource Control Reconfiguration))). This RACH configuration is then propagated in the RACH-ConfigDedicated IE.

[0005] The ASN.1 (Abstract Syntax Notation 1) specifications for these IEs, along with their respective associated field descriptions and conditional existence descriptions, were copied from 3GPP TS38.331 version 17.2.0 and are shown in Figures 1 to 19. Figure 1 shows the RACH-ConfigGeneric information element. Figure 2 shows the RACH-ConfigGeneric field description. Figure 3 shows the RACH-ConfigCommon information element. Figures 4 and 5 show the RACH-ConfigCommon field description. Figure 6 shows the RACH-ConfigGenericTwoStepRA information element. Figures 7 and 8 show the RACH-ConfigGenericTwoStepRA field description. Figure 9 shows the RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA information element. Figures 10 and 11 show the RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA field description. Figure 12 shows the MsgA-ConfigCommon information element and MsgA-ConfigCommon field description. Figure 13 shows the MsgA-PUSCH-Config information element. Figure 14 shows the MsgA-PUSCH-Config field description. Figure 15 shows the MsgA-PUSCH-Resource field description. Figure 16 shows the MsgA-DMRS-Config (MsgA Demodulation Reference Signal Configuration) field description. Figure 17 shows the RACH-ConfigDedicated information element. Figure 18 shows the CFRA-CSIRS-Resource (Conflict-Free Random Access Channel State Information Reference Signal Resource) field description, CFRA field description, and CFRA-SSB-Resource (CFRA Synchronization Signal Block Resource) field description. Figure 19 shows the CFRA-TwoStep field description and RACH-ConfigDedicated field description.

[0006] 4-Step RA Procedure in NR A four-step method is used for the random access procedure in NR. See Figure 20. In this method, the UE detects the synchronization signal (SS), decodes the broadcasted system information, and then sends a PRACH preamble (message 1) on the uplink. The gNB (base station in NR) responds with a RAR (random access response, message 2). The UE then sends UE identification information (message 3) on PUSCH (physical uplink shared channel).

[0007] The UE sends a PUSCH (message 3) after receiving a timing advance command in the RAR, which allows the PUSCH to be received with timing accuracy within the cyclic prefix. Without this timing advance, a very large CP (cyclic prefix) would be required for the PUSCH to be demodulated and detected, unless the system is applied to cells with extremely small distances between the UE and the eNB (evolved node B, or base station in LTE (Long Term Evolution)). The 4-step technique is required for the random access procedure because the NR also supports larger cells, which would necessitate providing the UE with a timing advance.

[0008] NR Rel-15 PRACH settings In NR, the time and frequency resources available for transmitting the PRACH preamble are defined as PRACH opportunities.

[0009] In this disclosure, a PRACH opportunity is also referred to as a RACH opportunity, or an RA opportunity, or simply an RO. An RO used for sending a preamble in a two-step RA is referred to as a two-step RO, and an RO used for sending a preamble in a four-step RA is referred to as a four-step RO.

[0010] The time resources and preamble format for PRACH transmission are set by the PRACH setting index, which points to the row in the PRACH setting table specified in TS38.211 Tables 6.3.3.2-2, 6.3.3.2-3, and 6.3.3.2-4 for FR1 (frequency range 1) paired spectrum, FR1 unpaired spectrum, and FR2 (frequency range 2) with unpaired spectrum, respectively.

[0011] A portion of Table 6.3.3.2-3 for FR1 unpaired spectra for PRACH preamble format 0 is copied in Figure 21, where the value of x indicates the PRACH setting period in units of system frames. The value of y indicates the system frame within each PRACH setting period in which a PRACH opportunity is set. For example, if y is set to 0, it means that a PRACH opportunity is set only in the first frame of each PRACH setting period. The value in the column "Subframe Number" indicates which subframe the PRACH opportunity is set in. The value in the column "Start Symbol" is the symbol index.

[0012] In TDD (Time Division Duplex), the semi-statically configured DL (Downlink) portion and / or the SSB actually transmitted can override and invalidate several time-domain PRACH opportunities specified in the PRACH configuration table. More specifically, PRACH opportunities in the UL (Uplink) portion are always valid, and PRACH opportunities in the X portion are valid as long as they do not precede or conflict with the SSB in the RACH slot, and are at least N symbols after the last symbol of the DL portion and the SSB. N is 0 or 2, depending on the PRACH format and subcarrier interval.

[0013] In the frequency domain, NR supports multiple frequency-multiplexed PRACH opportunities on the same time-domain PRACH opportunity. This is primarily motivated by the support for analog beam sweep in NR, such that PRACH opportunities associated with a single SSB are set up in the same time instance, but at different frequency locations. The number of FDM-decoded PRACH opportunities on a single time-domain PRACH opportunity can be 1, 2, 4, or 8. Figure 22 gives an example of a PRACH opportunity setup in NR.

[0014] In NR Rel-15, there are up to 64 sequences that can be used as random access preambles for each PRACH opportunity in each cell. The RRC parameter totalNumberOfRA-Preambles determines how many of these 64 sequences are used as random access preambles for each PRACH opportunity in each cell. The 64 sequences are set first by including all available cyclic shifts of the root Zadoff-Chu sequence, and second by setting them in increasing root index order until 64 preambles are generated for each PRACH opportunity.

[0015] NR Rel-15 association between SSB and PRACH opportunities NR Rel-15 supports one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-one associations between SSBs and PRACH opportunities, as shown in Figures 23 and 24.

[0016] When a UE detects one best SSB beam, a preamble from a set of one or more preambles mapped to this SSB is selected for random access, and then, when a gNB detects that preamble, the best SSB beam for this UE is indirectly known so that the best beam can be used to transmit a signal to or receive a signal from this UE.

[0017] The preamble associated with each SSB is set by two RRC parameters in RACH-ConfigCommon: ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB and totalNumberOfRA-Preambles.

[0018] The detailed mapping rules are specified in TS38.213 Section 8.1 as follows: The UE is provided by ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB with the number of SS / PBCH (Synchronization Signal / Physical Broadcast Channel) blocks N associated with a single PRACH opportunity and the number of competing base preambles R per SS / PBCH block per valid PRACH opportunity. If N < 1, a single SS / PBCH block is mapped to 1 / N consecutive valid PRACH opportunities, and R competing base preambles with consecutive indices associated with the SS / PBCH block for each valid PRACH opportunity start from preamble index 0. If N ≥ 1, R competing base preambles with consecutive indices associated with n SS / PBCH blocks, 0 ≤ n ≤ N-1, for each valid PRACH opportunity, TIFF0007868264000001.tif7170totalNumberOfRA-Preambles is provided and is an integer multiple of N.

[0019] In other words, the mapping between SSBs and preambles is done by sequentially associating M preambles with each SSB, where M = / , and the preambles are taken in the following order, as shown in Figure 25. • Firstly, in increasing order of preamble indices within a single PRACH opportunity, • Secondly, in increasing order of frequency resource index for frequency-multiplexed PRACH opportunities, and Thirdly, in increasing order of time.

[0020] For each SSB, the associated preambles per PRACH opportunity are further split into two sets for CBRA (Collision-Based Random Access) and CFRA. The number of CB (Code Block) preambles per SSB per PRACH opportunity is signaled by the RRC (Radio Resource Control) parameter #CB-preambles-per-SSB. The preamble indexes for CBRA and CFRA are mapped continuously for one SSB in one PRACH opportunity as shown in Figure 26.

[0021] Two-step RA procedure in 3GPP Release 16 The two-step RACH work item was approved at the RAN1#82 plenary meeting. Completing the initial access in only two steps is shown in Figure 27. · Step 1: The UE sends Message A (abbreviated as "MsgA" or "msgA". These two abbreviations can be used interchangeably in this disclosure), which includes a random access preamble together with upper layer data such as an RRC connection request, possibly with some small payload on PUSCH. · Step 2: The gNB sends a RAR (Random Access Response) (actually called Message B (abbreviated as "MsgB" or "msgB". These two abbreviations are used interchangeably in this specification)), which includes UE identifier allocation, timing advance information, and a collision resolution message, etc.

[0022] MsgA preamble configuration The RACH opportunity for a 2-step RACH can either be set up separately (also known as a Type 2 random access procedure with a separate PRACH opportunity set up with a Type 1 random access procedure) or shared with a 4-step RACH (also known as a Type 2 random access procedure with a common PRACH opportunity set up with a Type 1 random access procedure), in which case a different set of preamble IDs will be used.

[0023] For a Type 2 random access procedure with a common setting of PRACH opportunities with a Type 1 random access procedure, the UE is provided with the number N of SS / PBCH blocks associated with one PRACH opportunity by ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB and the number Q of conflict-based preambles per SS / PBCH block per valid PRACH opportunity by MsgA-CB-PreamblesPerSSB. A PRACH transmission may be on a subset of PRACH opportunities associated with the same SS / PBCH block index for a UE provided with a PRACH mask index by MsgA-ssb-sharedRO-MaskIndex. An example of SSB vs. RO mapping and preamble assignment is provided in Figure 28. Note that only one preamble group is assumed in this example.

[0024] For a Type 2 random access procedure with separate configuration of PRACH opportunities for a Type 1 random access procedure, the UE is provided with the number of SS / PBCH blocks N associated with one PRACH opportunity and the number of conflict-based preambles R per SS / PBCH block per valid PRACH opportunity, by ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB-MsgA when provided, and by ssb-perRACH-OccasionAndCB-PreamblesPerSSB otherwise. Since the SSB vs. RO mapping and preamble assignment are configured independently, the example provided for a 4-step RACH in Figure 28 is also valid for this case of a 2-step RACH, except that the parameters are configured separately for a 2-step RACH.

[0025] MsgA PUSCH settings A Push opportunity (PO) is defined as a time-frequency resource used for a single Push transmission. For a single MsgA Push opportunity, one or more DMRS resources may be configured, and one of them will be selected for each Push transmission within the Push opportunity. In this IvD, the term Push resource unit (PRU) is used to define a Push opportunity with one DMRS resource.

[0026] For each MsgA PUSCH configuration, a set of PUSCH opportunities is configured for a group of preambles in a set of ROs within a single PRACH slot, mapped by that group. The mapping between one or more PRACH preambles and PUSCH opportunities associated with DMRS resources follows the mapping order described below.

[0027] N from effective PRACH opportunities in the PRACH slot preamble Each consecutive number in the preamble index can be constructed as follows: · First, in ascending order of preamble indices within a single PRACH opportunity, · Second, in ascending order of frequency resource indices for frequency - multiplexed PRACH opportunities, · Third, in ascending order of time resource indices for time - multiplexed PRACH opportunities within a PRACH slot.

[0028] These are then mapped to valid PUSCH opportunities and associated DMRS resources as follows. · First, in ascending order of the frequency resource index f id for frequency - multiplexed PUSCH opportunities, · Second, in ascending order of the DMRS resource index within a PUSCH opportunity, where the DMRS resource index DMRS id is determined first in ascending order of DMRS port indices and second in ascending order of DMRS sequence indices, · Third, in ascending order of the time resource index t id for time - multiplexed PUSCH opportunities within a PUSCH slot, · Fourth, in ascending order of the index for N s PUSCH slots.

[0029] Here, N preamble =ceil(T preamble / T PUSCH ), where T preamble is the total number of valid PRACH opportunities per associated pattern period multiplied by the number of preambles per valid PRACH opportunity provided by MsgA - PUSCH - PreambleGroup, and T PUSCH is the total number of valid PUSCH opportunities per PUSCH configuration per associated pattern period multiplied by the number of DMRS resource indices per valid PUSCH opportunity provided by MsgA - DMRS - Config.

[0030] RA classification to support feature signaling For certain features, it is necessary that the UE has already provided instructions to the network during the random access procedure. For example, the UE may need to indicate that it is of a certain type or that it wishes to apply certain features. For instance, 3GPP has concluded that a reduced-capacity UE (sometimes called a RedCap UE) can benefit from instructing the network during the random access procedure that it is a RedCap UE and not a non-RedCap UE. Another example of such a feature is an instruction from the UE indicating whether it wishes to use Small Data Transmission (SDT) features.

[0031] It is explained that random access resources should be partitioned such that one partition may be dedicated to RedCap UEs and another to non-RedCap UEs in order to provide such instructions during random access procedures.

[0032] The system may support several features that require instructions during random access procedures. For example, both support RedCap (Reduced Capability) and SDT (Small Data Transmission). This means there will be several divisions for instructing combinations of features, for example: • One category for non-RedCap UEs that do not wish to apply SDT. • One category for non-RedCap UEs that wish to apply SDT, • One section for RedCap UE that does not wish to apply SDT, • One section for RedCap UEs that wish to apply SDT.

[0033] The division of RA resources can be realized as a division of the preamble range available in a cell. Furthermore, such preamble divisions may only be valid for a subset of RA opportunities. That is, one set of preambles may be dedicated to one feature (or combination of features) and optionally limited to a subset of RA opportunities. Similarly, another set of preambles may be dedicated to another feature (or another combination of features) and optionally limited to a subset of RA opportunities.

[0034] If the network supports such preamble-based signaling for feature combinations (where a feature combination may consist of one or more features) in a given cell, the configuration of these mechanisms is indicated in the SIB1 in the system information broadcast in the cell (in the FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 IE in the RACH-ConfigCommon IE, and (if present) in the RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA-r16 IE). The FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 IE configures one feature combination preamble section, and Figure 29 shows its ASN.1 code in 3GPP TS38.331 version 17.2.0 (field description in Figure 30).

[0035] As seen above, FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 includes FeatureCombination-r17 IE. FeatureCombination-r17 indicates the combination of features to which FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 applies. The ASN.1 code for FeatureCombination-r17 IE in 3GPP TS38.331 version 17.2.0 is shown in Figure 31 (Figures 32A-32C show the field descriptions).

[0036] SIB1 also includes a priority (in the form of a FeaturePriority-r17 IE) for each feature that maps to at least one FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 IE. These priorities are used to determine which RA preamble (i.e., which FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 IE) the UE should use when a triggering feature maps to two or more RA preamble divisions (i.e., two or more FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 IEs), or when no configured RA preamble division (i.e., no FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 IE) is associated with a feature combination (i.e., a FeatureCombination-r17 IE) that contains all the features of the feature combination that triggered the RA procedure in the UE.

[0037] If a UE intending to initiate a random access procedure needs to signal (or would benefit from) the feature or combination of features that triggered the random access to the network, the UE selects a preamble from the RA preamble divisions associated with the feature combination containing the triggering feature (or combination of triggering features) (if such RA preamble divisions are set in the cell). If the combination of features triggers a random access procedure in the UE and there is no set RA division associated with the feature combination containing all of the UE's triggering features, or if the feature or combination of features that triggered the random access procedure in the UE maps to two or more set RA divisions, the UE checks the priorities associated with the triggering features and selects an RA preamble division based on these priorities.

[0038] RA optimization RACH settings have a significant impact on user experience and overall network performance. RACH collision probability, and therefore access setup delay, data restart delay from UL asynchronous state, handover delay, transition delay from RRC_INACTIVE, and beam fault recovery delay, are all affected by RA settings, including RACH settings and preamble index settings. Furthermore, it is crucial to perform RA on the most suitable downlink beam, avoiding unnecessary power ramping and failed RA attempts. This is beneficial for both the network and the attempting device, as it avoids unnecessary interference in the network and reduces experienced latency and UE energy consumption. With NR, new features allow UEs to use dedicated RA resources depending on several factors, such as the service that triggered the RA procedure, which leads to more complex behavior.

[0039] The RA parameter settings depend on numerous factors, such as the following: • Inter-uplink cell interference from physical uplink shared channels (PUSCH) • RACH load (call arrival rate, HO rate, tracking area update, transition rate from RRC_INACTIVE / RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED state, frequency of requests for other SIs, beam fault recovery rate, non-activity timer setting, UL synchronization state, and therefore, traffic patterns and density under cell coverage, as these affect the need to use random assessment), • Imbalance between uplink (UL) and auxiliary uplink (SUL) · PUSCH load, • Cubic metrics of the preamble assigned to the cell, • Whether the cell is in high-speed mode or not. • Imbalance between uplink (UL) and downlink (DL).

[0040] The target for RA optimization is specified as follows: • Minimize access latency for UEs under the coverage of widely used SSBs. • Minimize the delay for the UE to request other SIs. • Minimize the imbalance between the access latency of UEs on the uplink (UL) channel and the access latency of UEs on the auxiliary uplink (SUL) channel. • Minimize beam fault recovery delay for UEs in the RRC_CONNECTED state. • Minimize failures / unnecessary RA attempts (which consume RA resources) before success.

[0041] Therefore, the RA optimization function will attempt to automatically set several parameters related to RA performance. Automatic RA parameter setting can be enabled by collecting RA reports from the UE and by exchanging PRACH parameters between gNBs.

[0042] Examples of RA parameter settings that can be optimized include the following: RACH settings (resource unit allocation), • (Exclusive, between Group A and Group B) RA preamble split, • RA backoff parameter value, • RA transmit power control parameters.

[0043] At a minimum, RA optimization is achieved by the UE providing RA relationship information to NG-RAN (Next Generation Radio Access Network) nodes, as well as by the exchange of normal UL and SUL carrier PRACH settings between NG-RAN nodes.

[0044] In a CU-DU (Control Unit-Distributed Unit) architecture, gNB-DUs should be able to report their RA settings to gNB-CUs on a per-cell basis, and gNB-CUs should be able to signal the RA settings of the cells they serve to neighboring NG-RAN nodes. This allows NG-RAN nodes to identify whether the RA settings of neighboring cells are optimized or whether changes are needed to achieve better RA coordination among neighboring cells.

[0045] When the UE receives a polling message requesting RA reporting from an NG-RAN node (potentially the gNB-CU of the current serving cell), such as a UEInformationRequest RRC message, it reports the RA information in a UEInformationResponse RRC message. The gNB-CU and gNB-DU take the RA report and other node information into consideration to achieve an optimized RA configuration.

[0046] The contents of the RA report include the following: • Cell ID, • The purpose of RA, • Various RA setting parameters (including 4-step RA setting parameters and / or 2-step RA setting parameters), • The index of the SSB, and the number of RA preambles sent on each attempted SSB, listed in the order in which the attempts occurred. • Attempted SSB frequencies (NR ARFCN (Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number)), • Beam quality of each attempted SSB (e.g., BRSRP (Beam Reference Signal Received Power), BRSRQ (Beam Reference Signal Received Quality), BSINR (Beam Signal-to-Interference Noise Ratio), beam level measurements during RA trials), • An indication of whether the selected SSB is above or below the rsrp-ThresholdSSB threshold. • Time elapsed since the last measurement, prior to the beam selection time. • Number of RA preambles sent on SUL, • Number of RA preambles sent on NUL, • Total number of competitive free random access (CFRA) trials and competitive-based random access (CBRA) trials, • 4-step RA trial and 2-step RA trial, • Fallback from 2-step RA to 4-step RA • Was competition detected for each RA trial?

[0047] Furthermore, at the RAN2#119bis meeting, it was agreed to include the following additional information in the RA report: • The feature or combination of features that triggered the RA in the UE (applicable if the UE uses an RA preamble that signals support for a certain feature), • The feature combination used (i.e., the feature combination associated with the RA preamble segment from which the UE selected the RA preamble; applicable if the UE used an RA preamble that signals support for a certain feature).

[0048] The above RA report should also apply to secondary nodes (SNs) in MR-DC (Multi-RAT Dual Connectivity) cases.

[0049] RA reports can be requested by the network via the UE information procedure in the RRC if the RA procedure is successful (section 5.7.10.3 of TS38.331 version 17.2.0). Furthermore, what information the UE includes in the RA report is specified in section 5.7.10.5 of TS38.331 version 17.2.0.

[0050] In 3GPP TS38.331 version 17.2.0, RA reports are specified in an ASN.1 code in the form of RA-Report-r16 IE. This is part of the ASN.1 code for the UEInformationResponse message. The portion of this ASN.1 code (and associated field description) that is relevant to RA reports is shown in Figures 32A–32C (note that most of the ASN.1 code and field descriptions have been omitted as they are not relevant in the context of this disclosure). Figure 33 shows the UEInformationResponse-IEs field description and the RA-InformationCommon field description. Figures 34A and 34B show the RA-Report field description. [Overview of the project]

[0051] One embodiment under this disclosure includes a method implemented by a UE for optimizing RA settings. The method includes detecting a trigger condition for initiating an RA procedure, wherein the trigger condition is based on a triggering feature combination comprising one or more first features; and selecting an RA preamble from an RA preamble section, wherein the RA preamble section is associated with a feature combination used, comprising one or more second features. The method further includes sending an RA report to a network node, wherein if the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used are the same, one of them is omitted from the RA report; and if the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used are different, both are included in the RA report.

[0052] Another embodiment of the method described below in this disclosure is a method implemented by a network node for optimizing RA settings. The method includes receiving an RA report from a UE when a trigger condition occurs, wherein the trigger condition is based on a triggering feature combination including one or more first features, and the RA report includes an RA preamble segment associated with a feature combination used including one or more second features, wherein when the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used are the same, one of them is omitted from the RA report, and when the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used are different, both are included in the RA report.

[0053] The summary of the present invention is provided in a simplified manner to introduce the selection of concepts further described below in modes for carrying out the invention. The summary of the present invention is not intended to identify the main or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor to be used as an indication of the scope of the claimed subject matter.

[0054] For a more complete understanding of this disclosure, the following description, along with the attached drawings, is to be referenced. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0055] [Figure 1] This is a diagram showing the RACH-ConfigGeneric information elements. [Figure 2] This diagram shows the description of the RACH-ConfigGeneric field. [Figure 3] This diagram shows the RACH-ConfigCommon information elements. [Figure 4] This diagram shows the RACH-ConfigCommon field description. [Figure 5] This diagram shows the RACH-ConfigCommon field description. [Figure 6] This is a diagram showing the RACH-ConfigGenericTwoStepRA information element. [Figure 7]This diagram shows the description of the RACH-ConfigGenericTwoStepRA field. [Figure 8] This diagram shows the description of the RACH-ConfigGenericTwoStepRA field. [Figure 9] This diagram shows the RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA information elements. [Figure 10] This diagram shows the RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA field description. [Figure 11] This diagram shows the RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA field description. [Figure 12] This diagram shows the MsgA-ConfigCommon information element and MsgA-ConfigCommon field description. [Figure 13] This diagram shows the MsgA-PUSCH-Config information element. [Figure 14] This diagram shows the description of the MsgA-PUSCH-Config field. [Figure 15] This figure shows the description of the MsgA-PUSCH-Resource field. [Figure 16] This diagram shows the field description for MsgA-DMRS-Config (MsgA demodulation reference signal settings). [Figure 17] This is a diagram showing the RACH-ConfigDedicated information element. [Figure 18] This figure shows the field descriptions for CFRA-CSIRS-Resource (Conflict-Free Random Access Channel State Information Reference Signal Resource), CFRA, and CFRA-SSB-Resource (CFRA Synchronized Signal Block Resource). [Figure 19] This figure shows the CFRA-TwoStep field description and the RACH-ConfigDedicated field description. [Figure 20]This figure shows a four-step method for random access procedures in NR. [Figure 21] This figure shows a portion of Table 6.3.3.2-3 regarding the FR1 unpaired spectrum for PRACH preamble format 0. [Figure 22] This diagram shows an example of PRACH opportunity settings in NR. [Figure 23] This figure shows the one-to-one correlation between SSB and PRACH opportunities under NR Rel-15. [Figure 24] This figure shows the many-to-one association between SSB and PRACH opportunities under NR Rel-15. [Figure 25] This figure shows the mapping between SSBs and preambles, achieved by sequentially associating M preambles with each SSB. [Figure 26] This figure shows preamble indices for CBRA and CFRA, sequentially mapped for one SSB in one PRACH opportunity. [Figure 27] This diagram shows the two-step initial access to RACH from RAN1#82 General Assembly. [Figure 28] This figure shows an example of SSB vs. RO mapping and preamble assignment. [Figure 29] This figure shows the ASN.1 code for FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 IE, which sets a single feature combination preamble category in 3GPP TS38.331 version 17.2.0. [Figure 30] This figure shows the field description for FeatureCombinationPreambles-r17 IE, which sets a single feature combination preamble category in 3GPP TS38.331 version 17.2.0. [Figure 31] This figure shows the ASN.1 code for FeatureCombination-r17 IE in 3GPP TS38.331 version 17.2.0. [Figure 32] This figure shows the field description for FeatureCombination-r17 IE in 3GPP TS38.331 version 17.2.0. [Figure 33] This figure shows the descriptions of the UEInformationResponse-IEs field and the RA-InformationCommon field. [Figures 34A-34B] This is a diagram describing the RA-Report fields. [Figure 35] This figure shows an example under this disclosure of the inclusion of feature combination information at the top level of the RA-Report-r16 IE, based on the ASN.1 code in 3GPP TS38.331 version 17.2.0. [Figure 36] This figure shows an example under this disclosure of the inclusion of feature combination information in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE based on the ASN.1 code in 3GPP TS38.331 version 17.2.0. [Figure 37] This figure shows an example under this disclosure of the inclusion of feature combination information in PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE based on the ASN.1 code in 3GPP TS38.331 version 17.2.0. [Figure 38] This figure shows an exemplary method embodiment under the present disclosure. [Figure 39] This is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a communication system under the present disclosure. [Figure 40] This is a schematic diagram of a user device embodiment under the present disclosure. [Figure 41] This is a schematic diagram of a network node embodiment under the present disclosure. [Figure 42] This is a schematic diagram of a host embodiment under the present disclosure. [Figure 43] This is a schematic diagram of an embodiment of a virtualization environment under this disclosure. [Figure 44] This figure shows a schematic representation of one embodiment of communication between a node, a host, and user equipment under this disclosure. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0056] Before describing in detail the various embodiments of this disclosure, it should be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the parameters of the systems, methods, apparatus, products, processes, and / or kits illustrated in detail, and that such parameters may, of course, vary. Therefore, while some embodiments of this disclosure are described in detail with respect to specific settings, parameters, components, elements, etc., the descriptions are illustrative and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the claimed embodiments. Furthermore, the terminology used herein is for illustrative purposes only and is not necessarily intended to limit the scope of the claimed embodiments.

[0057] Currently, several challenges exist in the conventional technology. As mentioned above regarding RA optimization, in order to further improve RA reports (e.g., RA-Report-r16 IE) as a basis for RA configuration optimization, 3GPP agreed (at the RAN2#119bis meeting) that a UE using an RA preamble from a feature combination RA preamble segment should include, during the corresponding RA report, indications of both the feature combination (which may be one or more features) that triggered the UE to initiate a random access procedure (indicated as the "triggering feature combination"), and the feature combination (which may be one or more features) associated with the RA preamble segment from which the UE selected the RA preamble it used (indicated as the "feature combination used"). The RA-Report-r16 IE can potentially contain a large amount of data, and when new features are introduced into the network, more information (such as the feature combination information mentioned above) will be included in the RA-Report-r16 IE, which means that the signaling overhead can become undesirably large.

[0058] Some aspects of this disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other problems. Some proposed embodiments can address the problems described above by applying a principle that any information can be inferred from novel feature combination information agreed to be included in the RA report without explicit inclusion in the RA report IE.

[0059] To this end, one aspect of some of the proposed embodiments described herein involves omitting one of the triggering feature combination information and the feature combination information used in the RA report when the two feature combinations are identical. Some embodiments may also include a lean way of capturing in the RA report cases where the triggering feature combination changes during the course of the random access procedure.

[0060] Some embodiments may offer one or more of the following technical advantages. Some embodiments allow more information covering new features to be included in the RA report in a data-efficient manner. In some embodiments proposed herein, the amount of data bits to be logged by the UE is half that of an RA reporting method that does not utilize the embodiments described herein, in particular when the set of triggering features and the set of feature combinations used are identical.

[0061] With reference to the accompanying drawings, some of the embodiments intended herein will be described in more detail. These embodiments are provided as examples to convey the scope of the subject to those skilled in the art.

[0062] In this disclosure, the terms “random access preamble,” “RA preamble,” and “preamble” are used interchangeably. As used herein, the term “feature combination” refers to a set of features that include one or more features. This disclosure includes some descriptions relating to NR and the RA-Report-r16 IE in the 3GPP standard for NR. However, the principles of the embodiments described are equally applicable to LTE (or other RAT or standard), RA-Report-r16 IE, or newer versions of this IE, such as RA-Report-r18 IE or RA-Report-r19 IE.

[0063] A way to address the problems described above is to try to identify how some information in the RA-Report-r16 IE can be inferred without the inclusion of one or more parameters that explicitly provide that information. Modifying the existing content of the RA-Report-r16 IE to achieve this may cause backward compatibility issues; therefore, it is preferable to target new information that has been planned for inclusion in the RA-Report-r16 IE, but for which that inclusion has not yet been specified.

[0064] Some embodiments of this disclosure may include applying such principles to feature combination information, for example, the following two information items, which have been agreed to be included in the RA-Report-r16 IE in Release 18 of the 3GPP standard: • The feature or combination of features that triggered the RA in the UE, i.e., the "triggering feature combination" (applicable when the UE uses an RA preamble that signals support for a particular feature). • The feature combination used, i.e., the feature combination associated with the RA preamble segment from which the UE selected the RA preamble, e.g., "Feature combination used" (applicable if the UE used an RA preamble that signals certain feature support).

[0065] The first finding is that these information items are applicable only if the UE uses an RA preamble from an RA preamble segment used to signal feature combination support (i.e., associated with a feature combination). Therefore, both of these information items should be optional in the RA-Report-r16 IE in order to avoid unnecessarily increasing the size of the RA-Report-r16 IE.

[0066] A second relevant finding in this context is that the combination of features that triggered the RA procedure in the UE may or may not exactly match (i.e., be identical to) the combination of features used. The two information items described above may be identical in some cases and different in others. This finding can be used to make the presence of one of these information items in the RA-Report-r16 IE optional, based on the use of the RA preamble division associated with the feature combination, as well as dependent on the presence of the other of the two information items. To this end, if the UE selects an RA preamble from the RA preamble division associated with the feature combination, and one of the two relevant information items is present in the RA-Report-r16 IE, then if the other of the two relevant information items is identical to the one that is present, the other of the two relevant information items may be omitted in the RA-Report-r16 IE; however, if the two information items are not identical, both of them should be included in the RA-Report-r16 IE.

[0067] For example, if triggering feature combination information is present in the RA-Report-r16 IE and the feature combination information used is identical, the feature combination information used may be omitted, and the receiver of the RA-Report-r16 IE (e.g., gNB) can infer that the feature combination used is identical to the triggering feature combination. Similarly, as another example, if feature combination information is present in the RA-Report-r16 IE and the triggering feature combination information is identical, the feature combination information used may be omitted, and the receiver of the RA-Report-r16 IE (e.g., gNB) can infer that the triggering feature combination is identical to the feature combination used.

[0068] It should be noted that the UE preferably applies the above method for optional and conditional reporting of triggering feature combinations and / or feature combinations used when logging information related to the RA procedure (with the intention of later sending that information to the network in the form of one or more RA reports) in the UE internal variable VarRA-Report-r16, for example, as specified in Section 7.4 of 3GPP TS38.331 version 17.2.0.

[0069] The triggering feature combinations and the feature combinations used may be included once in the RA-Report-r16 IE, i.e., once per RA procedure, for example, in the top level of the RA-Report-r16 IE or in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE. Alternatively, the triggering feature combinations and the feature combinations used may be included in the RA-Report-r16 IE for each RA attempt, for example, in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE. Another alternative is to include the triggering feature combinations and the feature combinations used in a way that corresponds to a subset of RA attempts in an RA procedure, for example, by including them in the PerRAInfo-r16 IE or in the PerRASSBInfo-r16 IE and PerRACSI-RSInfo-r16 IE (or in a new IE that corresponds to these IEs in terms of which RA attempts the information relates to, since these three IEs are not ready for extension).

[0070] In a typical case, it can be assumed that the triggering feature combination remains the same across all RA attempts in the RA procedure (and therefore the feature combination used remains the same), so the most data-efficient alternative is to include the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used only once per RA procedure, i.e., only once per RA-Report-r16 IE. However, even if this is acceptable in a typical case, it means that information is lost in atypical cases where the triggering feature combination (and therefore potentially the feature combination used as well) changes during the course of the RA procedure. Therefore, including the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used in each RA attempt, in the RA-Report-r16 IE, i.e., in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE, also has its merits.

[0071] However, regardless of where and how many times a feature combination is included in the RA report, it should be noted that several proposed methods apply to include only one of the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used (in each pair of triggering feature combinations and the feature combination used) if they are identical.

[0072] The inclusion of feature combination information at the top level of RA-Report-r16 IE can be achieved, for example, based on the ASN.1 code in 3GPP TS38.331 version 17.2.0, as indicated by the highlighted text in Figure 35.

[0073] The inclusion of feature combination information in RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE can be achieved, for example, based on the ASN.1 code in 3GPP TS38.331 version 17.2.0, as indicated by the highlighted text in Figure 36.

[0074] A non-exclusive illustrative implementation of the proposed method in the procedure text of TS38.331 version 17.1.0 is shown in the following excerpt, highlighted and underlined. RA Information Determination Regarding RA Reports and RLF Reports The UE shall set the content in ra-InformationCommon as follows: 1> Set absoluteFrequencyPointA to indicate the absolute frequency of the reference resource block associated with the random access resource used in the random access procedure. 1> Set the locationAndBandwidth and subcarrierSpacing associated with the UL BWP of the random access resource used in the random access procedure. 1> When a race-based random access resource is used in a random access procedure, 2> Set msgA_RO-FrequencyStart, msgA-RO-FDM, and msgA-SubcarrierSpacing, which are associated with the two-step random access resource when used in a random access procedure. 2> If msgA-SubcarrierSpacing is available for use in a random access procedure with a two-step random access resource, 3> Set msgA-SubcarrierSpacing associated with the two-step random access resource used in the random access procedure. 2> Instead, if only two-step random access resources are available in the UL BWP used in the random access procedure, 3> Set msgA-SCS-From-prach-ConfigurationIndex to the subcarrier interval, as derived from msgA-PRACH-ConfigurationIndex used in the two-step random access procedure. 2> In other cases, 3> Set msg1-SubcarrierSpacing associated with the 4-step random access resource used in the random access procedure. 2> Set msg1-FrequencyStart, which is associated with a 4-step random access resource, when it is used in a random access procedure, and when its value is different from the value of msgA-RO-FrequencyStart included in ra-InformationCommon. 2> Set msg1-FDM associated with a 4-step random access resource when it is used in a random access procedure, and when its value differs from the value of msgA-RO-FDMCFRA included in ra-InformationCommon. 2> If msg1-SubcarrierSpacing is available for a 4-step random access resource used in a random access procedure, and its value is different from the value of msgA-SubcarrierSpacing included in ra-InformationCommon, 3> Set msg1-SubcarrierSpacing associated with the 4-step random access resource used in the random access procedure. 2> In other cases, 3> Set msg1-SCS-From-prach-ConfigurationIndex to the subcarrier interval if its value differs from the value of msgA-SCS-From-prach-ConfigurationIndex when it is included in ra-InformationCommon, as it is derived from prach-ConfigurationIndex used in the 4-step random access procedure. 1> When a random access procedure uses a conflicting free random access resource, 2> Set msg1-FrequencyStartCFRA and msg1-FDMCFRA, which are associated with the 4-step random access resource when used in a random access procedure. 2> If msg1-SubcarrierSpacing is available for use in a random access procedure with a 4-step random access resource, 3> Set msg1-SubcarrierSpacingCFRA associated with the 4-step random access resource used in the random access procedure. 2> In other cases, 3> Set msg1-SCS-From-prach-ConfigurationIndexCFRA to the subcarrier interval, as derived from prach-ConfigurationIndex used in the 4-step random access procedure. 2> Set msgA-RO-FrequencyStartCFRA and msgA-RO-FDMCFRA, which are associated with a two-step conflict-free random access resource when used in a random access procedure. 2> When used in a random access procedure, set msgA-MCS, nrofPRBs-PerMsgA-PO, msgA-PUSCH-TimeDomainAllocation, frequencyStartMsgA-PUSCH, and nrofMsgA-PO-FDM associated with the two-step random access resource. 2> If msgA-SubcarrierSpacing is available for use in a random access procedure with a two-step random access resource, 3> Set msgA-SubcarrierSpacing associated with the two-step random access resource used in the random access procedure. 2> Instead, if only two-step random access resources are available in the UL BWP used in the random access procedure, 3> Set msgA-SCS-From-prach-ConfigurationIndex to the subcarrier interval, as derived from msgA-PRACH-ConfigurationIndex used in the two-step random access procedure. 2> In other cases, 3> Set msg1-SubcarrierSpacing associated with the 4-step random access resource used in the random access procedure. 1> As described in TS38.321[3], if a random access procedure is initialized with RA_TYPE set in 2-stepRA, 2> Set dlPathlossRSRP to the measured RSRP of the DL path loss reference obtained during the RA_Type selection phase of the RA procedure initialization, as captured in TS38.321[3]. 2> If the settings for random access msgA-TransMax are configured during RACH-ConfigDedicated for this random access procedure, and ra-Purpose is set to reconfigurationWithSync, 3> Set msgA-TransMax to the value of msgA-TransMax in RACH-ConfigDedicated. 2> Instead, if msgA-TransMax is set during RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA, 3> Set msgA-TransMax to the value of msgA-TransMax in RACH-ConfigCommonTwoStepRA. 2> Set msgA-PUSCH-PayloadSize to the size of the total payload available in the UE buffer at the time of initiating the two-step RA procedure. 1> If the purpose of the random access procedure is to request on-demand system information (i.e., if raPurpose is set to requestForOtherSI or msg3RequestForOtherSI), 2> Set intendedSIB to indicate the (one or more) SIBs that the UE wishes to receive as a result of the SI request. 2> Set ssbsForSI-Acquisition to indicate the (one or more) SSBs to be used to receive SI messages. 2> If the on-demand system information acquisition is successful, 3> Set onDemandSISuccess to true. 1> Set the parameters associated with each random access trial in perRAInfoList in the order in which the trials occurred, as follows: 2> If the random access resource used is associated with an SS / PBCH block, set the associated random access parameters for consecutive random access trials associated with the same SS / PBCH block for one or more random access trials, as follows: 3> Set ssb-Index to include the SS / PBCH block index associated with the random access resource being used. 3> Set numberOfPreamblesSentOnSSB to indicate the number of consecutive random access attempts associated with the SS / PBCH block. 3> For each random access trial performed on a random access resource, include the following parameters in the order in which the random access trials occurred: 4> If a random access attempt is performed on a competition-based random access resource, and raPurpose is not equal to "requestForOtherSI", include contentionDetected as follows: 5> If conflict resolution fails for the transmitted preamble as specified in TS38.321[6], 6> Set contentionDetected to true. 5> In other cases, 6> Set contentionDetected to false. 4> If the random access trial is a two-step random access trial, 5> If a fallback from 2-step random access to 4-step random access occurs during a random access attempt, 6> Set fallbackToFourStepRA to true. 4> If a random access trial is performed on a competition-based random access resource, 4> If a random access attempt is performed on a competing free random access resource, and the random access procedure is initiated by PDCCH ordering, 5> If the random access trial is a 4-step random access trial, and the SS / PBCH block RSRP of the SS / PBCH block corresponding to the random access resource used in the random access trial exceeds rsrp-ThresholdSSB, or 5> If the random access trial is a two-step random access trial, and the SS / PBCH block RSRP of the SS / PBCH block corresponding to the random access resource used in the random access trial exceeds msgA-RSRP-ThresholdSSB, 6> Set dlRSRPAboveThreshold to true. 5> In other cases, 6> Set dlRSRPAboveThreshold to false. 2> If the random access resource used is associated with a CSI-RS, set the associated random access parameters for consecutive random access trials associated with the same CSI-RS for one or more random access trials, as follows: 3> Set the csi-RS-Index to include the CSI-RS index associated with the random access resource being used. 3> Set numberOfPreamblesSentOnCSI-RS to indicate the number of consecutive random access attempts associated with CSI-RS. 1. When a random access procedure is triggered on a set of features, 2. Include triggeringFeatureCombination in RA reports. 1. If the UE selects / uses a different combination of features than triggeringFeatureCombination to select a random access resource for this random access procedure, 1. If the triggeringFeatureCombination and the combination of features used (usedFeatureCombination) are not the same, 2. Include usedFeatureCombination in RA reports. Note 1: Invalid.

[0075] The inclusion of feature combination information in PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE can be achieved, for example, based on the ASN.1 code in 3GPP TS38.331 version 17.2.0, as indicated by the highlighted text in Figure 37.

[0076] In a separate embodiment, conditional inclusion RA relationship information is not limited to feature combination RA information. RA relationship information for newly introduced features in a later release may also be conditionally included in the RA report.

[0077] In some embodiments, conditional feature relation RA information can be requested independently via network instructions in an RRC message, such as a UEInformationRequest message. Upon receiving this instruction, the UE includes only the RA relation information associated with the requested feature. In other words, the UE reports only a portion of the RA relation information at the time of the network request, i.e., only the information that the network is interested in collecting data for at that moment. For example, the UE includes RA relation information associated with a specific feature when there is an explicit instruction from the network.

[0078] Triggering characteristic combination changes Some embodiments may include triggering feature combinations that change during a series of RA trials. If the set of features that triggered the RA procedure changes during the course of the RA procedure, for example between two RA trials, it may be beneficial to capture this during the RA report. For this purpose, the proposed embodiments may include several alternative forms, as described below. In these descriptions, the term “feature combination information” refers to both the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used (however, if they are identical, one of them may be omitted).

[0079] Instructions for feature combination changes at the RA trial level In some embodiments, feature combination information (i.e., triggering feature combination information and feature combination information used; if they are identical, one of them may be omitted) is indicated in the RA-Report-r16 IE for each RA attempt level, for example, in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE. However, if the feature combination information has not changed since the preceding RA attempt, it is omitted in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE corresponding to the subsequent RA attempt. Thus, the feature combination information is included in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE representing the first RA attempt in the RA procedure, and then in subsequent PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IEs in the same RA procedure (i.e., in the same RA-Report-r16 IE) only if the feature combination information has changed during the RA attempts represented by the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE.

[0080] Instructions for initial feature combination information at the RA procedure level and instructions for change at the RA trial level during RA reporting. In some embodiments, the initial feature combination information is indicated at the top level in the RA-Report-r16 IE or in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE. Subsequently, any changes in the feature combination information in subsequent RA trials are indicated in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE, which represents the RA trial in which the change occurred.

[0081] Conditional instruction for changes in feature combination information In other embodiments, changes in feature combination information are indicated only if both the triggering feature combination and the used feature combination change, for example, only if the change in the triggering feature combination results in a change in the used feature combination. As in the previous two examples, the initial feature combination information is indicated at the top level of the RA-Report-r16 IE, or in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE, or in the first PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE, and then the changed feature combination information is included in the subsequent PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE only if the changed triggering feature combination results in a change in the used feature combination (i.e., only if both the triggering feature combination and the used feature combination change).

[0082] Instructions based only on initial feature combination information In other embodiments, changes in feature combination information during the RA procedure are ignored in the RA report. Only the initial feature combination information is reported. The motivation for this alternative form is that cases where the feature combination changes between two RA trials in the RA procedure may be considered corner cases that are too rare to justify the increased specification complexity (and slightly increased signaling overhead). The initial feature combination information may be included at the top level of the RA-Report-r16 IE or in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE. Of these two, inclusion in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE has the advantage that when a random access procedure is involved in an RLF, for example, when the RLF cause is a random access failure, i.e., when the rlf-Cause-r16 IE is set to "randomAccessProblem", the information is automatically included in the RLF report, i.e., in the RLF-Report-r16 IE.

[0083] Instructions only for the last feature combination information. In other alternative embodiments, changes in feature combination information during the RA procedure are ignored in the RA report. Only the final feature combination information is reported. As illustrated in the previous example, the motivation for this alternative, where only the initial feature combination is reported, is that the case where the feature combination changes between two RA trials in the RA procedure may be considered a corner case, too rare to justify the increased specification complexity (and slightly increased signaling overhead). The final feature combination information may be included at the top level of the RA-Report-r16 IE or within the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE. As explained in the previous example, inclusion in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE has the advantage that when a random access procedure is involved in an RLF, for example, when the RLF cause is a random access failure, i.e., when the rlf-Cause-r16 IE is set to "randomAccessProblem", the information is automatically included in the RLF report, i.e., in the RLF-Report-r16 IE.

[0084] Note that in general cases, i.e., when the feature combination information remains the same throughout the RA procedure, the final feature combination information is the same as the initial feature combination information.

[0085] Additional Embodiments Possible method embodiments under this disclosure are shown in Figure 38. Method 2000 includes a method implemented by UE2010, network2020, or network node2020 for optimizing RA configuration. Step 2050 (optional) is that the UE receives a request for RA relationship information (or the network / node sends that request). Step 2060 is that the UE detects a trigger condition for initiating an RA procedure. The trigger condition may be based on a triggering feature combination that includes one or more first features. Step 2070 is that the UE selects an RA preamble from an RA preamble section. The RA preamble section may be associated with a feature combination to be used that includes one or more second features. Step 2080 is that the UE sends an RA report (or the network / node receives an RA report), where if the triggering feature combination and the feature combination to be used are the same, one of them is omitted from the RA report; if the triggering feature combination and the feature combination to be used are different, both are included in the RA report. Method 2000 may include a plurality of variations and embodiments, as well as / or additional and / or alternative steps, including the variations described above and below.

[0086] Figure 39 shows an example of a communication system 2100 according to several embodiments. In this example, the communication system 2100 includes a communication network 2102 which includes an access network 2104 such as a RAN and a core network 2106 which includes one or more core network nodes 2108. The access network 2104 includes one or more access network nodes (one or more of which may generally be referred to as network nodes 2110), such as network nodes 2110a and 2110b, or any other similar Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Network nodes 2110 facilitate direct or indirect connectivity of UEs, such as by connecting UEs 2112a, 2112b, 2112c, and 2112d (one or more of which may generally be referred to as UE2112) to the core network 2106 over one or more radio connections.

[0087] Exemplary wireless communication over a wireless connection involves transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for transmitting information without using wires, cables, or other material conductors. Furthermore, in different embodiments, the communication system 1100 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that can facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals, whether via a wired or wireless connection. The communication system 2100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, wireless network, and / or other similar types of systems.

[0088] UE2112 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including a wireless device configured, set up, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network node 2110 and other communication devices. Similarly, network node 2110 is configured, capable, set up, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with UE2112 and / or with other network nodes or devices in communication network 2102 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in communication network 2102.

[0089] In the illustrated example, the core network 2106 connects network node 2110 to one or more hosts, such as host 2116. These connections may be direct or indirect, via one or more intermediate networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 2106 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 2108) structured with hardware and software components. The characteristics of these components may be substantially similar to those described for UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, and therefore their descriptions are generally applicable to the corresponding components of core network node 2108. An exemplary core network node includes one or more functions from among the following: Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscriber Identifier Decryption Function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protected Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or User Plane Function (UPF).

[0090] Host 2116 may be owned or under the control of a service provider other than the operator or provider of the access network 2104 and / or the communication network 2102, and may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. Host 2116 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more services. Examples of such applications include data acquisition services such as extracting and compiling live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data on various ambient conditions detected by multiple UEs, analytical functions, social media, functions for controlling or possibly interacting with remote devices, functions for alarms and surveillance centers, or any other such functions performed by the server.

[0091] Overall, the communication system 2100 in Figure 39 enables connectivity between the UE, network nodes, and hosts. In this sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, including, but not limited to, any other suitable wireless communication standards, such as GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future-generation standard (e.g., 6G), wireless local area network (WLAN) standards such as the IEEE 802.11 standard (WiFi), and / or any other suitable wireless communication standards such as global interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, near-field communications (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or LoRa and Sigfox, or any low-power wide area network (LPWAN) standards.

[0092] In some examples, the communication network 2102 is a cellular network implementing 3GPP standardized features. Therefore, the communication network 2102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices connected to the communication network 2102. For example, the communication network 2102 may provide ultra-high reliability low-latency communication (URLLC) services to some UEs while providing extended mobile broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or also provide massive machine-type communication (mMTC) / massive IoT services to further UEs.

[0093] In some examples, UE2112 is configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For example, the UE may be designed to transmit information to access network 2104 on a predetermined schedule when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to a request from access network 2104. Furthermore, the UE may be configured to operate in single, multi-RAT, or multi-standard modes. For example, the UE may operate with one or a combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio), and LTE, i.e., configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Enhanced UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio-Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0094] In this example, hub 2114 communicates with access network 2104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE2112c and / or 2112d) and a network node (e.g., network node 2110b). In some examples, hub 2114 may be a controller, router, content source and content analysis, or any other communication device described herein with respect to the UE. For example, hub 2114 may be a broadband router that enables access to the core network 2106 for the UE. In another example, hub 2114 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UE. Commands or instructions may be received from the UE, network node 2110, or by executable code, scripts, processes, or other instructions in hub 2114. In yet another example, hub 2114 may be a data collector acting as temporary storage for UE data, and in some embodiments may perform data analysis or other processing. In yet another example, hub 2114 may be a content source. For example, with respect to a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker, or other media distribution device, the hub 2114 can retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via network nodes, which the hub 2114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In yet another example, the hub 2114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UE, particularly when one or more of the UEs are low-energy IoT devices.

[0095] Hub 2114 may have always-on / persistent or intermittent connectivity to network node 2110b. Hub 2114 may also enable different communication methods and / or schedules between Hub 2114 and UEs (e.g., UE2112c and / or 2112d), and between Hub 2114 and the core network 2106. In other examples, Hub 2114 connects to the core network 2106 and / or one or more UEs via wired connections. Furthermore, Hub 2114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider on the access network 1104 and / or another UE via a direct connection. In some scenarios, a UE may establish a wireless connection with network node 2110 while still being connected via wired or wireless connections through Hub 2114. In some embodiments, Hub 2114 may be a dedicated hub, i.e., a hub whose primary function is to route communications from the UE to network node 2110b and from network node 2110b to the UE. In other embodiments, the hub 2114 may be a non-dedicated hub, i.e., a device that can operate to route communication between the UE and the network node 2110b, but can also operate as a communication start and / or end point for several data channels.

[0096] Figure 40 shows the UE2200 in several embodiments. As used herein, UE refers to a device that is capable of, configured, and / or operable of communicating wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of UEs include, but are not limited to, smartphones, mobile phones, cell phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, gaming consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback devices, wearable terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablets, laptop computers, laptop embedded devices (LEEs), laptop mounted devices (LMEs), smart devices, wireless customer premises equipment (CPEs), and vehicle-mounted or vehicle-embedded / integrated wireless devices. Other examples include any UE identified by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UEs, machine-type communications (MTC) UEs, and / or enhanced MTC (eMTC) UEs.

[0097] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication by implementing 3GPP standards for sidelink communication, dedicated short-range communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE does not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the associated device. Instead, a UE may represent a device (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller) that is intended to be sold to or operated by a human user, but may not be associated with a particular human user, or may not be initially associated with a particular human user. Alternatively, a UE may represent a device (e.g., a smart electricity meter) that is not intended to be sold to or operated by an end user, but may be associated with a user or may operate for the user's benefit.

[0098] The UE2200 includes processing circuitry 2202 operably coupled via bus 2204 to input / output interface 2206, power supply 2208, memory 2210, communication interface 2212, and / or any other components, or any combination thereof. Some UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 40. The level of integration between components may vary from UE to UE. Furthermore, some UEs may include multiple instances of components, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, and receivers.

[0099] The processing circuit 2202 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine capable of executing instructions stored in memory 2210 as a machine-readable computer program. The processing circuit 2202 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.), programmable logic with appropriate firmware, a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP) with appropriate software, one or more stored computer programs, a general-purpose processor, or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuit 2202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0100] In this example, the input / output interface 2206 may be configured to provide an input device, an output device, or one or more interfaces to one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of output devices include speakers, sound cards, video cards, displays, monitors, printers, actuators, emitters, smart cards, other output devices, or any combination thereof. Input devices may allow a user to capture information to the UE2200. Examples of input devices include touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive displays, cameras (e.g., digital cameras, digital video cameras, webcams, etc.), microphones, sensors, mice, trackballs, directional pads, trackpads, scroll wheels, smart cards, etc. Presence-sensitive displays may include capacitive or resistive touch sensors for detecting user input. Sensors may include, for example, accelerometers, gyroscopes, tilt sensors, force sensors, magnetometers, light sensors, proximity sensors, biosensors, or any combination thereof. Output devices may use the same type of interface port as input devices. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide input and output devices.

[0101] In some embodiments, the power supply 2208 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources may be used, such as an external power source (e.g., an electrical outlet), a photovoltaic device, or a battery. The power supply 2208 may further include a power circuit for distributing power from the power supply 2208 itself and / or from an external power source via an interface such as an input circuit or power cable. Distributing power may, for example, be for charging the power supply 2208. The power circuit may perform any formatting, converting, or other modifications to the power from the power supply 2208 to make that power suitable for each component of the UE2200 being powered.

[0102] Memory 2210 may be memory, or configured to contain memory, such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, etc. In one example, memory 2210 may contain one or more application programs 2214, such as an operating system, a web browser application, a widget, a gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 2216. Memory 2210 may store any of a variety of operating systems or combinations of operating systems for use by UE2200.

[0103] Memory 2210 may be configured to include several physical drive units, such as a redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drives, external hard disk drives, thumb drives, pen drives, key drives, high-density digital versatile disk (HD-DVD) optical disk drives, internal hard disk drives, Blu-ray optical disk drives, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disk drives, external mini dual in-line memory modules (DIMMs), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external microDIMM SDRAM, smart card memory such as a tamper-proof module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) containing one or more subscriber identification modules (SIMs) such as USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may be, for example, an embedded UICC (eUICC), an integrated UICC (iUICC), or a removable UICC commonly known as a "SIM card". Memory 2210 may enable UE 2200 to access instructions, application programs, etc., stored in temporary or non-temporary memory media, to offload data, or to upload data. Products such as products utilizing communication systems may be tangibly embodied as or within memory 2210, and memory 2210 may be a device-readable storage medium or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0104] The processing circuit 2202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other networks using a communication interface 2212. The communication interface 2212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems, including or communicatively coupled to an antenna 2222. The communication interface 2212 may include one or more transceivers used for communication, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or network node in the access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 2218 and / or receiver 2220 suitable for providing network communication (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency-allocated, etc.). Furthermore, the transmitter 2218 and receiver 2220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 2222), share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively, be implemented separately.

[0105] In the embodiments shown, the communication functions of the communication interface 2212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communication such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine location, other similar communication functions, or any combination thereof. The communication may be implemented in accordance with one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMAX, Ethernet, Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP), Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), etc.

[0106] Regardless of the sensor type, the UE may provide the output of data captured by the UE's sensors to network nodes via a wireless connection through the UE's communication interface 2212. The data captured by the UE's sensors may be communicated to network nodes via another UE through a wireless connection. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if reporting detected temperature), in response to a triggering event (e.g., an alarm is sent when humidity is detected), in response to a request (e.g., a user-initiated request), random (e.g., to equalize the load from reports from several sensors), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0107] As another example, the UE may include an actuator, motor, or switch relating to a communication interface configured to receive radio input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received radio input, the state of the actuator, motor, or switch may change. For example, the UE may include a motor that adjusts the control surface or rotor of a drone in flight according to the received input, or a robotic arm that performs a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0108] A UE, in the form of an Internet of Things (IoT) device, can be a device for use in one or more application areas, which include, but are not limited to, urban wearable technology, augmented industrial applications, and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such IoT devices are devices that are connected refrigerators or freezers, TVs, connected lighting devices, energy meters, robotic vacuum cleaners, voice-controlled smart speakers, home security cameras, motion detectors, thermostats, smoke detectors, door / window sensors, flood / humidity sensors, electric door locks, connected doorbells, air conditioning systems such as heat pumps, autonomous vehicles, surveillance systems, weather monitoring devices, vehicle parking monitoring devices, electric vehicle charging stations, smartwatches, fitness trackers, head-mounted displays for augmented reality (AR) or virtual reality (VR), wearables for haptic augmentation or perceptual augmentation, water sprinklers, animal or product tracking devices, sensors for monitoring plants or animals, industrial robots, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), and any kind of medical device such as a heart rate monitor or remotely controlled surgical robot, or devices embedded in them. The UE in the form of an IoT device includes, in addition to the other components described with respect to the UE2200 shown in Figure 40, circuitry and / or software depending on the intended application of the IoT device.

[0109] In another specific example, in an IoT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurement and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurement to another UE and / or network node. In this case, the UE could be an M2M device, which is sometimes called an MTC device in a 3GPP context. In one specific example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, the UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, bus, truck, ship, and airplane, or other equipment capable of monitoring its operational status and / or reporting on its operational status, or other functions associated with its operation.

[0110] In practice, any number of UEs can be used together for a single use case. For example, the first UE may be the drone itself, or integrated within the drone, providing the drone's speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to the second UE, which is the remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (for example, by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone's speed. The first and / or second UEs may also include two or more of the functions described above. For example, the UE may have sensors and actuators and handle the communication of data about both the speed sensor and the actuator.

[0111] Figure 41 shows a network node 3300 according to several embodiments. As used herein, a network node refers to a device that is configured, set up, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with UEs in a communication network and / or with other network nodes or devices. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points) and base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, node Bs, evolved node Bs (eNBs), and NR node Bs (gNBs)).

[0112] Base stations can be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, in other words, the base station's transmit power level), and are therefore sometimes called femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations, depending on the amount of coverage they provide. A base station can be a relay node or relay donor node that controls relays. Network nodes can also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station, such as a centralized digital unit and / or remote radio unit (RRU), sometimes called a remote radio head (RRH). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna-integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station are sometimes called nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0113] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmit point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, MSR equipment such as multi-standard radio (MSR) BS, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base station transceiver stations (BTSs), transmit points, transmit nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordinated entities (MCEs), operation and maintenance (O&M) nodes, operation support system (OSS) nodes, self-organizing network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., evolved serving mobile location centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or drive test minimization (MDTs).

[0114] Network node 3300 includes a processing circuit 3302, a memory 3304, a communication interface 3306, and a power supply 3308. Network node 3300 can be assembled from multiple physically distinct components (e.g., node B components and RNC components, or BTS components and BSC components), each of which may have its own respective components. In some scenarios where network node 3300 has multiple distinct components (e.g., BTS components and BSC components), one or more of the distinct components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple node Bs. In such a scenario, each unique node B-RNC pair may, in some cases, be considered a single distinct network node. In some embodiments, network node 1300 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 3304 for different RATs), and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 3310 may be shared by different RATs). Network node 3300 may also include multiple sets of various indicated components for different wireless technologies, such as GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), or Bluetooth wireless technologies, which are integrated into network node 1300. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or sets of chips, and other components within network node 1300.

[0115] The processing circuit 3302 may include one or more combinations of microprocessors, controllers, microcontrollers, central processing units, digital signal processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field-programmable gate arrays, or any other suitable computing devices, resources, or combinations of hardware, software, and / or encoded logic, which are capable of operating to provide network node 3300 functionality, either on its own or in combination with other network node 3300 components such as memory 3304.

[0116] In some embodiments, the processing circuit 3302 includes a system-on-a-chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuit 3302 includes one or more of the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuit 3312 and the baseband processing circuit 3314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuit 3312 and the baseband processing circuit 3314 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units such as radio and digital units. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the RF transceiver circuit 3312 and the baseband processing circuit 3314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, board, or unit.

[0117] Memory 3304 may include, but is not limited to, any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory, including persistent storage, solid memory, remote-mount memory, magnetic media, optical media, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (e.g., hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., flash drive, compact disc (CD), or digital video disc (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-temporary device-readable and / or computer-executable memory device for storing information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuit 3302. Memory 3304 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including other instructions that may be executed by the processing circuit 3302 and utilized by the network node 3300, including applications that include one or more computer programs, software, logic, rules, code, and tables. Memory 3304 may be used to store calculations performed by the processing circuit 3302 and / or data received via the communication interface 3306. In some embodiments, the processing circuit 3302 and the memory 3304 are integrated.

[0118] The communication interface 3306 is used in wired or wireless signaling and / or data between network nodes, access networks, and / or UEs. As shown, the communication interface 3306 includes (one or more) ports / (one or more) terminals 3316 for sending and receiving data to and from the network, for example, over a wired connection. The communication interface 3306 also includes a wireless front-end circuit 3318, which is coupled to or, in some embodiments, may be part of the antenna 3310. The wireless front-end circuit 3318 includes a filter 3320 and an amplifier 3322. The wireless front-end circuit 3318 may be connected to the antenna 3310 and the processing circuit 3302. The wireless front-end circuit may be configured to adjust signals communicated between the antenna 3310 and the processing circuit 3302. The wireless front-end circuit 3318 may receive digital data to be sent to other network nodes or UEs via the wireless connection. The wireless front-end circuit 3318 can convert digital data into a radio signal with appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filter 3320 and / or amplifier 3322. The radio signal can then be transmitted via antenna 3310. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 3310 can collect a radio signal, which is then converted into digital data by the wireless front-end circuit 3318. The digital data can then be passed to processing circuit 3302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0119] In some alternative embodiments, the network node 3300 does not include a separate radio front-end circuit 3318; instead, the processing circuit 3302 includes the radio front-end circuit and is connected to the antenna 3310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or part of the RF transceiver circuit 3312 is part of the communication interface 3306. In yet another embodiment, the communication interface 3306, as part of a radio unit (not shown), includes one or more ports or terminals 3316, the radio front-end circuit 3318, and the RF transceiver circuit 3312, and the communication interface 3306 communicates with a baseband processing circuit 3314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0120] Antenna 3310 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays configured to transmit and / or receive wireless signals. Antenna 3310 may be coupled to the wireless front-end circuit 3318 and may be any type of antenna capable of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data and / or signals. In some embodiments, antenna 3310 is separate from the network node 3300 and can be connected to the network node 3300 through an interface or port.

[0121] The antenna 3310, the communication interface 3306, and / or the processing circuit 3302 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain acquisition operations as described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from the UE, another network node, and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 3310, the communication interface 3306, and / or the processing circuit 3302 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations as described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data, and / or signals may be transmitted to the UE, another network node, and / or any other network equipment.

[0122] The power supply 3308 provides power to the various components of the network node 3300 in a form suitable for each component (for example, at the voltage and current levels required for each respective component). The power supply 3308 may further include, or be coupled to, a power management circuit for supplying power to the components of the network node 3300 to perform the functions described herein. For example, the network node 3300 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., a power grid, an electrical outlet) via an input circuit or interface such as an electrical cable, thereby the external power source supplying power to the power circuit of the power supply 3308. As a further example, the power supply 3308 may include a power source in the form of a battery or battery pack, connected to or integrated into the power circuit. The battery may provide backup power in the event of an external power failure.

[0123] Embodiments of the network node 3300 may include additional components other than those shown in Figure 41 to provide several aspects of the network node's functionality, including any of the functions described herein and / or functions necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 3300 may include user interface equipment for enabling information input to and output from the network node 3300. This may enable a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 3300.

[0124] Figure 42 is a block diagram of host 4400, which may be one embodiment of host 2116 of Figure 39, according to various aspects described herein. Host 4400 as used herein may be or comprise various combinations of hardware and / or software, including standalone servers, blade servers, cloud implementation servers, distributed servers, virtual machines, containers, or processing resources in a server farm. Host 4400 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0125] The host 4400 includes a processing circuit 4402 operably coupled to an input / output interface 4406, a network interface 4408, a power supply 4410, and memory 4412 via a bus 4404. Other embodiments may include other components. The characteristics of these components may be substantially the same as those described with respect to the devices in previous figures, such as Figures 40 and 41, and therefore their descriptions are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the host 4400.

[0126] Memory 4412 may include one or more computer programs, each containing one or more host application programs 4414 and data 4416, the data 4416 of which may include user data, for example, data generated by the UE for host 4400, or data generated by host 4400 for the UE. Embodiments of host 4400 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. Host application programs 4414 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Multipurpose Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of the UE (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application program 4414 may also provide user authentication and license checks, and may periodically report health, route, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in the core network or a device at the edge of the core network. Thus, host 4400 may select and / or direct different hosts for over-the-top services for the UE. The host application program 4414 may support various protocols, including HTTP Live Streaming (HLS), Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), and Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH).

[0127] Figure 43 is a block diagram showing a virtualization environment 5500 in which functions implemented by several embodiments can be virtualized. In this context, virtualization means creating a virtual version of an apparatus or device, which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices, and networking resources. The virtualization used herein may apply to any device or its components described herein and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functions are implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components, executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtualization environments 5500 hosted by one or more hardware nodes, such as network nodes, UEs, core network nodes, or hardware computing devices acting as hosts. Furthermore, in embodiments in which the virtual nodes do not require wireless connectivity (e.g., core network nodes or hosts), the nodes may be fully virtualized.

[0128] Application 5502 (which may alternatively be referred to as a software instance, virtual appliance, network function, virtual node, virtual network function, etc.) runs in a virtualized environment 5500 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0129] Hardware 5504 includes processing circuits, memory for storing software and / or instructions executable by the hardware processing circuits, and / or other hardware devices described herein, such as network interfaces and input / output interfaces. The software is executed by the processing circuits to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 5506 (also called hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), providing VM5508a and 5508b (one or more of which may commonly be referred to as VM5508), and / or may implement any of the functions, features, and / or benefits described with respect to some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 5506 may present VM5508 with a virtual operating platform that looks like networking hardware.

[0130] VM5508 features virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interfaces, and virtual storage, and may be powered by the corresponding virtualization layer 5506. Different embodiments of the virtual appliance 5502 example may be implemented on one or more of the VM5508s, and the implementation may be carried out in different ways. Hardware virtualization is referred to as network function virtualization (NFV) in several contexts. NFV can be used to consolidate many types of network equipment onto industry-standard high-volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which may reside in data centers and customer premises equipment.

[0131] In the context of NFV, VM5508 can be a software implementation of a physical machine, where programs run as if they were running on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each VM5508 and its portion of the hardware 5504 on which it runs, whether that hardware is dedicated to that VM and / or shared by that VM with other VMs in the VM, form a separate virtual network element. Furthermore, in the context of NFV, the virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions running in one or more VM5508s on the hardware 5504 and corresponds to application 5502.

[0132] Hardware 5504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with general or specific components. Hardware 5504 may implement some functions through virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 5504 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes cooperate and are managed via management and orchestration 5510, which oversees the lifecycle management of applications 5502. In some embodiments, hardware 5504 is coupled to one or more radio units, each including one or more transmitters and one or more receivers, which may be coupled to one or more antennas. The radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more suitable network interfaces and may be used in combination with virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or base station. In some embodiments, some signaling may be provided using a control system 5512, which may be used alternatively for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0133] Figure 44 shows a communication diagram of host 6602 communicating with UE 6606 via network node 6604 over a partial wireless connection, according to several embodiments. Next, exemplary implementations of various embodiments of the UEs (such as UE 2112a in Figure 39 and / or UE 2200 in Figure 40), network nodes (such as network node 2110a in Figure 39 and / or network node 3300 in Figure 41), and hosts (such as host 2116 in Figure 39 and / or host 4400 in Figure 42), as described in the previous paragraph, will be described with reference to Figure 44.

[0134] Similar to host 4400, embodiments of host 6602 include hardware such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. Host 6602 also includes software that is stored in or accessible by host 6602 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be capable of operating to serve a remote user, such as UE6606 connected via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 6650 extending between UE6606 and host 6602. When serving a remote user, the host application may provide user data transmitted using the OTT connection 6650.

[0135] Network node 6604 includes hardware that enables network node 6604 to communicate with host 6602 and UE6606. The connection 6660 may be direct or pass through one or more other intermediate networks, such as a core network (similar to core network 2106 in Figure 39) and / or one or more public networks, private networks, or hosted networks. For example, the intermediate network could be a backbone network or the internet.

[0136] The UE6606 includes hardware and software that is stored in or accessible by the UE6606 and executable by the UE's processing circuitry. The software includes client applications, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app,” which may be capable of operating to serve human or non-human users through the UE6606, with the support of the host 6602. On the host 6602, the running host application may communicate with the running client application via an OTT connection 6650 that terminates in the UE6606 and host 6602. When serving a user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 6650 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate user data that the UE's client application provides to the host application via the OTT connection 6650.

[0137] The OTT connection 6650 may extend via connection 6660 between host 6602 and network node 6604, and via wireless connection 6670 between network node 6604 and UE6606, in order to provide a connection between host 6602 and UE6606. Connections 6660 and wireless connection 6670, which the OTT connection 6650 may provide, are depicted abstractly to illustrate communication between host 6602 and UE6606 via network node 6604, without explicit reference to intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages through these devices.

[0138] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 6650, in step 6608, host 6602 provides user data, which may be done by running a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a specific human user interacting with UE6606. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with UE6606 sharing data with host 6602 without explicit human interaction. In step 6610, host 6602 initiates a transmission to carry the user data toward UE6606. Host 6602 may initiate a transmission in response to a request sent by UE6606. The request may be triggered by human interaction with UE6606 or by the operation of a client application running on UE6606. The transmission may proceed through network node 6604 in accordance with the teachings of embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 6612, the network node 6604 transmits the user data carried in the transmission initiated by host 6602 to UE 6606, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 6614, UE 6606 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be done by a client application running on UE 6606 associated with a host application run by host 6602.

[0139] In some examples, UE6606 runs a client application that provides user data to host 6602. User data may be provided in response to or in reaction to data received from host 6602. Thus, in step 6616, UE6606 may provide user data, which may be done by running a client application. When providing user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via the input / output interface of UE6606. Regardless of the particular form in which the user data is provided, UE6606 initiates a transmission of the user data to host 6602 via network node 6604 in step 6618. In step 6620, in accordance with the teachings of embodiments described throughout this disclosure, network node 6604 receives user data from UE6606 and initiates a transmission of the received user data to host 6602. In step 6622, host 6602 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by UE6606.

[0140] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of the OTT service provided to the UE6606 by using the OTT connection 6650, in which the wireless connection 6670 forms the final segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve data rate, latency, and / or power consumption, thereby providing benefits such as reduced user latency, relaxed file size limitations, improved content resolution, enhanced responsiveness, and / or extended battery life.

[0141] In an exemplary scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by host 6602. As another example, host 6602 may process audio and video data that may be extracted from the UE for use in creating maps. As yet another example, host 6602 may collect and analyze real-time data to help control vehicle congestion (e.g., control traffic signals). As yet another example, host 6602 may store surveillance video uploaded by the UE. As yet another example, host 6602 may store or control access to media content, such as video, audio, VR or AR, which host 6602 can broadcast, multicast, or unicast to the UE. As yet another example, host 6602 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time-constrained electrical loads to balance generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, extracting, storing, analyzing, and / or transmitting data.

[0142] In some embodiments, measurement procedures may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors, which are improved by one or more embodiments. Further optional network functions may be provided for reconfiguring the OTT connection 6650 between host 6602 and UE6606 in response to variations in measurement results. Measurement procedures and / or network functions for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware on host 6602 and / or UE6606. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in relation to other devices through which the OTT connection 6650 passes, and the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values ​​for the monitored quantities exemplified above, or values ​​for other physical quantities that the software can calculate or estimate the monitored quantities for. Reconfiguring the OTT connection 6650 may include message formatting, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc., and the reconfiguration does not require a direct change in the operation of network node 6604. Such procedures and functions are known and practiced in the art. In some embodiments, the measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling by host 6602 to facilitate measurements such as throughput, propagation time, and latency. The measurements may be implemented in which software uses OTT connection 6650 to cause messages, particularly empty or "dummy" messages, to be sent while monitoring propagation time, errors, etc.

[0143] The computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the shown combinations of hardware components, but other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It should be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software required to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. The determining, calculating, acquiring, or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuits, which may process information by, for example, converting acquired information to other information, comparing acquired or converted information with information stored in a network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the acquired or converted information and as a result of the processing making a decision. Furthermore, although components are illustrated as a single box located within a larger box, or as a single box nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that constitute a single shown component, and functions may be separated between the distinct components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functions of those components may be separated between the processing circuit and the communication interface. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware, while the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0144] In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be provided by a processing circuit that executes instructions stored in memory, which in some embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-temporary computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functions may be provided by a processing circuit without executing instructions stored in a separate or individual device-readable storage medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether or not it executes instructions stored in a non-temporary computer-readable storage medium, the processing circuit may be configured to perform the functions described. The benefits provided by such functions are enjoyed by the processing circuit alone, or by the computing device as a whole, but not limited to other components of the computing device, and / or generally by the end user and the wireless network.

[0145] It will be understood that computer systems take on an increasingly diverse range of forms. In this description and in the claims, the terms “controller,” “computer system,” or “computing system” are broadly defined to include any device or system, or any combination thereof, comprising at least one physical and tangible processor and physical and tangible memory capable of having computer-executable instructions that can be executed by the processor. Not limited to, but as used herein, the terms “computer system” or “computing system” are intended to include personal computers, desktop computers, laptop computers, tablets, handheld devices (e.g., mobile phones, PDAs, pagers), microprocessor-based or programmable consumer electronics, minicomputers, mainframe computers, multiprocessor systems, network PCs, distributed computing systems, data centers, message processors, routers, switches, and even devices not previously considered computing systems, such as wearables (e.g., eyeglasses).

[0146] A computing system also has several structures on which it rests, often referred to as “executable components.” For example, the memory of a computing system may contain executable components. The term “executable component” is a name for a structure that is well understood by those skilled in the art of computing as a structure that may be software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, when implemented in software, those skilled in the art will understand that the structure of an executable component may include software objects, routines, methods, etc., that can be executed by one or more processors on the computing system, regardless of whether such executable components reside in the heap of the computing system or on a computer-readable storage medium. The structure of an executable component exists on a computer-readable medium in such a form that, when executed by one or more processors of the computing system, it is operable to cause the computing system to perform one or more functions, such as the functions and methods described herein. Such a structure may be directly computer-readable by the processor, as is the case when the executable component is a binary. Alternatively, the structure may be structured and / or compiled in an interpretable manner, whether in a single step or in multiple steps, to produce a binary that is directly interpretable by the processor.

[0147] The terms “components,” “services,” “engines,” “modules,” “controls,” and “generators” may also be used in this description. These terms, as used in this description and in this context, are intended to be synonymous with the term “executable components,” whether expressed with or without modifying clauses, and therefore have the same structure as will be well understood by those skilled in the art of computing.

[0148] In terms of computer implementations, a computer is generally understood to comprise one or more processors or one or more controllers, and the terms computer, processor, and controller may be used interchangeably. When provided by a computer, processor, or controller, the functionality may be provided by a single dedicated computer or processor or controller, a single shared computer or processor or controller, or by multiple individual computers or processors or controllers, some of which may be shared or distributed. Furthermore, the terms “processor” or “controller” may also refer to other hardware capable of performing such functionality and / or running software, such as the exemplary hardware described above.

[0149] In general, various exemplary embodiments may be implemented in hardware or dedicated chips, circuits, software, logic, or any combination thereof. For example, some embodiments may be implemented in hardware, while others may be implemented in firmware or software that can be executed by a controller, microprocessor, or other computing device, but this disclosure is not limited thereto. Various embodiments of the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may be illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using any other graphical representation, but it should be understood that these blocks, devices, systems, techniques, or methods described herein may be implemented in hardware, software, firmware, dedicated circuits or logic, general-purpose hardware or controllers or other computing devices, or any combination thereof, as non-limiting examples.

[0150] Not all computing systems require a user interface, but in some embodiments, a computing system includes a user interface for use in communicating information with a user. The user interface may include output and input mechanisms. The principles described herein are not limited to strict output or input mechanisms and therefore depend on the nature of the device. However, output mechanisms may include, for example, speakers, displays, haptic outputs, projections, holograms, etc. Examples of input mechanisms may include, for example, microphones, touchscreens, projections, holograms, cameras, keyboards, styluses, mice, or other pointer inputs, any type of sensor, etc.

[0151] Abbreviations and defined terms To aid in understanding the scope and content of this specification and the appended claims, several selected terms are defined below directly. Unless otherwise specified, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art to which this disclosure relates.

[0152] As used herein, the terms “approximately,” “about,” and “substantially” refer to an amount or condition that is close to a specific stated amount or condition that still performs the desired function or achieves the desired result. For example, the terms “approximately,” “about,” and “substantially” may refer to an amount or condition that deviates by less than 10%, or less than 5%, or less than 1%, or less than 0.1%, or less than 0.01%, from the specifically stated amount or condition.

[0153] Various aspects of the Disclosure, including devices, systems, and methods, may be shown with respect to one or more embodiments or implementations that are essentially illustrative. As used herein, the term “exemplary” means “acting as an example, case, or illustration” and should not necessarily be construed as being preferable or advantageous to other embodiments disclosed herein. Furthermore, references to “implementations” of the Disclosure or embodiments include specific references to one or more embodiments thereof, and vice versa, and are intended to provide illustrative examples without limiting the scope of the Disclosure as directed not by this Specified Publication but by the appended claims.

[0154] Unless implicitly or explicitly understood otherwise or stated otherwise, words appearing in the singular form as used herein include their plural equivalents, and words appearing in the plural form include their singular equivalents. Therefore, note that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” as used herein and in the appended claims include plural referents unless the context explicitly specifies otherwise. For example, a reference to a singular referent (e.g., “a widget”) includes one, two, or more referents unless implicitly or explicitly understood otherwise or stated otherwise. Similarly, a reference to multiple referents should be interpreted as including one and / or multiple referents unless the content and / or context explicitly specifies otherwise. For example, a reference to a plural referent (e.g., “widgets”) does not necessarily require multiple such referents. Instead, unless otherwise stated, it should be understood that one or more referents are intended herein, regardless of the presumed number of referents.

[0155] References herein to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” and “exemplary embodiment” indicate that the embodiments described may include certain features, structures, or characteristics, but not all embodiments necessarily include such features, structures, or characteristics. Furthermore, such phrases do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment. Moreover, when certain features, structures, or characteristics are described in relation to an embodiment, it is known to those skilled in the art that such features, structures, or characteristics will be affected in relation to other embodiments, whether or not they are explicitly described.

[0156] Terms such as “first” and “second” may be used herein to describe various elements, but it should be understood that these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are used merely to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of exemplary embodiments, a first element may be called a second element, and similarly, a second element may be called a first element. The terms “and / or” as used herein include any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed terms.

[0157] As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “has,” “having,” “includes,” and / or “including” specify the presence of the described features, elements, and / or components, but do not exclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components, and / or combinations thereof.

[0158] conclusion This disclosure includes any novel features or combinations thereof of the features expressly disclosed herein, or any generalization thereof. Various modifications and adaptations to the exemplary embodiments of this disclosure may become apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the above description when read together with the accompanying drawings. However, any and all modifications still fall within the scope of the non-limiting and exemplary embodiments of this disclosure.

[0159] With respect to any given component or embodiment described herein, it should be understood that any of the possible candidate or alternative forms listed for that component may be used individually or in combination with each other, unless implicitly or explicitly understood otherwise or otherwise stated. Furthermore, it should be understood that the list of such candidate or alternative forms is illustrative and not limiting, unless implicitly or explicitly understood otherwise or otherwise stated.

[0160] Furthermore, unless otherwise indicated, numbers representing quantities, components, distances, or other measurements used herein and in the claims should be understood to be modified by the term “approximately” when the term is defined herein. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, the numerical parameters described herein and in the appended claims are approximations that may vary depending on the desired properties to be obtained by the subject matter presented herein. At a minimum, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the claims, each numerical parameter should be interpreted at least in light of the number of significant figures reported and by applying ordinary rounding techniques. While the numerical ranges and parameters describing a wide range of the subject matter presented herein are approximations, the numbers described in specific examples are reported as accurately as possible. However, any numerical value inherently contains some error, which inevitably arises from the standard deviation found in their respective test measurements.

[0161] Any headings and subheadings used herein are for organizational purposes only and are not intended to limit the scope of this specification or the claims. The terms and expressions used herein are descriptive, not restrictive, and in the use of such terms and expressions, no equivalents or parts thereof of the features shown and described are excluded, and various modifications are possible within the scope of this disclosure. Therefore, although this disclosure is specifically disclosed in part by some embodiments and optional features, modifications and variations of the concepts disclosed herein may be used by those skilled in the art, and such modifications and variations are considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0162] Furthermore, it will be understood that some embodiments of the present disclosure may include, incorporate, or otherwise possess properties or features (e.g., components, members, elements, parts, and / or portions) described in other embodiments disclosed and / or described herein. Accordingly, various features of some embodiments may be compatible with, combined with, included in, and / or incorporated into other embodiments of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the disclosure of some features for a particular embodiment of the present disclosure should not be construed as limiting the application or inclusion of such features to that particular embodiment. Rather, it will be understood that other embodiments may also include such features, members, elements, parts, and / or portions without necessarily departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

[0163] Furthermore, unless a feature is described as requiring another feature to be combined with it, any feature herein may be combined with any other feature of the same or different embodiments disclosed herein. Moreover, various well-known embodiments, such as exemplary systems, methods, and apparatus, are not described herein in particular detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments of the exemplary models. However, such embodiments are also contemplated herein.

[0164] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that methods, devices, device elements, materials, procedures, and techniques other than those specifically described herein can be applied to the practices of the embodiments described herein as broadly disclosed herein, without relying on excessive experimentation. All technically known functional equivalents of the methods, devices, device elements, materials, procedures, and techniques specifically described herein are intended to be encompassed by this disclosure.

[0165] When a group of materials, compositions, components, or compounds is disclosed herein, it should be understood that all individual members of those groups and all of their subgroups are disclosed separately. When a Markush group or other grouping is used herein, all individual members of that group, as well as all possible combinations and partial combinations of that group, are intended to be individually included in this disclosure.

[0166] The embodiments described above are merely examples. Modifications, alterations, and variations of specific embodiments can be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the scope of this description, as defined solely by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A method performed by a user device (UE) (2010) for optimizing random access (RA) settings, the method being: Detecting a trigger condition for initiating an RA procedure (2060), wherein the trigger condition is based on a triggering feature combination that includes one or more first features (2060), Selecting an RA preamble from an RA preamble category (2070), wherein the RA preamble category is associated with a feature combination used that includes one or more second features (2070), Sending an RA report to a network node (2020) (2080), wherein if the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used are the same, one of them is omitted from the RA report, and if the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used are different, both are included in the RA report. Methods that include...

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the triggering feature combination or the feature combination used is omitted.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used is included in one of the following ways: once in the RA-Report-r16 information element (IE), once per RA procedure, in the top level of the RA-Report-r16 IE or in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE, in the RA-Report-r16 IE per RA trial, or in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE.

4. The triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used are included in the RA-Report-r16 information element (IE) at the per-RA trial level. If the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used have not changed since the preceding RA trial, they are omitted in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE corresponding to the subsequent RA trial. If the triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used changes during an RA trial, the triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used is included in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE representing the first RA trial in the RA procedure, and then included in subsequent PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE in the same RA procedure. The method according to claim 1.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used is included in at least one of an RA-Report-r16 information element (IE) or an RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE, and subsequent changes in the triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used in a subsequent RA trial are indicated in a PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE representing the RA trial in which the subsequent change occurred.

6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the change in the triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used is indicated only when both the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used have changed.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein changes in the triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used during the RA procedure are ignored in subsequent RA reports, and only the initial triggering feature combination and / or the initial feature combination used is reported in the RA report.

8. The method according to claim 1, wherein changes in the triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used during the RA procedure are ignored in the RA report, and only the final triggering feature combination and / or the final feature combination used is reported in subsequent RA reports.

9. The method according to claim 1, wherein RA-related information of newly introduced features is included in the RA report or subsequent RA reports.

10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising receiving a request for RA-related information from a network (2020) (2050).

11. A method performed by a network node (2020) for optimizing random access (RA) settings, the method being: Receiving an RA report from a user device (UE) (2010) when a trigger condition occurs (2080), wherein the trigger condition is based on a triggering feature combination including one or more first features, the RA report includes an RA preamble segment associated with a feature combination used including one or more second features, and when the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used are the same, one of them is omitted from the RA report, and when the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used are different, both are included in the RA report (2080). Methods that include...

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the triggering feature combination or the feature combination used is omitted.

13. The method according to claim 11, wherein the triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used is included in one of the following ways: once in the RA-Report-r16 information element (IE), once per RA procedure, in the top level of the RA-Report-r16 IE or in the RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE, in the RA-Report-r16 IE per RA trial, or in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE.

14. The triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used are included in the RA-Report-r16 information element (IE) at the per-RA trial level. If the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used have not changed since the preceding RA trial, they are omitted in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE corresponding to the subsequent RA trial. If the triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used changes during an RA trial, the triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used is included in the PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE representing the first RA trial in the RA procedure, and then included in subsequent PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE in the same RA procedure. The method according to claim 11.

15. The method according to claim 11, wherein the triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used is included in at least one of an RA-Report-r16 information element (IE) or an RA-InformationCommon-r16 IE, and subsequent changes in the triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used in a subsequent RA trial are indicated in a PerRAAttemptInfo-r16 IE representing the RA trial in which the subsequent change occurred.

16. The method according to claim 11, wherein the change in the triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used is indicated only when both the triggering feature combination and the feature combination used have changed.

17. The method according to claim 11, wherein changes in the triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used during the RA procedure are ignored in subsequent RA reports, and only the initial triggering feature combination and / or the initial feature combination used is reported in the RA report.

18. The method according to claim 11, wherein changes in the triggering feature combination and / or the feature combination used during the RA procedure are ignored in the RA report, and only the final triggering feature combination and / or the final feature combination used is reported in subsequent RA reports.

19. The method according to claim 11, wherein RA-related information of newly introduced features is included in the RA report or subsequent RA reports.

20. The method according to claim 11, further comprising transmitting a request for RA-related information to the UE (2050).

21. User equipment (UE) (2010) for optimizing random access (RA) settings, A processing circuit (2202) configured to perform any of the steps described in any one of claims 1 to 10, A power supply circuit (2208) configured to supply power to the processing circuit and User equipment (UE) (2010) equipped with the following.

22. A network node (2020) for optimizing random access (RA) settings, wherein the network node is A processing circuit (3302) configured to perform any of the steps described in any one of claims 11 to 20, A power supply circuit (3308) configured to supply power to the processing circuit and A network node (2020) equipped with [the following features].

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