Methods and apparatuses for alleviating in-device coexistence interference

Abstract

Embodiments described herein relate to methods and apparatuses for alleviating In-Device Coexistence Interference. A method, performed by a user equipment, UE, wherein the wherein the UE is capable of operating utilizing at least a first radio access technology, RAT, and a second RAT, comprises: responsive to detecting (201) in-device co-existence, IDC, interference between the first RAT and the second RAT, wherein the IDC interference has a spatial dependency, transmitting (202) to a network node of the first RAT a first indication of the spatial dependency of the IDC.

Description

[0001] METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR ALLEVIATING IN-DEVICE COEXISTENCE INTERFERENCE

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Embodiments described herein relate to methods and apparatuses for helping to alleviate In-Device Coexistence (IDC) interference. In particular embodiments described herein enable a UE to indicate any spatial dependency of detected IDC interference.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] In-Device Coexistence (IDC) is a feature that was introduced in Long Term Evolution (LTE) and New Radio (NR). IDC was introduced to tackle situations when a user equipment (UE) is operating multiple radio access technologies (RATs) and the radios used for these different technologies cause interference with each other. For example, transmissions by an LTE transmitter may cause interference to a GPS receiver and a Bluetooth / WLAN receiver, and the Bluetooth / WLAN receiver may cause interference on the LTE receiver. Note, the IDC feature is here described from using LTE as an example 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) RAT, but on a high level, the IDC feature is the same for NR.

[0006] For example, a UE’s 3GPP modems may not know exact timing and frequency of non 3GPP RATs like BT and Wi-Fi as the two RAT systems (i.e., 3GPP RAT and non-3GPP RAT) are likely to be implemented in separate hardware blocks without direct communications between them. Thus, there is not any means to provide exact real time information between the two RAT associated hardware modules to mitigate interference caused between each other. So interference between the two RATs may occur in unanticipated fashions.

[0007] When the UE identifies that there is IDC type of interference the UE may first try to solve this problem internally. If this does not succeed, the UE may indicate to a network node (e.g. a eNB) that it is experiencing IDC problems which it cannot solve itself. It will be appreciated that both how the UE detects IDC problems and may attempt to solve these internally is left to implementation.

[0008] The UE may indicate to the network the frequencies that are suffering from IDC interference and may also signal the RAT that is causing the interference, for instance that the interference comes from WLAN. In addition, if the UE determines that the IDC problems can be solved in a Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)- manner (for example, by multiplexing the use of the interfering transceivers in time) the UE can indicate a bit-map or Discontinuous Reception (DRX) cycles to the eNB which indicates which transmission time intervals (TTIs) are affected by IDC interference. When the eNB receives the indication that the UE is experiencing IDC problems that cannot be solved internally by the UE, the eNB may take action to solve these IDC problems, for example, by handing over the UE to other frequencies, removing (in case of carrier aggregation (CA)) a problematic cell, or configuring the UE with a DRX-configuration which would solve the problem. It will be noted that, at least up to Rel-17, the NR specification does not support TMD-indications for IDC.

[0009] An example scenario in which such an IDC indication may be useful is when the UE is using an LTE carrier in band 40 at the same time as it is using WLAN in the 2.4 GHz band. There may be IDC problems in this scenario since these frequency bands are just next to each other as shown in Figure 1.

[0010] The UE may try to solve the problems internally, but if it cannot do so it will indicate to the eNB that the serving cell on band 40 is having an IDC problem. The eNB may then handover the UE to other frequencies or reconfigure the cell, thereby helping to alleviate the IDC issues.

[0011] SUMMARY

[0012] As captured in RP-213589, a work item (Wl) relating to in-device coexistence (IDC) has been defined for 3GPP Rel-18. This Wl expects to address interference between 3GPP RATs (including various MR-DC architectures, i.e. NR-DC and EN-DC) and non-3GPP RATs (e.g. WiFi). The following objectives are to be studied:

[0013] • Enhancements to the Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM) solution, to allow more granular indication of affected frequencies (e.g. granularity of Bandwidth Part (BWP) or Physical Resource Block (PRB) level). (RAN2)

[0014] Note: Enhancements to FDM solution is prioritized.

[0015] • Introduction of a Time Division Multiplexing (TDM) solution (e.g. indication of UE preferred TDM pattern for Uplink (UL) / Downlink (DL)). (RAN2, RAN4). Note: The TDM solution is considered complementary to the FDM solution.

[0016] • Specify Radio Resource Management (RRM) requirements for TDM solution (RAN4)

[0017] In 3GPP Rel-18, it has been agreed to introduce network (NW) signaling to configure a UE to detect IDC problems in configured frequency regions. Upon detection of IDC problems, the UE may then send an IDC report to the gNB comprising FDM assistance information e.g. frequency regions where the IDC problems occur, and TDM assistance information, e.g. a UE preferred TDM pattern (e.g., a discontinuous reception (DRX) pattern) based on which the IDC problems can be addressed. However, in the above agreement, the IDC configuration and report only cover IDC related information in frequency domain and time domain, but nothing in spatial domain.

[0018] It will however be appreciated that a UE may experience interference for a particular RAT on a specific beam or in a specific direction. In one direction, the UE may have detected interference for the RAT, while in a different direction, the UE is experiencing smooth transmission and reception for that RAT.

[0019] This is true especially for the RATs operating in a higher frequency band e.g., FR2, where beam-forming based NR operation is very often being performed. In such a case, the UE may experience IDC issues in specific directions (e.g direction A). Upon reception of a IDC report from the UE, the gNB may misinterpret that the UE is experiencing IDC issues on other directions / beams (or all directions / beams). Therefore, the gNB may instruct the UE to perform actions in the wrong directions / beams where the IDC issue is not existing. This would mean that the IDC issues remained unresolved for the UE. If compensating actions are performed for all directions / beams this would result in overcompensation in directions / beams in which the IDC interference is not existing.

[0020] According to some embodiments there is provided a method, performed by a user equipment, UE, wherein the UE is capable of operating utilizing at least a first radio access technology, RAT, and a second RAT. The method comprises responsive to detecting in-device co-existence, IDC, interference between the first RAT and the second RAT, wherein the IDC interference has a spatial dependency, transmitting to a network node of the first RAT a first indication of the spatial dependency of the IDC interference.

[0021] According to some embodiments there is provided a user equipment, UE, wherein the UE is capable of operating utilizing at least a first radio access technology, RAT, and a second RAT, wherein the UE is adapted to perform the method as described above.

[0022] According to some embodiments there is provided a method, performed by a network node associated with a first radio access technology, RAT, wherein the network node is in communication with a UE that is capable of operating utilizing at least the first RAT and a second RAT. The method comprises receiving from the UE, a first indication of a spatial dependency of in-device co-existence, IDC, interference between the first RAT and the second RAT detected by the UE.

[0023] According to some embodiments there is provided a network node associated with a first radio access technology, RAT, wherein the network node is capable of communicating with a UE capable of operating utilizing at least the first RAT and a second RAT, wherein the network node is adapted to perform the method as described above. According to some embodiments there is provided a user equipment, UE, wherein the UE is capable of operating utilizing at least a first radio access technology, RAT, and a second RAT. The UE comprises processing circuitry and a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the UE is operable to: responsive to detecting in-device co-existence, IDC, interference between the first RAT and the second RAT, wherein the IDC interference has a spatial dependency, transmit to a network node of the first RAT a first indication of the spatial dependency of the IDC interference.

[0024] According to some embodiments there is provided a network node associated with a first radio access technology, RAT, wherein the network node is capable of communicating with a UE capable of operating utilizing at least the first RAT and a second RAT. The network node comprises processing circuitry and a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the network node is operable to: receive, from the UE, a first indication of a spatial dependency of in-device co-existence, IDC, interference between the first RAT and the second RAT detected by the UE.

[0025] According to some embodiments there is provided a computer program, comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods described above.

[0026] According to some embodiments there is provided a computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform any of the methods described above.

[0027] According to some embodiments there is provided a computer program product comprising non transitory computer readable media having stored thereon a computer program as described above.

[0028] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] For a better understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and to show how it may be put into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example only, to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0030] Figure 1 illustrates an LTE carrier in band 40 and a WLAN 2.4 GHz band;

[0031] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a user equipment, UE, wherein the UE is capable of operating utilizing at least a first radio access technology, RAT, and a second RAT; Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating a method, performed by a UE, for enabling use of an IDC configuration at the UE;

[0032] Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a network node associated with a first radio access technology, RAT, wherein the network node is in communication with a UE that is capable of operating utilizing at least the first RAT and a second RAT;

[0033] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method, performed by a network node, for configuration the UE with an IDC configuration;

[0034] Figure 6 is a signalling diagram illustrating an example implementation of the methods of Figures 2 to 5;

[0035] Figure 7 shows an example of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments;

[0036] Figure 8 shows a UE in accordance with some embodiments;

[0037] Figure 9 shows a network node in accordance with some embodiments;

[0038] Figure 10 is a block diagram of a host, which may be an embodiment of the host 516 of Figure 5, in accordance with various aspects described herein;

[0039] Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized;

[0040] Figure 12 shows a communication diagram of a host communicating via a network node with a UE over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments.

[0041] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and / or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a / an / the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and / or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

[0043] The following sets forth specific details, such as particular embodiments or examples for purposes of explanation and not limitation. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that other examples may be employed apart from these specific details. In some instances, detailed descriptions of well-known methods, nodes, interfaces, circuits, and devices are omitted so as not obscure the description with unnecessary detail. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the functions described may be implemented in one or more nodes using hardware circuitry (e.g., analog and / or discrete logic gates interconnected to perform a specialized function, ASICs, PLAs, etc.) and / or using software programs and data in conjunction with one or more digital microprocessors or general purpose computers. Nodes that communicate using the air interface may have suitable radio communications circuitry. Moreover, where appropriate the technology can additionally be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of computer-readable memory, such as (ROM, EEPROM, Flash memory, a memory disc, RAM etc.) solid-state memory, magnetic disk, or optical disk containing an appropriate set of computer instructions that would cause a processor to carry out the techniques described herein.

[0044] Hardware implementation may include or encompass, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, a reduced instruction set processor, hardware (e.g., digital or analogue) circuitry including but not limited to application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC) and / or field programmable gate array(s) (FPGA(s)), and (where appropriate) state machines capable of performing such functions.

[0045] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges.

[0046] Particular embodiments are described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein. The disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0047] Herein, the term “node” may be used to refer to either a network node or a user equipment (UE). Examples of network nodes are NodeB, base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB, gNodeB, MeNB, SeNB, location measurement unit (LMU), 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, transmission reception point (TRP), RRU, RRH, nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node (e.g. MSC, MME etc), O&M, OSS, SON, positioning node (e.g. E-SMLC), etc.

[0048] The non-limiting term “UE” may refer 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, PDA, tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles etc.

[0049] The term radio access technology, or RAT, may refer to any RAT e.g. UTRA, E-UTRA, narrow band internet of things (NB-loT), WiFi, Bluetooth, next generation RAT, New Radio (NR), 4G, 5G, NR Non Terrestrial Network (NTN), Internet of Things (loT) NTN, LTE NTN, etc. Any of the equipment denoted by the term node, network node or radio network node may be capable of supporting a single or multiple RATs.

[0050] Herein the term IDO interference may be utilised to refer to any interference caused between two or more RAT technologies being used at a single UE. This term may be used to encompass interference being caused on transmissions by the UE or receptions at the UE on any of the RATs being used by the UE.

[0051] In embodiments described herein, Discontinuous Reception (DRX) and Discontinuous Transmission (DTX) are referred to. It is worth noting that the embodiments described herein are applicable to Cell DTX / DRX or C-DRX / C-DTX or UE DRX / DTX etc. in some use cases and scenarios.

[0052] The embodiments described herein propose to solve the aforementioned problem by introducing the concept of directional mitigation of IDC interference from 3GPP RATs to non 3GPP RATs and / or interference from non 3GPP RATs to 3GPP RATs.

[0053] Some embodiments described herein enable the gNB to configure a UE with IDC configuration containing spatial information thereby enabling the gNB to configure the UE to detect IDC issues at specific beams / directions. In particular, in some embodiments herein a gNB may provide an IDC configuration containing spatial information to a UE indicating that the UE shall detect IDC issues according to the configured spatial information (e.g., the IDC configuration may indicate beams / directions at which the UE shall detect IDC issues). In some embodiments described herein when the UE detects IDC interference at certain beams / directions, the UE may transmit an IDC report comprising an indication of the IDC interference with a first indication of the associated beams / directions to the gNB.

[0054] This IDC report may indicate to the gNB that the gNB needs to help the UE address the detected IDC interference. The gNB may then understand the spatial dependency of the interference situation between 3GPP RATs and non-3GPP RATs based on the first indication. The gNB may then further improves its scheduling and / or resource allocation to UEs to better mitigate / avoid interferences between 3GPP RATs and non-3GPP RATs.

[0055] Spatial processing in the digital domain at baseband is common to UE having particular multi-antenna capability, especially in FR2 frequency range. It’s likely that interference from non 3GPP RATs is white noise to the 3GPP modem receiver in UE. Embodiments described herein therefore allow the possibility to mitigate the IDC interference from a spatial perspective, e.g. IDC interference in a spatial direction.

[0056] Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a user equipment, UE, wherein the UE is capable of operating utilizing at least a first radio access technology, RAT, and a second RAT. The method of Figure 2 may be performed by a UE or wireless device (e.g. the UE 712 or UE 800 as described later with reference to Figures 7 and 8 respectively).

[0057] It will be appreciated that the first RAT may comprise a 3GPP RAT and the second RAT may comprise a non 3GPP RAT.

[0058] In step 201 the method may, in some examples, comprise detecting in-device co-existence, IDC, interference between the first RAT and the second RAT. The IDC interference has a spatial dependency. For example, the spatial wherein the spatial dependency may comprise an association of the IDC interference with one or more first beams or one or more first spatial directions.

[0059] In step 202, responsive to detecting the in-device co-existence, IDC, interference, the method comprises transmitting to a network node of the first RAT a first indication of the spatial dependency of the IDC interference. In some examples, step 202 may only be performed when the UE cannot address the IDC interference itself, and it may therefore require help from the network to do so. The first indication may be transmitted along with an indication that the UE requires assistance from the network in alleviating the IDC interference. The first indication may comprise an identification of the one or more first beams or the one or more first spatial directions. For example, the first indication may list all the first beams and / or first spatial directions at or on which the UE detects IDC interference. It will be appreciated that each of the first beams / first spatial directions may be for UE receptions only, for UE transmissions only, or be unified for both UE transmissions and receptions.

[0060] The identification of each first beam or first spatial direction may comprise an index of the first beams / first spatial directions, e.g., a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state ID / index.

[0061] In examples utilising the TCI state, the UE may use dedicated information to indicate the TCI state #N which is involved in the detected IDC interference. One example of message is presented as follows:

[0062] The UE may further report candidate or preferred TCI state, Quasi Colocation QCL or spatial relation, or reference signal index for network node to then determine a beam management update if needed. If UE doesn’t provide such auxiliary information, it may be up to network node to determine a beam management update based on IDC information provided by UE.

[0063] The first indication may comprise an identification of one or more reference signals, wherein the one or more reference signals are associated with the one or more first beams or one or more first spatial directions. For example, the first indication may comprise indices of one or more reference signals which have spatial relations (or are Quasi co-located (QCL)) to the one or more first beams or one or more first spatial directions for UE transmissions and / or receptions. For UE receptions, the first indication may comprise indices of one or more reference signals transmitted by the network node

[0064] The first indication may comprise an identification of one or more types of transmissions or receptions, wherein the one or more types of transmissions or receptions are associated with the one or more first beams or one or more first spatial directions. For example, specific directions and / or beams may be associated with specific types of transmissions or receptions. A type of transmission or reception may for example comprise data transmissions or receptions (e.g. receptions on the Physical Downlin Shared Channel (PDSCH) or transmissions on the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)), or control signaling transmissions or receptions (for example, transmissions on the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), Transmissions or receptions on the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), Sounding Reference Signals SRS or receptions on the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) etc).

[0065] It will be appreciated that the first indication may comprise more than one of the aforementioned examples. It will be appreciated that the first indication may be transmitted as part of one of:

[0066] - Dedicated radio resource control (RRC) signaling

[0067] - A Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE)

[0068] - Layer 1 (L1) signaling (e.g., Uplink Control Information (UCI) on the (PUCCH))

[0069] In some examples, the method of Figure 2 further comprises transmitting to the network node an indication of a time pattern associated with the IDC interference. For example, the time pattern may comprise a TDM pattern. For example, the UE may experience the IDC interference associated with a particular beam or direction but the IDC interference may not be constant over time. For example, the IDC interference may be periodic (consider for example that the UE is attempting to use a second RAT periodically) and in this case the UE may send a time-pattern indication associated with the first indication indicating that the IDC interference is only problematic according to the indicated TDM pattern. The TDM pattern may comprise a DTX pattern or DRX pattern depending on whether the IDC interference is being experienced on transmissions or receptions.

[0070] It will be appreciated that to address IDC interference, the UE may provide TDM assistant information (e.g., a DTX configuration, a DRX configuration, or an indication of autonomous denial) to the network node asking assistance of the network node (e.g. along with the first indication). TDC assistance information may be also referred to as a time pattern, TDM pattern, TDM information, TDM configuration etc. The main purpose of such information is to indicate to the network node that the detected IDC interference can be addressed via a proper a TDM pattern instructing the UE to only be active (e.g. perform transmissions and / or receptions) on non-contiguous present occasions (i.e., there is time gap between two consecutive time occasions) to mitigate / avoid interference between the first RAT and the second RAT.

[0071] A TDM pattern may comprise at least one of the following:

[0072] • A cycle length, e.g. a cycle duration. A cycle contains an on-duration (i.e., active duration) and an off-duration (i.e., inactive duration).

[0073] • An Active duration, which indicates the UE's preferred active duration due to the IDC interference. o For each cycle, the inactive duration would equal to the cycle length minus the active duration;

[0074] • One or mode offset values. o In an example, an offset value is configured to determine when to start each cycle; o In an example, an offset value is configured to determine when to start an on-duration during each cycle.

[0075] The full parameters containing for a DRX / DTX configuration may comprise:

[0076] With a DTX configuration, the UE only transmits to the gNB on non-contiguous present occasions (which are detailed according the DTX configuration). With a DRX configuration, the UE only receives from the gNB on non-contiguous present occasions (which are detailed according the DRX configuration).

[0077] In embodiments described herein, this indication of the TDM pattern may be associated with the first indication. By including a TDM pattern along with the first indication, the UE may be indicating to the network node that the TDM pattern may be required only in the first spatial directions or on the first beams indicated in the first indication.

[0078] In some examples, the UE may transmit to the network node an indication of one or more frequency ranges or cell groups associated with the detected IDC interference. By including such an indication along with the first indication, the UE may be indicating to the network node that any assistance with the IDC interference may only be required in the one or more frequency ranges on in the one or more cell groups.

[0079] In some examples, the method of Figure 2 may then pass to step 203 in which the UE receives, from the network node, a second indication of one or more actions for the user equipment to perform to address the IDC interference.

[0080] In step 204 the UE may then perform the one or more actions (for example responsive to receiving the second indication).

[0081] The one or more actions may comprise utilising a discontinuous transmission, DTX, and / or discontinuous reception, DRX, configuration for subsequent transmissions and / or receptions. For example, the network node may enable or configure at the U E the DTX and / or DRX configuration. A DTX configuration may ensure that the UE only transmits to the network node on the active occasions determined according to the DTX configuration. A DRX configuration may ensure that the UE only receives from the network node on the active occasions determined according to the DRX configuration. The DTX and / or DRX configuration may be common to all transmission beams / directions. In other examples, the DTX and / or DRX configuration may be applicable to specific transmission or reception beams / directions. For example, the DTX and / or DRX configurations may be applicable only to the one or more first beams or one or more first spatial directions indicated by the UE in the first indication. In this way, the DTX and / or DRX configuration may be designed to address only the spatial dependency of the IDC interference detected by the UE.

[0082] In examples in which the UE has transmitted a time-pattern associated with the first indication, the network may address the IDC interference by controlling the UE such that the UE is not using the affected at least one first beam or at least one first spatial direction during periods when the UE would be affected by IDC interference.

[0083] In other words, the on and off durations of the DTX and / or DRX configuration may be designed by the network according to the time pattern transmitted by the UE.

[0084] The one or more actions may comprise performing autonomous denial of one or more transmission or reception occasions. For example, the network node may enable and / or configures the UE to perform autonomous denial during certain transmission or reception slots / occasions. For example, the UE may skip transmissions or receptions during certain transmission or reception slots / occasions. The timing of this autonomous denial may be designed based on the time pattern received from the UE.

[0085] In some examples, the slots and / or occasions to be autonomously denied may be common to all transmission beams / directions, for example, slot locations and / or the total number of slots to be denied may not rely on / or be limited to specific beams / directions. In other examples, the slots and / or occasions to be denied and the total number of slots / occasions to be denied may be different for different beams / directions. For example, the network may configure the UE to only perform autonomous denial on the one or more first beams or one or more first spatial directions that are affected by the IDC interference.

[0086] It will be appreciated that the UE may need to comply to certain rules when performing autonomous denial, for example, the UE may be required to not skip more communication on resources than dictated by a configuration provided by the network node. For example, the network node may indicate how large a portion of time the UE can autonomously refrain from using the resources, or how large a portion of the number of transmissions the UE can autonomously refrain from using the resources.

[0087] In some examples, the one or more actions comprises switching to one or more different beams or one or more different directions for future transmissions and / or receptions. In other words, the UE may be instructed to switch to a beam or direction one which it is not experiencing IDC interference. The beam / spatial direction to switch to may be specified by the network node, or it may be left to the UE to select an unaffected beam or spatial direction. In some examples, the one or more actions comprises switching to a different frequency region for subsequent transmissions and / or receptions. For example, the UE may switch to using different BWPs or carriers. The specific frequency region may be specified by the network node or it may be left to the UE to select a different frequency region. For example, in some cases IDC interference is only experienced in a particular beam / spatial direction within a particular frequency region. Therefore, the UE may switch to utilising a different frequency region but may continue using the same beam / spatial direction.

[0088] In some examples, the one or more actions comprises switching to a different cell for subsequent transmissions and / or receptions. For example, the network node may instruct the UE to change to a different cell (e.g. by performing a handover procedure or a cell selection or reselection procedure)

[0089] It will be appreciated that any combination of the above one or more actions may be performed.

[0090] In some examples, the method of Figure 2 then comprises, after step 204, transmitting in step 205 an indication to the network node of whether the performance of the one or more actions has addressed the IDC interference successfully. In other words, after the UE has applied the one or more actions indicated by the network node, the UE may further provide a report / signaling to the gNB indicating whether the previous IDC issues have been addressed successfully.

[0091] In some examples, the method of Figure 2 may be preceded at the UE by the method of Figure 3.

[0092] Figure 3 illustrates a method, performed by a UE, for enabling use of an IDC configuration at the UE. The method of Figure 3 may be performed by a UE or wireless device (e.g. the UE 712 or UE 800 as described later with reference to Figures 7 and 8 respectively).

[0093] Step 301 comprises the UE receiving an indication of IDC configuration from the network node for use in detecting IDC interference, wherein the IDC configuration comprises spatial information indicating one or more second beams or one or more second spatial directions on or in which the user equipment is to attempt to detect IDC interference.

[0094] In some examples the IDC configuration further comprises a TDM or an FDM configuration for use by the UE.

[0095] The spatial information may comprise an identification of the one or more second beams or the one or more second spatial directions. This spatial information may therefore indicate to the UE that it should attempt to detect IDC interference on the one or more second beams or in the one or more second spatial directions. It will be appreciated that the one or more second beams or the one or more second spatial directions may be for UE receptions, UE transmissions or for both UE transmissions and receptions. The identification of the one or more second beams or the one or more spatial directions may comprise indices of the second beams / second spatial directions, e.g., Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state ID / index.

[0096] The spatial information may comprise an indication of one or more reference signals which are associated with the one or more second beams or the one or more second spatial directions. For example, the spatial information may comprise indices of one or more reference signals which have spatial relations (or are Quasi co-located (QCL)) to the one or more second beams or one or more second spatial directions for UE transmissions and / or receptions. This spatial information may therefore indicate to the US to attempt to detect IDC interference in on the one or more second beams or in the one or more second spatial directions associated with the one or more reference signals.

[0097] In some examples, the spatial information may comprise an indication of one or more types of transmissions or receptions which are associated with the one or more second beams or the one or more second spatial directions. For example, specific directions and / or beams may be associated with specific types of transmissions or receptions. A type of transmission or reception may for example comprise data transmissions or receptions (e.g. receptions on the Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) or transmissions on the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)), or control signaling transmissions or receptions (for example, transmissions on the Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), Transmissions or receptions on the Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), Sounding Reference Signals SRS or receptions on the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) etc).

[0098] The network node may provide the UE with one or more IDC configurations.

[0099] The indication of the IDC configuration received in step 301 may be comprised within dedicated Raadio Resource Control (RRC) signalling. In some examples, the indication of the IDC configuration may be received in a MAC CE. In this example, the UE may be (pre)configured with a list of IDC configurations, and the network node may use the MAC CE to indicate to the UE which IDC configurations shall be applied by the UE.

[0100] In some examples, the indication of the IDC configuration may be comprised within L1 signalling (e.g., Downlink Control Information (DCI) on the PDCCH). In this example, the UE may be (pre)configured with a plurality of IDC configurations, and the network node may then use L1 signalling to indicate to the UE which one or more IDC configurations should be used by the UE. In step 302 the method may further comprise detecting the IDC interference according to the IDC configuration. In other words, step 302 may comprise the UE only detecting IDC interference on any of the one or more second beams or one or more second spatial directions. In these examples therefore it will be appreciated that the one or more first beams or one or more first spatial directions referred to in the description of Figure 2 may encompassed by the one or more second beams or one or more second spatial directions.

[0101] It will be appreciated that, when the UE is configured with an IDC configuration as described with reference to Figure 3, the UE may not go on to detect IDC interference on all or even any of the one or more second beams or the one or more second spatial directions.

[0102] In some examples (e.g. when the UE does not detect any IDC interference on the one or more second beams or the one or more second spatial directions), the network node may update the IDC configuration at the UE. For example, the method of Figure 3 may further comprise receiving an updated IDC configuration. In some examples, the UE may request that the IDC configuration is updated. An updated IDC configuration may be required, for example, if the UE’s channel conditions have changed or different need / purpose for IDC is found / observed for the UE after the initial IDC configuration, which would motivate the UE to detect IDC issues at new beams / directions. The IDC configuration update in the network node may be triggered, for example, based on the UE’s measurement report on DL RSs (e.g., SS / PBCH blocks or CSI-RS).

[0103] In some examples, the method of Figure 3 may further comprise updating the IDC configuration. For example, the UE may update its own IDC configuration, for example in response to certain operations or procedures executed by the network node which may change the beams / directions for UE transmissions / receptions, e.g. TCI state switch, UL spatial relation switch etc. Subsequently, the beams / directions at which the UE should attempt to detect IDC interference may be adaptively updated by the UE.

[0104] In some examples, the network node may provide the UE with an updated IDC configuration periodically or upon reception of a request message from the UE indicating that the UE prefers the spatial information for IDC configuration to be updated, for example, since the UE has detected that its transmission or reception beams / directions have changed based on its own measurement results on Downlink (DL) Reference Signals (RSs) (e.g., Synchronisation Signal (SS) / Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) blocks or Channel State Information Reference Signals (CSI-RS)).

[0105] In some examples, the network node may provide one or more IDC configurations containing a plurality of different spatial information that are associated with different frequency regions or with different cell groups. Figure 4 illustrates a method performed by a network node associated with a first radio access technology, RAT, wherein the network node is in communication with a UE that is capable of operating utilizing at least the first RAT and a second RAT. The method of Figure 4 may be performed by a network node (e.g. the network node 710 or network node 900 as described later with reference to Figures 7 and 9 respectively).

[0106] In step 401 the method comprises receiving, from the UE, a first indication of a spatial dependency of indevice co-existence, IDC, interference between the first RAT and the second RAT detected by the UE. Step 401 may be considered to correspond to step 202 of Figure 2 and the discussion with reference to step 202 is equally applicable to step 401 . The first indication may be as described with reference to step 202 above. As described with reference to Figure 2, the spatial dependency may comprise an association of the IDC interference with one or more first beams or one or more first spatial directions.

[0107] In step 402 the method comprises transmitting, to the UE, a second indication of one or more actions for the user equipment to perform to address the IDC interference. Step 402 may be considered to correspond to step 203 of Figure 2 and the discussion with reference to step 203 is equally applicable to step 402. The one or more actions may comprise any of the one or more actions as described above. As previously mentioned, the one or more actions may be applicable to the one or more first beams or one or more first spatial directions indicating in the first indication, or may be common to all beams and / or directions. The one or more actions may also be designed to correspond to a time pattern indicated by the UE associated with the IDC interference.

[0108] In step 403 the method may further comprise receiving an indication, from the UE, of whether the performance of the one or more actions has addressed the IDC interference successfully. Step 403 may be considered to correspond to step 205 of Figure 2 and the discussion with reference to step 205 is equally applicable to step 403. If the IDC interference has not been successfully addressed by the one or more actions, the network node may suggest one or more further actions for the UE to perform.

[0109] The method of Figure 4 at the network node may be preceded by the method of Figure 5.

[0110] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method, performed by a network node, for configuration the UE with an IDC configuration. The method of Figure 5 may be performed by a network node (e.g. the network node 710 or network node 900 as described later with reference to Figures 7 and 9 respectively).

[0111] In step 501 the method comprises transmitting an IDC configuration, to the UE, for use in detecting IDC interference, wherein the IDC configuration comprises spatial information indicating one or more second beams or one or more second spatial directions on or in which the UE is to attempt to detect IDC interference. Step 501 may be considered to correspond to step 301 of Figure 3 as described above and the discussion with reference to step 301 is equally applicable to step 501. The spatial information may be defined as described above with reference to Figure 3.

[0112] Figure 6 is a signalling diagram illustrating an example implementation of the methods of Figures 2 to 5.

[0113] In step 601 the network node transmits an indication of an IDC configuration to the UE. Step 601 comprises an example implementation of steps 301 and 501 .

[0114] In step 602, the UE detects IDC interference on one or more first beams. The detection of this IDC interference is performed according to the IDC configuration indicated in step 601. Step 602 comprises an example implementation of step 201 of Figure 2.

[0115] In step 603, the UE transmits a first indication of the one or more first beams to the network node. Step 603 comprises an example implementation of step 202 of Figure 2 and step 401 of Figure 4.

[0116] In step 604 the network node determines one or more actions that the UE could perform to help alleviate the detected IDC interference. As described above the one or more action may be specific to the one or more first beams, or may be applicable to all beams.

[0117] In step 605 the network node transmits an indication of the one or more actions to the UE. Step 605 comprises an example implementation of step 203 of Figure 2 and step 402 of Figure 4.

[0118] In step 606 the UE performs the one or more actions. Step 606 comprises an example implementation of step 204 of Figure 2.

[0119] In step 607 the UE then indicates to the network node whether performance of the one or more actions was successful in alleviating the detected IDC interference. Step 607 comprises an example implementation of step 205 of Figure 2 and step 403 of Figure 4.

[0120] Figure 7 shows an example of a communication system 700 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0121] In the example, the communication system 700 includes a telecommunication network 702 that includes an access network 704, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 706, which includes one or more core network nodes 708. The access network 704 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 710a and 71 Ob (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 710), or any other similar 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network 702 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 702 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network 702, including one or more network nodes 710 and / or core network nodes 708.

[0122] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU- UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1 , F1, W1, E1 , E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes 710 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 712a, 712b, 712c, and 712d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 712) to the core network 706 over one or more wireless connections.

[0123] 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 700 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 700 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0124] The UEs 712 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 710 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 710 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 712 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 702 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 702.

[0125] In the depicted example, the core network 706 connects the network nodes 710 to one or more hosts, such as host 716. 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 706 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 708) 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 708. 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).

[0126] The host 716 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 704 and / or the telecommunication network 702, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 716 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more services. Examples of such applications include the provision of live and / or pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services, for example, 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.

[0127] As a whole, the communication system 700 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.

[0128] In some examples, the telecommunication network 702 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 702 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 702. For example, the telecommunications network 702 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.

[0129] In some examples, the UEs 712 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 704 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 704. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multistandard 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).

[0130] In the example illustrated in Figure 7, the hub 714 communicates with the access network 704 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 712c and / or 712d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 710b). In some examples, the hub 714 may be a controller, router, a content source and analytics node, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 714 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 706 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 714 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 710, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 714. As another example, the hub 714 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 714 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 714 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 714 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 714 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0131] The hub 714 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 710b. The hub 714 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 714 and UEs (e.g., UE 712c and / or 712d), and between the hub 714 and the core network 706. In other examples, the hub 714 is connected to the core network 706 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 714 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 704 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 710 while still connected via the hub 714 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 714 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 710b. In other embodiments, the hub 714 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 710b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0132] Figure 8 shows a UE 800 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 camera, 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, 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-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0133] 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). The UE 800 includes processing circuitry 802 that is operatively coupled via a bus 804 to an input / output interface 806, a power source 808, a memory 810, a communication interface 812, 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.

[0134] The processing circuitry 802 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 810. The processing circuitry 802 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 802 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs). The processing circuitry 802 may be operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other UE 800 components, such as the memory 810, UE 800 functionality. For example, the processing circuitry 802 may be configured to cause the UE 802 to perform the methods as described with reference to Figures 2 and 3.

[0135] In the example, the input / output interface 806 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 800. 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.

[0136] In some embodiments, the power source 808 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 808 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 808 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 800 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 808. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 808 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 800 to which power is supplied.

[0137] The memory 810 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), readonly 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 810 includes one or more application programs 814, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 816. The memory 810 may store, for use by the UE 800, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0138] The memory 810 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 (eUlCC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as 'SIM card.’ The memory 810 may allow the UE 800 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 810, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0139] The processing circuitry 802 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 812. The communication interface 812 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 822. The communication interface 812 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 818 and / or a receiver 820 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 818 and receiver 820 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 822) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0140] In some embodiments, communication functions of the communication interface 812 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 / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0141] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 812, 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).

[0142] 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 controls a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0143] 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 devices which are or which are 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 on the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 800 shown in Figure 8.

[0144] 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-loT 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.

[0145] 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.

[0146] Figure 9 shows a network node 900 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 NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0147] 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, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) 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).

[0148] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multistandard 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).

[0149] The network node 900 includes processing circuitry 902, a memory 904, a communication interface 906, and a power source 908, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. The network node 900 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 900 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 900 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 904 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 910 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 900 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 900, 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 900.

[0150] The processing circuitry 902 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 900 components, such as the memory 904, network node 900 functionality. For example, the processing circuitry 902 may be configured to cause the network node to perform the methods as described with reference to Figures 4 and 5. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 902 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 902 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 912 and baseband processing circuitry 914. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 912 and the baseband processing circuitry 914 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 912 and baseband processing circuitry 914 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0151] The memory 904 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 902. The memory 904 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 902 and utilized by the network node 900. The memory 904 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 902 and / or any data received via the communication interface 906. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 902 and memory 904 is integrated.

[0152] The communication interface 906 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 906 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 916 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 906 also includes radio front-end circuitry 918 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 910. Radio front-end circuitry 918 comprises filters 920 and amplifiers 922. The radio front-end circuitry 918 may be connected to an antenna 910 and processing circuitry 902. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 910 and processing circuitry 902. The radio front-end circuitry 918 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 918 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 920 and / or amplifiers 922. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 910. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 910 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 918. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 902. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components. In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 900 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 918, instead, the processing circuitry 902 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 910. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 912 is part of the communication interface 906. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 906 includes one or more ports or terminals 916, the radio front-end circuitry 918, and the RF transceiver circuitry 912, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 906 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 914, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0153] The antenna 910 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 910 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 918 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 910 is separate from the network node 900 and connectable to the network node 900 through an interface or port.

[0154] The antenna 910, communication interface 906, and / or the processing circuitry 902 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 910, the communication interface 906, and / or the processing circuitry 902 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.

[0155] The power source 908 provides power to the various components of network node 900 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 908 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 900 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 900 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 908. As a further example, the power source 908 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.

[0156] Embodiments of the network node 900 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 900 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 900 and to allow output of information from the network node 900. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 900.

[0157] Figure 10 is a block diagram of a host 1000, which may be an embodiment of the host 716 of Figure 7, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 1000 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 1000 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0158] The host 1000 includes processing circuitry 1002 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1004 to an input / output interface 1006, a network interface 1008, a power source 1010, and a memory 1012. 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 8 and 9, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 1000.

[0159] The memory 1012 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 1014 and data 1016, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host 1000 or data generated by the host 1000 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 1000 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 1014 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (WC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAG, 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 1014 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 1000 may select and / or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs 1014 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.

[0160] Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1100 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. 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 1100 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. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 1100 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface.

[0161] Applications 1102 (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.

[0162] Hardware 1104 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 1106 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1108a and 1108b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1108), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1106 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1108.

[0163] The VMs 1108 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1106. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1102 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1108, 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.

[0164] In the context of NFV, a VM 1108 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 1108, and that part of hardware 1104 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 1108 on top of the hardware 1104 and corresponds to the application 1102. Hardware 1104 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1104 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1104 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 1110, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1102. In some embodiments, hardware 1104 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 1112 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0165] Figure 12 shows a communication diagram of a host 1202 communicating via a network node 1204 with a UE 1206 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE 712a of Figure 7 and / or UE 800 of Figure 8), network node (such as network node 710a of Figure 7 and / or network node 900 of Figure 9), and host (such as host 716 of Figure 7 and / or host 1000 of Figure 10) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 12.

[0166] Like host 1000, embodiments of host 1202 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 1202 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host 1202 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 1206 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 1250 extending between the UE 1206 and host 1202. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 1250.

[0167] The network node 1204 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 1202 and UE 1206. The connection 1260 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network 706 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.

[0168] The UE 1206 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1206 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 1206 with the support of the host 1202. In the host 1202, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 1250 terminating at the UE 1206 and host 1202. 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 1250 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 1250.

[0169] The OTT connection 1250 may extend via a connection 1260 between the host 1202 and the network node 1204 and via a wireless connection 1270 between the network node 1204 and the UE 1206 to provide the connection between the host 1202 and the UE 1206. The connection 1260 and wireless connection 1270, over which the OTT connection 1250 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 1202 and the UE 1206 via the network node 1204, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0170] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 1250, in step 1208, the host 1202 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 1206. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 1206 that shares data with the host 1202 without explicit human interaction. In step 1210, the host 1202 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 1206. The host 1202 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 1206. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 1206 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 1206. The transmission may pass via the network node 1204, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 1212, the network node 1204 transmits to the UE 1206 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 1202 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1214, the UE 1206 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 1206 associated with the host application executed by the host 1202.

[0171] In some examples, the UE 1206 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 1202. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 1202. Accordingly, in step 1216, the UE 1206 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 1206. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 1206 initiates, in step 1218, transmission of the user data towards the host 1202 via the network node 1204. In step 1220, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 1204 receives user data from the UE 1206 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 1202. In step 1222, the host 1202 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 1206. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1206 using the OTT connection 1250, in which the wireless connection 1270 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the interference experienced by the UE and thereby provide benefits such as improved content resolution.

[0172] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 1202. As another example, the host 1202 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 1202 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 1202 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 1202 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 1202 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.

[0173] 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 1250 between the host 1202 and UE 1206, 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 1202 and / or UE 1206. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 1250 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 1250 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 1204. 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 1202. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 1250 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0174] 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.

[0175] 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.

[0176] It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. The word “comprising” does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in a claim, “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality, and a single processor or other unit may fulfil the functions of several units recited in the claims. Any reference signs in the claims shall not be construed so as to limit their scope.

Claims

CLAIMS1 . A method, performed by a user equipment, UE, wherein the UE is capable of operating utilizing at least a first radio access technology, RAT, and a second RAT, the method comprising: responsive to detecting (201) in-device co-existence, IDC, interference between the first RAT and the second RAT, wherein the IDC interference has a spatial dependency, transmitting (202) to a network node of the first RAT a first indication of the spatial dependency of the IDC interference.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the spatial dependency comprises an association of the IDC interference with one or more first beams or one or more first spatial directions.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1 or 2, further comprising: receiving (203), from the network node, a second indication of one or more actions for the user equipment to perform to address the IDC interference.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3 wherein the one or more actions comprise one of more of: utilising a discontinuous transmission, DTX, and / or discontinuous reception, DRX, configuration for subsequent transmissions and / or receptions; performing autonomous denial of one or more transmission or reception occasions; switching to one or more different beams or one or more different directions for future transmissions and / or receptions; switching to a different frequency region for subsequent transmissions and / or receptions; and switching to a different cell for subsequent transmissions and / or receptions.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4 wherein the one or more actions are associated with the one or more first beams or one or more first directions, and wherein the one or more actions comprise one or more of: utilising a DTX and / or DRX configuration; and performing autonomous denial of one or more transmission or reception occasions.

6. The method as claimed in any one of claims 3 to 5 further comprising:performing (204) the one or more actions; and transmitting (205) an indication to the network node of whether the performance of the one or more actions has addressed the IDC interference successfully.

7. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first indication of the spatial dependency comprises one or more of: an identification of the one or more first beams or the one or more first spatial directions; an identification of one or more reference signals, wherein the one or more reference signals are associated with the one or more first beams or one or more first spatial directions; and an identification of one or more types of transmissions or receptions wherein the one or more types of transmissions or receptions are associated with the one or more first beams or one or more first spatial directions.

8. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, further comprising: transmitting to the network node an indication of a time pattern associated with the IDC interference.

9. The method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising: receiving (301) an indication of an IDC configuration from the network node for use in detecting IDC interference, wherein the IDC configuration comprises spatial information indicating one or more second beams or one or more second spatial directions on or in which the user equipment is to attempt to detect IDC interference; and detecting (302) the IDC interference according to the IDC configuration.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9 wherein the spatial information comprises one or more of: an identification of the one or more second beams or the one or more second spatial directions; an indication of one or more reference signals which are associated with the one or more second beams or the one or more second spatial directions; an indication of one or more types of transmissions or receptions which are associated with the one or more second beams or the one or more second spatial directions.

11. A method, performed by a network node associated with a first radio access technology, RAT, wherein the network node is in communication with a UE that is capable of operating utilizing at least the first RAT and a second RAT, the method comprising:receiving (401), from the UE, a first indication of a spatial dependency of in-device coexistence, IDC, interference between the first RAT and the second RAT detected by the UE.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11 wherein the spatial dependency comprises an association of the IDC interference with one or more first beams or one or more first spatial directions.

13. The method as claimed in claim 11 or 12, further comprising: transmitting (402), to the UE, a second indication of one or more actions for the UE to perform to address the IDC interference.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, further comprising: receiving (403) an indication, from the UE, of whether the performance of the one or more actions has addressed the IDC interference successfully.

15. The method as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 14, wherein the first indication of the spatial dependency comprises one or more of: an identification of the one or more first beams or the one or more first spatial directions; an identification of one or more reference signals, wherein the one or more reference signals are associated with the one or more first beams or one or more first spatial directions; and an identification of one or more types of transmissions or receptions wherein the one or more types of transmissions or receptions are associated with the one or more first beams or one or more first spatial directions.

16. The method as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 15, further comprising: receiving from the UE an indication of a time pattern associated with the IDC interference.

17. The method as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 16, further comprising: transmitting (501) an IDC configuration, to the UE, for use in detecting IDC interference, wherein the IDC configuration comprises spatial information indicating one or more second beams or one or more second spatial directions on or in which the UE is to attempt to detect IDC interference.

18. The method as claimed in claim 17 wherein the spatial information comprises one or more of: an identification of the one or more second beams or the one or more second spatial directions; an indication of one or more reference signals which are associated with the one or more second beams or the one or more second spatial directions; andan indication of one or more types of transmissions or receptions which are associated with the one or more second beams or the one or more second spatial directions.

19. The method as claimed in claim 17 or 18, further comprising: transmitting an updated IDC configuration to the UE.

20. A user equipment, UE, (800) wherein the UE is capable of operating utilizing at least a first radio access technology, RAT, and a second RAT, the UE comprising processing circuitry (802) and a memory (810), the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the UE is operable to: responsive to detecting (201) in-device co-existence, IDC, interference between the first RAT and the second RAT, wherein the IDC interference has a spatial dependency, transmit (202) to a network node of the first RAT a first indication of the spatial dependency of the IDC interference.

21. The UE as claimed in claim 20 wherein the memory further contains instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the UE is operable to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 13.

22. A network node (900) associated with a first radio access technology, RAT, wherein the network node is capable of communicating with a UE capable of operating utilizing at least the first RAT and a second RAT, the network node comprising processing circuitry (902) and a memory (904), the memory containing instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the network node is operable to: receive (401), from the UE, a first indication of a spatial dependency of in-device coexistence, IDC, interference between the first RAT and the second RAT detected by the UE.

23. The network node as claimed in claim 22 wherein the memory further contains instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the network node is operable to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 12 to 19.

24. A user equipment, UE, (800) wherein the UE is capable of operating utilizing at least a first radio access technology, RAT, and a second RAT, wherein the UE is adapted to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10.

25. A network node (900) associated with a first radio access technology, RAT, wherein the network node is capable of communicating with a UE capable of operating utilizing at least the first RAT and a second RAT, wherein the network node is adapted to perform the method as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 19.

26. A computer program, comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method according to any of claims 1 to 19.

27. A computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform the method according to any of claims 1 to 19.

28. A computer program product comprising non transitory computer readable media having stored thereon a computer program according to claim 26.

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