Terminal and wireless communication method

Abstract

In the present invention, a wireless resource is differentiated for use by high-priority terminals for which a specific communication quality is guaranteed in a mobile communication network from use by low-priority terminals for which a specific communication quality is not guaranteed, a terminal executes a setting using the wireless resource, and the terminal executes wireless communication using the wireless resource.

Description

Terminal and wireless communication method

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a terminal and a wireless communication method that support communication quality guarantee.

[0002] The 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP: registered trademark) is developing specifications for the 5th generation mobile communication system (5G, also known as New Radio (NR) or Next Generation (NG)), and is also developing specifications for the next generation, known as Beyond 5G, 5G Evolution, or 6G.

[0003] In 5G, the realization of a reliability of up to 99.9999% has been considered for Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communications (URLLC), but for 6G, an even greater improvement by an order of magnitude (99.99999%) is expected as the target value (Non-Patent Document 1).

[0004] NTT Docomo, "Docomo 6G White Paper 5.0 Edition," [online], July 2023, Internet <URL:https: / / www.docomo.ne.jp / binary / pdf / corporate / technology / whitepaper_6g / DOCOMO_6G_White_PaperJP_20221116.pdf>

[0005] Mobile communication services for 5G and 6G, including URLLC, are basically public network services targeted at an unspecified number of users, and services are provided on a best-effort basis.

[0006] Mobile communication networks based on such best-effort services have been plagued by the problem of being unable to cope with the short-term, explosive increases in traffic volume that can occur when terminals (User Equipment, UE) are concentrated in a specific area, such as at an event or concert venue.

[0007] Given this situation, it is believed that mechanisms that guarantee a certain level of communication quality for specific UEs will become even more important. On the other hand, UEs for which communication quality is guaranteed and regular UEs for which communication quality is not guaranteed will coexist within the mobile communication network.

[0008] For this reason, it is necessary to provide best-effort services to as many regular UEs as possible while securing radio resources for UEs with guaranteed communication quality; in other words, it is necessary to achieve a high level of coexistence between quality-guaranteed UEs and regular UEs.

[0009] Therefore, the following disclosure has been made in consideration of this situation, and aims to provide a terminal and a wireless communication method that can guarantee a certain level of communication quality while achieving high-level coexistence with terminals for which communication quality is not guaranteed.

[0010] One aspect of the present disclosure is a terminal (UE200A) that includes a control unit (control unit 270) that performs settings using radio resources that are distinguished for high-priority terminals that are guaranteed a specific communication quality in a mobile communication network from settings for low-priority terminals that are not guaranteed the specific communication quality, and a communication unit (radio signal transceiver unit 210) that performs wireless communication using the radio resources.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of the overall configuration of a wireless communication system 10. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of radio frames, subframes, and slots used in the wireless communication system 10. FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the gNB 100 and UEs 200A and 200B. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an example (part 1) of a communication sequence between a UE and a gNB according to the first embodiment and operation example 1. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example (part 2) of a communication sequence between a UE and a gNB according to the first embodiment and operation example 1. FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example (part 3) of a communication sequence between a UE and a gNB according to the first embodiment and operation example 1. FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a correspondence between an ID and a minimum quality guarantee request according to the first embodiment and operation example 2. FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an example of a correspondence between an ID and a minimum quality guarantee permission according to the first embodiment and operation example 2. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of allocation of resources for notification of minimum quality guarantee permission according to the first embodiment and operation example 2. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of allocation of resources for minimum quality guarantee according to the first embodiment and operation example 3. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a cell for minimum quality assurance according to the first embodiment and operation example 3, and cells for both types of UEs (other / non-minimum quality assurance UEs and minimum quality assurance UEs). FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a minimum quality assurance period according to the first embodiment and operation example 4. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing an example of a display (smartphone) for making a user aware that the minimum quality assurance period is in accordance with the first embodiment and operation example 4. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of a display (smartwatch) for making a user aware that the minimum quality assurance period is in accordance with the first embodiment and operation example 4. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing an example of a communication sequence (part 1) between a UE and a gNB according to the first embodiment and operation example 6. FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of a communication sequence (part 2) between a UE and a gNB according to the first embodiment and operation example 6. FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of SSB configuration according to the second embodiment and operation example 1-1. FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of the arrangement of normal cells and high priority UE-dedicated cells according to the second embodiment and operation example 1. 19 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of the gNB 100, the UE 200A, and the UE 200B. FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an example of the configuration of a vehicle 2001.

[0012] Hereinafter, embodiments will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the same or similar reference numerals are used to designate the same functions or configurations, and descriptions thereof will be omitted as appropriate.

[0013] (1) Overall Schematic Configuration of Wireless Communication System Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the overall schematic configuration of a wireless communication system 10 according to this embodiment. The wireless communication system 10 is a wireless communication system conforming to a standard called Beyond 5G, 5G Evolution, or 6G (hereinafter referred to as 6G), and includes a Radio Access Network 20 (hereinafter referred to as RAN 20), and terminals 200A and 200B (User Equipment 200A and 200B, hereinafter referred to as UE 200A and UE 200B). Note that the wireless communication system 10 may also be a wireless communication system conforming to a standard other than 6G, such as 5G New Radio (NR).

[0014] The RAN 20 includes a radio base station 100 (hereinafter, gNB 100). Note that the specific configuration of the radio communication system 10, including the number of gNBs and UEs, is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 1 .

[0015] The RAN 20 actually includes multiple RAN nodes, specifically, gNBs (or ng-eNBs), and is connected to a core network conforming to 6G. The RAN 20 and the core network may be simply referred to as a "network." The network formed by the UE 200A, the UE 200B, the RAN 20 (including the gNB 100), and the core network may be referred to as a mobile communication network (PLMN: Public Land Mobile Network).

[0016] The gNB100 is a 6G-compliant radio base station that performs 6G radio communication with the UE200A and UE200B. The gNB100, UE200A, and UE200B are capable of supporting Massive MIMO, which generates highly directional beams by controlling radio signals transmitted from multiple antenna elements, Carrier Aggregation (CA), which aggregates multiple component carriers (CCs), and Dual Connectivity (DC), which simultaneously communicates between the UE and multiple NG-RAN nodes.

[0017] The type of DC may be Multi-RAT Dual Connectivity (MR-DC) that uses multiple radio access technologies, or Dual Connectivity that uses only 6G. In MR-DC, one gNB may configure the master node (MN) and the other gNB may configure the secondary node (SN).

[0018] The wireless communication system 10 may also support multiple frequency ranges (FR). Specifically, the wireless communication system 10 may support the following FRs:

[0019] FR1: 410 MHz to 7.125 GHz FR2: FR2-1: 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz FR2-2: Over 52.6 GHz to 71 GHz FR1 may use a Sub-Carrier Spacing (SCS) of 15, 30, or 60 kHz and a bandwidth (BW) of 5 to 100 MHz. FR2 is a higher frequency than FR1 and may use an SCS of 60 or 120 kHz (including 240 kHz) and a bandwidth (BW) of 50 to 400 MHz.

[0020] Furthermore, the wireless communication system 10 may also support frequency bands higher than the FR2 frequency band. Specifically, the wireless communication system 10 may support frequency bands above 52.6 GHz up to 114.25 GHz.

[0021] Alternatively, Cyclic Prefix-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (CP-OFDM) / Discrete Fourier Transform - Spread (DFT-S-OFDM) with a larger Sub-Carrier Spacing (SCS) may be applied, and DFT-S-OFDM may be applied not only to the uplink (UL) but also to the downlink (DL).

[0022] FIG. 2 shows an example of the configuration of radio frames, subframes, and slots used in the radio communication system 10.

[0023] As shown in Figure 2, one slot consists of 14 symbols, and the larger (wider) the SCS, the shorter the symbol period (and slot period). Note that the number of symbols constituting one slot does not necessarily have to be 14 (e.g., 28 or 56 symbols). The number of slots per subframe may also vary depending on the SCS. Furthermore, the SCS may be wider than 240 kHz (e.g., 480 kHz or 960 kHz, as shown in Figure 2).

[0024] The time direction (t) shown in Fig. 2 may be called a time domain, a symbol period, a symbol time, etc. The frequency direction may be called a frequency domain, a resource block (RB), a resource block group (RBG), a subcarrier, a BWP (Bandwidth part), etc.

[0025] Furthermore, the wireless communication system 10 may employ a mechanism for guaranteeing a certain level of communication quality for the UE 200A and the UE 200B. The certain level of communication quality may simply mean the lowest level of communication quality that can be guaranteed, but is not necessarily limited to the lowest level of communication quality. For example, different levels of communication quality may be selectively guaranteed depending on factors such as the network status, or different levels of communication quality may be guaranteed depending on factors such as the capabilities of the UE.

[0026] Guaranteed communication quality may mean that a service with that communication quality can be enjoyed without fail during the guaranteed period. In this sense, a service with guaranteed communication quality may be interpreted as a service that is the polar opposite of a best-effort service. However, the level of communication quality is not a factor. For example, Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) is a best-effort service in which the level of communication quality that can be enjoyed is reasonably high, but the communication quality is not necessarily guaranteed. On the other hand, even if the level of communication quality is low, if the communication quality can always be enjoyed, the service can be said to have guaranteed communication quality.

[0027] The content of the communication quality is not particularly limited, but typical examples include throughput, latency, the number of simultaneously connected UEs, etc. Specific examples of communication quality will be described later.

[0028] In this embodiment, different communication qualities may be guaranteed for the UE 200A and the UE 200B, or only one of the UEs may be subject to communication quality guarantee.

[0029] A UE that is subject to a guaranteed communication quality may be called a High priority UE. High priority UE may also be interpreted as a UE with guaranteed communication quality, a UE requesting a guaranteed communication quality, a UE with a minimum guaranteed quality, a Guaranteed UE, or a UE supporting a quality guarantee function.

[0030] A UE that is not subject to a guaranteed communication quality may be called a low priority UE. Low priority UE may also be interpreted as a UE for which communication quality is not guaranteed, a UE that does not require communication quality guarantee, a non-guaranteed UE, or a UE that does not support a quality guarantee function.

[0031] Furthermore, the UE 200A (similarly to the UE 200B) may operate as a high priority UE or a low priority UE depending on the capability or state of the UE 200A. In other words, whether the UE 200A is a high priority UE may be dynamically changed.

[0032] (2) Functional Block Configuration of Wireless Communication System Next, a functional block configuration of the wireless communication system 10 will be described. Specifically, a functional block configuration of the UE 200A will be described. Fig. 3 is a functional block configuration diagram of the gNB 100, UE 200A, and UE 200B.

[0033] As shown in FIG. 3, UE 200A (and similarly UE 200B) includes a radio signal transceiver 210, an amplifier 220, a modem 230, a control signal / reference signal processor 240, an encoder / decoder 250, a data transceiver 260, and a controller 270.

[0034] It should be noted that Fig. 3 shows only main functional blocks relevant to the description of the embodiment, and that the UE 200A (gNB 100) has other functional blocks (e.g., a power supply unit, etc.). Fig. 3 shows the functional block configuration of the UE 200A, and for the hardware configuration, please refer to Fig. 19.

[0035] The radio signal transmitting / receiving unit 210 transmits and receives radio signals conforming to 6G. The radio signal transmitting / receiving unit 210 can support Massive MIMO, which generates a more directional beam by controlling radio (RF) signals transmitted from multiple antenna elements, Carrier Aggregation (CA), which aggregates and uses multiple component carriers (CCs), and Dual Connectivity (DC), which simultaneously communicates between a UE and two NG-RAN nodes.

[0036] In addition, in this embodiment, the UE 200A can operate as a High priority UE (high priority terminal) that is subject to a guaranteed communication quality or a Low priority UE (low priority terminal) that is not subject to a guaranteed communication quality. The radio signal transmitting / receiving unit 210 may perform radio communication using radio resources that are differentiated from those for Low priority UE, for High priority UE that is subject to a guaranteed specific communication quality in the mobile communication network. In this embodiment, the radio signal transmitting / receiving unit 210 may constitute a communication unit.

[0037] Radio resources for high priority UEs may be reserved exclusively, separately from radio resources for low priority UEs (or for UEs other than high priority UEs). However, some of the radio resources may be shared with low priority UEs. The radio resources may include resources in any domain in which wireless communication can be performed, such as the time domain, frequency domain, or spatial domain. Furthermore, the unit of the radio resources is not particularly limited.

[0038] The amplifier unit 220 is configured by a PA (Power Amplifier) / LNA (Low Noise Amplifier), etc. The amplifier unit 220 amplifies the signal output from the modulation / demodulation unit 230 to a predetermined power level. The amplifier unit 220 also amplifies the RF signal output from the radio signal transmission / reception unit 210.

[0039] The modem unit 230 performs data modulation / demodulation, transmission power setting, resource block allocation, etc. for each predetermined communication destination (e.g., gNB 100). The modem unit 230 may apply Cyclic Prefix-Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (CP-OFDM) / Discrete Fourier Transform - Spread (DFT-S-OFDM). Furthermore, DFT-S-OFDM may be used not only for the uplink (UL) but also for the downlink (DL).

[0040] The control signal and reference signal processor 240 executes processing related to various control signals transmitted and received by the UE 200A, and processing related to various reference signals transmitted and received by the UE 200A.

[0041] Specifically, the control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 receives various control signals, for example, control signals of a radio resource control layer (RRC), transmitted via a predetermined control channel from the gNB 100. In addition, the control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 transmits various control signals to the gNB 100 via a predetermined control channel.

[0042] The control signal / reference signal processor 240 performs processing using reference signals (RS) such as a Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS) and a Phase Tracking Reference Signal (PTRS).

[0043] DMRS is a terminal-specific reference signal (pilot signal) known between the base station and the terminal to estimate the fading channel used for data demodulation, while PTRS is a terminal-specific reference signal intended to estimate phase noise, which is an issue in high frequency bands.

[0044] In addition to the DMRS and PTRS, the reference signals may also include a Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS), a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), and a Positioning Reference Signal (PRS) for position information.

[0045] The channels include a control channel and a data channel. The control channels may include a Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), a Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), a Random Access Channel (RACH, Downlink Control Information (DCI) including a Random Access Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RA-RNTI)), a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), etc.

[0046] Furthermore, the data channel includes a PDSCH, a PUSCH, etc. Data may refer to data transmitted via a data channel.

[0047] Furthermore, the control signal and reference signal processing unit 240 may receive a guarantee permission indicating that a specific communication quality in the mobile communication network is guaranteed from the network (specifically, the gNB 100). In this embodiment, the control signal and reference signal processing unit 240 may constitute a receiving unit that receives the guarantee permission.

[0048] The guarantee permission may be for a minimum communication quality guaranteed in the mobile communication network, or may be for at least one of a plurality of different levels of communication quality, etc. The guarantee permission may be transmitted by lower layer signaling (e.g., DCI) or by higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC).

[0049] The control signal and reference signal processor 240 may transmit an assurance request to the gNB 100, requesting assurance of a specific communication quality in the mobile communication network. In this embodiment, the control signal and reference signal processor 240 may constitute a transmitter that transmits the assurance request. The assurance request may also be transmitted by lower layer signaling or by higher layer signaling.

[0050] The control signal / reference signal processor 240 may transmit a guarantee request including at least one of a guarantee period, a start timing, an end timing, a guarantee priority, and a guarantee target for a specific communication quality. The gNB 100 may transmit the above-mentioned guarantee permission to the UE 200A in response to the guarantee request transmitted from the UE 200A. Specific examples of the guarantee request and the guarantee permission will be described later.

[0051] Furthermore, the control signal and reference signal processing unit 240 may receive guaranteed communication quality information indicating the communication quality that can be guaranteed in the mobile communication network from the gNB 100. In this embodiment, the control signal and reference signal processing unit 240 may constitute a receiving unit that receives the guaranteed communication quality information.

[0052] The control signal and reference signal processor 240 may receive guaranteed communication quality information according to the capability of the UE 200A. The guaranteed communication quality information may include one or more parameters indicating the communication quality guaranteed in the mobile communication network.

[0053] For example, the control signal and reference signal processor 240 may receive guaranteed communication quality information including at least one of the throughput and latency in the UE 200A, the throughput and reliability in the cell, and the positioning accuracy of the UE 200A.

[0054] The control signal and reference signal processing unit 240 may transmit an information request requesting the guaranteed communication quality information to the gNB 100. In this embodiment, the control signal and reference signal processing unit 240 may constitute a transmitting unit that transmits the information request.

[0055] The guaranteed communication quality information and the information request may also be transmitted by lower layer signaling or by higher layer signaling. The gNB 100 may transmit the above-mentioned guaranteed communication quality information to the UE 200A in response to the information request transmitted from the UE 200A. Specific examples of the information request and the guaranteed communication quality information will be described later.

[0056] Furthermore, the control signal and reference signal processing unit 240 may receive acceptance information indicating whether or not quality guaranteed communication in which a specific communication quality is guaranteed in the mobile communication network is accepted from the gNB 100. In this embodiment, the control signal and reference signal processing unit 240 may constitute a receiving unit that receives the acceptance information.

[0057] The term "guaranteed quality communication" may mean that communication is possible with a specific communication quality guaranteed by the mobile communication network (wireless communication system 10). From this perspective, the term "guaranteed quality communication" may be interpreted as accepting a connection from a high priority UE.

[0058] The admission information may simply indicate that quality-assured communication (High priority UE) is being accepted, but may also include parameters related to the quality-assured communication. For example, the admission information may include parameters related to PRACH (Physical RACH) resources for High priority UE, cells for High priority UE, etc. The admission information may also be transmitted by lower layer signaling or by higher layer signaling.

[0059] Furthermore, the control signal and reference signal processing unit 240 may receive condition information indicating guarantee conditions for guaranteeing a specific communication quality in the mobile communication network from the gNB 100. In this embodiment, the control signal and reference signal processing unit 240 may constitute a receiving unit that receives the condition information.

[0060] The guarantee conditions can be determined on the network side. The guarantee conditions (which may also be called quality guarantee conditions) may be interpreted as the performance or state that the UE 200A side must have in order to guarantee a specific communication quality in the mobile communication network. The performance or state may include the reception quality (such as radio wave strength) at the UE 200A, the area where the UE 200A is located, etc.

[0061] The control signal and reference signal processing unit 240 may transmit dissatisfaction information indicating that the UE 200A does not satisfy the above-mentioned guarantee conditions to the gNB 100. In this embodiment, the control signal and reference signal processing unit 240 may constitute a transmission unit that transmits the dissatisfaction information.

[0062] Specifically, the control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 may transmit the dissatisfaction information when the control unit 270 determines that the guarantee conditions transmitted from the gNB 100 are not satisfied. The condition information and the dissatisfaction information may also be transmitted by lower layer signaling or by higher layer signaling.

[0063] Furthermore, the control signal and reference signal processing unit 240 may transmit capability information indicating the terminal capability of the UE 200A to the network. In particular, in this embodiment, the control signal and reference signal processing unit 240 can transmit UE Capability Information (see FIG. 1 ) related to guarantee of communication quality to the gNB 100.

[0064] For example, the control signal / reference signal processing unit 240 may transmit to the gNB 100 UE capability information indicating whether the UE has the necessary terminal capabilities as a high priority UE, the level of communication quality that can be supported, and the like.

[0065] The encoding / decoding unit 250 performs data division / concatenation and channel coding / decoding for each predetermined communication destination (gNB 100 or another gNB).

[0066] Specifically, the encoding / decoding unit 250 divides the data output from the data transmitting / receiving unit 260 into pieces of a predetermined size, performs channel coding on the divided data, decodes the data output from the modem unit 230, and concatenates the decoded data.

[0067] The data transmitter / receiver 260 transmits and receives Protocol Data Units (PDUs) and Service Data Units (SDUs). Specifically, the data transmitter / receiver 260 assembles and disassembles PDUs / SDUs in multiple layers (such as a Medium Access Control layer (MAC), a Radio Link Control layer (RLC), and a Packet Data Convergence Protocol layer (PDCP)). The data transmitter / receiver 260 also performs data error correction and retransmission control based on Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (Hybrid ARQ).

[0068] The control unit 270 controls each functional block constituting the UE 200 A. In particular, in this embodiment, the control unit 270 can execute control related to guaranteeing a specific communication quality in a mobile communication network.

[0069] Specifically, the control unit 270 may assume that a specific communication quality will be guaranteed for at least a specific period of time based on a guarantee of the specific communication quality received from the gNB100.

[0070] As described above, the specific communication quality may be a minimum communication quality guaranteed in a mobile communication network, or may be a graded communication quality with different levels depending on the capabilities of the UE, etc. The specific period is not particularly limited, but may typically be defined in slot units, half-frame units, or seconds.

[0071] The control unit 270 may set radio resources reserved for guaranteeing a specific communication quality based on the guarantee permission. The radio resources reserved for guaranteeing a specific communication quality may be interpreted as radio resources for High priority UEs, as described above, or may be interpreted as radio resources exclusively reserved separately from radio resources for Low priority UEs (or for UEs other than High priority UEs).

[0072] Furthermore, the control unit 270 may assume that a specific communication quality is guaranteed for at least a specific period of time based on the guaranteed communication quality information received from the gNB 100. Specifically, the control unit 270 may refer to the communication quality that can be guaranteed in the mobile communication network indicated by the guaranteed communication quality information, and assume that the communication quality is guaranteed, provided that the UE 200A has appropriate capabilities.

[0073] The control unit 270 may receive guaranteed communication quality information according to the capability of the UE 200A, and may perform configuration according to the capability of the UE 200A based on the guaranteed communication quality information. For example, the control unit 270 may secure radio resources required according to the guaranteed throughput, and perform configuration using the radio resources.

[0074] In addition, the control unit 270 may perform configuration using radio resources that are distinguished for High priority UE (high priority terminal), which is guaranteed a specific communication quality in the mobile communication network, from Low priority UE (low priority terminal), which is not guaranteed a specific communication quality.

[0075] Examples of radio resources for High priority UEs that are distinguished from those for Low priority UEs include the following. Specifically, the control unit 270 may perform configuration using a cell for High priority UEs (which may be a dedicated cell). Note that, in addition to the cell, a gNB, CC, RB, BAND, etc. may be provided for High priority UEs.

[0076] Furthermore, the control unit 270 may perform the initial connection (which may be interpreted as a random access (RA) procedure) using random access channel resources (PRACH resources) for high priority UEs, which may be different from the PRACH resources for other UEs.

[0077] The control unit 270 may perform the configuration using radio resources that can be used only when the status of the UE 200A is High priority UE. As described above, the status of the UE 200A (High priority UE or other than High priority UE) may be dynamically changed, and the control unit 270 may perform the configuration using radio resources for High priority UE when the status of the UE 200A is High priority UE.

[0078] The control unit 270 may determine that the status of the UE 200A is a High priority UE based on the execution of the configuration using the radio resources for High priority UE. In other words, when the configuration using the radio resources for High priority UE is executed, the control unit 270 may implicitly determine that the UE 200A is a High priority UE regardless of permission as a High priority UE from the network.

[0079] Furthermore, if the mobile communication network accepts quality-assured communication, the control unit 270 may execute connection to the mobile communication network. Specifically, the control unit 270 may determine whether quality-assured communication is accepted based on acceptance information indicating whether quality-assured communication is accepted.

[0080] When determining whether or not guaranteed quality communication is accepted based on the acceptance information, the control unit 270 may determine whether or not to execute connection to the mobile communication network according to the capability of the UE 200A. Specifically, the control unit 270 may determine whether or not the capability of the UE 200A is sufficient to execute guaranteed quality communication based on parameters related to the guaranteed quality communication included in the acceptance information.

[0081] Furthermore, the control unit 270 may execute connection with the mobile communication network based on the guarantee conditions indicated by the condition information received from the network. Specifically, the control unit 270 may determine whether the capabilities of the UE 200A can satisfy the guarantee conditions for guaranteeing a specific communication quality in the mobile communication network. If the capabilities of the UE 200A satisfy the guarantee conditions, the control unit 270 may execute connection with the mobile communication network and execute wireless communication with guaranteed communication quality.

[0082] The gNB 100 may have a function corresponding to that of the above-mentioned UE 200A. Specifically, the gNB 100 (control signal / reference signal processor 240) may have a receiver that receives, from a terminal, a guarantee request requesting guarantee of a specific communication quality in the mobile communication network, and a transmitter that transmits, to the terminal, a guarantee permission indicating that the specific communication quality will be guaranteed, based on the received guarantee request.

[0083] The gNB100 may also include a receiving unit that receives an information request from a terminal requesting guaranteed communication quality information indicating the communication quality that can be guaranteed in the mobile communication network, and a transmitting unit that transmits the guaranteed communication quality information to the terminal based on the information request.

[0084] The gNB100 may also include a transmitting unit that transmits acceptance information to a terminal indicating whether or not quality-guaranteed communication in which a specific communication quality is guaranteed in the mobile communication network is accepted, and a control unit that executes a connection with a terminal that requests connection to the mobile communication network based on the acceptance information.

[0085] (3) Operation of the Wireless Communication System Next, a description will be given of the operation of the wireless communication system 10. Specifically, a description will be given of the operation relating to guaranteeing communication quality in the wireless communication system 10 (mobile communication network).

[0086] (3.1) Assumptions and Issues As mentioned above, mobile communications using public networks are generally based on a "best effort" approach. This means that network operators who provide communications services over mobile networks cannot control sudden increases in traffic volume. For example, if traffic increases explosively in a crowded environment such as a concert, it becomes impossible to guarantee a minimum level of communication quality (for example, users may be unable to make phone calls or browse websites).

[0087] Mission-critical use cases (e.g., URLLC) have been discussed as a use case for 5G. However, when mission-critical communication services are provided using public networks, as mentioned above, if the surrounding traffic increases or if the traffic within the mission-critical communication service increases, the desired communication quality (throughput, latency, number of simultaneous connections, etc.) cannot be achieved.

[0088] In particular, with 6G, it is expected that there will be an increasing number of use cases, such as those for specific industries, that require a certain level of communication quality assurance. Given this situation, the importance of ensuring communication quality not only for mission-critical cases but also for general users is increasing. A system that guarantees a "minimum communication quality" is required for both general users and mission-critical use cases.

[0089] However, conventional mobile communication networks have the following fundamental problems in terms of guaranteeing minimum quality.

[0090] ・Challenge (0): It is difficult to guarantee minimum quality with limited resources.

[0091] Frequency resources are limited, and wireless base stations cannot be deployed infinitely, so there is a question as to whether a system exists that can ensure communication quality for all service users, anyone, anytime, anywhere.

[0092] ・Challenge (1): It is difficult to guarantee a minimum quality for everyone.

[0093] Given that the number of temporary users is unknown, it is difficult to guarantee a minimum quality for all users with limited resources.

[0094] ・Challenge (2): It is difficult to guarantee a minimum quality for (everyone).

[0095] The minimum quality that can be guaranteed varies depending on the performance and type of device (UE), so it is difficult to guarantee a minimum quality that can achieve the KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) of the services desired by all users.

[0096] ・Challenge (3): It is difficult to guarantee a minimum quality (at all times).

[0097] Since wireless quality changes from moment to moment due to various factors, it is not possible to guarantee specific KPIs (e.g., throughput, reliability, etc.).

[0098] ・Challenge (4): It is difficult to guarantee a minimum quality (anywhere).

[0099] Due to factors such as limitations on the number of wireless base stations that can be deployed and the surrounding communication environment, it is difficult to guarantee a specific quality in any location.

[0100] (3.2) Overview of Operation Below, we will explain an example of operation related to minimum quality guarantee that can solve the above-mentioned problems. A system that realizes minimum quality guarantee can be realized by a network operator conditionally guaranteeing a predetermined quality to users based on quality statistics. The conditions, predetermined quality, and statistics may be assumed as follows:

[0101] (Condition): The users for whom minimum quality can be guaranteed are determined for each cell. For example, in cell #1, minimum quality may be guaranteed for only X number of users (number of UEs). If the number of users for whom minimum quality can be guaranteed exceeds the capacity, the guarantee may not be required or may not be possible.

[0102] The minimum quality guarantee may be guaranteed only when a specific area / predetermined reception quality (e.g., RSRP: Reference Signal Received Power, RSRQ: Reference Signal Received Quality, SINR: Signal-to-Interference plus Noise power Ratio) is met. For example, areas that are difficult to cover, such as underwater or in the air, may be excluded. Another condition may be that the UE does not enter an environment where radio waves are significantly attenuated, such as a room surrounded by lead or the user not covering the antenna with their hand.

[0103] (Predetermined quality) (Proposal 1): The network notifies the UE of the minimum quality that can be guaranteed according to the capability of each UE. For example, for UE with Reduced UE Capability (RedCap), throughput: XXX bps and delay: XXX ms may be guaranteed, and for enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) UE (high-end UE), throughput: YYY bps and delay: YYY ms (YYY ≥ XXX) may be guaranteed. UE for URLLC may also be included.

[0104] ・(Proposal 2): ​​Only the quality that can be guaranteed by mandatory capabilities is guaranteed as the minimum quality. For example, it is not always necessary to guarantee 8-layer MIMO x 32CC CA x 1024QAM as the minimum quality. For example, it is possible to guarantee the minimum quality achieved by 4-layer x 1CC x 64QAM.

[0105] (Statistical Value): It may be guaranteed that the statistical value of the quality achieved within a predetermined period is higher than a threshold. For example, an average throughput of XXX bps and a delay of XXX ms over one minute may be guaranteed.

[0106] Note that an average BLER (Block Error Rate) may be guaranteed instead of an instantaneous BLER. A predetermined quality does not necessarily have to be achieved for each transmission and reception, and minimum quality throughput and delay values ​​may be set, including retransmission of an error block if the block is erroneous with a certain probability (e.g., round trip time (which may also be called round trip delay)).

[0107] Even if the above-mentioned conditions, predetermined quality, and statistical values ​​are applied, it is physically difficult to completely guarantee the minimum quality. Therefore, the above-mentioned system may guarantee the minimum quality while providing support from a business perspective. For example, if the minimum quality cannot be guaranteed, (part of) the service fee may be returned to the user.

[0108] The following interpretation may be applied throughout the description of the entire embodiment.

[0109] (i) In at least some operational examples, the following options or alternatives may apply:

[0110] - Configured by higher layer parameters - Determined by relevant higher layer parameters - Indicated by MAC CE (Control Element) or DCI - Determined based on UE capabilities - Defined by 3GPP specifications - May be based on conditions stated in 3GPP specifications or determined by higher layer parameters / MAC CE / DCI configuration and reported UE capabilities (combination of above decisions) Also, throughout the description of the embodiments, multiple options (examples of operation) or alternatives may be combined into one option or alternative.

[0111] (ii) The UE can receive the following types of information from the network (note that the network may be read as gNB):

[0112] - Information via higher layer signaling (e.g. RRC message) - It may be a MAC CE with a new LCID (Logical Channel ID) in the MAC CE subheader. To extend an existing MAC CE, e.g. new octets may be introduced).

[0113] DCI The DCI field may be an existing DCI field or a newly introduced DCI field. The RNTI may be a DCI CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Checksum) scrambled by an existing RNTI or a newly introduced RNTI.

[0114] Uplink Control Information (UCI) via PUCCH or PUSCH A combination of the above information Furthermore, throughout the description of the embodiments, the UE may receive the following periodic information from the network:

[0115] (Opt 1): Periodically (Opt 2): Semi-persistent (may be triggered by UE or gNB instruction) (Opt 3): Aperiodic (may be triggered by UE or gNB instruction)

[0116] (3.3) First embodiment (3.3.1) Operation example 1 In a system with minimum quality guarantee, it may be assumed that the frequency and / or demand of minimum quality guarantee requests can be controlled on the gNB side.

[0117] The demand and supply of minimum quality guarantees may change from moment to moment depending on the area or time. It may be assumed that the demand for minimum quality guarantees will be higher in high-traffic areas. In such an environment, by having only a limited number of users (e.g., in mission-critical cases) request minimum quality guarantees for a fee, it is possible to avoid a situation in which an unspecified number of users request minimum quality guarantees.

[0118] However, even if such a mechanism is provided, measures will be necessary in the event that a minimum quality guarantee request occurs that exceeds the capacity of the network equipment or frequency resources. For example, the following measures can be considered.

[0119] - Dynamically increasing or decreasing the capacity of network equipment (when using technologies such as vRAN (virtual RAN), it can be assumed that the processing power of network equipment can be dynamically increased or decreased).

[0120] Varying the price at which the minimum quality guarantee is offered By raising or lowering the price at which the minimum quality guarantee is offered, it is possible to keep the demand volume below the capacity of the network equipment and frequency resources, thereby guaranteeing a minimum quality for highly necessary, truly mission-critical services.

[0121] 4 shows an example (part 1) of a communication sequence between a UE and a gNB according to Operation Example 1. As described above, the users for whom the minimum communication quality is guaranteed may be limited, but the minimum quality guarantee is applied only to UEs that require the minimum quality guarantee (e.g., UE#1) (minimum quality guarantee type). The minimum quality guarantee is not applied to other UEs (e.g., UE#2) (best effort type).

[0122] UE #1, which requires minimum quality assurance, may transmit a "minimum quality assurance request" from the UE side to the gNB. The gNB applies minimum quality assurance only to UEs for which "minimum quality assurance permission" has been set or notified by another node. In this case, the following further operations may be applied:

[0123] (i) In the event of an increase in traffic in the vicinity of an area where minimum quality guarantee is provided, the "minimum quality guarantee permission" may be cancelled by the network. The gNB may periodically or aperiodically notify the UE of the "minimum quality guarantee permission", and the UE may assume that the minimum quality guarantee is being provided only when the gNB has received such notification (the UE may display on its screen or elsewhere that the "minimum quality guarantee" is being applied. See Operation Example 4).

[0124] (ii) The "minimum quality guarantee permission" may not be revoked even if the surrounding traffic increases. Once the UE receives the "minimum quality guarantee permission," the permission may not be revoked unless the UE voluntarily cancels it (first-mover advantage). In this case, the minimum quality guarantee may be cancelled if the UE sends a "minimum quality guarantee cancellation request" and receives a response from the gNB. Alternatively, the UE may send a "minimum quality guarantee request" periodically or aperiodically, and the minimum quality guarantee may be guaranteed only while the gNB offers permission.

[0125] (iii) The minimum quality may be guaranteed for a certain period of time starting from X symbols / slots (X ms) after the start of the minimum quality guarantee request / grant (see FIG. 4). The certain period may be specified by the 3GPP specifications, set by higher layer signaling, or reported by the UE Capability Information. After the certain period has expired, the minimum quality may no longer be guaranteed. If the UE desires to guarantee the minimum quality continuously, it can send a minimum quality guarantee request continuously or request a long-term minimum quality guarantee.

[0126] In order to minimize the delay between the request and the grant of the minimum quality guarantee, a mechanism that operates in a lower layer is useful, as described above. On the other hand, if a large delay is acceptable, the request and grant processing may be performed in a higher layer (including the application).

[0127] Fig. 5 shows an example (part 2) of a communication sequence between a UE and a gNB according to Operation Example 1. Fig. 6 shows an example (part 3) of a communication sequence between a UE and a gNB according to Operation Example 1.

[0128] As shown in Figure 5, the network may be able to cancel the minimum quality guarantee period even during the minimum quality guarantee period. If a cancellation notice is sent from the network, the minimum quality guarantee may be canceled after a predetermined time, symbol, or slot.

[0129] Alternatively, during the minimum quality guarantee period, the UE may not assume that the network will discontinue the minimum quality guarantee period.

[0130] In this case, there may be no additional costs required for the minimum quality guarantee or fluctuations in the communication unit price during the minimum quality guarantee period. Alternatively, the network may change the costs or unit price for the minimum quality guarantee period even during the minimum quality guarantee period.

[0131] The network may change the cost or unit price during the minimum quality guarantee period depending on the network congestion status. The user (UE) may be continuously guaranteed the minimum quality unless there is voluntary action at the time of the change.

[0132] Alternatively, the user may notify the network whether or not to continue the minimum quality guarantee when the unit price is changed. If no such notification is made, the minimum quality guarantee may be canceled a predetermined time, symbol, or slot after the unit price change instruction.

[0133] Alternatively, the user may notify the network of a cancellation request to cancel the minimum quality guarantee when the unit price changes. If the minimum quality guarantee is canceled, the minimum quality guarantee may be canceled a predetermined time, symbol, or slot after the cancellation request (if the cancellation request is not notified, the minimum quality guarantee may continue for the duration of the minimum quality guarantee period).

[0134] According to this operation example, a guarantee permission is granted in response to a request for minimum quality guarantee from the UE, thereby increasing the possibility of maintaining the minimum quality for the requested user while responding to the minimum quality guarantee requested by the UE.

[0135] (3.3.2) Operation Example 2 The minimum quality guarantee request may be transmitted from the UE to the gNB in ​​the following manner: Fig. 7 shows an example of the correspondence between IDs and minimum quality guarantee requests according to Operation Example 2.

[0136] For information transmitted by a minimum quality assurance request, one of the following methods may be applied:

[0137] 1-bit information (on / off) For example, the presence or absence of a request may be notified depending on whether or not a set resource is transmitted (for example, transmission only when a request is present).

[0138] - Notify additional information. For example, information such as the minimum quality guarantee period, start timing, end timing, guarantee priority, and the KPI value to be guaranteed (details will be described later) may be included. Candidates for KPI values ​​may be specified by the 3GPP specifications or set by a higher layer, and an ID corresponding to the candidate may be notified. Alternatively, the minimum quality guarantee period may be notified using absolute time.

[0139] Furthermore, with regard to the physical channel for transmitting the minimum quality guarantee request, any of the following methods may be applied.

[0140] - Dedicated UL resources (for example, dedicated SR (Scheduling Request) resources, dedicated PUCCH resources) may be configured, and a minimum quality guarantee request may be transmitted using the configured resources.

[0141] The MAC CE may transmit a minimum quality guarantee request (this may be via PUSCH, or SR / PRACH may be transmitted if there is no UL grant, or a dedicated SR resource may be configured for the UL grant for transmitting the minimum quality guarantee request).

[0142] In addition, the minimum quality guarantee authorization may be sent from the gNB to the UE in the following manner:

[0143] 8 shows an example of the correspondence between IDs and minimum quality guarantee permission according to operation example 2. FIG. 9 shows an example of allocation of resources for notification of minimum quality guarantee permission according to operation example 2.

[0144] For information transmitted with a minimum quality guarantee authorization, one of the following methods may be applied:

[0145] 1-bit information (on / off) A predetermined DCI (for example, DCI received in a predetermined CORSET / Search space, or DCI CRC-scrambled by a predetermined RNTI) may be used.

[0146] - Notify additional information. For example, this may include information on the minimum quality assurance period, start timing, end timing, and guaranteed KPIs. Candidates for KPI values ​​may be specified by the 3GPP specifications or set by a higher layer, and an ID corresponding to the candidate may be notified. Alternatively, the minimum quality assurance period may be notified using absolute time.

[0147] Furthermore, for a physical channel that transmits a minimum quality guaranteed grant, one of the following methods may be applied.

[0148] - Notified by DCI / MAC CE / RRC.

[0149] Dedicated DL resources (e.g., dedicated signaling physical channels / RS) may be configured. The UE may perform measurements assuming that a guarantee is granted on a specific resource (defined by the 3GPP specification or configured by higher layers) after sending a request. The UE may also determine whether a guarantee is granted based on the received result.

[0150] The notification of the guarantee permission may be turned on or off. For example, when a predetermined resource (time / frequency / code (Cyclic shift / Orthogonal Cover Code (OCC) index)) is notified and the UE detects a received signal via the predetermined resource, the UE may determine that the guarantee is permitted (similar to the Physical HARQ (hybrid automatic repeat request) Indicator Channel (PHICH), where each UE measures only the resource corresponding to itself among the information broadcast from the radio base station and receives the signal addressed to itself).

[0151] A UE that does not receive a guaranteed grant may assume that no minimum quality guarantee is allowed.

[0152] The KPI for minimum quality assurance may be at least one of the following: Note that a combination of multiple KPIs may be applied.

[0153] UE throughput; Minimum / maximum value in communication of the UE; and / or; Statistical value (for example, CDF (Cumulative Distribution Function) 50%, CDF 5% value, etc.).

[0154] ・Latency ・Minimum / maximum value for communication by the UE, and / or ・Statistical value (e.g., CDF 50%, CDF 5% value, etc.) ・Cell capacity (total throughput of all UEs in the cell) ・Minimum / maximum value and / or ・Statistical value (e.g., CDF 50%, CDF 5% value, etc.) ・Reliability ・Minimum / maximum value for communication by the UE, and / or ・Statistical value (e.g., CDF 50%, CDF 5% value, etc.) ・Positioning ・Minimum / maximum value for positioning accuracy of the UE, and / or ・Statistical value (e.g., CDF 50%, CDF 5% value, etc.) According to this operation example, the minimum communication quality guaranteed is specified based on the KPI, making it possible to provide a more precise mechanism for guaranteeing minimum quality.

[0155] (3.3.3) Operation Example 3 In order to guarantee the minimum quality, the following mechanism may be applied. Specifically, part of the radio resources (frequency, time, communication device / facility (antenna, gNB, etc.)) may be preferentially or exclusively allocated to the UE for which the minimum quality is guaranteed.

[0156] Fig. 10 shows an example of allocation of resources for minimum quality guarantee according to operation example 3. As shown in Fig. 10, some resources in the frequency direction and the time direction may be used preferentially or exclusively for minimum quality guarantee.

[0157] Other resources may be allocated for non-minimum quality guaranteed UEs, or other resources may be allocated for both non-minimum quality guaranteed UEs and minimum quality guaranteed UEs.

[0158] For example, some resources / channels / RS may be allocated (measured / received) to both types of UE. Broadcast information such as SSB (Synchronization Signal / Physical Broadcast Channel blocks), CSI-RS, TRS, UE common PDCCH, PDSCH (PDCCH received in CSS (Common search space) and PDSCH scheduled by the PDCCH), paging, and MBS (Multicast and Broadcast Services)-PDSCH may be received by both types of UE.

[0159] For other UE-specific resources (such as UE-dedicated PDCCH / PDSCH (PDCCH received in USS (UE specific search space) and PDSCH scheduled by the PDCCH)), dedicated resources for UEs with guaranteed minimum quality may be allocated.

[0160] In this way, a UE with minimum quality guarantee may perform measurement / reception of predetermined resources (time / frequency / Code Division Multiplexing (CDM) / BWP / CC / CORESET (control resource sets)) only during the minimum quality guarantee period.

[0161] FIG. 11 shows an example of the configuration of a cell for minimum quality guarantee according to the third operation example, and cells for both types of UE, other / non-minimum quality guaranteed UE and minimum quality guaranteed UE.

[0162] A specific cell / PCI (Physical Cell ID) / CC / BWP / TRP (Transmission Reception Point) may be available for connection / transmission / reception only for users for whom a minimum communication quality is guaranteed (during the period for which the minimum quality is guaranteed).

[0163] Regarding measurement reports and beam-related reports (Measurement report / Inter cell L1 beam report), if a UE requests a minimum quality guarantee or is configured to measure, it may measure the communication quality of both the "minimum quality guarantee cell" and the "other / both type cell." The UE may measure L1-RSRP / SINR / RSRQ and / or L3-RSRP / SINR / RSRQ and report the measurement results for each cell to the gNB. Alternatively, the UE may report the measurement results of a cell selected from the measurement results of each cell based on a predetermined rule to the gNB. Other UEs may measure the communication quality of the "other / both type cell" and report it to the gNB.

[0164] Regarding handover / cell (PCI cell) switching, the UE may be allowed to connect to a cell for minimum quality guarantee only if the minimum communication quality is guaranteed (during the period for which the minimum quality is guaranteed). When the period for which the minimum quality is guaranteed has elapsed, the UE may send a handover request to an "other / both type cell" or may handover based on an instruction from the gNB.

[0165] According to this operation example, a dedicated resource for a minimum quality guaranteed UE, such as a cell for minimum quality guarantee, is set, so that a more reliable minimum quality guarantee can be realized.

[0166] (3.3.4) Operation Example 4 Additional costs (occupancy fees for facilities, radio resources, etc.) required to guarantee a minimum communication quality may be borne by the UE (user) for which the minimum quality is guaranteed.

[0167] As described above, the minimum quality guarantee request may be notified to the gNB from the UE side. It is desirable to provide a function (such as an on-screen button or a slide button) that allows the user to voluntarily request the minimum quality guarantee request from the communication carrier. It is also desirable to provide a display function that lets the user know that the minimum quality guarantee period is in effect.

[0168] Fig. 12 shows an example of a minimum quality guarantee period according to operation example 4. As shown in Fig. 12, the minimum quality guarantee period may be specified by the network in response to a request from a user (UE) and may be set continuously or intermittently. Note that the minimum quality guarantee may be applied on the premise of a guarantee request from the UE, but the guarantee request from the UE may not necessarily be required. In other words, the network may apply the minimum quality guarantee to a specific UE based on the UE's contract information, etc., regardless of whether or not it receives a guarantee request from the UE.

[0169] As a billing method for the minimum quality guarantee, any of the following may be applied.

[0170] ・Additional charges will be incurred during the minimum quality guarantee period (for example, XX yen per 30 seconds).

[0171] - Additional charges will be incurred during the minimum quality guarantee period and depending on the actual communication time / amount of data (for example, XX yen per packet).

[0172] - During the minimum quality guarantee period, a discount will be applied based on the amount of time / data not actually used for communication (for example, minus XX yen per 30 seconds).

[0173] Fig. 13 shows a display example (smartphone) for making the user aware that the device is currently within the minimum quality guarantee period according to Operation Example 4. Fig. 14 shows a display example (smartwatch) for making the user aware that the device is currently within the minimum quality guarantee period according to Operation Example 4.

[0174] As shown in FIGS. 13 and 14, the user may be notified that the terminal (UE) is in the minimum quality guarantee period by using a display on the screen or an illuminant such as a lamp.

[0175] The minimum quality guarantee unit price may be displayed by an icon / button / flag on the screen, or the unit price may be displayed by a frame / line on the screen. Alternatively, the unit price may be displayed by the color tone of the screen.

[0176] 13 and 14 show examples corresponding to only two values, "normal" and "minimum quality assurance period," but the minimum quality assurance period may be displayed in multiple levels (e.g., levels 1 to 5). In this case, each level may be displayed by changing the color tone, or may be indicated by a color, a number, a mark, or the like. Furthermore, the remaining minimum quality assurance period (e.g., xx seconds remaining) may be displayed on the screen.

[0177] According to this operation example, the fact that the minimum quality guarantee period is in effect is displayed in a timely manner on the UE, so that the user can be sure to recognize that the minimum quality guarantee is being applied.

[0178] (3.3.5) Operation Example 5 The communication quality to be guaranteed may be determined by any of the following methods.

[0179] (Opt 1): Notify the quality that can be guaranteed (or will be guaranteed) for each UE.

[0180] For example, a notification may be made that "quality X can be guaranteed if the parameter set of the capability satisfies specific condition #1." Alternatively, a notification may be made that "quality Y can be guaranteed if condition #2 is satisfied." The communication quality that can be guaranteed (guaranteed) may be changed depending on the capability of the UE. This makes it possible to guarantee a higher communication quality for UEs with high capabilities.

[0181] (Opt 2): Notify all UEs of the same quality that can be guaranteed (or will be guaranteed).

[0182] The quality that can be guaranteed at the cell level may be determined. For example, the network may assume the quality that can be guaranteed from the mandatory capability and notify the UE of that quality. The quality that can be guaranteed in the UE's serving cell, neighboring cells, or both the serving cell and neighboring cells may be notified to the UE. This allows the communication quality that can be guaranteed at the cell level to be determined, which may simplify the determination operation.

[0183] (3.3.6) Operation Example 6 The communication quality guaranteed by the network as the minimum quality may be notified to the UE by the following operation. Figure 15 shows an example (part 1) of a communication sequence between the UE and the gNB according to Operation Example 6. As shown in Figure 15, the UE may request information on the communication quality that the network can guarantee on an on-demand basis.

[0184] For example, when a UE starts quality-guaranteed communication, it may request information on the quality that can be guaranteed from the network. In this case, the UE may be able to request the quality information that can be guaranteed only after reporting its capability. This allows the network to determine the quality that can be guaranteed based on the UE capability of each UE.

[0185] Depending on the situation, the UE may request the network for quality information (e.g., throughput: XXX bps) that it wants to guarantee (below capability). In response to the request, the UE may receive at least one of the following information from the network:

[0186] Information on the quality that can be guaranteed (if the request is approved) For example, information that throughput: XXX bps, delay: YYY ms can be guaranteed, and information on the validity period of the quality guarantee may be included.

[0187] - Request rejection information (if the request is rejected) For example, the reason for rejection (error cause) may be included. If there is no response from the network within a certain period of time after the request, the UE may determine that the request is rejected.

[0188] Fig. 16 shows an example (part 2) of a communication sequence between a UE and a gNB according to Operation Example 6. As shown in Fig. 16, the network may voluntarily notify the UE of information on the communication quality that the network can guarantee.

[0189] The UE may receive the communication quality guaranteed when quality guaranteed communication is started by at least one of the following methods.

[0190] - System information (SIB: System Information Block, any SIB is fine) - Group common signaling (e.g. multicast / broadcast) - Dedicated signaling The UE may assume that the communication quality guaranteed when quality guaranteed communication is started is valid for the following period:

[0191] - A certain period of time X symbols / slots (X ms) after receiving information on the communication quality guaranteed when quality guaranteed communication is started - A period of time X symbols / slots (X ms) after receiving new information on the communication quality guaranteed when quality guaranteed communication is started - A period of time until a specific date and time (for example, 20xx, xx hours, xx minutes, xx seconds) after receiving information on the communication quality guaranteed when quality guaranteed communication is started The UE may assume different values ​​of X depending on the signaling used to receive the quality assurance information (guaranteed communication quality information).

[0192] The UE may also assume a time gap to be applied between the notification of the quality assurance information and the start of quality assurance communication. For example, the network may notify the UE of the value of this cap (G symbols / slot (Gms)), or the value of this gap may be uniquely defined by the 3GPP specifications.

[0193] According to this operation example, the guaranteed communication quality information is notified to the UE, so that the UE can take appropriate measures including determining whether or not guaranteed quality communication is available.

[0194] (3.4) Second Embodiment In the wireless communication system 10, there may be UEs that perform normal best-effort communication (legacy UEs, which may also be called low priority UEs) and UEs that are guaranteed a minimum quality (high priority UEs).

[0195] In this environment where low priority UE and high priority UE coexist, in order to guarantee a minimum quality, it is necessary to reserve sufficient resources for the UE for which the minimum quality is guaranteed. On the other hand, it is necessary to accommodate existing UEs with limited resources (only resources that are not reserved for UE for which the minimum quality is guaranteed), and it is not easy to satisfy both requirements.

[0196] In this embodiment, minimum quality guarantee is realized by supporting resources that can only be used by UEs with minimum quality guarantee, and existing UEs are accommodated by limited resources.

[0197] (3.4.0) Operation Example 0: To guarantee a minimum quality, the UE may need to have a certain level of capability. For example, if you try to guarantee quality for low-end UEs such as IoT (Internet of Things) terminals, it may be difficult to guarantee the minimum quality.

[0198] Therefore, in this operation example, a minimum capability for operating as a high priority UE may be defined. Specifically, mandatory capabilities that are essential for high priority UE may be defined by the 3GPP specifications.

[0199] If the UE does not have the capability, it may not request or initiate a request, instruction, or minimum quality guaranteed communication to acquire the status of a High Priority UE. In this case, the UE may determine the capability based on information received from the network, or the capability may be defined by 3GPP specifications.

[0200] According to this operation example, mandatory capabilities that are essential for High priority UE are defined, so that minimum quality guarantee for High priority UE can be more reliably achieved.

[0201] (3.4.1) Operation Example 1 Resources for communication with guaranteed minimum quality may be secured as follows.

[0202] (Example 1): Allocatable resources are reserved for high priority UEs and allocated to the UEs (or individual UEs) by scheduling.

[0203] (Example 2): Resources for minimum quality guaranteed communication are secured separately.

[0204] It is difficult to secure resources by scheduling before the network determines whether a UE is a high priority UE or a low priority UE, and resources that are not individually allocated to a UE. Specifically, the following requirements must be met:

[0205] If the initial access (which may be interpreted as a random access procedure) is included in the scope of quality guarantee, resources used for the initial access must also be reserved for high priority UEs. Therefore, cells for high priority UEs or PRACH resources for high priority UEs may be supported.

[0206] It is necessary to secure resources to send quality assurance requests (guarantee requests). It is necessary to avoid situations where the minimum quality cannot be guaranteed because the quality assurance requests cannot be sent.

[0207] Furthermore, when the status of a UE dynamically changes to High Priority UE or Low Priority UE, it is necessary to avoid reconfiguration of RRC and the like each time the status changes. Therefore, resources that can only be used by High Priority UE may be configured. This allows resources for High Priority UE and Low Priority UE to be configured in advance, reducing the number of RRC reconfigurations.

[0208] (3.4.1.1) Operation Example 1-1 Fig. 17 shows an example of setting an SSB according to Operation Example 1-1. As shown in Fig. 17, an SSB (which may be read as a cell, a synchronization signal (SS), etc.) dedicated to high priority UE may be supported.

[0209] The UE may determine that the cell / SS is for a High priority UE if:

[0210] A specific physical cell ID (PCI). For example, PCI 0 to X are cells for low priority UE (or cells shared by low priority UE and high priority UE), and PCI X+1 to Y are cells for high priority UE.

[0211] - A cell whose primary synchronization signal (PSS) has a specific sequence index - A cell whose secondary synchronization signal (SSS) has a specific sequence index - A cell that corresponds to a specific global synchronization raster index (e.g., GSCN) - A cell that corresponds to a specific frequency (band) For example, a specific operating band may be allocated for High priority UE.

[0212] Also, SSB broadcast information (PBCH) may broadcast which SSB is intended for high priority UE or low priority UE. For example, a predetermined field in the broadcast information of each SSB may broadcast whether the SSB is intended for high priority UE or low priority UE.

[0213] A high priority UE may perform initial access (RACH transmission) using an available SSB regardless of the value of the predetermined field, whereas a low priority UE may perform initial access (RACH transmission) using an available SSB depending on the value of the predetermined field.

[0214] The index corresponding to the cell dedicated to High priority UE may be determined for each region. Also, the following behavior may be assumed for Low priority UE in a cell for High priority UE.

[0215] - Low priority UE cannot start a random access procedure (initial connection) in the cell.

[0216] - Low priority UE cannot transmit signals / channels in the cell.

[0217] Fig. 18 shows an example of the arrangement of normal cells and cells dedicated to high priority UEs according to operation example 1. As shown in Fig. 18, Cell#1-1 to 1-3 are normal cells, and Cell#2-1 to 2-x are cells dedicated to high priority UEs.

[0218] Since high priority UEs can connect to more cells, the capacity for high priority UEs can be improved. Note that a different PCI may be assigned to each cell.

[0219] Furthermore, to prevent interference between cells, Cell#1-x may use PCI = 0 to (p-1), and Cell#2-x may use PCI = p to (p+q-1). This allows the cell Cell#1-x to repeatedly use p PCIs, and the cell Cell#2-x to repeatedly use another q PCIs, thereby suppressing interference (inter-sequence interference) between normal cells and cells dedicated to High priority UEs.

[0220] (3.4.1.2) Operation Example 1-2 A UE may receive information on PRACH resources for High priority UEs and resources other than the PRACH resources from the network.

[0221] Specifically, the UE may receive the information in any of the following ways:

[0222] - Received via system information (e.g., SIB1).

[0223] Receive PRACH resource information for High priority UEs via dedicated signaling.

[0224] Receive PRACH resource information for High priority UEs via group common signaling (e.g., multicast / broadcast).

[0225] Furthermore, the UE may receive information indicating a PRACH preamble and / or a RACH occasion other than the PRACH resource for High priority UE and the PRACH resource. For example, a feature combination for High priority UE may be set as one type of feature combination, and the PRACH resource associated with the feature combination may be determined as being for High priority UE.

[0226] Low priority UEs do not need to transmit PRACH using PRACH resources for high priority UEs, that is, low priority UEs may transmit PRACH using PRACH resources for low priority UEs.

[0227] High priority UEs may assume the following behavior:

[0228] - Transmit PRACH using PRACH resources for High priority UE.

[0229] - Transmit PRACH using PRACH resources for high priority UE, PRACH resources for low priority UE, or both resources.

[0230] If a high priority UE requires quality assurance, it may transmit a PRACH using a PRACH resource for high priority UEs, and if it does not require quality assurance, it may transmit a PRACH using a PRACH resource for low priority UEs.

[0231] In addition, in the PRACH resources for high priority UE, multiple PRACH transmissions may be assumed in one transmission opportunity (Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM), Code Division Multiplexing (CDM), or Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)).

[0232] (3.4.1.3) Operation Example 1-3 The UE may set resources that can be used only when the UE status is High priority UE. For example, the following resources may be included:

[0233] ・Configured grant PUSCH resources ・PUCCH resources for scheduling requests ・Monitoring PDCCH resources (CORESET, search space) ・Semi-Persistent PDSCH resources ・Measurement and reporting resources High priority UEs may be assumed to use resources that are only available to High priority UEs, or may be assumed to be able to use resources other than those resources. In this way, when the UE status dynamically changes to High priority UE or Low priority UE, the number of RRC reconfigurations can be reduced by pre-configuring resources for High priority UE and Low priority UE.

[0234] (3.4.1.3') Operation Example 1-3' When a UE communicates in a cell dedicated to High priority UEs, the UE may determine that its status is High priority UE. Also, the UE may determine that its status as High priority UE will start from the following timing (for example, based on a symbol or slot).

[0235] - The timing at which a random access response (RAR) corresponding to a PRACH resource dedicated to a High priority UE is received. - The timing at which a PRACH is transmitted using a PRACH resource dedicated to a High priority UE and initial connection is successful. - The timing at which a signal to start the status of a High priority UE is received. - The timing at which a HARQ ACK corresponding to a PDSCH / PDCCH corresponding to the signal to start the status of a High priority UE is transmitted. Note that the timing at which the status of a High priority UE starts may be the timing at which a predetermined period (for example, a predetermined period or a period set / instructed by the network) has elapsed from the relevant timing.

[0236] The UE may also determine that the High priority UE status has ended at the next timing (for example, based on a symbol or slot).

[0237] - The timing when a signal indicating that the status of the High priority UE is ended is received. - The timing when an HARQ ACK corresponding to the PDSCH / PDCCH corresponding to the signal indicating that the status of the High priority UE is ended is transmitted. - The timing when a predetermined period (e.g., a predetermined period or a period set / instructed by the network) has elapsed since the status of the High priority UE began. Note that the timing when a predetermined period (e.g., a predetermined period or a period set / instructed by the network) has elapsed since the timing in question may also be the timing when the status of the High priority UE ends.

[0238] According to this operation example, resources for high priority UE and resources for low priority UE are set separately, so that the minimum quality guarantee for high priority UE can be more reliably achieved.

[0239] (3.4.2) Operation Example 2 Since radio resources are finite, the number of UEs that are subject to quality guarantee is naturally limited. If the number of high priority UEs increases too much, it becomes difficult to guarantee a minimum quality for all high priority UEs. Therefore, in this operation example, the number of high priority UEs may be controlled.

[0240] To prevent the number of High priority UEs from increasing too much, the network may, in some circumstances, not accept new guaranteed quality communications.

[0241] Specifically, in order to control the number of High priority UEs, information indicating whether or not the network is accepting High priority UEs (acceptance information) may be broadcast to the UEs.

[0242] The UE can receive information (acceptance information) indicating whether the network is accepting new quality-guaranteed communications. The acceptance information may include the following information:

[0243] Information indicating whether a new High priority UE is accepted For example, the UE may receive information indicating whether it is permitted to perform PRACH transmission using PRACH resources for High priority UE to start new quality-assured communication. Also, the UE may receive information indicating whether it is permitted to perform communication via a cell for High priority UE to start new quality-assured communication.

[0244] If the UE does not receive the information or if the request for guarantee of minimum quality is not accepted, the UE may refrain from sending the request for guarantee of minimum quality.

[0245] - Information indicating the period during which acceptance will be suspended if no new High priority UEs have been accepted.The UE may also receive this information via the PBCH or through system information (e.g., SIB1).

[0246] The network does not have to specifically announce that it will not accept additional (new) High priority UEs. Instead, the network may stop transmitting SS / Indication for High priority UEs and switch all SSs to SSs for Low priority UEs.

[0247] According to this operation example, the UE can perform connection to the network only when quality guaranteed communication is accepted, which can increase the possibility of guaranteeing a minimum quality for High priority UE.

[0248] (3.4.3) Operation Example 3 In the case of a mobile communication network, the locations where quality can be guaranteed are particularly limited depending on the communication environment. For example, if a High Priority UE moves outside the area where minimum quality is guaranteed (which may be interpreted as a case where the conditions determined by the network cannot be met), the minimum quality guaranteed communication cannot be provided to the High Priority UE. Also, if the High Priority UE cannot satisfy the predetermined radio wave strength (the conditions determined by the network cannot be met), the minimum quality guaranteed communication cannot be provided to the High Priority UE.

[0249] Therefore, in this operation example, the communication quality (wireless quality) of High priority UE may be controlled. Specifically, it is possible to detect when the network-determined conditions cannot be met due to the movement of the UE, etc.

[0250] To detect whether the UE satisfies the conditions determined by the network, the UE may receive information about quality assurance conditions (condition information) from the network. The condition information may include the following information:

[0251] - The UE satisfies a predetermined signal strength. For example, the UE may receive a signal strength (L1 / L3-RSRP / SINR / RSRQ) required for quality assurance.

[0252] - Located within a specified area For example, the UE may receive information about the area where quality can be guaranteed (at least one of Area ID, cell Global ID, Physical cell ID, ARFCN (Absolute Radio-Frequency Channel Number), and Evolved Cell (for 4G) Global Identifier).

[0253] Combination of the above information For example, a condition may be added that allows quality assurance when a predetermined radio wave intensity is satisfied and the device is located within a predetermined area.

[0254] The method for receiving the condition information is not particularly limited, and the UE may receive the condition information by any of the methods described in (3.2) Operational Overview. Furthermore, if the UE no longer satisfies the conditions determined by the network, the UE may transmit information (dissatisfaction information) indicating that the quality assurance conditions are not satisfied to the network. The method for transmitting the dissatisfaction information is not particularly limited, and the UE may transmit the dissatisfaction information by any of the methods described in (3.2) Operational Overview.

[0255] According to this operation example, the communication quality (radio quality) of High priority UE can be controlled, so that the minimum quality for High priority UE can be guaranteed more reliably.

[0256] (4) Other Embodiments Although the embodiments have been described above, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the description of the embodiments, and that various modifications and improvements are possible.

[0257] For example, the above-described embodiment is based on the assumption that 6G is used, but the above-described minimum quality guarantee mechanism may be provided in wireless communication methods other than 6G, such as 5G / NR.

[0258] In the above-described embodiment, terms such as communication quality, quality, wireless quality, and performance are used, and these terms may be interpreted as having similar meanings.

[0259] Also, in the above description, configure, activate, update, indicate, enable, specify, and select may be interchangeable. Similarly, link, associate, correspond, and map may be interchangeable, and allocate, assign, monitor, and map may be interchangeable.

[0260] Furthermore, specific, dedicated, UE-specific, and UE-dedicated may be interchangeable. Similarly, common, shared, group-common, UE-common, and UE-shared may be interchangeable.

[0261] The block diagram ( FIG. 3 ) used to explain the above-described embodiment shows functional blocks. These functional blocks (components) are realized by any combination of hardware and / or software. Furthermore, the method for realizing each functional block is not particularly limited. That is, each functional block may be realized using a single device that is physically or logically coupled, or may be realized using two or more physically or logically separated devices that are directly or indirectly connected (e.g., wired, wireless, etc.) and these multiple devices. The functional block may also be realized by combining software with the single device or multiple devices.

[0262] Functions include, but are not limited to, judgment, determination, judgment, calculation, computation, processing, derivation, investigation, search, confirmation, reception, transmission, output, access, resolution, selection, selection, establishment, comparison, assumption, expectation, consideration, broadcasting, notifying, communicating, forwarding, configuring, reconfiguring, allocating, mapping, and assignment. For example, a functional block (component) that performs transmission is called a transmitting unit or transmitter. As mentioned above, there are no particular limitations on how each is implemented.

[0263] Furthermore, the above-described gNB100 and UE200A, UE200B (the devices) may function as a computer that performs processing of the wireless communication method of the present disclosure. Figure 19 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the devices. As shown in Figure 19, the devices may be configured as a computer including a processor 1001, a memory 1002, a storage 1003, a communication device 1004, an input device 1005, an output device 1006, a bus 1007, etc.

[0264] In the following description, the term "apparatus" can be interpreted as a circuit, a device, a unit, etc. The hardware configuration of the apparatus may be configured to include one or more of the apparatuses shown in the drawings, or may be configured to exclude some of the apparatuses.

[0265] Each functional block of the device (see FIG. 3) is realized by any hardware element of the computer device or a combination of the hardware elements.

[0266] In addition, each function of the device is realized by loading specified software (programs) onto hardware such as processor 1001 and memory 1002, causing processor 1001 to perform calculations, control communication via communication device 1004, and control at least one of reading and writing data in memory 1002 and storage 1003.

[0267] The processor 1001 controls the entire computer by running, for example, an operating system, and may be configured as a central processing unit (CPU) including an interface with peripheral devices, a control unit, an arithmetic unit, and registers.

[0268] The processor 1001 also reads programs (program codes), software modules, data, etc. from at least one of the storage 1003 and the communication device 1004 into the memory 1002 and executes various processes in accordance with these. The programs used are those that cause a computer to execute at least some of the operations described in the above-described embodiments. Furthermore, the various processes described above may be executed by a single processor 1001, or may be executed simultaneously or sequentially by two or more processors 1001. The processor 1001 may be implemented by one or more chips. The programs may be transmitted from a network via a telecommunications line.

[0269] The memory 1002 is a computer-readable recording medium and may be configured by at least one of, for example, a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM), an electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), a random access memory (RAM), etc. The memory 1002 may also be called a register, a cache, a main memory (primary storage device), etc. The memory 1002 may store a program (program code), a software module, etc., capable of executing a method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0270] Storage 1003 is a computer-readable recording medium, and may be, for example, at least one of an optical disk such as a Compact Disc ROM (CD-ROM), a hard disk drive, a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk (e.g., a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a Blu-ray disc), a smart card, a flash memory (e.g., a card, a stick, a key drive), a floppy disk, a magnetic strip, etc. Storage 1003 may also be referred to as an auxiliary storage device. The above-mentioned recording medium may be, for example, a database, a server, or other suitable medium including at least one of memory 1002 and storage 1003.

[0271] The communication device 1004 is hardware (transmission / reception device) for communicating between computers via at least one of a wired network and a wireless network, and is also called, for example, a network device, a network controller, a network card, or a communication module.

[0272] The communication device 1004 may be configured to include a high-frequency switch, a duplexer, a filter, a frequency synthesizer, etc. to realize, for example, at least one of Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Time Division Duplex (TDD).

[0273] The input device 1005 is an input device (e.g., a keyboard, a mouse, a microphone, a switch, a button, a sensor, etc.) that receives input from the outside. The output device 1006 is an output device (e.g., a display, a speaker, an LED lamp, etc.) that outputs to the outside. Note that the input device 1005 and the output device 1006 may be integrated into one device (e.g., a touch panel).

[0274] Furthermore, each device such as the processor 1001 and the memory 1002 is connected to a bus 1007 for communicating information. The bus 1007 may be configured using a single bus, or may be configured using different buses between each device.

[0275] Furthermore, the device may be configured to include hardware such as a microprocessor, a digital signal processor (DSP), an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), and some or all of the functional blocks may be realized by the hardware. For example, the processor 1001 may be implemented using at least one of these pieces of hardware.

[0276] Furthermore, the notification of information is not limited to the aspects / embodiments described in the present disclosure, and may be performed using other methods. For example, the notification of information may be performed by physical layer signaling (e.g., Downlink Control Information (DCI), Uplink Control Information (UCI)), higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC signaling, Medium Access Control (MAC) signaling, broadcast information (Master Information Block (MIB), System Information Block (SIB))), other signals, or a combination thereof. Furthermore, the RRC signaling may be referred to as an RRC message, and may be, for example, an RRC Connection Setup message, an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message, or the like.

[0277] Each aspect / embodiment described in the present disclosure may be applied to at least one of a system using Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), SUPER 3G, IMT-Advanced, a 4th generation mobile communication system (4G), a 5th generation mobile communication system (5G), a 6th generation mobile communication system (6G), an xth generation mobile communication system (xG) (where x is, for example, an integer or a decimal), Future Radio Access (FRA), New Radio (NR), W-CDMA (registered trademark), GSM (registered trademark), CDMA2000, Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark)), IEEE 802.20, Ultra-WideBand (UWB), Bluetooth (registered trademark), or other suitable system, and a next-generation system extended based on these. Furthermore, a combination of multiple systems (e.g., a combination of at least one of LTE and LTE-A with 5G) may also be applied.

[0278] The order of the procedures, sequences, flowcharts, etc. of each aspect / embodiment described in this disclosure may be changed unless it is consistent. For example, the methods described in this disclosure present elements of various steps using an example order, and are not limited to the particular order presented.

[0279] In the present disclosure, a specific operation described as being performed by a base station may also be performed by its upper node in some cases. In a network consisting of one or more network nodes having a base station, it is clear that various operations performed for communication with a terminal may be performed by at least one of the base station and another network node other than the base station (e.g., MME or S-GW, etc., but are not limited to these). Although the above example illustrates a case where there is one other network node other than the base station, a combination of multiple other network nodes (e.g., MME and S-GW) may also be used.

[0280] Information, signals (information, etc.) may be output from a higher layer (or a lower layer) to a lower layer (or a higher layer), or may be input and output via multiple network nodes.

[0281] The input and output information may be stored in a specific location (for example, a memory) or may be managed using a management table. The input and output information may be overwritten, updated, or added to. The output information may be deleted. The input information may be transmitted to another device.

[0282] The determination may be made based on a value represented by one bit (0 or 1), a Boolean value (true or false), or a numerical comparison (e.g., comparison with a predetermined value).

[0283] The aspects / embodiments described in this disclosure may be used alone, in combination, or switched depending on the implementation. Notification of predetermined information (e.g., notification that "X is true") is not limited to explicit notification, but may be implicit (e.g., not notifying the predetermined information).

[0284] Software shall be construed broadly to mean instructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code, programs, subprograms, software modules, applications, software applications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects, executable files, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whether referred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardware description language, or otherwise.

[0285] Software, instructions, information, etc. may also be transmitted or received over a transmission medium. For example, if software is transmitted from a website, server, or other remote source using wired technologies (such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twisted pair, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)), and / or wireless technologies (such as infrared, microwave), then these wired and / or wireless technologies are included within the definition of transmission media.

[0286] The information, signals, etc. described in this disclosure may be represented using any of a variety of different technologies. For example, data, instructions, commands, information, signals, bits, symbols, chips, etc. that may be referred to throughout the above description may be represented by voltages, currents, electromagnetic waves, magnetic fields or magnetic particles, optical fields or photons, or any combination thereof.

[0287] Note that terms described in this disclosure and terms necessary for understanding this disclosure may be replaced with terms having the same or similar meanings. For example, at least one of a channel and a symbol may be a signal (signaling). Furthermore, a signal may be a message. Furthermore, a component carrier (CC) may be called a carrier frequency, a cell, a frequency carrier, etc.

[0288] As used in this disclosure, the terms "system" and "network" are used interchangeably.

[0289] Furthermore, the information, parameters, etc. described in the present disclosure may be expressed using absolute values, may be expressed using relative values ​​from a predetermined value, or may be expressed using other corresponding information. For example, a radio resource may be indicated by an index.

[0290] The names used for the above-described parameters are not intended to be limiting in any way. Furthermore, the mathematical expressions using these parameters may differ from those explicitly disclosed in this disclosure. The various channels (e.g., PUCCH, PDCCH, etc.) and information elements may be identified by any suitable names, and therefore the various names assigned to these various channels and information elements are not intended to be limiting in any way.

[0291] In this disclosure, terms such as "base station (BS)," "radio base station," "fixed station," "NodeB," "eNodeB (eNB)," "gNodeB (gNB)," "access point," "transmission point," "reception point," "transmission / reception point," "cell," "sector," "cell group," "carrier," and "component carrier" may be used interchangeably. Base stations may also be referred to by terms such as macrocell, small cell, femtocell, and picocell.

[0292] A base station can accommodate one or more (e.g., three) cells (also called sectors). When a base station accommodates multiple cells, the overall coverage area of ​​the base station can be divided into multiple smaller areas, and each smaller area can be provided with communication services by a base station subsystem (e.g., a small indoor base station (Remote Radio Head: RRH)).

[0293] The terms "cell" or "sector" refer to part or all of the coverage area of ​​a base station and / or base station subsystem that provides communication services within that coverage area.

[0294] In the present disclosure, the base station transmitting information to a terminal may be interpreted as the base station instructing the terminal to control or operate based on the information.

[0295] In this disclosure, the terms "Mobile Station (MS)," "user terminal," "User Equipment (UE)," "terminal," etc. may be used interchangeably.

[0296] A mobile station may also be referred to by those skilled in the art as a subscriber station, mobile unit, subscriber unit, wireless unit, remote unit, mobile device, wireless device, wireless communication device, remote device, mobile subscriber station, access terminal, mobile terminal, wireless terminal, remote terminal, handset, user agent, mobile client, client, or some other suitable terminology.

[0297] At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be referred to as a transmitting device, a receiving device, a communication device, etc. At least one of the base station and the mobile station may be a device mounted on a mobile object, the mobile object itself, etc. The mobile object may be a vehicle (e.g., a car, an airplane, etc.), an unmanned mobile object (e.g., a drone, an autonomous vehicle, etc.), or a robot (manned or unmanned). At least one of the base station and the mobile station may also include devices that do not necessarily move during communication operations. For example, at least one of the base station and the mobile station may be an Internet of Things (IoT) device such as a sensor.

[0298] Furthermore, a base station in the present disclosure may be read as a mobile station (user terminal, the same applies hereinafter). For example, the aspects / embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied to a configuration in which communication between a base station and a mobile station is replaced with communication between multiple mobile stations (which may be called, for example, Device-to-Device (D2D) or Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X)). In this case, the mobile station may be configured to have the functions of a base station. Furthermore, terms such as "uplink" and "downlink" may be read as terms corresponding to terminal-to-terminal communication (for example, "side"). For example, terms such as an uplink channel and a downlink channel may be read as a side channel (or sidelink).

[0299] Similarly, a mobile station in the present disclosure may be interpreted as a base station, in which case the base station may have the functions of a mobile station.

[0300] A radio frame may be composed of one or more frames in the time domain. Each of the one or more frames in the time domain may be called a subframe. A subframe may further be composed of one or more slots in the time domain. A subframe may have a fixed time length (e.g., 1 ms) that is independent of numerology.

[0301] Numerology may be communication parameters that apply to the transmission and / or reception of a signal or channel, such as subcarrier spacing (SCS), bandwidth, symbol length, cyclic prefix length, transmission time interval (TTI), number of symbols per TTI, radio frame structure, specific filtering operations performed by the transceiver in the frequency domain, and specific windowing operations performed by the transceiver in the time domain.

[0302] A slot may consist of one or more symbols in the time domain (such as an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbol, a Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) symbol, etc.) A slot may be a numerology-based time unit.

[0303] A slot may include multiple minislots. Each minislot may consist of one or more symbols in the time domain. A minislot may also be called a subslot. A minislot may consist of fewer symbols than a slot. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted in a time unit larger than a minislot may be called PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type A. A PDSCH (or PUSCH) transmitted using a minislot may be called PDSCH (or PUSCH) mapping type B.

[0304] The radio frame, subframe, slot, minislot, and symbol all represent time units for transmitting signals, and may be referred to by other names corresponding to the radio frame, subframe, slot, minislot, and symbol.

[0305] For example, one subframe may be referred to as a transmission time interval (TTI), multiple consecutive subframes may be referred to as a TTI, or one slot or one minislot may be referred to as a TTI. That is, at least one of the subframe and the TTI may be a subframe (1 ms) in existing LTE, a period shorter than 1 ms (e.g., 1-13 symbols), or a period longer than 1 ms. Note that the unit representing the TTI may be called a slot, minislot, etc., instead of a subframe.

[0306] Here, TTI refers to, for example, the smallest time unit for scheduling in wireless communication. For example, in an LTE system, a base station schedules each user terminal to allocate radio resources (such as frequency bandwidth and transmission power that can be used by each user terminal) in TTI units. Note that the definition of TTI is not limited to this.

[0307] The TTI may be a transmission time unit for a channel-encoded data packet (transport block), a code block, a code word, etc., or may be a processing unit for scheduling, link adaptation, etc. When a TTI is given, the time interval (e.g., the number of symbols) to which a transport block, a code block, a code word, etc. is actually mapped may be shorter than the TTI.

[0308] In addition, when one slot or one minislot is called a TTI, one or more TTIs (i.e., one or more slots or one or more minislots) may be the minimum time unit for scheduling, and the number of slots (minislots) constituting the minimum time unit for scheduling may be controlled.

[0309] A TTI having a time length of 1 ms may be referred to as a regular TTI (TTI in LTE Rel. 8-12), normal TTI, long TTI, regular subframe, normal subframe, long subframe, slot, etc. A TTI shorter than a regular TTI may be referred to as a shortened TTI, short TTI, partial or fractional TTI, shortened subframe, short subframe, minislot, subslot, slot, etc.

[0310] In addition, a long TTI (e.g., a normal TTI, a subframe, etc.) may be interpreted as a TTI having a time length of more than 1 ms, and a short TTI (e.g., a shortened TTI, etc.) may be interpreted as a TTI having a TTI length shorter than the TTI length of a long TTI and equal to or greater than 1 ms.

[0311] A resource block (RB) is a resource allocation unit in the time domain and the frequency domain, and may include one or more consecutive subcarriers in the frequency domain. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may be the same regardless of numerology, for example, 12. The number of subcarriers included in an RB may be determined based on numerology.

[0312] The time domain of an RB may include one or more symbols and may have a length of one slot, one minislot, one subframe, or one TTI, each of which may consist of one or more resource blocks.

[0313] Note that one or more RBs may also be called a physical resource block (PRB), a sub-carrier group (SCG), a resource element group (REG), a PRB pair, an RB pair, etc.

[0314] Furthermore, a resource block may be composed of one or more resource elements (REs). For example, one RE may be a radio resource region of one subcarrier and one symbol.

[0315] A Bandwidth Part (BWP) (which may also be referred to as a fractional bandwidth) may represent a subset of contiguous common resource blocks (RBs) for a given numerology on a given carrier, where the common RBs may be identified by their index relative to a common reference point of the carrier. PRBs may be defined in a given BWP and numbered within that BWP.

[0316] The BWP may include a BWP for UL (UL BWP) and a BWP for DL ​​(DL BWP). One or more BWPs may be configured for a UE within one carrier.

[0317] At least one of the configured BWPs may be active, and the UE may not expect to transmit or receive a given signal / channel outside the active BWP. Note that the terms "cell," "carrier," etc. in this disclosure may be read as "BWP."

[0318] The above-described structures of the radio frame, subframe, slot, minislot, and symbol are merely examples. For example, the number of subframes included in a radio frame, the number of slots per subframe or radio frame, the number of minislots included in a slot, the number of symbols and RBs included in a slot or minislot, the number of subcarriers included in an RB, the number of symbols in a TTI, the symbol length, the cyclic prefix (CP) length, and other configurations may be changed in various ways.

[0319] The terms "connected," "coupled," or any variation thereof, refer to any direct or indirect connection or coupling between two or more elements, and may include the presence of one or more intermediate elements between two elements that are "connected" or "coupled" to each other. The coupling or connection between elements may be physical, logical, or a combination thereof. For example, "connected" may be read as "access." As used in this disclosure, two elements may be considered to be "connected" or "coupled" to each other using one or more wires, cables, and / or printed electrical connections, as well as electromagnetic energy having wavelengths in the radio frequency range, microwave range, and optical (both visible and invisible) range, as some non-limiting and non-exhaustive examples.

[0320] The reference signal may also be abbreviated as Reference Signal (RS) and may be called a pilot depending on the applicable standard.

[0321] As used in this disclosure, the phrase "based on" does not mean "based only on," unless expressly stated otherwise. In other words, the phrase "based on" means both "based only on" and "based at least on."

[0322] The "means" in the configuration of each of the above devices may be replaced with "part," "circuit," "device," etc.

[0323] As used in this disclosure, any reference to an element using a designation such as "first," "second," etc. does not generally limit the quantity or order of those elements. These designations may be used in this disclosure as a convenient method of distinguishing between two or more elements. Thus, a reference to a first and a second element does not imply that only two elements may be employed therein or that the first element must precede the second element in some way.

[0324] When the terms "include," "including," and variations thereof are used in this disclosure, these terms are intended to be inclusive, similar to the term "comprising." Furthermore, when the term "or" is used in this disclosure, it is not intended to be an exclusive or.

[0325] In this disclosure, where articles are added by translation, such as a, an, and the in English, the disclosure may include that the nouns following these articles are in the plural form.

[0326] As used in this disclosure, the terms "determining" and "determining" may encompass a wide variety of actions. "Determining" and "determining" may include, for example, judging, calculating, computing, processing, deriving, investigating, looking up, searching, inquiring (e.g., searching in a table, database, or other data structure), ascertaining, and the like. "Determining" and "determining" may also include receiving (e.g., receiving information), transmitting (e.g., sending information), input, output, accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), and the like. Furthermore, "judgment" and "decision" can include regarding resolving, selecting, choosing, establishing, comparing, etc. as having been "judged" or "decided." In other words, "judgment" and "decision" can include regarding some action as having been "judged" or "decided." Furthermore, "judgment (decision)" can be interpreted as "assuming," "expecting," "considering," etc.

[0327] In the present disclosure, the term "A and B are different" may mean "A and B are different from each other." The term may also mean "A and B are each different from C." Terms such as "separate" and "coupled" may also be interpreted in the same way as "different."

[0328] 20 shows an example of the configuration of a vehicle 2001. As shown in Fig. 20, the vehicle 2001 includes a drive unit 2002, a steering unit 2003, an accelerator pedal 2004, a brake pedal 2005, a shift lever 2006, left and right front wheels 2007, left and right rear wheels 2008, an axle 2009, an electronic control unit 2010, various sensors 2021 to 2029, an information service unit 2012, and a communication module 2013.

[0329] The drive unit 2002 is composed of, for example, an engine, a motor, or a hybrid of an engine and a motor. The steering unit 2003 includes at least a steering wheel (also called a handle) and is configured to steer at least one of the front wheels and the rear wheels based on the operation of the steering wheel operated by the user. The electronic control unit 2010 is composed of a microprocessor 2031, memory (ROM, RAM) 2032, and a communication port (IO port) 2033. Signals from various sensors 2021 to 2027 provided in the vehicle are input to the electronic control unit 2010. The electronic control unit 2010 may also be called an ECU (Electronic Control Unit).

[0330] The signals from the various sensors 2021 to 2028 include a current signal from a current sensor 2021 that senses the current of the motor, a rotation speed signal of the front and rear wheels obtained by a rotation speed sensor 2022, an air pressure signal of the front and rear wheels obtained by an air pressure sensor 2023, a vehicle speed signal obtained by a vehicle speed sensor 2024, an acceleration signal obtained by an acceleration sensor 2025, an accelerator pedal depression amount signal obtained by an accelerator pedal sensor 2029, a brake pedal depression amount signal obtained by a brake pedal sensor 2026, a shift lever operation signal obtained by a shift lever sensor 2027, and a detection signal for detecting obstacles, vehicles, pedestrians, etc. obtained by an object detection sensor 2028.

[0331] The information service unit 2012 is composed of various devices, such as a car navigation system, an audio system, speakers, a television, and a radio, for providing (outputting) various types of information, such as driving information, traffic information, and entertainment information, and one or more ECUs for controlling these devices. The information service unit 2012 uses information acquired from external devices via the communication module 2013, etc., to provide various types of multimedia information and multimedia services to the occupants of the vehicle 1.

[0332] The information service unit 2012 may include input devices (e.g., keyboards, mice, microphones, switches, buttons, sensors, touch panels, etc.) that accept input from the outside, and may also include output devices (e.g., displays, speakers, LED lamps, touch panels, etc.) that output to the outside.

[0333] The driving assistance system unit 2030 is composed of various devices that provide functions for preventing accidents and reducing the driver's driving burden, such as millimeter-wave radar, LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging), cameras, positioning locators (e.g., GNSS, etc.), map information (e.g., high-definition (HD) maps, autonomous vehicle (AV) maps, etc.), gyro systems (e.g., IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit), INS (Inertial Navigation System), etc.), AI (Artificial Intelligence) chips, and AI processors, as well as one or more ECUs that control these devices. The driving assistance system unit 2030 also transmits and receives various information via the communication module 2013 to realize driving assistance functions or autonomous driving functions.

[0334] The communication module 2013 can communicate with the microprocessor 2031 and components of the vehicle 1 via the communication port. For example, the communication module 2013 transmits and receives data via the communication port 2033 to and from a driving unit 2002, a steering unit 2003, an accelerator pedal 2004, a brake pedal 2005, a shift lever 2006, left and right front wheels 2007, left and right rear wheels 2008, an axle 2009, a microprocessor 2031 and memory (ROM, RAM) 2032 in the electronic control unit 2010, and sensors 2021 to 2028, which are provided in the vehicle 2001.

[0335] The communication module 2013 is a communication device that can be controlled by the microprocessor 2031 of the electronic control unit 2010 and can communicate with an external device. For example, it transmits and receives various information to and from the external device via wireless communication. The communication module 2013 may be located either inside or outside the electronic control unit 2010. The external device may be, for example, a base station, a mobile station, or the like.

[0336] The communication module 2013 may transmit at least one of signals from the above-mentioned various sensors 2021 to 2028 input to the electronic control unit 2010, information obtained based on the signals, and information based on input from the outside (user) obtained via the information service unit 2012 to an external device via wireless communication. The electronic control unit 2010, the various sensors 2021 to 2028, the information service unit 2012, etc. may be referred to as input units that accept input. For example, the PUSCH transmitted by the communication module 2013 may include information based on the above-mentioned input.

[0337] The communication module 2013 receives various information (traffic information, traffic signal information, vehicle-to-vehicle information, etc.) transmitted from external devices and displays it on an information service unit 2012 provided in the vehicle. The information service unit 2012 may also be called an output unit that outputs information (for example, outputs information to a device such as a display or speaker based on the PDSCH (or data / information decoded from the PDSCH) received by the communication module 2013). The communication module 2013 also stores the various information received from external devices in a memory 2032 that can be used by the microprocessor 2031. Based on the information stored in the memory 2032, the microprocessor 2031 may control the drive unit 2002, steering unit 2003, accelerator pedal 2004, brake pedal 2005, shift lever 2006, left and right front wheels 2007, left and right rear wheels 2008, axles 2009, sensors 2021 to 2028, and the like provided in the vehicle 2001.

[0338] Although the present disclosure has been described in detail above, it is clear to those skilled in the art that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments described herein. The present disclosure can be implemented in modified and altered forms without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the claims. Therefore, the description of the present disclosure is intended to be illustrative and does not have any limiting meaning on the present disclosure.

[0339] (Additional Note) The above disclosure may be expressed as follows: A first feature is a terminal including: a control unit that executes settings using radio resources that are differentiated for high-priority terminals that are guaranteed a specific communication quality in a mobile communication network from those for low-priority terminals that are not guaranteed the specific communication quality; and a communication unit that executes radio communication using the radio resources.

[0340] In a second feature based on the first feature, the control unit executes a setting using a cell for the high priority terminal.

[0341] A third feature based on the first or second feature is that the control unit executes the initial connection using a random access channel resource for the high priority terminal.

[0342] A fourth feature is any one of the first to third features, wherein the control unit executes the setting using the wireless resource that can be used only when the status of the terminal is the high priority terminal.

[0343] A fifth feature is any one of the first to fourth features, wherein the control unit determines that the status of the terminal is the high priority terminal based on the execution of the setting using the wireless resource.

[0344] 10 Wireless communication system 20 RAN 100 gNB 200A, 200B UE 210 Radio signal transceiver 220 Amplifier 230 Modulation / demodulation unit 240 Control signal / reference signal processing unit 250 Encoding / decoding unit 260 Data transceiver 270 Control unit 1001 Processor 1002 Memory 1003 Storage 1004 Communication device 1005 Input device 1006 Output device 1007 Bus 2001 Vehicle 2002 Drive unit 2003 Steering unit 2004 Accelerator pedal 2005 Brake pedal 2006 Shift lever 2007 Left and right front wheels 2008 Left and right rear wheels 2009 Axle 2010 Electronic control unit 2012 Information service unit 2013 Communication module 2021 Current sensor 2022 RPM sensor 2023 Air pressure sensor 2024 Vehicle speed sensor 2025 Acceleration sensor 2026 Brake pedal sensor 2027 Shift lever sensor 2028 Object detection sensor 2029 Accelerator pedal sensor 2030 Driving assistance system section 2031 Microprocessor 2032 Memory (ROM, RAM) 2033 Communication port

Claims

1. A terminal comprising: a control unit that executes settings using radio resources that are differentiated for high-priority terminals in which a specific communication quality is guaranteed in a mobile communication network from those for low-priority terminals in which the specific communication quality is not guaranteed; and a communication unit that executes wireless communication using the radio resources.

2. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit executes a setting using a cell for the high priority terminal.

3. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs initial connection using random access channel resources for the high priority terminal.

4. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit executes the setting using the wireless resources that can be used only when the status of the terminal is that of the high priority terminal.

5. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the control unit determines that the status of the terminal is the high priority terminal based on the execution of the setting using the wireless resource.

6. A wireless communication method in a terminal, comprising: a step of performing settings using wireless resources that are differentiated for a high-priority terminal in which a specific communication quality is guaranteed in a mobile communication network from those for a low-priority terminal in which the specific communication quality is not guaranteed; and a step of performing wireless communication using the wireless resources.

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