Systems and methods for physical random access channel-based beamforming during massive muliple input-multiple output sleep

Abstract

A method (1000) by a network node (410) for performing Physical Random Access Channel-based beamforming includes designing (1004) a precoder for at least one downlink transmission to be sent to a User Equipment, UE, via subset of antenna branches, wherein the precoder is designed based on a plurality of antenna branches that are greater than the subset of antenna branches. Based on a mean of a signal strength calculated over multiple polarizations of a plurality of sub-sector beams, the network node selects (1006) at least one sub-sector beam for the at least one downlink transmission to the UE. The network node sends (1008), to the UE, the at least one downlink transmission via the at least one sub-sector beam and using the precoder designed based on the subset of the plurality of antenna branches.

Description

[0001] SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR PHYSICAL RANDOM ACCESS CHANNEL-BASED

[0002] BEAMFORMING DURING MASSIVE MULIPLE INPUT-MULTIPLE OUTPUT SLEEP

[0003] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0004] The present disclosure relates, in general, to wireless communications and, more particularly, systems and methods for Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH)-based beamforming during Massive Multiple Input-Multiple Output (mMIMO) sleep.

[0005] BACKGROUND

[0006] Excessive energy consumption is a critical issue in 5thGeneration (5G) networks. This problem becomes more pronounced for Antenna Array System (AAS) radio units, which may have eight or more antennas, for example.

[0007] A possible technique to reduce energy consumption is symbol-based-power-saving (SBPS). The technique shuts down the antenna branches and turns off the power amplifiers in the radio during empty symbols when no traffic is scheduled for transmission by the network node during a subframe. More specifically, the technique shuts down all branches on a symbol-by-symbol and / or slot-by-slot basis. This technique has been already considered for the downlink (DL) direction in New Radio (NR).

[0008] Another technique to save energy is massive Multiple Input-Multiple Output (mMIMO) sleep in Transmitter Mute (TxMute) mode. TxMute builds upon the SBPS solution. Specifically, in a similar manner to SBPS, the baseband does not send data from the sleeping branches in the DL direction when TxMute is triggered, which is only when the traffic load is detected as low-to-medium. Thus, if the cell load is low, only some branches may be used and others may be shut down. However, rather than dynamically staying in the power saving mode on a slot-by-slot basis, as is done according to SBPS, the radio remains in this mode for a defined time period. During the time interval, no processing is performed by the power amplifier in the muted branches. FIGURE 1 illustrates array dimensions with TxMute sleeping mode.

[0009] Another technique, which improves the robustness and coverage for initial access, is a user-specific beamforming (BF) technique called Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH)-based BF. The idea behind this technique is to utilize sub-sector beams that are used for PRACH reception for initial access transmissions in DL, such as Message 2 (Msg2) transmissions on the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) and / or Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) and / or Message 4 (Msg4) transmissions on PDCCH and / or PDSCH.

[0010] To improve robustness and coverage for initial access when TxMute sleep is triggered, the PRACH-based BF technique described above might be considered. However, the PRACH-based BF technique cannot be directly applied for Msg2 / Msg4 PDCCH and PDSCH transmissions since some of the DL antenna branches are muted when TxMute sleep triggered for saving energy. As such, there will be a mismatch between uplink (UL) and DL array dimensions.

[0011] SUMMARY

[0012] To address the foregoing problems with existing solutions, systems and methods are provided for improving robustness for PDSCH and PDCCH channels for initial access (e.g., MSG2 / MSG4 transmissions) when TxMute sleep mode is triggered by providing a fallback mechanism.

[0013] According to certain embodiments, by a network node for performing PRACH-based beamforming includes designing a precoder for at least one downlink transmission to be sent to a UE via subset of antenna branches. The precoder is designed based on a plurality of antenna branches that are greater than the subset of antenna branches. Based on a mean of a signal strength calculated over multiple polarizations of a plurality of sub-sector beams, the network node selects at least one sub-sector beam for the at least one downlink transmission to the UE. The network node sends, to the UE, the at least one downlink transmission via the at least one sub-sector beam and using the precoder designed based on the subset of the plurality of antenna branches.

[0014] According to certain embodiments, a network node for performing PRACH-based beamforming is adapted to design a precoder for at least one downlink transmission to be sent to a UE via subset of antenna branches. The precoder is designed based on a plurality of antenna branches that are greater than the subset of antenna branches. Based on a mean of a signal strength calculated over multiple polarizations of a plurality of sub-sector beams, the network node is adapted to select at least one sub-sector beam for the at least one downlink transmission to the UE. The network node is adapted to send, to the UE, the at least one downlink transmission via the at least one sub-sector beam and using the precoder designed based on the subset of the plurality of antenna branches.

[0015] Certain embodiments of the present disclosure may provide one or more technical advantages. For example, certain embodiments may provide a technical advantage of providing a new PRACH-based BF algorithm for improving the performance of initial access in terms of robustness and coverage. Specifically, for example, a pre-processing operation is proposed to zero out branches before beam-space transformation. Thus, certain embodiments may provide a technical advantage of handling the PRACH process with less performance loss when TxMute is sleep triggered and only some of DL branches are turned off. For example, applying precoding cycling between two different polarizations in the two strongest directions to help improve performance, particularly when angular spread is low since beam index selection based on PRACH might be inaccurate since UL and DL polarization phases may not be aligned. In addition, the number of PRBs reserved for PRACH and PDCCH are different; the number of PRBs for PRACH is typically lower than the number of PDCCH / PDSCH PRBs. Thus, the proposed precoder cycling scheme, along with the beam space adaptations, enhances beam diversity and, thus, improves performance.

[0016] As another example, applying the idea of beam synthesis from two or more strong beams within the same polarization to help improve the performance when angular spread is high.

[0017] As yet another example, certain embodiments may provide a technical advantage of switching between precoding cycling and beam synthesis techniques based on cell-level angular spread counters to help improve the performance. For that purpose, cell-level angular spread counters are introduced. The baseband may send the cell-level angular spread counter events to an analyzer, which may then decide, based on observations for a period of time, what methods should used. Then, this information may be sent back to baseband.

[0018] As yet another example, certain embodiments, certain embodiments may provide a technical advantage of using a metric other than average signal strength over multiple polarizations within each direction to perform sub-sector beam direction selection. FIGURE 2 illustrates the objective differences between arithmetic versus geometric mean metrices, where x stands for beam power for each polarization. Whereas previous techniques that use an arithmetic of beam signal strength may underutilize the multipath diversity gains, techniques using an alternative metric such as geometric mean can be employed to consider both the beam powers of two polarizations, polarization-A and polarization-B, which can be widely skewed. Thus, certain embodiments improve overall performance by depending not only on polarization-A, but also, on polarization-B in the new PRACH-based BF technique.

[0019] As yet another example, Certain embodiments may provide a technical advantage of providing a solution that defines a one-way PDCCH and PDSCH fallback mechanism for PRACH-based BF. Specifically, multiple criteria are proposed and, if any of the criteria are observed and fulfilled, the network node may return to a cell-specific (i.e., common) beamforming technique for PDCCH and PDSCH. For example, certain embodiments may provide a technical advantage of enabling the network node to be reactive when detecting outdated beam(s) such as, for example, when a threshold for time exceeded since a last User Equipment-specific precoder was calculated. As another example, certain embodiments may provide a technical advantage of enabling the network node to be reactive when detecting DL / UL Discontinuous Transmission (DTX). As yet another example, certain embodiments may provide a technical advantage of enabling the network node to be proactive when subsector beam strengths are close to each other.

[0020] Other advantages may be readily apparent to one having skill in the art. Certain embodiments may have none, some, or all of the recited advantages.

[0021] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] For a more complete understanding of the disclosed embodiments and their features and advantages, reference is now made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0023] FIGURE 1 illustrates array dimensions with TxMute sleeping mode;

[0024] FIGURE 2 illustrates the objective differences between arithmetic versus geometric mean metrices, where x stands for beam power for each polarization;

[0025] FIGURE 3 illustrates the pre-processing operation applied to address UL / DL array dimension mismatch, according to certain embodiments;

[0026] FIGURE 4 illustrates sub-sector beamforming for PRACH, according to certain embodiments;

[0027] FIGURE 5 illustrates precoder cycling and beam-synthesis based precoder design from PRACH subsector beam reception, according to certain embodiments;

[0028] FIGURE 6 illustrates an example interaction between baseband and counter-analyzer, according to certain embodiments;

[0029] FIGURE 7 illustrates an example communication system, according to certain embodiments;

[0030] FIGURE 8 illustrates an example UE, according to certain embodiments;

[0031] FIGURE 9 illustrates an example network node, according to certain embodiments;

[0032] FIGURE 10 illustrates a block diagram of a host, according to certain embodiments;

[0033] FIGURE 11 illustrates a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized, according to certain embodiments;

[0034] FIGURE 12 illustrates a host communicating via a network node with a UE over a partially wireless connection, according to certain embodiments; and

[0035] FIGURE 13 illustrates an example method for performing PRACH-based beamforming. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0036] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0037] As used herein, ‘node’ can be a network node or a UE. Examples of network nodes are NodeB, base station (BS), multi -standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB (eNB), gNodeB (gNB), Master eNB (MeNB), Secondary eNB (SeNB), integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), Central Unit (e.g. in a gNB), Distributed Unit (e.g. in a gNB), Baseband Unit, Centralized Baseband, C-RAN, access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Remote Radio Head (RRH), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node (e.g., Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), etc.), Operations & Maintenance (O&M), Operations Support System (OSS), Self Organizing Network (SON), positioning node (e.g., E-SMLC), etc.

[0038] Another example of a node is user equipment (UE), which is a non-limiting term and refers to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and / or with another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, device to device (D2D) UE, vehicular to vehicular (V2V), machine type UE, MTC UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), Unified Serial Bus (USB) dongles, etc.

[0039] In some embodiments, generic terminology, “radio network node” or simply “network node (NW node)”, is used. Such terms are used to refer to any kind of network node which may comprise base station, radio base station, base transceiver station, base station controller, network controller, evolved Node B (eNB), Node B, gNodeB (gNB), relay node, access point, radio access point, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH), Central Unit (e.g. in a gNB), Distributed Unit (e.g. in a gNB), Baseband Unit, Centralized Baseband, C-RAN, access point (AP), etc.

[0040] The term radio access technology (RAT), may refer to any RAT such as, for example, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRA), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRA), narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT), WiFi, Bluetooth, next generation RAT, NR, 4G, 5G, etc. Any of the equipment denoted by the terms node, network node or radio network node may be capable of supporting a single or multiple RATs.

[0041] The term “signal” or “radio signal” used herein can be any physical signal or physical channel. Examples of DL physical signals are reference signal (RS) such as Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), Channel State Information-Reference Signal (CSI-RS), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), signals in SS / PBCH block (SSB, aka Synchronization Signal Block), discovery reference signal (DRS), Cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS), Positioning Reference Signal (PRS), etc. RS may be periodic such that, for example, a RS occasion carrying one or more RSs may occur with certain periodicity (e.g., 20 ms, 40 ms, etc.). The RS may also be aperiodic. Each SSB carries NR-PSS, NR-SSS and NR-PBCH in 4 successive symbols. One or multiple SSBs are transmit in one SSB burst which is repeated with certain periodicity (e.g., 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms and 160 ms). The UE is configured with information about SSB on cells of certain carrier frequency by one or more SS / PBCH block measurement timing configuration (SMTC) configurations. The SMTC configuration comprising parameters such as SMTC periodicity, SMTC occasion length in time or duration, SMTC time offset with regard to reference time (e.g., serving cell’s SFN), etc. Therefore, SMTC occasion may also occur with certain periodicity (e.g., 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms, and 160 ms). Examples of UL physical signals are reference signal such as Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), DMRS, etc. The term physical channel refers to any channel carrying higher layer information (e.g., data, control, etc.). Examples of physical channels are Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), shortened Physical Uplink Control Chanel (sPUCCH), shortened PDSCH (sPDSCH), shortened PUSCH (sPUSCH), Machine PDCCH (MPDCCH), Narrowband PBCH (NPBCH), Narrowband PDCCH (NPDCCH), Narrowband PDSCH (NPDSCH), Narrowband PUSCH (NPUSCH), Enhanced PDCCH (E-PDCCH), etc.

[0042] As used herein, the term “time resource” may correspond to any type of physical resource or radio resource expressed in terms of length of time. Examples of time resources include, but are not limited to, symbols, time slots, subframes, radio frames, Transmission Time Intervals (TTIs), interleaving times, slots, sub-slots, mini-slots, system frame numbers (SFNs) cycles, hyper-SFN (H-SFN) cycles, etc.

[0043] According to certain embodiments, systems and methods are proposed that include a PRACH-based BF technique for improving robustness for PDSCH and PDCCH channels for initial access of a UE when TxMute sleep mode is triggered at the network. In particular the systems and methods may include one or more of the following steps:

[0044] • zeroing-out UL antenna branches that are associated with muted DL antenna branches;

[0045] • using geometric mean in non-coherent combining;

[0046] • selecting beam synthesis or precoding cycling for beam switching; and

[0047] • falling-back to common beamforming when fallback criteria is met. Each step is discussed in more detail below.

[0048] Zeroing-Out UL Antenna Branches

[0049] According to certain embodiments, the PRACH-based BF technique includes zeroingout UL antenna branches that are associated with muted DL antenna branches. In particular, all branches of antennas at the network node may be used to receive UL transmissions from the UE; however, when the network node is in TxMute mode, some of the DL antenna branches are muted for DL transmissions. The mismatch between the UL and DL antenna branches may also be referred to an UL / DL array dimension mismatch. The mismatch results in a loss of performance at the network. Thus, according to some embodiments, a preprocessing step is performed before transforming PRACH to beam-space so that performance loss for PRACH-based BF is reduced

[0050] FIGURE 3 illustrates the pre-processing operation applied to address UL / DL array dimension mismatch, according to certain embodiments. In the preprocessing, a signal from the UL receiver branch is transformed to a lower dimensional signal to adopt to the active antenna dimension used for DL TxMute operation. One such approach is to zero-out UL branches whose antenna elements are associated with the muted antenna branches in DL. In addition, the signals can be carrier to a beam-space that is a better representative of active DL array dimension.

[0051] In a particular embodiment, at least one UL transmission is received from a UE via all of the network node’s antenna elements. For example, if the network node has 64 antenna branches (i.e., a 4x8x2 array), as illustrated in FIGURE 3, the network node may receive the at least one UL transmission on all sixty-four antenna branches. The processing operation is the performed to identify a subset of a sixty-four antenna branches for determining the precoders for sending at least one downlink transmission to the UE. In a particular embodiment, for example, the network node may identify at least one muted DL antenna branch that corresponds to at least one UL antenna branch. The network node may then make a copy of the UL transmission but, in doing so, zero out any portion of the signal that was received on an UL antenna branch that corresponds to a muted DL antenna branch. The precoder for the DL transmission may then be determined based on the copy of the UL transmission that includes the zero’d out portions of the signal. Thus, it may be understand, that in a particular embodiment, each antenna branch in the subset of DL antenna branches that are not muted (and, thus, will be used for the DL transmission) correspond to an antenna branch that was not zero’d out in the copy of the UL transmission.

[0052] Geometric Mean in Non-Coherent Combining

[0053] According to certain embodiments, the PRACH-based BF algorithm includes a step for performing sub-sector beamforming based on a mean of a signal strength calculated over multiple polarizations. FIGURE 4 illustrates sub-sector beamforming for PRACH, according to certain embodiments. In the illustrated example, eight sub-sector beams may be used for PRACH reception of an UL signal and transmission of a DL signal. The eight sub-sector beams may include 4 sub-sectors with 2 polarizations per sub-sector.

[0054] In certain embodiments, the network node selects the strongest sub-sector index. Subsector-specific beamforming is then applied on PDCCH and PDSCH before Precoding Matrix Indicator (PMI) is received. In the illustrated example of FIGURE 4, only one subsector beam is selected to be used. However, multiple polarizations may also be used such as, for example, a polarization-A and a polarization-B. Whereas previous techniques relating to non-coherent combining may use an arithmetic average of polarization-A and polarization- B the arithmetic averaging metric may not be the best one when polarization-A and polarization-B is considered to be applied in a cycling manner between subcarrier groups (SCG) or Resource Element Group (REG) bundles. The power of these polarizations can be widely skewed, so beam selection based on the geometric mean of the beam strengths may achieve better results, than arithmetic average in certain embodiments.

[0055] Beam Synthesis or Precoding Cycling for PDSCH SCG and PDCCH REG Bundles

[0056] Depending on the relative strength of beam per polarization, two strong dualpolarized beams may be selected. The network node may choose between beam synthesis or precoding cycling for PDSCH SCG and PDCCH REG bundles. FIGURE 5 illustrates precoder cycling and beam-synthesis based precoder design from PRACH subsector beam reception, according to certain embodiments.

[0057] More specifically, the top portion (a) of FIGURE 5 illustrates precoding cycling, which includes cycling between the two directions during transmission. In particular, as illustrated, the network node cycles between Beam 0 and Beam 1 within the same polarization.

[0058] The bottom portion (b) of FIGURE 5 illustrates beam synthesis, which includes using a new synthesized beam for all transmissions. More particularly, beam synthesis is employed to determine a single beam weight vector creating two or more beams in the desired directions indicated by the suitable beams in the same polarization obtained from PRACH reception via sub-sector beams. The suitable beams can be determined using the power difference among the signals received by each subsector beam.

[0059] In a particular embodiment, the criteria for switching between different beam selection methods and determining the final beam shape may also be determined using metrics indicating the angular spread for the multi-path propagation. Subsector beam measurements is one such indicator of multi-path spread. In addition, from the past measurements, it is possible to generate the estimate for angular spread levels using SRS measurements, rank, and PMI feedback along the cell -level connections. Such cell-level statistics and information can be fetched by the base-band and used for beam selection / adjustment using the subsector beam directions.

[0060] FIGURE 6 illustrates an example interaction between baseband and counter-analyzer, according to certain embodiments. The “analyzer” block is responsible for determining best beam synthesis criteria based on the underlying channel conditions. To that end, analyzer may collect layer- 1 measurements along with Type-1 feedback or SRS measurements, as well as cell-level statistics from the “baseband” block and then decide if multi-path channel spreads is low, medium or high. Thus, “baseband” monitors several parameters and shares the ones relevant to wireless channel behavior and “analyzer” continually adjust the channel behavior state and updates baseband in regard to beam selection process.

[0061] There are two main reasons why it is propped herein to use the multiple precoding options (for instance, one for polarization-A and the other one for polarization-B) in the selected direction in a cyclic way between the PDSCH SCGs and PDCCH REG bundles. First, UL beam-index estimation might not be the best for DL due to the phase mismatch. Second, there can be a mismatch between the number of PRBs used for PRACH and PDCCH. The beam-index estimation can be assumed to be accurate only when PRACH and PDCCH are in the same PRBs.

[0062] Falling Back to CBF

[0063] According to certain embodiments, the PRACH-based BF procedure may additionally (and optionally) include a fallback procedure for transitioning from PRACH-based BF to Common Beam Forming (CBF) whenever a problem is detected with the sub-sector beams. After transitioning to CBF, the network node may then transmit in all directions in every subsection, in certain embodiments.

[0064] According to certain embodiments, the fallback to CBF may be performed when one or more fallback criteria are detected or fulfilled. In a particular embodiment, for example, the fallback procedure may be performed if the network detects that the sub-sector beams are outdated. This may include determining that an amount of time since the last UE-specific precoders were calculated has exceeded a maximum threshold.

[0065] In another particular embodiment, for example, the fallback procedure may be performed if the network detects DL / UL DTX.

[0066] In another particular embodiment, for example, the fallback procedure may be performed if the network node detects subsector beam strengths are too close to each other.

[0067] FIGURE 7 shows an example of a communication system 400 in accordance with some embodiments. In the example, the communication system 400 includes a telecommunication network 402 that includes an access network 404, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 406, which includes one or more core network nodes 408. The access network 404 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 410a and 410b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 410), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access node or non- 3GPP access point. The network nodes 410 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 412a, 412b, 412c, and 412d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 412) to the core network 406 over one or more wireless connections.

[0068] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 400 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 400 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0069] The UEs 412 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 410 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 410 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 412 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 402 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 402.

[0070] In the depicted example, the core network 406 connects the network nodes 410 to one or more hosts, such as host 416. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 406 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 408) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 408. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0071] The host 416 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 404 and / or the telecommunication network 402, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 416 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0072] As a whole, the communication system 400 of FIGURE 7 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0073] In some examples, the telecommunication network 402 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 402 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 402. For example, the telecommunications network 402 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)ZMassive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0074] In some examples, the UEs 412 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 404 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 404. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi -RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN- DC).

[0075] In the example, the hub 414 communicates with the access network 404 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 412c and / or 412d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 410b). In some examples, the hub 414 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 414 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 406 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 414 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 410, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 414. As another example, the hub 414 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 414 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 414 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 414 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 414 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular in if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0076] The hub 414 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 410b. The hub 414 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 414 and UEs (e.g., UE 412c and / or 412d), and between the hub 414 and the core network 406. In other examples, the hub 414 is connected to the core network 406 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 414 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 404 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 410 while still connected via the hub 414 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 414 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 410b. In other embodiments, the hub 414 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 410b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0077] FIGURE 8 shows a UE 500 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0078] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle -to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0079] The UE 500 includes processing circuitry 502 that is operatively coupled via a bus 504 to an input / output interface 506, a power source 508, a memory 510, a communication interface 512, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in FIGURE 8. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0080] The processing circuitry 502 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 510. The processing circuitry 502 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 502 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0081] In the example, the input / output interface 506 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 500. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0082] In some embodiments, the power source 508 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 508 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 508 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 500 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 508. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 508 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 500 to which power is supplied.

[0083] The memory 510 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 510 includes one or more application programs 514, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 516. The memory 510 may store, for use by the UE 500, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems. The memory 510 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD- DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 510 may allow the UE 500 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 510, which may be or comprise a device -readable storage medium.

[0084] The processing circuitry 502 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 512. The communication interface 512 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 522. The communication interface 512 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 518 and / or a receiver 520 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 518 and receiver 520 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 522) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0085] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 512 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / intemet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0086] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 512, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0087] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0088] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 500 shown in FIGURE 8.

[0089] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0090] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0091] FIGURE 9 shows a network node 600 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NRNodeBs (gNBs)).

[0092] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0093] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0094] The network node 600 includes a processing circuitry 602, a memory 604, a communication interface 606, and a power source 608. The network node 600 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 600 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 600 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 604 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 610 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 600 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 600, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 600.

[0095] The processing circuitry 602 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 600 components, such as the memory 604, to provide network node 600 functionality.

[0096] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 602 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 602 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 612 and baseband processing circuitry 614. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 612 and the baseband processing circuitry 614 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 612 and baseband processing circuitry 614 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0097] The memory 604 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer- readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computerexecutable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 602. The memory 604 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 602 and utilized by the network node 600. The memory 604 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 602 and / or any data received via the communication interface 606. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 602 and memory 604 is integrated.

[0098] The communication interface 606 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 606 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 616 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 606 also includes radio front-end circuitry 618 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 610. Radio front-end circuitry 618 comprises filters 620 and amplifiers 622. The radio front-end circuitry 618 may be connected to an antenna 610 and processing circuitry 602. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 610 and processing circuitry 602. The radio front-end circuitry 618 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 618 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 620 and / or amplifiers 622. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 610. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 610 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 618. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 602. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0099] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 600 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 618, instead, the processing circuitry 602 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 610. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 612 is part of the communication interface 606. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 606 includes one or more ports or terminals 616, the radio front-end circuitry 618, and the RF transceiver circuitry 612, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 606 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 614, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0100] The antenna 610 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 610 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 618 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 610 is separate from the network node 600 and connectable to the network node 600 through an interface or port.

[0101] The antenna 610, communication interface 606, and / or the processing circuitry 602 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 610, the communication interface 606, and / or the processing circuitry 602 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0102] The power source 608 provides power to the various components of network node 600 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 608 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 600 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 600 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 608. As a further example, the power source 608 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0103] Embodiments of the network node 600 may include additional components beyond those shown in FIGURE 9 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 600 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 600 and to allow output of information from the network node 600. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 600.

[0104] FIGURE 10 is a block diagram of a host 700, which may be an embodiment of the host 416 of FIGURE 7, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 700 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and / or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 700 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0105] The host 700 includes processing circuitry 702 that is operatively coupled via a bus 704 to an input / output interface 706, a network interface 708, a power source 710, and a memory 712. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figures 5 and 6, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 700.

[0106] The memory 712 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 714 and data 716, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host 700 or data generated by the host 700 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 700 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 714 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application programs 714 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 700 may select and / or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs 714 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0107] FIGURE 11 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 800 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized.

[0108] In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 800 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized.

[0109] Applications 802 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0110] Hardware 804 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 806 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 808a and 808b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 808), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 806 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 808.

[0111] The VMs 808 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 806. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 802 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 808, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0112] In the context of NFV, a VM 808 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 808, and that part of hardware 804 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 808 on top of the hardware 804 and corresponds to the application 802.

[0113] Hardware 804 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 804 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 804 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 810, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 802. In some embodiments, hardware 804 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 812 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0114] FIGURE 12 shows a communication diagram of a host 902 communicating via a network node 904 with a UE 906 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments.

[0115] Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE 412a of FIGURE 7 and / or UE 500 of FIGURE 8), network node (such as network node 410a of FIGURE 7 and / or network node 600 of FIGURE 9), and host (such as host 416 of FIGURE 7 and / or host 700 of FIGURE 10) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to FIGURE 12.

[0116] Like host 700, embodiments of host 902 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 902 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host 902 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 906 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 950 extending between the UE 906 and host 902. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 950.

[0117] The network node 904 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 902 and UE 906. The connection 960 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network 406 of FIGURE 7) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0118] The UE 906 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 906 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 906 with the support of the host 902. In the host 902, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 950 terminating at the UE 906 and host 902. In providing the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 950 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 950.

[0119] The OTT connection 950 may extend via a connection 960 between the host 902 and the network node 904 and via a wireless connection 970 between the network node 904 and the UE 906 to provide the connection between the host 902 and the UE 906. The connection 960 and wireless connection 970, over which the OTT connection 950 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 902 and the UE 906 via the network node 904, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0120] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 950, in step 908, the host 902 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 906. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 906 that shares data with the host 902 without explicit human interaction. In step 910, the host 902 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 906. The host 902 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 906. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 906 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 906. The transmission may pass via the network node 904, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 912, the network node 904 transmits to the UE 906 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 902 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 914, the UE 906 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 906 associated with the host application executed by the host 902.

[0121] In some examples, the UE 906 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 902. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 902. Accordingly, in step 916, the UE 906 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input / output interface of the UE 906. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 906 initiates, in step 918, transmission of the user data towards the host 902 via the network node 904. In step 920, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 904 receives user data from the UE 906 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 902. In step 922, the host 902 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 906.

[0122] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 906 using the OTT connection 950, in which the wireless connection 970 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve one or more of, for example, data rate, latency, and / or power consumption and, thereby, provide benefits such as, for example, reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, improved content resolution, better responsiveness, and / or extended battery lifetime.

[0123] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 902. As another example, the host 902 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 902 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 902 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 902 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 902 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and / or transmitting data.

[0124] In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 950 between the host 902 and UE 906, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 902 and / or UE 906. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 950 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 950 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 904. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host 902. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 950 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0125] FIGURE 13 illustrates an example method 1000 by a network node 410 for performing PRACH-based BF, according to certain embodiments. The method begins at step 1004 when the network node 410 designs a precoder for at least one downlink transmission to be sent to a UE 412 via subset of antenna branches. The precoder is designed based on a plurality of antenna branches that are greater than the subset of antenna branches. Based on a mean of a signal strength calculated over multiple polarizations of a plurality of subsector beams, the network node 410 selects, at step 1006, at least one sub-sector beam for the at least one downlink transmission to the UE. At step 1008, the network node 410 sends, to the UE 412, the at least one downlink transmission via the at least one sub-sector beam and using the precoder designed based on the subset of the plurality of antenna branches.

[0126] In a particular embodiment, network node 410 performs pre-processing of at least one uplink transmission to identify the subset of antenna branches.

[0127] In a particular embodiment, when performing the pre-processing of the at least one uplink transmission, the network node 410: receives the at least one uplink transmission via all of the plurality of antenna branches; identifies at least one muted antenna branch that corresponds to at least one corresponding antenna branch within the plurality of antenna branches (wherein the at least one muted antenna branch is muted for the at least one downlink transmission); and creates a copy of the at least one uplink transmission. At least one portion of the signal is zeroed out in the copy for the at least one corresponding antenna branch within the plurality of antenna branches that corresponds to the at least one antenna branch.

[0128] In a further particular embodiment, each antenna branch in the subset of antenna branches on which the at least one downlink transmission is transmitted corresponds to an antenna branch that is not zeroed out in the copy of the at least one uplink transmission.

[0129] In a particular embodiment, the at least one sub-sector beam is selected for the at least one downlink transmission based on each of the at least one sub-sector beams being associated with a signal strength that is greater than a threshold. Alternatively, the at least one sub-sector beam is selected for the at least one downlink transmission based on being associated with a signal strength that is greater than a signal strength of other sub-sector beams not selected.

[0130] In a particular embodiment, when selecting the at least one sub-sector beam, the network node 410 selects two or more sub-sector beams.

[0131] In a further particular embodiment, when sending the at least one downlink transmission to the UE 412, the network node 410 alternates transmitting the at least one downlink transmission on the two or more sub-sector beams using different polarizations.

[0132] In another particular embodiment, when sending the at least one downlink transmission to the UE 412, the network node 410 simultaneously transmits the at least one downlink transmission on the two or more sub-sector beams using a same polarization.

[0133] In a particular embodiment, when receiving the at least one uplink transmission, the network node 410 receives a Message 1 of a PRACH procedure and sends the at least one downlink transmission comprises sending a Message 2 of the PRACH procedure.

[0134] In a particular embodiment, the network node 410 receives the at least one uplink transmission comprises receiving a Message 3 of a PRACH procedure and sends the at least one downlink transmission comprises sending a Message 4 of the PRACH procedure.

[0135] In a particular embodiment, the network node 410 receives the at least one uplink transmission comprises receiving a Message A of a PRACH procedure and sends the at least one downlink transmission comprises sending a Message B of the PRACH procedure.

[0136] In a particular embodiment, when calculating the mean of the signal strength over the multiple polarizations, the network node 410 calculates a geometric mean of the signal strength over the multiple polarizations of the plurality of sub-sector beams.

[0137] In a particular embodiment, when calculating the mean of the signal strength over the multiple polarizations, the network node 410 calculates an arithmetic mean of the signal strength over the multiple polarizations of the plurality of sub-sector beams.

[0138] In a particular embodiment, the network node 410 determines that at least one fallback criteria is met. Based on the at least one fallback criteria being met, the network node 410 transitions to common beam forming.

[0139] In a further particular embodiment, the network node 410 transitions to common beam forming comprises sending at least one additional downlink transmission to the UE, wherein the at least one additional downlink transmission is transmitted via the plurality of antenna branches.

[0140] In a further particular embodiment, when determining that the at least one fallback criteria is met, the network node 410 performs at least one of: determining that the at least one sub-sector beam is outdated; detecting downlink and / or uplink discontinuous transmission; and detecting that a difference in a respective strength of each of the at least one sub-sector beams is less than a minimum threshold.

[0141] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0142] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method (1000) by a network node (410) for performing Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH)-based beamforming, the method comprising: designing (1004) a precoder for at least one downlink transmission to be sent to a User Equipment, UE, via subset of antenna branches, wherein the precoder is designed based on a plurality of antenna branches that are greater than the subset of antenna branches; based on a mean of a signal strength calculated over multiple polarizations of a plurality of sub-sector beams, selecting (1006) at least one sub-sector beam for the at least one downlink transmission to the UE; and sending (1008), to the UE, the at least one downlink transmission via the at least one sub-sector beam and using the precoder designed based on the subset of the plurality of antenna branches.

2. The method of Claim 1, comprising performing pre-processing of at least one uplink transmission to identify the subset of antenna branches.

3. The method of Claim 2, wherein performing the pre-processing of the at least one uplink transmission comprises: receiving the at least one uplink transmission via all of the plurality of antenna branches; identifying at least one muted antenna branch that corresponds to at least one corresponding antenna branch within the plurality of antenna branches, wherein the at least one muted antenna branch is muted for the at least one downlink transmission; and creating a copy of the at least one uplink transmission, and wherein at least one portion of the signal is zeroed out in the copy for the at least one corresponding antenna branch within the plurality of antenna branches that corresponds to the at least one antenna branch.

4. The method of Claim 3, wherein each antenna branch in the subset of antenna branches on which the at least one downlink transmission is transmitted corresponds to an antenna branch that is not zeroed out in the copy of the at least one uplink transmission.

5. The method of any one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein:the at least one sub-sector beam is selected for the at least one downlink transmission based on each of the at least one sub-sector beams being associated with a signal strength that is greater than a threshold, or the at least one sub-sector beam is selected for the at least one downlink transmission based on being associated with a signal strength that is greater than a signal strength of other sub-sector beams not selected.

6. The method of any one of Claims 1 to 5, wherein selecting the at least one subsector beam comprises selecting two or more sub-sector beams.

7. The method of Claim 6, wherein sending the at least one downlink transmission to the UE comprises alternating transmitting the at least one downlink transmission on the two or more sub-sector beams using different polarizations.

8. The method of Claim 6, wherein sending the at least one downlink transmission to the UE comprises simultaneously transmitting the at least one downlink transmission on the two or more sub-sector beams using a same polarization.

9. The method of any one of Claims 1 to 8, wherein: receiving the at least one uplink transmission comprises receiving a Message 1 of a PRACH procedure, and sending the at least one downlink transmission comprises sending a Message 2 of the PRACH procedure.

10. The method of any one of Claims 1 to 8, wherein: receiving the at least one uplink transmission comprises receiving a Message 3 of a PRACH procedure, and sending the at least one downlink transmission comprises sending a Message 4 of the PRACH procedure.11 . The method of any one of Claims 1 to 8, wherein: receiving the at least one uplink transmission comprises receiving a Message A of a PRACH procedure, and sending the at least one downlink transmission comprises sending a Message B of the PRACH procedure.

12. The method of any one of Claims 1 to 11, wherein calculating the mean of the signal strength over the multiple polarizations comprises calculating a geometric mean of the signal strength over the multiple polarizations of the plurality of sub-sector beams.

13. The method of any one of Claims 1 to 11, wherein calculating the mean of the signal strength over the multiple polarizations comprises calculating an arithmetic mean of the signal strength over the multiple polarizations of the plurality of sub-sector beams.

14. The method of any one of Claims 1 to 13, comprising: determining that at least one fallback criteria is met; and based on the at least one fallback criteria being met, transitioning to common beam forming.

15. The method of Claim 14, wherein transitioning to common beam forming comprises sending at least one additional downlink transmission to the UE, wherein the at least one additional downlink transmission is transmitted via the plurality of antenna branches.

16. The method of any one of Claims 14 to 15, wherein determining that the at least one fallback criteria is met comprises at least one of: determining that the at least one sub-sector beam is outdated; detecting downlink and / or uplink discontinuous transmission; and detecting that a difference in a respective strength of each of the at least one subsector beams is less than a minimum threshold.

17. A network node (412) for performing Physical Random Access Channel, PRACH,- based beamforming, the network node adapted to: design a precoder for at least one downlink transmission to be sent to a User Equipment, UE, via subset of antenna branches, wherein the precoder is designed based on a plurality of antenna branches that are greater than the subset of antenna branches; based on a mean of a signal strength calculated over multiple polarizations of a plurality of sub-sector beams, select at least one sub-sector beam for the at least one downlink transmission to the UE; and sending (1008), to the UE, the at least one downlink transmission via the at least one sub-sector beam and using the precoder designed based on the subset of the plurality of antenna branches.

18. The network node of Claim 17, adapted to perform pre-processing of at least one uplink transmission to identify the subset of antenna branches.

19. The network node of Claim 18, wherein when performing the pre-processing of the at least one uplink transmission, the network node is adapted to: receive the at least one uplink transmission via all of the plurality of antenna branches; identify at least one muted antenna branch that corresponds to at least one corresponding antenna branch within the plurality of antenna branches, wherein the at least one muted antenna branch is muted for the at least one downlink transmission; and create a copy of the at least one uplink transmission, and wherein at least one portion of the signal is zeroed out in the copy for the at least one corresponding antenna branch within the plurality of antenna branches that corresponds to the at least one antenna branch.

20. The network node of Claim 19, wherein each antenna branch in the subset of antenna branches on which the at least one downlink transmission is transmitted corresponds to an antenna branch that is not zeroed out in the copy of the at least one uplink transmission.21 . The network node of any one of Claims 17 to 20, wherein: the at least one sub-sector beam is selected for the at least one downlink transmission based on each of the at least one sub-sector beams being associated with a signal strength that is greater than a threshold, orthe at least one sub-sector beam is selected for the at least one downlink transmission based on being associated with a signal strength that is greater than a signal strength of other sub-sector beams not selected.

22. The network node of any one of Claims 17 to 21, wherein when selecting the at least one sub-sector beam, the network mode is adapted to select two or more sub-sector beams.

23. The network node of Claim 22, wherein when sending the at least one downlink transmission to the UE, the network node is adapted to alternate transmitting the at least one downlink transmission on the two or more sub-sector beams using different polarizations.

24. The network node of Claim 22, wherein when sending the at least one downlink transmission to the UE, the network node is adapted to simultaneously transmit the at least one downlink transmission on the two or more sub-sector beams using a same polarization.

25. The network node of any one of Claims 17 to 24, wherein: when receiving the at least one uplink transmission, the network node is adapted to receive a Message 1 of a PRACH procedure, and when sending the at least one downlink transmission, the network node is adapted to sending a Message 2 of the PRACH procedure.

26. The network node of any one of Claims 17 to 24, wherein: when receiving the at least one uplink transmission, the network node is adapted to receive a Message 3 of a PRACH procedure, and when sending the at least one downlink transmission, the network node is adapted to send a Message 4 of the PRACH procedure.

27. The network node of any one of Claims 17 to 24, wherein: when receiving the at least one uplink transmission, the network node is adapted to receive a Message A of a PRACH procedure, and when sending the at least one downlink transmission, the network node is adapted to send a Message B of the PRACH procedure.

28. The network node of any one of Claims 17 to 27, wherein when calculating the mean of the signal strength over the multiple polarizations of the plurality of sub-sector beams, the network node is adapted to calculate a geometric mean of the signal strength over the multiple polarizations.

29. The network node of any one of Claims 17 to 27, wherein when calculating the mean of the signal strength over the multiple polarizations, the network node is adapted to calculate an arithmetic mean of the signal strength over the multiple polarizations of the plurality of sub-sector beams.

30. The network node of any one of Claims 17 to 29, adapted to: determine that at least one fallback criteria is met; and based on the at least one fallback criteria being met, transition to common beam forming.

31. The network node of Claim 30, wherein when transitioning to common beam forming, the network node is adapted to send at least one additional downlink transmission to the UE, wherein the at least one additional downlink transmission is transmitted via the plurality of antenna branches.

32. The network node of any one of Claims 30 to 331, wherein when determining that the at least one fallback criteria is met, the network node is adapted to perform at least one of: determining that the at least one sub-sector beam is outdated; detecting downlink and / or uplink discontinuous transmission; and detecting that a difference in a respective strength of each of the at least one subsector beams is less than a minimum threshold.

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