User equipment, radio network node and methods therein for energy dependent measurement procedures

Abstract

Embodiments herein relate to a method performed by a UE (10) for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The UE (10) handles one or more measurement procedures taking an energy level of an energy storage of the UE (10) into account.

Description

[0001] USER EQUIPMENT, RADIO NETWORK NODE AND METHODS PERFORMED

[0002] THEREIN

[0003] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0004] Embodiments herein relate to a user equipment (UE), a radio network node, and methods performed therein for communication. Furthermore, a computer program and a computer readable storage medium are also provided herein. In particular, embodiments herein relate to performing measurements in a wireless communications network. The project leading to this application has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 101095759.

[0005] BACKGROUND

[0006] In a typical wireless communications network, UEs, also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and / or wireless devices, communicate via for example a Radio Access Network (RAN) with one or more core networks (CN). The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cell areas, with each service area or cell area being served by radio network node such as an access node e.g. a Wi-Fi access point or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be called, for example, a NodeB, a gNodeB, or an eNodeB. The service area or cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node operates on radio frequencies to communicate over an air interface with the UEs within range of the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over a downlink (DL) to the UE and the UE communicates over an uplink (UL) to the radio network node.

[0007] A Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third-generation telecommunications network, which evolved from the second generation (2G) Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) is essentially a RAN using wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and / or High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for communication with user equipment. In a forum known as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), telecommunications suppliers propose and agree upon standards for present and future generation networks and UTRAN specifically and investigate enhanced data rate and radio capacity. In some RANs, e.g. as in UMTS, several radio network nodes may be connected, e.g., by landlines or microwave, to a controller node, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), which supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural radio network nodes connected thereto. The RNCs are typically connected to one or more core networks.

[0008] Specifications for the Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3GPP and this work continues in the coming 3GPP releases, such as 5G, for example New Radio (NR), and beyond networks. The EPS comprises the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also known as the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network, and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), also known as System Architecture Evolution (SAE) core network. E-UTRAN / LTE is a 3GPP radio access technology wherein the radio network nodes are directly connected to the EPC core network. As such, the Radio Access Network (RAN) of an EPS has an architecture comprising radio network nodes connected directly to one or more core networks.

[0009] With the 5G technologies such as NR, focus is on a set of features such as the use of very many transmit- and receive-antenna elements that makes it possible to utilize beamforming, such as transmit-side and receive-side beamforming. Transmit-side beamforming means that the transmitter can amplify the transmitted signals in a selected direction or directions, while suppressing the transmitted signals in other directions. Similarly, on the receive-side, a receiver can amplify signals from a selected direction or directions, while suppressing unwanted signals from other directions.

[0010] Zero-Energy Internet of things (loT) & Ambient-loT devices.

[0011] Wireless loT devices are often battery powered and both the need to change battery and the battery lifetime may be concerns for many potential applications, such as asset tracking or environmental / industrial sensors. For this reason, the wireless communications industry has been interested in so-called zero-energy (ZE) devices. ZE devices refer to wireless loT devices that do not require battery replacement and often harvest energy from the environment. In some use cases, such as monitoring the temperature of foodstuffs, the ZE devices may have small batteries that are disposable, e.g., organic, compostable batteries, rechargeable or have very limited capacity.

[0012] These ZE-loT devices can in addition be of a very small form factor and could even be printable and they target ultra-low power consumption to enable operation based on either energy-harvesting from an ambient source or a back-scattering communication, such as radio frequency identification (RFID). That is, instead of relying on energy for communication being provided by a battery it is instead harvested from an ambient source, such as from vibrations, solar power, radio frequency (RF), etc., or from a charge carrier wave that is provided to the device which is modulated and reflected back to a reader in the back-scattering communication case. This enables energy autonomous operation during the lifetime of the devices without a need for either manual replacement or charging of the batteries. Compared to existing radio access technologies this puts new requirements on the radio interface and the protocols.

[0013] Recently work on this has been performed in 3GPP, referred to as ‘Ambient-loT’. Ambient loT devices are characterized in the study according to their energy storage capacity, and capability of generating RF signals for their transmissions. Relying on these storage capacities, the study considers the following set of Ambient loT devices:

[0014] Device A: No energy storage, no independent signal generation / amplification, i.e. backscattering transmission.

[0015] Device B: Has energy storage, no independent signal generation, i.e. backscattering transmission. Use of stored energy can include amplification for reflected signals.

[0016] Device C: Has energy storage, has independent signal generation, i.e., active RF components for transmission.

[0017] A limited energy storage can be different among implementations within Device B or implementations within Device C, and different between Device B and Device C. Such storage is expected to be order(s) of magnitude smaller than a narrow band (NB)-loT device would typically include.

[0018] An Ambient loT device may harvest energy from different energy sources, such as RF, solar / light, piezoelectric such as kinetic / vibration, electromagnetic, electrostatic, heat / thermal, thermoelectric, magnetic, wind / water, acoustic, etc.

[0019] Functional and protocol simplifications for Ambient and / or ZE loT.

[0020] For Ambient loT (A-loT), 3GPP will target an loT segment well below the existing consumer loT (CloT) technologies rather than replacement of existing 3GPP low power wide area (LPWA) technologies. It is expected that together with simplifications in physical layer design, denoted as layer one (L1), the higher layer, such as layer 2 (L2) and / or layer 3 (L3), design will also be much more lightweighted than the existing higher layer design in 3GPP, i.e., a minimal set of functionalities, both at access stratum and non-access stratum (NAS) levels, which is even more simplified compared to that adopted for the existing CloT technologies, should be used to operate A-loT devices. One way of such simplifications is to design a communication protocol shifted from fully-connection oriented with both NAS and Radio Resource Control (RRC) connections between device and network to connectionless type of communication without RRC connections or even also no NAS connections between device and network so that the protocol and signaling overhead associated with the handshaking between device and network is minimized. This means A-loT devices that do not setup and maintain an RRC connection with the network.

[0021] In legacy, if a UE is not able to complete a procedure, for example running out of battery during a cell selection procedure, the UE starts from scratch when accessing network again. This can happen, for example, in case the UE is powered off, or the UE moves to another area that requires the cell selection again.

[0022] Legacy Cell Selection and Reselection:

[0023] The procedure for IDLE mode mobility is defined in TS 38.300 as below:

[0024] 9.2.1 Mobility in RRC IDLE

[0025] 9.2.1.1 Cell Selection

[0026] The principles of Public Land Mobile Number (PLMN) selection in NR are based on the 3 GPP PLMN selection principles. Cell selection is required on transition from RM-DEREGISTERED to RM- REGISTERED, from CM-IDLE to CM-CONNECTED and from CM-CONNECTED to CM-IDLE and is based on the following principles:

[0027] - The UE NAS layer identifies a selected PLMN and equivalent PLMNs;

[0028] - Cell selection is always based on CD-SSBs located on the synchronization raster (see clause 5.2.4):

[0029] - The UE searches the NR frequency bands and for each carrier frequency identifies the strongest cell as per the CD-SSB. It then reads cell system information broadcast to identify its PLMN(s):

[0030] - The UE may search each carrier in turn ("initial cell selection") or make use of stored information to shorten the search ("stored information cell selection").

[0031] - The UE seeks to identify a suitable cell; if it is not able to identify a suitable cell it seeks to identify an acceptable cell. When a suitable cell is found or if only an acceptable cell is found it camps on that cell and commence the cell reselection procedure:

[0032] - A suitable cell is one for which the measured cell attributes satisfy the cell selection criteria; the cell PLMN is the selected PLMN, registered or an equivalent PLMN; the cell is not barred or reserved and the cell is not part of a tracking area which is in the list of "forbidden tracking areas for roaming";

[0033] - An acceptable cell is one for which the measured cell attributes satisfy the cell selection criteria and the cell is not barred.

[0034] - The IAB-MT applies the cell selection procedure as described for the UE with the following differences:

[0035] - The IAB-MT ignores cell-barring or cell-reservation indications contained in cell system information broadcast;

[0036] - The IAB-MT only considers a cell as a candidate for cell selection if the cell system information broadcast indicates IAB support for the selected PLMN or the selected SNPN.

[0037] Transition to RRC IDLE: On transition from RRC CONNECTED or RRC INACTIVE to RRC IDLE, a UE should camp on a cell as result of cell selection according to the frequency be assigned by RRC in the state transition message if any.

[0038] Recovery from out of coverage:

[0039] The UE should attempt to find a suitable cell in the manner described for stored information or initial cell selection above. If no suitable cell is found on any frequency or RAT, the UE should attempt to find an acceptable cell.

[0040] In multi-beam operations, the cell quality is derived amongst the beams corresponding to the same cell (see clause 9.2.4).

[0041] 9.2.1.2 Cell Reselection

[0042] A UE in RRC IDLE performs cell reselection. The principles of the procedure are the following:

[0043] - Cell reselection is always based on CD-SSBs located on the synchronization raster (see clause 5.2.4).

[0044] - The UE makes measurements of attributes of the serving and neighbour cells to enable the reselection process:

[0045] - For the search and measurement of inter-frequency neighbouring cells, only the carrier frequencies need to be indicated.

[0046] - Cell reselection identifies the cell that the UE should camp on. It is based on cell reselection criteria which involves measurements of the serving and neighbour cells:

[0047] - Intra-frequency reselection is based on ranking of cells;

[0048] - Inter-frequency reselection is based on absolute priorities where a UE tries to camp on the highest priority frequency available;

[0049] - A Neighbour Cell List (NCL) can be provided by the serving cell to handle specific cases for intra- and inter-frequency neighbouring cells;

[0050] - Exclude-lists can be provided to prevent the UE from reselecting to specific intra- and interfrequency neighbouring cells;

[0051] - Allow-lists can be provided to request the UE to reselect to only specific intra- and inter-frequency neighbouring cells;

[0052] - Cell reselection can be speed dependent;

[0053] - Service specific prioritisation;

[0054] - Slice-based cell reselection information can be provided to facilitate the UE to reselect a cell that supports specific slices.

[0055] In multi-beam operations, the cell quality is derived amongst the beams corresponding to the same cell (see clause 9.2.4).

[0056] SUMMARY

[0057] As part of developing embodiments herein one or more problems were first identified. A UE, such as an A-loT device, cannot perform cell selection or reselection before sufficient energy is harvested or in case there is not sufficient energy available to complete a procedure with multiple steps i.e., measurements, thresholding, decoding. An example of the initial cell selection is below, which involves the following steps:

[0058] 1. The UE tunes to every channel that it supports and measures Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), and creates a list of each channel number with the measured RSSI.

[0059] 2. Then the UE filters all the channels which show an RSSI value greater than a threshold, which threshold is set by UE and / or chipset implementation.

[0060] 3. The UE decodes a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) and / or a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS) and measures the power and detect physical cell identity (ID) from each candidate from step 2. The UE makes the list of all the successfully decoded channels, measurements and achieves time synchronization.

[0061] 4. From the list with successful result from step 3, the UE decodes Master Information Blocks (MIB) for every candidate.

[0062] 5. From the list with successful result from step 4, the UE decode System Information Block one (SIB1) and checks the public land mobile network (PLMN) identity.

[0063] 6. The UE then finds a suitable cell that fulfills one or more cell selection criteria.

[0064] Fig. 1 shows a UE behavior for Cell Selection. And in case of UEs, such as A-loT devices, which may be unable to complete the measurements due to energy unavailability, a UE will start from scratch and thus may get stuck in a loop without completing the procedure. This may lead to the following issues:

[0065] • The device is unable to complete measurements for cell selection

[0066] • The device is unable to complete measurements for cell reselection

[0067] • In addition, this results in the waste of the device’s energy

[0068] The object of embodiments herein is to overcome one or more of the issues and provide a mechanism handling UEs in an energy efficient manner.

[0069] According to an aspect of embodiments herein the object is achieved by providing a method performed by a UE for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The UE takes an energy level of an energy storage of the UE into account when handling a measurement procedure. As an example, the UE may initiate a measurement procedure of a received signal, and with the proviso that the energy level of the energy storage of the UE drops below a threshold, the UE may store data of the initiated measurement procedure. The UE may then harvest energy and continue with the initiated measurement procedure once the energy level of the energy storage reaches a second threshold. Alternatively, or additionally, the UE may determine the energy level of the energy storage of the UE and with the proviso that the determined energy level exceeds a third threshold, the UE initiates the measurement procedure. The third threshold may be configured to enable the UE to complete the measurement procedure using the determined energy level.

[0070] According to another aspect of embodiments herein the object is achieved by providing a method performed by a radio network node for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The radio network node transmits a configuration to a UE for handling one or more measurement procedures taking an energy level of an energy storage of the UE into account.

[0071] According to another aspect of embodiments herein the object is achieved by providing a UE and a radio network node configured to perform the methods herein, respectively.

[0072] Thus, according to an aspect the object is achieved by providing a UE for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The UE is configured to handle one or more measurement procedures taking an energy level of an energy storage of the UE into account.

[0073] According to another aspect of embodiments herein the object is achieved by providing a radio network node for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The radio network node is configured to transmit a configuration to a UE for handling one or more measurement procedures taking an energy level of an energy storage of the UE into account.

[0074] It is furthermore provided herein a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the methods herein, as performed by the UE and the radio network node, respectively. It is additionally provided herein a computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the methods herein, as performed by the UE and the radio network node, respectively.

[0075] Thus, embodiments enable that the UE does not initiate the measurement procedure, and / or may store data such as partial measurements which cannot be completed at once due to energy unavailability and thus, taking the energy level of the energy storage of the UE into account. The proposed solutions enable UEs to suspend and / or pause measurements when energy level is not enough or falls below a threshold such as a configurable or pre-determined minimum level. The UE may then initiate, resume, or continue the suspended or paused measurement procedure later when the UE has sufficient energy again, i.e., reaches the second threshold. Hence, embodiments enable UEs to operate in an energy efficient manner.

[0076] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0077] Embodiments will now be described in more detail in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which:

[0078] Fig. 1 illustrates a UE behavior for Cell Selection according to prior art;

[0079] Fig. 2 is a schematic overview depicting a wireless communication network according to embodiments herein;

[0080] Fig. 3a shows a combined flowchart and signalling scheme according to some embodiments herein;

[0081] Fig. 3b shows a combined flowchart and signalling scheme according to some embodiments herein;

[0082] Fig. 4a is a schematic flowchart depicting a method performed by a UE according to embodiments herein;

[0083] Fig. 4b is a schematic flowchart depicting a method performed by a radio network node according to some embodiments herein;

[0084] Fig. 5 is a schematic overview depicting measurements for cell selection and reselection according to some embodiments herein;

[0085] Fig. 6 is a schematic overview depicting measurement occasions for A-loT UE;

[0086] Fig. 7 is a schematic overview depicting a measurement occasion and gaps for A-loT UE;

[0087] Fig. 8 shows total measurements duration and time gap between consecutive partial measurements.

[0088] Fig. 9a is a block diagram depicting a UE according to embodiments herein;

[0089] Fig. 9b is a block diagram depicting a radio network node according to embodiments herein;

[0090] Fig. 10 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0091] Fig. 11 shows a UE QQ200 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0092] Fig. 12 shows a network node QQ300 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0093] Fig. 13 is a block diagram of a host QQ400, which may be an embodiment of the host

[0094] QQ116 of Fig. 10, in accordance with various aspects described herein;

[0095] Fig. 14 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ500 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized; and Fig. 15 shows a communication diagram of a host QQ602 communicating via a network node QQ604 with a UE QQ606 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments.

[0096] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0097] Embodiments herein relate to communication networks in general. Fig. 2 is a schematic overview depicting a wireless communications network 1. The wireless communications network 1 comprises one or more RANs and one or more CNs. The wireless communications network 1 may use a number of different technologies, such as Wi-Fi, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, NR, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile communications / Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM / EDGE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), just to mention a few possible implementations.

[0098] In the wireless communications network 1 , wireless devices e.g. a user equipment (UE) 10 such as an loT device, an A-loT device, a ZE device, a mobile station, a non-access point (non-AP) STA, a STA, a wireless device and / or a wireless terminal, communicate via one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. a RAN, to one or more core networks (CN). It should be understood by those skilled in the art that “UE” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, wireless communication terminal, internet of things (loT) capable device, Machine Type Communication (MTC) device, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a base station communicating within a cell.

[0099] The wireless communications network 1 comprises a radio network node 12 providing radio coverage over a geographical area, e.g. a first service area, of a first radio access technology (RAT), such as NR, LTE, UMTS, Wi-Fi or similar. The radio network node 12 may be a radio access network node such as radio network controller or an access point such as a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), an access controller, a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNB, eNodeB), a base transceiver station, Access Point Base Station, base station router, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point or any other network unit capable of serving a UE within the service area served by the radio network node 12 depending e.g. on the first radio access technology and terminology used.

[0100] According to embodiments herein the UE 10 handles a measurement procedure taking a determined energy level of an energy storage of the UE into account. As an example, the UE 10 may initiate a measurement procedure of a received signal, such as performing signal strength measurements. The UE 10 may further, with the proviso that an energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 drops below a first threshold, store data of the initiated measurement procedure. Alternatively and / or additionally, the UE 10 may check, before initiating the measurement procedure, the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 and may compare to a third threshold. With the proviso that the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 exceeds the third threshold, the UE 10 may initiate the measurement procedure. Also, a combination of these embodiments is possible wherein the UE 10 checks the energy level before initiating the measurement procedure, and also checks the energy level during the measurement procedure.

[0101] Embodiments herein provide energy intermittency aware UE measurements to allow for a long procedure to be performed at the UE 10 in multiple steps by suspending the procedure when the UE 10 is low on energy and may resume the measurement procedure when the UE 10 has sufficient energy again. As an example, the UE 10 may suspend cell selection and / or reselection measurements whenever the energy level is below the first and / or third threshold. The UE 10 then stores data related to the initiated measurement procedure such as measurement values and / or information to be used when resuming the procedure. The UE 10 may store the data for a set time interval defining how long the UE 10 may keep the stored data. The UE 10 may then resume the measurement procedure once a second threshold is reached.

[0102] Embodiments herein enable UEs, which may operate with limited energy storage and unpredictable energy sources, to complete a long procedure such as initial Cell selection and / or a cell reselection.

[0103] Embodiments herein may have one or more of the following advantages:

[0104] A long measurement procedure can be completed in several attempts according to device energy situation, i.e., based on determined energy level of the energy storage of the UE;

[0105] Stored measurements can be utilized for decision making at a later stage if the measurements remain valid;

[0106] Improving UE energy efficiency while ensuring its proper operation considering cell selection, cell reselection, mobility support, and network reachability.

[0107] The solutions can be considered as a key enabler of battery-less (zero-energy) devices and energy harvesting operations towards 5G Advanced and 6G networks.

[0108] In embodiments herein, use cases with ultra-low power devices, ambient loT devices or zero-energy device are considered. However, the solutions should not be limited to such devices, and can be extended to other service / device classes or categories, e.g., related to enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), wearables, industrial sensors, extended reality (XR) applications, massive-MTC, ultra reliable low latency communication (LIRLLC), time sensitive networking (TSN), etc.

[0109] In embodiments herein, measurements refer to any type of radio resource management (RRM) measurements performed based on reference signals received from a network node, e.g., gNB. Specific examples of measurements are reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), reference signal strength indicator (RSSI), reference signal (RS)-signal to interreference plus noise ratio (SINR), primary synchronization signal (PSS) / secondary synchronization signal (SSS) identifications, synchronization signal block (SSB) identification, etc.

[0110] Fig. 3a is a combined flowchart and signalling scheme according to some embodiments herein.

[0111] Action 301. The radio network node 12 may determine or obtain a configuration to configure one or more UEs to check an energy level of respective UE and perform an action related to a measurement procedure based on the check.

[0112] Action 302. The radio network node 12 may configure the UE 10 to behave according to embodiments herein. The radio network node 12 may transmit configuration data to the UE 10. For example, the UE 10 may be configured to check an energy level of the UE 10 and perform an action related to a measurement procedure based on the check. The radio network node 12 may configure the UE 10 with one or more parameters to handle one or more measurement procedures taking the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 into account, for example, based on the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10.

[0113] Action 303. The UE 10 may initiate a measurement procedure of a received signal, such as performing one or more signal strength measurements.

[0114] Action 304. The UE 10 may further, with the proviso that an energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 drops below the first threshold, store data of the initiated measurement procedure.

[0115] Action 305. The UE 10 may then harvest energy.

[0116] Action 306. The UE 10 may, with the proviso that the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 exceeds the second threshold, continue with the initiated measurement procedure. For example, the UE 10 may continue measuring, ranking, identifying, reading system information and / or similar. The second threshold may be higher than the first threshold.

[0117] Fig. 3b is a combined flowchart and signalling scheme according to some embodiments herein.

[0118] Action 311. The radio network node 12 may determine or obtain a configuration to configure one or more UEs to check an energy level of respective UE and perform an action related to a measurement procedure based on the check.

[0119] Action 312. The radio network node 12 may configure the UE 10 to behave according to embodiments herein. For example, the UE 10 may be configured to check the energy level of the UE 10 and perform an action related to a measurement procedure based on the check. Thus, the radio network node 12 may transmit configuration data to the UE 10.

[0120] Action 313. The UE 10 may determine the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10.

[0121] Action 314. The UE 10 may, with the proviso that the determined energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 exceeds (is above) the third threshold, initiate a measurement procedure of a received signal, such as performing signal strength measurements. The third threshold may be the same or different, such as higher, than the second threshold. The third threshold may be set at a level for the UE 10 to complete the measurement procedure.

[0122] Example embodiments of a method performed by the UE 10 for handling communication in the wireless communication network 1 will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 4a. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below, but may be taken in any suitable order. Optional features are disclosed in dashed boxes.

[0123] Action 401. The UE 10 may receive configuration and / or be preconfigured to handle one or more measurement procedures taking the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 into account. For example, the UE 10 may be configured to check the energy level of the UE 10 and perform an action related to a measurement procedure based on the check. The radio network node 12 may configure the UE 10, or the UE may be preconfigured, with one or more parameters to handle measurement procedures taking the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 into account, also referred to as one or more parameters to handle measurement procedures based on the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10.

[0124] Action 402. The UE 10 may initially determine the energy level of the energy storage before handling one or more measurement procedures.

[0125] Action 403. The UE 10 may further compare the determined energy level with the third threshold.

[0126] Action 404. The UE 10 may, in some embodiments, initiate a measurement procedure (without checking the energy level beforehand).

[0127] Action 405. The UE 10 handles one or more measurement procedures taking the energy level of the energy storage of the UE (10) into account. The measurement procedure may comprise cell selection and / or reselection. The UE 10 may further take channel state into account such as measured power or quality of a received signal, e.g., SINR. The UE 10 may perform a number of measurements wherein the number of measurements is based on the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 and / or the channel state. The UE 10 may perform a measurement procedure comprising one or more parameters such as gaps, time thresholds T and / or Q, periodicity etc, wherein the one or more parameters are based on the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 and / or the channel state.

[0128] Action 451. As an example, the UE 10 may, with the proviso that the determined energy level exceeds the third threshold, initiate the measurement procedure.

[0129] Action 452. The UE 10 may during the measurement procedure check, monitor or determine the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10.

[0130] Action 453. The UE 10 may compare the determined energy level with the first threshold.

[0131] Action 454. The UE 10 may, with the proviso that the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 drops below the first threshold, store data related to the initiated measurement procedure. Such data may comprise one or more measurement, and / or a part of an analysis, a process and / or measurement of the measurement procedure. The UE 10 may be configured to store the data a timer interval such as a maximum of time.

[0132] Action 455. The UE 10 may then harvest energy such as storing energy, recharging, and / or building up energy.

[0133] Action 456. The UE 10 may, with the proviso that the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 exceeds the second threshold, continue or resume the initiated measurement procedure. Example embodiments of a method performed by the radio network node 12 for handling communication in the wireless communication network 1 will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 4b. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below, but may be taken in any suitable order. Optional features are disclosed in dashed boxes.

[0134] Action 411. The radio network node 12 may determine or obtain a configuration to configure one or more UEs to check an energy level of respective UE and perform an action related to a measurement procedure based on the check.

[0135] Action 412. The radio network node 12 may transmit the configuration to the UE 10 for handling one or more measurement procedures taking the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 into account. The radio network node 12 may configure the UE 10 to behave according to embodiments herein. For example, the UE 10 may be configured to check the energy level of the UE and perform an action related to a measurement procedure based on the check. The radio network node 12 may configure the UE 10 with one or more parameters to handle measurement procedures taking the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 into account or based on the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10.

[0136] Some embodiments herein introduce, to avoid the scenario where the UE 10, for example, an A-loT device, has no energy to complete measurements, the UE 10 that may only perform measurements when it has enough energy to successfully complete the measurement procedure. Such an energy aware behavior may be hardcoded in the specification, that the UE 10 must ensure sufficient energy availability before starting the cell selection or cell reselection procedure. In practice, it will mean that when the UE 10 is powered on or it has moved to another cell, the UE 10 checks the energy level or status first and if the energy availability is enough to measure, for example, the RSSI of the channels that the UE 10 supports, then the UE 10 will start the measurement, action 51. This is shown in Fig. 5, where the UE 10 can complete the measurement procedure without energy depletion or energy becoming less than a measurement threshold, action 52. In one example of measurement procedure, if the measurements are intended for cell identification, e.g., PSS / SSS measurements, then after the measurements are complete the UE 10 will be able to identify the strongest cell on each of the channels and afterwards the UE 10 can proceed with reading the system information, action 53. In another example of measurement procedure, if the measurements are intended for cell reselection purposes, then UE 10 may use the measurement result for ranking or comparing two or more candidate cells to the serving cell.

[0137] In some embodiments herein, where the UE 10 started the measurements for any type of cell change, e.g. cell selection after power, cell reselection when moving to another cell, the UE 10 may start measurements when the UE 10 can ensure that the measurement procedure such as measurements, ranking, identifying, reading system information or similar, can be completed within a maximum time interval T. In this case the UE 10 must ensure that the total energy availability, such as the third threshold, within a certain time interval will be sufficient to perform the measurements of all the channels for cell selection or cell reselection procedure. This will mean that when the UE 10 is powered on or it has moved to another cell, the UE 10 may start the measurement and when the energy gets depleted or becomes less than a measurement threshold, i.e. , the first threshold, the UE 10 may end up in ‘partial measurement’ state, action 54. A few examples can be where the UE 10 has the RSSI measurement of a few channels but cannot proceed due to lack of energy, the UE 10 has found some channels above threshold RSSI but cannot decode its synchronization signal due to lack of energy, the UE 10 decoded the synchronization signal but it is unable to read the system information due to lack of energy, and / or the UE 10 has the RSRP / RSRQ measurements for neighbouring cells but it cannot compute the ranking of these cells due to lack of energy. In this state, the UE 10 may keep track of the partial measurements, i.e., store the data, and may then harvest energy, when the energy availability at the UE 10 becomes more than the second threshold it proceeds in the ‘resume measurement’ state, action 55, where the UE 10 tries to ensure that measurements are completed within the maximum time interval (T). This is also shown in Fig. 5, where the UE 10 may complete the measurement with energy depletion or energy becoming less than a measurement threshold, given that UE is able to perform measurements within the specified interval (T). The amount of energy that is needed to perform a measurement may further depend on the type of measurements. For example, for a first type of measurements the required or minimum amount of energy to perform a measurement can be E2 while it needs at least E3 energy for performing a second type of measurements, where E3>E2. Specific examples of first type of measurements are measurements that are performed using single sample, single-shot measurements, and specific examples of second type of measurements are measurements performed using multiple samples. In some embodiments herein, whether the UE 10 adapts its measurement procedure to perform partial measurement as describe above depends on both the amount of energy the UE 10 has harvested and the channel state information such as signal strength or quality of the reference signals, e.g., signal to noise ratio (SNR) conditions of the reference signals. This means if the SNR conditions, e.g., the UE 10 is operating in good radio channels, then the UE 10 may switch to perform single shot measurement, i.e., measurement based on a single sample. Otherwise, the UE 10 may perform partial measurement, i.e., measurements using multiple samples. In one specific example, if the SNR of the reference signals received from the measured cell, e.g., the serving cell or neighbor cell, is greater or equal (>) H1 , e.g., H1=0 dB, and the amount of energy is less than E1, then the UE 10 may perform single shot measurement. Otherwise, the UE 10 performs partial measurement as described in earlier examples. In another example, if the SNR is greater or equal H1 and the UE 10 has sufficient energy to complete a full measurement, e.g., the energy harvested is greater or equal H2, then the UE 10 may perform full measurements using multiple samples and filtering. E1 is referred to the amount of energy the UE 10 has harvested and can be expressed in terms of dBm, joule, watts, etc.

[0138] In above, the parameters, such as gap, e.g., micro sleep periods, or milli sleep periods, T, etc. can be provided in UE’s universal subscriber identity module (USIM), hardcoded, etc., and the UE 10 may use the parameters for measurements, as described above, if it has not registered yet or previous registration has failed. In another option, if the UE 10 has already registered, and for some reason, if the measurements are triggered, the radio network node 12 may can also provide parameters such as gap, T, etc., via system information (Sl) / master information block (MIB) / system information block (SIB).

[0139] In some embodiments, the gap period may be configured in the UE 10 based on UE’s harvesting capabilities. For instance, in a tailor-made scenario, the infrastructure owner can assign or burn these values in UE’s hardware. In another example, if the UE 10 is registered, and based on capability negotiation, device type information exchange with network (handshakes over the air), the radio network node 12 may select and provide suitable values (Gap, T) for the UE 10. In an extension, the network or infrastructure owner can provide set of parameter values over the air or in a hardcoded manner / USIM respectively, and the UE 10 may select desired value of parameters, e.g., gap, T autonomously. In one embodiment, if after some gaps, the measurements are completed, the UE 10 may need to monitor remaining occasions to conduct measurements, e.g., see in Fig. 6 in some measurement opportunity M1 in time period T, if the UE 10 successfully completed measurements using first three wake up / resumption / monitor occasions, denoted as R, R+1 , R+2, then the UE 10 can ignore remaining wake up / resumption occasions, i.e. , R+3, R+4, R+5, and thus does not do measurements, see Fig. 6. Fig. 6 shows an example of measurement occasions for A-loT UE.

[0140] In some embodiments, the radio network node 12 defines, or the UE 10 is configured with an additional parameter, i.e., a longer gap for redoing measurements again. In the above, the existing gap parameter is for resuming partial measurements within one measurement opportunity in T period. However, these measurement opportunities can be defined with some periodicity, so the UE 10 may not be required to trigger measurements frequently or sparsely in case no such configuration provided by network. In Fig. 7, two types of gap periods are defined, one is smaller G1 period, which is used for resumption of partial measurement within a given measurement opportunity. Another is G2 period, which is periodicity of measurement opportunities. In one option, the measurements conducted in one opportunity, say M1 does not apply to another measurement opportunity, say M2. For, e.g., if UE 10 has done a measurement in M1 and somehow could not complete it in the M1 opportunity due to energy depletion / unavailability, not enough energy harvested, and if the UE 10 has the possibility to do the measurements again in an M2 opportunity, then UE 10 will discard any partial measurement results / reports from M1 opportunity, and redo it in the M2 opportunity from the scratch. In another words, the measurements from different measurement opportunities will be deemed incoherent. Further the parameter G2 can be configured by infrastructure owner or be provided by network depending on UE’s status and validity of parameters as described previously for (smaller) gap parameter G1. Fig. 7 shows an example of measurement occasions and gaps for an A-loT UE.

[0141] Moreover, in case of partial measurements which include measurements and pauses, the time gap between two consecutive partial measurements may be considered. Specifically, if the time gap between two partial measurements exceeds a threshold Q, illustrated in Fig. 8, then the measurement process may be re-started. In one example the measurements may be re-started if one of the following conditions are not met:

[0142] • Total measurements duration less than the maximum time interval T

[0143] • Time gap between two consecutive partial measurements less than a threshold Q Fig. 8 shows total measurements duration and time gap between consecutive partial measurements.

[0144] Note that the time intervals T and Q may depend on the reliability and correlation of measurements and channel conditions. In a related embodiment, the value of the time interval T and Q depends on several factors including one or more of:

[0145] • UE type, receiver architecture

[0146] • UE mobility condition, UE speed

[0147] • Deployment scenario (rural, urban, indoor)

[0148] • Carrier frequency, subcarrier spacing,

[0149] • Type of measurements to be performed, e.g. L1 measurements or L3 measurements.

[0150] • Type of procedures that these the measurements.

[0151] The values of Q and T can be predefined or configurable. In one example, T is assumed to be 5000 ms. Example values of Q include 20 ms, 40 ms and 80, i.e. , Q«T.

[0152] In one example, Q and T are associated with known and unknown cell conditions. A cell is considered to be known if it was detected during last Tc, where Tc refers to the minimum time period to detect a cell. In one example, if the UE 10 cannot meet the conditions related to any of Q or T due to not having sufficient energy to perform the intended measurements, the UE 10 may perform one or more of following fallback procedures:

[0153] - The UE 10 stops the measurement and performs cell detection again,

[0154] - Cell change, e.g., RRC re-establishment, RRC reconnection with release, cell reselections, handover,

[0155] Initial cell selections.

[0156] In the above example where Q and T are conditioned on the amount of energy, the UE 10 has to perform a certain type of measurements, Q is assumed to be not separated by more than the maximum time for a cell to remain known. Otherwise, the UE 10 restarts the measurements or initiates one or more procedures after restarting X number of times, where X=1 ,2,3, etc. Alternatively, the UE 10 performs any of the fallback procedures described above.

[0157] In one embodiment, a selected RF channel, i.e., RF channel with RSSI value greater than the threshold, is only valid for a certain time period, wherein the period may be hardcoded in the spec and preconfigured in the UE 10, unless the UE 10 has finished PSS / SSS decoding and measurement in that RF channel. The UE 10 may perform any one or more of the followings:

[0158] • The UE 10 may only start decoding and measuring PSS / SSS when the UE 10 has scanned all the RF channels, and all the selected RF channels are still valid or the number of selected RF channels thar are still valid is no less than a certain threshold number.

[0159] • The UE 10 may rescan RF channels if the number of selected RF channels that are still valid is less than a certain threshold number. The UE 10 may first scan the previously selected RF channels which become invalid.

[0160] In case the UE 10 has finished PSS / SSS decoding, i.e. , cell search, and measurement in a RF channel, the UE 10 may not scan that RF channel again even it has had a long time energy harvesting, i.e., the UE 10 may restart from cell search in that RF channel.

[0161] In one embodiment, a (filtered) PSS / SSS measurement is only valid for a certain time period since the latest PSS / SSS measurement, this time period may be hardcoded in the spec and preconfigured in the UE or configured by the network. The UE 10 may only decode MIB / SIB(1) associated to a PSS / SSS when the (filtered) PSS / SSS measurement is still valid, otherwise the UE 10 shall reperform the PSS / SSS measurement and optionally reset the filtering.

[0162] In one embodiment, in case the UE 10 needs to transmit data / signaling in UL and / or receive data / signaling in DL, the followings may be performed:

[0163] • The UE 10 may skip a PSS / SSS measurement if it will have or can harvest enough energy to perform the UL transmission and / or the DL reception before the (filtered) PSS / SSS measurement becomes invalid only in case it does not perform the PSS / SSS measurement.

[0164] • Otherwise, the UE 10 may perform the PSS / SSS measurement, if there is energy to do so.

[0165] The radio network node 12 may provide neighbor cell related information dedicated for A-loT devices, being examples of the UE 10. Such information may be provided as part of system information broadcast via, for example, MIB and / or SIB and the information may be composed of intra and / or inter frequencies where A-loT devices should perform measurements for cell (re-)selection. Note that it is already possible, for example in NR, for the network to provide such guidance information to UEs that are camped in the cell, however considering that A-loT devices are not expected to be served in a separate RAT, it would be beneficial to provide information dedicated to A-loT devices as a subset of the list of neighbor cell frequencies provided in the serving cell. This information can be provided as a separate set in the signaling framework of, for example, SI messages, existing SIBs, such as SIB3, SIB4 etc., or a new SIB or a introducing a mark, e.g., a flag, associated with intra / inter frequency provided in SIB3 / SIB4 for cell (re-)selection. Note that the SIB3 and SIB4 refer to the current signaling framework specified for NR so, if used, within the context of 6G, the naming / numbering of the SIBs / system information broadcast messages may be different.

[0166] Fig. 9a shows a block diagram depicting the UE 10 for handling communication in the wireless communication network.

[0167] The UE 10 may comprise processing circuitry 901 , e.g. one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0168] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 901 is configured to handle one or more measurement procedures taking the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 into account. The measurement procedure may comprise cell selection and / or reselection. The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 901 may be configured to further take the channel state into account such as measured power or quality of a received signal, e.g., SINR. The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 901 may be configured to perform the number of measurements wherein the number of measurements is based on the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 and / or the channel state. The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 901 may be configured to perform the measurement procedure comprising the one or more parameters such as gaps, T, Q, number, periodicity etc, wherein the one or more parameters are based on the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 and / or the channel state.

[0169] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 901 may be configured to receive the configuration and / or be preconfigured to handle one or more measurement procedures taking the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 into account. For example, the UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 901 may be configured to check the energy level of the UE and perform the action related to a measurement procedure based on the check. The radio network node 12 may configure the UE 10, or the UE may be preconfigured, with one or more parameters to handle measurement procedures taking the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 into account or based on the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10. The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 901 may be configured to initially determine the energy level of the energy storage before handling one or more measurement procedures.

[0170] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 901 may be configured to compare the determined energy level with the third threshold.

[0171] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 901 may be configured to initiate the measurement procedure (without checking the energy level beforehand).

[0172] As an example, the UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 901 may be configured to, with the proviso that the determined energy level exceeds the third threshold, initiate the one or more measurement procedures.

[0173] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 901 may be configured to, during the measurement procedure, check, monitor or determine the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10.

[0174] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 901 may be configured to compare the determined energy level with the first threshold.

[0175] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 901 may be configured to, with the proviso that the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 drops below the first threshold, store data related to the initiated measurement procedure. Such data may comprise one or more measurement, and / or a part of an analysis, a process and / or measurement of the measurement procedure. The UE 10 may be configured to store the data a maximum of time.

[0176] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 901 may be configured to harvest energy such as storing energy, recharging, and / or building up energy.

[0177] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 901 may be configured to, with the proviso that the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 exceeds the second threshold, continue or resume the initiated measurement procedure.

[0178] The UE 10 further comprises a memory 905. The memory comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as indications, energy levels, SIN Rs, parameters, thresholds, time intervals, reconfiguration, applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. The UE 10 comprises a communication interface 906 comprising transmitter, receiver, transceiver and / or one or more antennas. Thus, it is herein provided the UE 10 for handling communication in a wireless communication network, wherein the UE 10 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said UE 10 is operative to perform any of the methods herein. The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the UE 10 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 907 or a computer program product, comprising instructions, i.e. , software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the UE 10. The computer program product 907 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 908, e g. a universal serial bus (USB) stick, a disc or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 908, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the UE 10. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a non-transitory or transitory computer- readable storage medium.

[0179] Fig. 9b shows a block diagram depicting the radio network node 12 for handling communication in the wireless communication network.

[0180] The radio network node 12 may comprise processing circuitry 911 , e.g. one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0181] The radio network node 12 and / or the processing circuitry 911 is configured to transmit the configuration to the UE 10 for handling one or more measurement procedures taking the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 into account. The radio network node 12 and / or the processing circuitry 911 may be configured to configure the UE 10 to behave according to embodiments herein. For example, the UE 10 may be configured to check the energy level of the UE and perform the action related to the measurement procedure based on the check. The radio network node 12 and / or the processing circuitry 911 may be configured to configure the UE 10 with one or more parameters to handle measurement procedures taking the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 into account or based on the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10.

[0182] The radio network node 12 and / or the processing circuitry 911 may be configured to determine or obtain the configuration to configure one or more UEs to check the energy level of respective UE and perform an action related to a measurement procedure based on the check.

[0183] The radio network node 12 further comprises a memory 915. The memory comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as indications, energy level, thresholds, parameters, indications, reconfiguration, applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. The radio network node 12 comprises a communication interface 916 comprising transmitter, receiver, transceiver and / or one or more antennas. Thus, it is herein provided the radio network node 12 for handling communication in a wireless communication network, wherein the radio network node 12 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said radio network node 12 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0184] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the radio network node 12 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 917 or a computer program product, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the radio network node 12. The computer program product 917 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 918, e.g. a universal serial bus (USB) stick, a disc or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 918, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the radio network node 12. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a non- transitory or transitory computer-readable storage medium.

[0185] As will be readily understood by those familiar with communications design, that functions means or modules may be implemented using digital logic and / or one or more microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other digital hardware. In some embodiments, several or all of the various functions may be implemented together, such as in a single application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or in two or more separate devices with appropriate hardware and / or software interfaces between them. Several of the functions may be implemented on a processor shared with other functional components of a radio network node, for example.

[0186] Alternatively, several of the functional elements of the processing means discussed may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware, while others are provided with hardware for executing software, in association with the appropriate software or firmware. Thus, the term “processor” or “controller” as used herein does not exclusively refer to hardware capable of executing software and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, read-only memory (ROM) for storing software, random-access memory for storing software and / or program or application data, and non-volatile memory. Other hardware, conventional and / or custom, may also be included. Designers of communications receivers will appreciate the cost, performance, and maintenance trade-offs inherent in these design choices.

[0187] Fig. 10 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0188] In the example, the communication system QQ100 includes a telecommunication network QQ102 that includes an access network QQ104, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network QQ106, which includes one or more core network nodes QQ108. The access network QQ104 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes QQ110a and QQ110b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes QQ110) being examples of the first radio network node 12 and second radio network node 13, or any other similar 3rdGeneration 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, being examples of the entities herein, 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 QQ102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network QQ102 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 QQ102, including one or more network nodes QQ110 and / or core network nodes QQ108.

[0189] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (0-Rll), an open distributed unit (0-Dll), 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 0-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes QQ110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of the user equipment (UE) 10, such as by connecting UEs QQ112a, QQ112b, QQ112c, and QQ112d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs QQ112) to the core network QQ106 over one or more wireless connections.

[0190] 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 QQ100 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 QQ100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0191] The UEs QQ112 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 QQ110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes QQ110 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs QQ112 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network QQ102 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 QQ102.

[0192] In the depicted example, the core network QQ106 connects the network nodes QQ110 to one or more hosts, such as host QQ116. 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 QQ106 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node QQ108) such as network node 15 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 QQ108. 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 (ALISF), 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).

[0193] The host QQ116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network QQ104 and / or the telecommunication network QQ102, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host QQ116 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and prerecorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0194] As a whole, the communication system QQ100 of Fig. 10 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.

[0195] In some examples, the telecommunication network QQ102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network QQ102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network QQ102. For example, the telecommunications network QQ102 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) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0196] In some examples, the UEs QQ112 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 QQ104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network QQ104. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi- RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0197] In the example, the hub QQ114 communicates with the access network QQ104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and / or QQ112d) and network nodes (e.g., network node QQ110b). In some examples, the hub QQ114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub QQ114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network QQ106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub QQ114 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 QQ110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub QQ114. As another example, the hub QQ114 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 QQ114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub QQ114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub QQ114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub QQ114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0198] The hub QQ114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node QQ110b. The hub QQ114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub QQ114 and UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and / or QQ112d) , and between the hub QQ114 and the core network QQ106. In other examples, the hub QQ114 is connected to the core network QQ106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub QQ114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network QQ104 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes QQ110 while still connected via the hub QQ114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub QQ114 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 QQ110b. In other embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node QQ110b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0199] Figure 11 shows a UE QQ200 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, 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.

[0200] 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 QQ200 includes processing circuitry QQ202 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ204 to an input / output interface QQ206, a power source QQ208, a memory QQ210, a communication interface QQ212, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 11. 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.

[0201] The processing circuitry QQ202 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 QQ210. The processing circuitry QQ202 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 QQ202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0202] In the example, the input / output interface QQ206 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 QQ200. 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. In some embodiments, the power source QQ208 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 QQ208 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source QQ208 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE QQ200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source QQ208. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source QQ208 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE QQ200 to which power is supplied.

[0203] The memory QQ210 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory QQ210 includes one or more application programs QQ214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data QQ216. The memory QQ210 may store, for use by the UE QQ200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0204] The memory QQ210 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 inline 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 QQ210 may allow the UE QQ200 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 QQ210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0205] The processing circuitry QQ202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface QQ212. The communication interface QQ212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna QQ222. The communication interface QQ212 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 QQ218 and / or a receiver QQ220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter QQ218 and receiver QQ220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna QQ222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0206] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface QQ212 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.

[0207] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface QQ212, 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).

[0208] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0209] 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. Nonlimiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smartwatch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE QQ200 shown in Figure 11.

[0210] 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.

[0211] 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.

[0212] Figure 12 shows a network node QQ300 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).

[0213] 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).

[0214] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi- TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0215] The network node QQ300 includes a processing circuitry QQ302, a memory QQ304, a communication interface QQ306, and a power source QQ308. The network node QQ300 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 QQ300 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 QQ300 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory QQ304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna QQ310 may be shared by different RATs). The network node QQ300 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node QQ300, 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 QQ300.

[0216] The processing circuitry QQ302 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 QQ300 components, such as the memory QQ304, to provide network node QQ300 functionality.

[0217] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and the baseband processing circuitry QQ314 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 QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0218] The memory QQ304 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 computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry QQ302. The memory QQ304 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 QQ302 and utilized by the network node QQ300. The memory QQ304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry QQ302 and / or any data received via the communication interface QQ306. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 and memory QQ304 is integrated.

[0219] The communication interface QQ306 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 QQ306 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) QQ316 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface QQ306 also includes radio frontend circuitry QQ318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna QQ310. Radio front-end circuitry QQ318 comprises filters QQ320 and amplifiers QQ322. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may be connected to an antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 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 QQ318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters QQ320 and / or amplifiers QQ322. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna QQ310. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna QQ310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry QQ318. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry QQ302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0220] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node QQ300 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry QQ318, instead, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna QQ310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 is part of the communication interface QQ306. In still other embodiments, the communication interface QQ306 includes one or more ports or terminals QQ316, the radio front-end circuitry QQ318, and the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface QQ306 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry QQ314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0221] The antenna QQ310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna QQ310 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry QQ318 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna QQ310 is separate from the network node QQ300 and connectable to the network node QQ300 through an interface or port.

[0222] The antenna QQ310, communication interface QQ306, and / or the processing circuitry QQ302 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 QQ310, the communication interface QQ306, and / or the processing circuitry QQ302 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.

[0223] The power source QQ308 provides power to the various components of network node QQ300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source QQ308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node QQ300 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 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 QQ308. As a further example, the power source QQ308 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.

[0224] Embodiments of the network node QQ300 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 12 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 QQ300 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node QQ300 and to allow output of information from the network node QQ300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node QQ300.

[0225] Figure 13 is a block diagram of a host QQ400, which may be an embodiment of the host QQ116 of Figure 10, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host QQ400 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 QQ400 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0226] The host QQ400 includes processing circuitry QQ402 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ404 to an input / output interface QQ406, a network interface QQ408, a power source QQ410, and a memory QQ412. 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 11 and 12, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host QQ400.

[0227] The memory QQ412 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs QQ414 and data QQ416, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host QQ400 or data generated by the host QQ400 for a UE. Embodiments of the host QQ400 may utilize only a subset, or all of the components shown. The host application programs QQ414 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., 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 QQ414 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 QQ400 may select and / or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs QQ414 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.

[0228] Figure 14 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ500 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 QQ500 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 QQ500 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface.

[0229] Applications QQ502 (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.

[0230] Hardware QQ504 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 QQ506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs QQ508a and QQ508b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs QQ508), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer QQ506 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs QQ508.

[0231] The VMs QQ508 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer QQ506. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance QQ502 may be implemented on one or more of VMs QQ508, 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.

[0232] In the context of NFV, a VM QQ508 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, nonvirtualized machine. Each of the VMs QQ508, and that part of hardware QQ504 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 QQ508 on top of the hardware QQ504 and corresponds to the application QQ502.

[0233] Hardware QQ504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware QQ504 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware QQ504 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 QQ510, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications QQ502. In some embodiments, hardware QQ504 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 QQ512 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units. Figure 15 shows a communication diagram of a host QQ602 communicating via a network node QQ604 with a UE QQ606 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE QQ112a of Figure 10 and / or UE QQ200 of Figure 11), network node (such as network node QQ110a of Figure 10 and / or network node QQ300 of Figure 12), and host (such as host QQ116 of Figure 10 and / or host QQ400 of Figure 13) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 15.

[0234] Like host QQ400, embodiments of host QQ602 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host QQ602 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host QQ602 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 QQ606 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection QQ650 extending between the UE QQ606 and host QQ602. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection QQ650.

[0235] The network node QQ604 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host QQ602 and UE QQ606. The connection QQ660 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network QQ106 of Figure 10) 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.

[0236] The UE QQ606 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE QQ606 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 QQ606 with the support of the host QQ602. In the host QQ602, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection QQ650 terminating at the UE QQ606 and host QQ602. 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 QQ650 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 QQ650.

[0237] The OTT connection QQ650 may extend via a connection QQ660 between the host QQ602 and the network node QQ604 and via a wireless connection QQ670 between the network node QQ604 and the UE QQ606 to provide the connection between the host QQ602 and the UE QQ606. The connection QQ660 and wireless connection QQ670, over which the OTT connection QQ650 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host QQ602 and the UE QQ606 via the network node QQ604, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0238] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection QQ650, in step QQ608, the host QQ602 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 QQ606. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE QQ606 that shares data with the host QQ602 without explicit human interaction. In step QQ610, the host QQ602 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE QQ606. The host QQ602 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE QQ606. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE QQ606 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE QQ606. The transmission may pass via the network node QQ604, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step QQ612, the network node QQ604 transmits to the UE QQ606 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host QQ602 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step QQ614, the UE QQ606 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE QQ606 associated with the host application executed by the host QQ602.

[0239] In some examples, the UE QQ606 executes a client application which provides user data to the host QQ602. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host QQ602. Accordingly, in step QQ616, the UE QQ606 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 QQ606. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE QQ606 initiates, in step QQ618, transmission of the user data towards the host QQ602 via the network node QQ604. In step QQ620, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node QQ604 receives user data from the UE QQ606 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host QQ602. In step QQ622, the host QQ602 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE QQ606.

[0240] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE QQ606 using the OTT connection QQ650, in which the wireless connection QQ670 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve energy efficiency and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, better responsiveness, and / or extended battery lifetime.

[0241] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host QQ602. As another example, the host QQ602 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host QQ602 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host QQ602 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host QQ602 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 QQ602 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.

[0242] In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection QQ650 between the host QQ602 and UE QQ606, 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 QQ602 and / or UE QQ606. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection QQ650 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 QQ650 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node QQ604. 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 QQ602. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection QQ650 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0243] 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.

[0244] 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.

[0245] Modifications and other embodiments of the disclosed embodiments will come to mind to one skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the embodiment(s) is / are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure. Although specific terms may be employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.

[0246] EMBODIMENTS

[0247] Embodiment A1.

[0248] A method performed by a UE (10) for handling communication in a wireless communication network, the method comprising handling (405) one or more measurement procedures taking an energy level of an energy storage of the UE (10) into account.

[0249] Embodiment A2.

[0250] The method according to embodiment A1 , further comprising initiating (404) a measurement procedure, and wherein handling (405) comprises, with the proviso that the energy level of the energy storage of the UE (10) drops below a first threshold, storing data related to the initiated measurement procedure.

[0251] Embodiment A3.

[0252] The method according to embodiments A2, wherein handling (405) further comprises harvesting (455) energy, and, with the proviso that the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 exceeds a second threshold, continue the initiated measurement procedure.

[0253] Embodiment A4.

[0254] The method according to any of embodiments A1-A3, wherein handling (405) comprises, with the proviso that the energy level of the energy storage of the UE (10) exceeds a third threshold, initiating the measurement procedure

[0255] Embodiment A5. The method according to any of embodiments A1-A3, further comprising receiving (401) configuration for handling one or more measurement procedures taking an energy level of an energy storage of the UE (10) into account

[0256] Embodiment A6.

[0257] The method according to any of the embodiments A1-A5, wherein handling (405) further takes channel state into account.

[0258] Embodiment A7.

[0259] The method according to any of the embodiments A1-A6, wherein handling (405) comprises performing a measurement procedure using one or more parameters, wherein the one or more parameters are based on the energy level of the energy storage of the UE 10 and / or a channel state.

[0260] Embodiment B1.

[0261] A method performed by a radio network node (12) for handling communication in a wireless communication network, the method comprising

[0262] - transmitting (412) a configuration to a UE (10) for handling one or more measurement procedures taking an energy level of an energy storage of the UE (10) into account.

[0263] Embodiment C1.

[0264] A UE (10) for handling communication in a wireless communication network, wherein the UE is configured to handle one or more measurement procedures taking an energy level of an energy storage of the UE (10) into account.

[0265] Embodiment C2.

[0266] The UE according to embodiment C1, wherein the UE is configured to perform the method according to any of the embodiments A2-A7.

[0267] Embodiment D1.

[0268] A radio network node (12) for handling communication in a wireless communication network, wherein the radio network node is configured to transmit a configuration to a UE (10) for handling one or more measurement procedures taking an energy level of an energy storage of the UE (10) into account. Embodiment E1.

[0269] A computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the embodiments herein, as performed by the UE and the radio network node, respectively.

[0270] Embodiment F1.

[0271] A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the embodiments herein, as performed by the UE and the radio network node, respectively.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a user equipment, UE, (10) for handling communication in a wireless communication network, the method comprising- handling (405) one or more measurement procedures taking an energy level of an energy storage of the UE (10) into account.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising- initiating (404) a measurement procedure, and wherein handling (405) the one or more measurement procedures comprises, with the proviso that the energy level of the energy storage of the UE (10) drops below a first threshold, storing (454) data related to the initiated measurement procedure.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein handling (405) the one or more measurement procedures further comprises harvesting (455) energy, and, with the proviso that the energy level of the energy storage of the UE (10) exceeds a second threshold, continuing the initiated measurement procedure.

4. The method according to any of the claims 1-3, wherein handling (405) the one or more measurement procedures comprises, with the proviso that the energy level of the energy storage of the UE (10) exceeds a third threshold, initiating (451) the one or more measurement procedures.

5. The method according to any of the claims 1-4, further comprising- receiving (401) a configuration for handling one or more measurement procedures taking an energy level of an energy storage of the UE (10) into account6. The method according to any of the claims 1-5, wherein handling (405) the one or more measurement procedures further takes into account a channel state information for communicating a measurement of the one or more measurement procedures.

7. The method according to any of the claims 1-6, wherein handling (405) the one or more measurement procedures comprises performing a measurementprocedure using one or more parameters, wherein the one or more parameters are based on the energy level of the energy storage of the UE (10) and / or a channel state of a channel for communicating a measurement of the one or more measurement procedures.

8. A method performed by a radio network node (12) for handling communication in a wireless communication network, the method comprising- transmitting (412) a configuration to a user equipment, UE, (10) for handling one or more measurement procedures taking an energy level of an energy storage of the UE (10) into account.

9. A user equipment, UE, (10) for handling communication in a wireless communication network, wherein the UE (10) is configured to: handle one or more measurement procedures taking an energy level of an energy storage of the UE (10) into account.

10. The UE (10) according to claim 9, wherein the UE (10) is configured to perform the method according to any of the claims 2-7.

11. A radio network node (12) for handling communication in a wireless communication network, wherein the radio network node (12) is configured to: transmit a configuration to a user equipment, UE, (10) for handling one or more measurement procedures taking an energy level of an energy storage of the UE (10) into account.

12. A computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1-8, as performed by the UE and the radio network node, respectively.

13. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1-8, as performed by the UE and the radio network node, respectively.

Images