Methods and apparatuses for handling paging issue for UE in poor coverage

Abstract

Apparatuses and methods are disclosed for providing paging of User Equipments (UEs) in poor network coverage. In one embodiment, a method performed by a UE comprises monitoring for a notification alert of a paging during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts a time offset T_o before a periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE is configured to monitor for incoming paging, and detecting a notification alert during the time window, as a result of the monitoring. As a result of the notification alert, the UE can be moved to a position (e.g., out of the user's pocket) with improved signal strength or quality, thereby enabling the UE to receive a paging message.

Description

METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR HANDLING PAGING ISSUE FOR UE IN POOR COVERAGERELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application serial number 63 / 613,648, filed December 21, 2023, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates to paging in a cellular communications system.BACKGROUND

[0003] In 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 8, the Evolved Packet System (EPS) was specified. EPS is based on the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio network and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC). It was originally intended to provide voice and Mobile Broadband (MBB) services but has continuously evolved to broaden its functionality. Since Release 13, Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) and LTE for Machine Type Communication (LTE-M) are part of the LTE specifications and provide connectivity to massive Machine Type Communications (mMTC) services.

[0004] In 3GPP Release 15, the first release of the 5G System (5GS) was specified. This is a new generation’s radio access technology intended to serve use cases such as enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB), Ultra-Reliable and Low Latency Communication (URLLC), and mMTC. 5G includes the New Radio (NR) access stratum interface and the 5G Core Network (5GC). The NR physical and higher layers reuse parts of the LTE specification, and to that add needed components when motivated by new use cases. One such component is the introduction of a sophisticated framework for beam forming and beam management to extend the support of the 3GPP technologies to a frequency range going beyond 6 Gigahertz (GHz).

[0005] In Release 15, 3GPP started the work to prepare NR for operation in a NonTerrestrial Network (NTN). The work was performed within the study item “NR to support NonTerrestrial Networks”. In Release 16, the work to prepare NR for operation in an NTN network continued with the study item “Solutions for NR to support Non-Terrestrial Network”. In parallel, the interest to adapt NB-IoT and LTE-M for operation in NTN is growing. As a consequence, 3 GPP Release 17 specified support for operating NB-IoT, LTE-M, and NR over an NTN, and Release 18 continued with further enhancements.

[0006] The next sections provide a brief background description of some relevant topics for the present disclosure.

[0007] In 3 GPP, NTN includes both satellite communication and communications using High-Altitude Platforms (HAPS). In this section, the focus is on satellite communication, but the provided description could also be applied to a HAPS network. A satellite radio access network usually includes the following components:• a satellite that refers to a space-borne platform;• an earth-based gateway that connects the satellite to a base station or a core network, depending on the choice of architecture;• feeder link that refers to the link between the gateway and the satellite; and• access link that refers to the link between the satellite and a User Equipment (UE).

[0008] Depending on the orbit altitude, a satellite may be categorized as a Low Earth Orbit (LEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), or Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellite:• LEO: typical heights ranging from 250 - 1,500 kilometers (km), with orbital periods ranging from 90 - 120 minutes;• MEO: typical heights ranging from 5,000 - 25,000 km, with orbital periods ranging from 3 - 15 hours;• GEO: height at about 35,786 km, with an orbital period of 24 hours.

[0009] A communication satellite typically generates several beams over a given area. The footprint of a beam is usually in an elliptic shape, which has been traditionally considered as a cell. The footprint of a beam is also often referred to as a spotbeam. The footprint of a beam may move over the earth’s surface with the satellite movement or may be earth fixed with some beam pointing mechanism used by the satellite to compensate for its motion. The size of a spotbeam depends on the system design, which may range from tens of kilometers to a few thousands of kilometers.

[0010] Figure 1 shows an example architecture of a satellite network with bent pipe transponders. The depicted elevation angle of the service link is important as it impacts the distance between the satellite and the device, and the velocity of the satellite relative to the device.

[0011] In 5G, NR NTN coverage is a challenging problem due to the large distance between the satellite carrying the 5G gNodeB (gNB) and the UEs on ground receiving the gNBs transmission. One proposal for overcoming this coverage issue is to introduce a robust notification channel that is designed to support extended coverage and operate at a low Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). This channel can be transmitted prior to a downlink page to alert the user ofa UE that it has an incoming page soon to be expected. The user will, upon receiving the alert, move its UE to a better location (e.g., out from the user’s pocket) to ensure that the UE is in better SNR conditions that is good enough to support paging reception.

[0012] The overall 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) (also referred to as Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) architecture is depicted in Figure 2. As illustrated, the NG-RAN includes gNBs connected to the 5GC. gNBs may also have connections (Xn-C) to other gNBs. A gNB may include a gNB-Central Unit (CU) and one or more gNB -Distributed Units (gNB-DUs) connected to the gNB-CU via corresponding Fl interfaces.

[0013] A gNB with a split user plane (UP) / control plane (CP) architecture is depicted in Figure 3. As illustrated, the gNB CU is split into a gNB-CU-CP and one or more gNB-CU-UPs. The gNB-CU hosts the Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer and the control plane part of the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer, and the gNB-DU hosts the Radio Link Control (RLC), Medium Access Control (MAC), and physical (PHY) layers.

[0014] For UEs in RRC Idle, there is a paging procedure. This paging procedure is used to notify a UE in RRC Idle of an incoming data or call in order to initiate an RRC connection establishment. For UEs in RRC Inactive, there is a RAN paging procedure that triggers the UE to reactivate its temporarily suspended connection, which is typically used to optimize latency and power saving.SUMMARY

[0015] Systems and methods are disclosed for providing paging of User Equipments (UEs) in poor network coverage. In one embodiment, a method performed by a UE comprises monitoring for a notification alert of a paging during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts a time offset T o before a periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE is configured to monitor for incoming paging, and detecting a notification alert during the time window, as a result of the monitoring. As a result of the notification alert, the UE can be moved to a position (e.g., out of the user’s pocket) with improved signal strength or quality, thereby enabling the UE to receive a paging message.

[0016] In one embodiment, monitoring for a notification alert of a paging during the time window comprises monitoring for a notification alert of a paging during the time window on a notification channel that uses one or more robust physical layer transmission parameters. In one embodiment, the one or more robust physical layer transmission parameters comprises a modulation order not larger than a certain modulation order threshold, a code rate not larger than a certain code rate threshold, and / or a transmission power above a certain power threshold. Inone embodiment, the UE obtains information about time and frequency resources for monitoring the notification channel based on pre-defined information or by receiving the information in a broadcast channel.

[0017] In one embodiment, the method further comprises transmitting, to a network node, an acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert. In one embodiment, transmitting the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert comprises transmitting the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert upon reception of user input from a user of the UE that acknowledges that the user has received the notification alert. In another embodiment, transmitting the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert comprises transmitting the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert upon autonomous detection by the UE that the UE has been moved to a position with improved signal strength or quality. In one embodiment, transmitting the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert comprises transmitting a configured Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) preamble or sending an indication during or after a connection setup procedure.

[0018] In one embodiment, the method further comprises monitoring for a paging message in a paging opportunity after reception of the notification alert.

[0019] In one embodiment, periodically reoccurring paging opportunities are repeated with a shortened periodicity after expiry of T o during a paging transmission window of length T_pw.

[0020] In one embodiment, the method further comprises sending, to a network node, information that indicates that the UE supports notification alerts of paging.

[0021] In one embodiment, the method further comprises sending, to a network node, information that suggests values for the configured length T_nw of the time window and the time offset T o.

[0022] In one embodiment, the method further comprises receiving, from a network node, information that configures the configured length T_nw of the time window and the time offset T o.

[0023] Corresponding embodiments of a UE are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a UE is adapted to monitor for a notification alert of a paging during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts a time offset T o before a periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE is configured to monitor for incoming paging and detect a notification alert during the time window, as a result of the monitoring.

[0024] In another embodiment, a UE comprises a communication interface comprising a transmitter and a receiver, and processing circuitry associated with the communication interface. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the UE to monitor for a notification alert of apaging during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts a time offset T o before a periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE is configured to monitor for incoming paging and detect a notification alert during the time window, as a result of the monitoring.

[0025] Related embodiments of a network node and methods of operation thereof are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a method performed by a first network node comprises transmitting, to a UE, a notification alert of a paging, the notification alert being transmitted during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts a time offset T o before a periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE is configured to monitor for incoming paging. The method further comprises transmitting, to the UE, a paging message in a paging opportunity after transmitting the notification alert.

[0026] In one embodiment, transmitting the notification alert during the time window comprises transmitting the notification alert during the time window on a notification channel that uses one or more robust physical layer transmission parameters. In one embodiment, the one or more robust physical layer transmission parameters comprises a modulation order not larger than a certain modulation order threshold, a code rate not larger than a certain code rate threshold, and / or a transmission power above a certain power threshold. In one embodiment, information about time and frequency resources that the UE is to monitor the notification channel is either pre-defined or transmitted by the first network node in a broadcast channel.

[0027] In one embodiment, the method further comprises, prior to transmitting the paging message, receiving, from the UE, an acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert. In one embodiment, receiving the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert comprises receiving, from the UE, a configured PRACH preamble or receiving an indication during or after a connection setup procedure.

[0028] In one embodiment, transmitting the paging message comprises transmitting, to the UE, the paging message in the paging opportunity after transmitting the notification alert and, receiving the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert from the UE.

[0029] In one embodiment, periodically reoccurring paging opportunities are repeated with a shortened periodicity after expiry of T o during a paging transmission window of length T_pw.

[0030] In one embodiment, the method further comprises receiving, from the UE, information that indicates that the UE supports notification alerts of paging.

[0031] In one embodiment, the first network node is a Central Unit (CU) of a Radio Access Network (RAN) node, transmitting the notification alert of the paging to the UE comprises transmitting, to a Distributed Unit (DU) of the RAN node, a notification alert message about the notification alert to be sent to the UE, and transmitting the paging message to the UE comprisestransmitting the paging message to the UE via the DU of the RAN node. In one embodiment, the method further comprises receiving, from another network node, information that indicates that the UE supports notification alerts of paging. In one embodiment, the another network node is a core network node, and receiving the information that indicates that the UE supports notification alerts of paging comprises receiving a paging related message comprising the information that indicates that the UE supports notification alerts of paging. In one embodiment, the method further comprises transmitting, to the UE, an initial paging message via the DU of the RAN node, detecting a paging failure related to the initial paging message for the UE, and, responsive to detecting the paging failure, determining that the notification alert is to be sent to the UE.

[0032] In one embodiment, the first network node is a DU of a RAN node.

[0033] In one embodiment, the first network node is either a RAN node or a CU of the RAN node. In one embodiment, the method further comprises receiving a notification alert from a core network node that indicates that the notification alert is to be sent to the UE.

[0034] In one embodiment, the method further comprises receiving, from the UE, information that suggests values for the configured length T_nw of the time window and the time offset T o.

[0035] In one embodiment, the method further comprises transmitting, to the UE, information that configures the configured length T_nw of the time window and the time offset T o.

[0036] Corresponding embodiments of a first network node are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a first network node is adapted to transmit, to a UE, a notification alert of a paging, the notification alert being transmitting during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts a time offset T o before a periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE is configured to monitor for incoming paging. The first network node is further adapted to transmit, to the UE, a paging message in a paging opportunity after transmitting the notification alert.

[0037] In one embodiment, a first network node comprises processing circuitry configured to cause the first network node to transmit, to a UE, a notification alert of a paging, the notification alert being transmitting during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts a time offset T o before a periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE is configured to monitor for incoming paging. The processing circuitry is further configured to cause the first network node to transmit, to the UE, a paging message in a paging opportunity after transmitting the notification alert.

[0038] In one embodiment, a method performed by a second network node comprises sending to a first network node, information about a notification alert for paging for a UE.

[0039] In one embodiment, the method further comprises determining that the UE is subject to applying a notification alert procedure that provides notification alerts prior to sending a paging message. In one embodiment, determining that the UE is subject to applying the notification alert procedure comprises determining that the UE is in poor network coverage.

[0040] In one embodiment, the first network node is a DU of a RAN node, and the second network node is a CU of the RAN node.

[0041] In one embodiment, the first network node is a RAN node, and the second network node is a CN node.

[0042] In one embodiment, the first network node is a first RAN node, and the second network node is a second RAN node.

[0043] Corresponding embodiments of a second network node are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a second network node is adapted to send to a first network node, information about a notification alert for paging for a UE.

[0044] In one embodiment, a second network node comprises processing circuitry configured to cause the second network node to send to a first network node, information about a notification alert for paging for a UE.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

[0046] Figure 1 illustrates an example architecture of a satellite network with bent pipe transponders;

[0047] Figure 2 illustrates the overall 5thGeneration (5G) Radio Access Network (RAN) (also referred to as Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) architecture;

[0048] Figure 3 illustrates the split gNodeB (gNB) architecture;

[0049] Figure 4 illustrates a time relation between paging and the new notification alert disclosed herein;

[0050] Figure 5 illustrates paging sent after user acknowledges downlink notification alert reception, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0051] Figure 6 illustrates paging sent after the User Equipment (UE) detects improved signal strength or quality and autonomously acknowledges downlink notification alert reception, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0052] Figure 7 illustrates an example procedure in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0053] Figure 8 illustrates a new F1AP procedure for “Notification Alert”, which is in one example a new procedure added to 3 GPP TS 38.473, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0054] Figure 9 illustrates an example of “Notification Alert” message over F1AP of Figure 8, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0055] Figure 10 illustrates an example to reuse paging message to indicate to the gNB-DU to send Notification Alert to the UEs, which may be a mechanism used to send the Notification Alert message of Figure 8, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0056] Figure 11 illustrates an example procedure in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0057] Figure 12 illustrates an example of a new Notification Alert message in TS 38.413 where the CN(e.g. AMF) includes the number of attempts that NG-RAN node should use to send the Notification Alert to UE, other assistance information, UE capability, etc., in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0058] Figure 13 illustrates an example procedure in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0059] Figure 14A illustrates an example of a new Notification Alert procedure, which may, for example, be added to 3GPP TS 38.423, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0060] Figure 14B illustrates an example embodiment of the RAN Notification Alert message of Figure 14A;

[0061] Figure 15 illustrates an example of using the existing procedure, e.g. RAN Paging. TS 38.423s, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0062] Figure 16 illustrates a procedure in accordance with at least some of the embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0063] Figure 17 shows an example of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0064] Figure 18 shows a UE in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0065] Figure 19 shows a network node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0066] Figure 20 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments of the present disclosure may be virtualized; and

[0067] Figure 21 illustrates an example of indication to the network of a UE’s capability of handling Notification Alert, Alt 1 : via RRC, Alt2: via NAS, Alt3: via UDM / subscription.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0068] The embodiments set forth below represent information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best mode of practicing the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure.

[0069] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.Generalization

[0070] As used herein, the term gNodeB (gNB) or evolved NodeB (eNB) may refer to any type of logical or physical radio network node or radio access node or Radio Access Network (RAN) node. The radio network node may communicate with a User Equipment (UE) using radio signals. Examples of the radio network node are base station, access point, Transmission and Reception Point (TRP), Integrated Access and Backhaul (IAB) node, etc. Examples of the radio signals are physical signals, which do not contain higher layer information and physical channels, which contain higher layer information. Examples of the physical signals are Synchronization Signal Block (SSB), Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSLRS), Positioning Reference Signal (PRS), Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS), etc. Examples of the physical channels are Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCH), Random Access Channel (RACH), etc.

[0071] As used herein, the term gNB-Central Unit (CU) or eNB-CU may refer to any type of logical or physical radio network node or radio access node or RAN node, which contains a Central Unit (CU), which may also be referred to herein as a control unit. The CU of the radioaccess node hosts or manages the higher layer protocols such as Radio Resource Control (RRC), Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), etc.

[0072] As used herein, the term gNB -Distributed Unit (DU) or eNB-DU may refer to any type of logical or physical radio network node or radio access node or RAN node, which contains a Distributed Unit (DU). The DU of the radio access node hosts or manages the lower layer protocols such as Radio Link Control (RLC), Medium Access Control (MAC), physical layer, etc.

[0073] As used herein, the term Core Network (CN) may refer to any type of logical or physical radio network node or radio access node, which manages or performs core network functions. Examples of the CN (or CN node) are Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Mobility Management Entity (MME), etc.

[0074] There currently exist certain challenge(s) in relation to reception of paging by UEs in poor coverage. As discussed in the Background section above, one proposal for overcoming the New Radio (NR) Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) coverage issue is the introduction of a robust notification channel, which can be transmitted prior to a downlink page to alert the user of the UE that an incoming page is to be expected soon. A first issue with the proposed robust notification channel is that the time between the reception of the notification channel and subsequent paging transmission is unknown. This means that a user may be notified to move its UE to a more Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) friendly location but miss the subsequent page because the user reacted too slowly. A second issue is that paging is a core network control function, and the outlined solution for the proposed robust notification channel requires RAN- CN signaling that so far has not been defined. Paging is used for a number of use cases, and it may, e.g., be so that the notification channel is only applicable to a subset of them.

[0075] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. Embodiments of systems and methods are disclosed herein that provide solutions to support paging of UEs in poor coverage.

[0076] Embodiments of solutions for the UE to monitor and detect a notification alert (e.g., on a robust notification channel) of an upcoming paging are disclosed. Embodiments are also disclosed that relate to signaling impacts for the network to transmit the notification alert, and the subsequent paging. The solutions apply to UE in idle state (e.g., RRC Idle) and inactive state (e.g., RRC Inactive).

[0077] In one embodiment, a procedure is provided for the exchange of new signaling messages between a CN node (e.g., AMF) and a RAN node (e.g., gNB, gNB-CU). For example, the CN node, upon detecting that a UE has not received a paging, sends a request or indication tothe RAN node (e.g., NG-RAN node such as, e.g., gNB, gNB-CU in split RAN architecture) to send a “Notification Alert” message to that UE.

[0078] In another embodiment, a procedure is provided for exchange of new signaling messages between NG-RAN node-CUs (e.g., RAN Paging) and between gNB-CU to gNB-DU in the split RAN architecture. For example, the gNB-CU, upon detecting that a certain UE is in poor network coverage (e.g. the UE has not setup a connection after sending at least a certain number of paging messages) requests the gNB-DU to transmit a “Notification Alert” message on the notification channel to that UE, prior sending to the normal paging message.

[0079] In embodiments of the present disclosure, the CN node and / or RAN node, based on one or more criteria, detects that the UE has not or is unable to receive a paging message. Based on this detection, the CN node and / or RAN node initiates a procedure that enables the delivery of a Notification Alert message to that UE. For example, the reception of the Notification Alert message at the UE may request the subscriber (i.e., the user of the UE) to move to a location (e.g., in an open area) where the UE can receive the paging. Further details are provided below.

[0080] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). Embodiments of the solution(s) described herein enable a UE in poor coverage, e.g. using NTN, to be paged. Embodiments of the present disclosure enable a UE in bad coverage to set up a call.

[0081] Now, a description of a procedure for notification of channel transmission in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure will be provided. A UE monitors a downlink (DL) frequency resource (e.g., one or more physical resource blocks) to detect the presence of a notification alert channel. The paging opportunity may be enhanced.

[0082] In an embodiment, the network waits for the UE to acknowledge reception of the notification alert channel before transmitting the page.

[0083] The UE acknowledgement may, for example, compromise transmission of a configured Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) preamble to the network, or sending an indication during or after the connection setup procedure, e.g. in Msg3 or Msg5 of the Random Access (RA) procedure.

[0084] The UE may obtain information about the time and frequency resources / location for monitoring for the notification alert channel based on pre-defined information or by receiving this information in a broadcast channel, e.g. System Information Block (SIB) such as SIB1. The same applies for the configuration of the acknowledgement (e.g., which preamble to transmit the acknowledgement on).

[0085] In an embodiment, a UE monitors a DL frequency resource (e.g., one or more physical resource blocks) to detect the presence of a notification alert channel. The UE is configured to perform the monitoring during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts an offset T o before the periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE is configured to monitor for incoming paging.

[0086] In an additional embodiment, the paging opportunity may be repeated with a short periodicity T_p after expiry of T o during a paging transmission window of length T_pw.

[0087] The network (NW) (e.g., a network node) aims to configure these timers of suitable lengths to allow a user to move its UE to better coverage after receiving the notification alert channel transmission. To support an accurate configuration, the UE may signal and suggest a suitable set of timer values to the network. The UE may request input from the mobile user for suitable values to indicate to the network.

[0088] Figure 4 illustrates the time relation (namely, T_nw, T o, T _p, and T_pw) between paging (paging opportunities) and the notification alert channel.

[0089] In an embodiment, the NW (e.g., a network node) waits for the UE to acknowledge the reception of the notification channel before transmitting the page. The user of the UE will then need to acknowledge that he / she has received the notification alert channel on his / her UE by an explicit action (e.g., pressing an acknowledge button on the UE screen). This user action will trigger the UE to transmit an acknowledgment to the NW which can then respond by transmitting the corresponding paging message to the UE or by configuring the UE with uplink and downlink resources for directly communicating with the UE. One example of paging sent after user acknowledges reception of the downlink notification channel / message is illustrated in Figure 5.

[0090] In an alternative embodiment, the UE autonomously detects that it has been moved to better SNR. conditions by measuring DL reference signal transmissions (e.g., the SSB) during a configured measurement period. Once the signal quality (e.g., SNR.) or Reference Signal Receive Power (RSRP) exceeds a configured threshold, the UE autonomously sends an acknowledgment to the network which can respond by transmitting the page to set up a connection to the user. Figure 6 illustrates one example of paging sent after the UE detects improved signal strength or quality and autonomously acknowledges reception of the downlink notification channel or message.

[0091] In one embodiment, the UE acknowledgment may compromise the transmission of a configured PRACH preamble to the network or sending an indication during or after the connection setup procedure, e.g. in Msg3 or Msg5 of the RA procedure.

[0092] In one embodiment, the UE may obtain information about the time and frequency resources / location for monitoring for the notification alert channel based on pre-defined information or by receiving this information in a broadcast channel, e.g. system information block (SIB) such as SIB1. The same applies for the configuration of the acknowledgement (e.g., which preamble to transmit the acknowledgement on).

[0093] Now, embodiments related to network detection of a UE in poor coverage and subsequent paging handling will be described.

[0094] Group 1: This group of embodiments relate to the RAN detecting the UE in poor coverage and needing to use the enhanced “Notification Alert” message.

[0095] The gNB-CU detects and determines which UEs are subject to apply the “Notification Alert” (also referred to herein as a “Notification” or “Alert”) procedure.

[0096] One example is illustrated in Figure 7. The steps of this example procedure involve a UE, a gNB-DU, a gNB-CU, and an AMF, and are as follows:• Step 700 (Optional): The UE indicates, either via Non-Access Stratum (NAS) or Access Stratum (AS), that the UE has the capability to receive Notification Alerts. The AMF stores this capability information in a UE context of the UE or with a UE ID of the UE (e.g., 5G Shortened Temporary Mobile Subscription Identity (5G-S-TMSI)).• Step 702: The AMF determines that the UE needs to be paged.• Step 704: The AMF sends, to the gNB-CU, a paging message and an indication (e.g., in the paging message or as a separate message) that the UE has capability to receive a Notification Alert.• Step 706: The gNB-CU pages the UE via the gNB-DU.• Step 708: The gNB-CU detects a paging failure and, as a result, determines that a Notification Alert is to be sent to the UE.• Step 710: The gNB-CU sends a notification alert message to the gNB-DU, which in turn transmits the notification alert to the UE.• Step 712: The gNB-CU sends a paging message to the gNB-DU, which transmits the paging message to the UE. Note that steps 710 and 712 may be performed according to any of the embodiments described above in relation to the embodiments of the procedure for notification channel transmission.

[0097] In one embodiment, the gNB-CU detects and determines which UEs are subject to apply the “Notification Alert” upon determining that the UEs are in poor network coverage, e.g. unfavorable radio conditions.

[0098] When the gNB-CU pages the UE, in the normal situation (e.g., when signal quality (e.g., SNR, Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR), etc.) is above threshold), the UE starts the PRACH procedure upon receiving the paging. At Msg3 and Msg5 of the PRACH procedure, the UE identity is sent by the UE to the network node, e.g. serving base station such as serving gNB-CU. After receiving Msg5, the gNB-CU initiates the first message to CN (e.g., AMF) with “Initial UE Message”, carrying 5G-S-TMSI as well as an uplink (UL) NAS Protocol Data Unit (PDU). By keeping track of the UE being paged and UE successfully setting up the RRC connection, gNB-CU evaluates whether the UE fails the paging. The gNB-CU uses other paging assistance information, as well as the UE paging capability, to determine which UEs are subject to using the “Notification Alert”.

[0099] The gNB-CU may determine that a certain UE is in poor network coverage based on one or more of the following mechanisms. Note that these mechanisms are only examples. Other mechanisms may be used.• The UE has not successfully received any paging in the last certain time period e.g. Ti l seconds, Ni l number of paging cycles, N12 number of System Frame Number (SFN) cycles, N13 number of hyper-SFN (H-SFN) cycles, etc. As an example, 1 H-SFN cycle corresponds to 10 SFN cycles and 1 SFN cycle corresponds to 1024 radio frames (e.g., 1 radio frame =10 milliseconds (ms)) . For example, if the UE did not initiate the Random Access Channel (RACH) transmission after it has been paged by the gNB-DU then the gNB-CU may assume that the UE has not received the paging.• The UE has successfully received the paging in the last certain time period (e.g. T12 seconds, N14 number of paging cycles, N15 number of SFN cycles, N16 number of H-SFN cycles etc.) only after the gNB-DU has transmitted the same paging message to the UE at least N17 number of times.• The UE has successfully received the paging in the last certain time period (e.g. T13 seconds, N18 number of paging cycles, N19 number of SFN cycles, N20 number of H-SFN cycles etc.) provided that the gNB-DU has transmitted at least one paging message to the UE with transmission power above certain threshold e.g. with at least 3 dB more power than in favorable radio conditions (i.e. when the UE is not in poor network coverage).• The gNB-CU detects that the UE is in poor radio coverage based on an RRC message (e.g., a random access related message) such as, e.g., Msg3 or Msg 5.

[0100] The CN (e.g., AMF) includes in the Paging message the assistance information for NG-RAN node (i.e., the gNB-CU in Figure 7) to determine if to send the Notification Alert, e.g. that the UE is capable of receiving Notification Alert. When the NG-RAN node receives acertain number of Paging Attempts, the NG-RAN node understand that the UE has failed to be paged and thus determines to send the “Notification Alert” message to the UE.

[0101] In one embodiment, the gNB-CU, upon determining that a certain UE is in poor network coverage, e.g. unfavorable radio conditions (see, e.g., step 708 of Figure 7), initiates the “Notification Alert” procedure. As part of the “Notification Alert” procedure, the gNB-CU requests the gNB-DU serving that UE to transmit the “Notification Alert” message (e.g., on a new notification channel) to that UE (see, e.g., step 710 of Figure 7). For example, the gNB-DU transmits the Notification Alert message (i.e., the signals representing the Notification Alert message) on the notification channel using robust physical layer transmission parameters, e.g. robust Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) and / or transmission power above certain threshold. An example of robust MCS comprises of modulation order not larger than certain threshold (e.g., Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK)), code rate not larger than certain threshold (e.g., 1 / 3), and / or the like. The robustness of the physical layer transmission parameters enables the UE to successfully receive the Notification Alert message on the notification channel even when the UE is in a poor network coverage.

[0102] As illustrated in Figure 8, in one embodiment, the gNB-CU indicates to gNB-DU that the “Notification Alert” should be sent to the determined UEs. This corresponds to step 706 of Figure 7. In this example, the “Notification Alert” procedure is defined as a new procedure over F1AP. In one embodiment, the gNB-CU determines the number of Attempts / Repetitions that gNB-DU shall send to the Notification Alert message. Figure 9 illustrates one example of the Notification Alert message of Figure 8. Note that Figures 8 and 9 are shown as example additions to 3GPP specifications (specifically shown as additions to 3GPP TS 38.473).

[0103] In one embodiment, CN (e.g., AMF) includes in the Paging message (see, e.g., step 704 of Figure 7) the assistance information for NG-RAN node (e.g., the gNB-CU) to determine whether to send the Notification Alert. This assistance information includes information that indicates, e.g. that the UE is capable of receiving Notification Alert. When the NG-RAN node receives a certain number of Paging Attempts, the NG-RAN node understands that the UE has failed to be paged and thus determines to send the “Notification Alert” message to the UE.

[0104] Figure 10 illustrates one example embodiment in which the paging message sent from the gNB-CU to the gNB-DU for the existing paging procedure is used to convey the Notification Alert message from the gNB-CU to the gNB-DU. In other words, in the example of Figure 10, the existing procedure, e.g., Paging procedure, is reused to convey the Notification Alert information.

[0105] Group 2: This group of embodiments relates to the CN detecting the UE in poor coverage and indicating this to the RAN.

[0106] When the CN (e.g., AMF) detects that the UE cannot be paged by the existing paging procedure, it initiates the “Notification Alert”.

[0107] One example is illustrated in Figure 11. The steps of this example procedure involved a UE, gNB-DU, gNB-CU, and AMF, and are as follows:• Step 1100 (Optional): The UE indicates, either via NAS or AS, that the UE has the capability to receive Notification Alerts. The AMF stores this capability information in a UE context of the UE or with a UE ID of the UE (e.g., 5G-S-TMSI).• Step 1102: The AMF detects a paging failure for the UE and determines that the UE should be sent a Notification Alert (e.g., based on the paging failure and optionally other information such as, e.g., the capability of the UE to receive a Notification Alert).• Step 1104: The AMF sends, to the gNB-CU, a Notification Alert.• Step 1106: The gNB-CU sends the Notification Alert to the gNB-DU, which in turn transmits the Notification Alert to the UE.• Step 1108: The AMF sends a paging message for the UE to the gNB-CU.• Step 1110: The gNB-CU sends the paging message to the gNB-CU, which in turn transmits the paging message to the UE. Note that transmission of the Notification Alert and the paging message to the UE may be performed according to any of the embodiments described above in relation to the embodiments of the procedure for notification channel transmission.

[0108] In one embodiment, when the CN (e.g., AMF) detects that the UE cannot be paged by the existing paging procedure (e.g., in step 1102), the CN thereby determines that the UE is in poor coverage and indicates this to the RAN.

[0109] For example, if the CN detects that the UE is unable to receive the paging after more than a certain number of paging attempts / transmissions, then the CN determines that the UE cannot be paged by the existing paging procedure. If the UE has not initiated the RRC connection setup (e.g., within a certain time period since the last paging transmission), then the CN can determine that the UE has not successfully received the paging. The CN can determine that the UE has not initiated the RRC connection setup autonomously (e.g., upon expiry of the timer) and / or based on an indication / message received from the gNB or gNB-C (in split RAN architecture).

[0110] In one embodiment, CN (e.g., AMF) sends the Notification Alert to NG-RAN node (e.g., to the gNB-CU in step 1104), e.g. using a new procedure.

[0111] In one embodiment, the CN (e.g., AMF) indicates, e.g. in the existing Paging procedure that NG-RAN node (e.g., the gNB-CU) should send Notification Alert to the UE (e.g., in step 1104), and this Notification Alert is followed by the Paging procedure. The CN (e.g., AMF) may indicate the number of Attempts that the NG-RAN node should send the Notification Alert. One example of this Notification Alert is shown in Figure 12.

[0112] The CN can be configured to selectively provide the “Notification Alert” to the RAN for specific services, where a voice call is one such service.

[0113] In one embodiment, for the split RAN architecture, gNB-CU upon the reception of the “Notification Alert” from CN (e.g., AMF), indicates to gNB-DU (e.g., in step 1106) that the “Notification Alert” is sent to the specific UE. Refer to Group 1 for example embodiments for how the gNB-CU sends such notification to the gNB-DU.

[0114] The CN (e.g., AMF) can be signaled, or by configuration, that the NG-RAN node, or some areas / cells within the NG-RAN node are supporting transmission of the “Notification Alert”.

[0115] Common for Group 1 and Group 2: In the split RAN architecture, gNB-CU indicates to gNB-DU that the “Notification Alert” is sent to the specific UE. One example is shown in Figure 13 where the gNB-CU sends a Notification Alert message including the UE ID of the specific UE and optionally additional information (e.g., a notification area) to the gNB- DU.

[0116] Group 3: Solution on Xn interface for RRC Inactive

[0117] For RRC Inactive UE, RAN paging may be used to page the UE. Common for theGroup 1 and Group 2 solutions, the anchor / old serving NG-RAN node, at the paging failure, needs to inform the neighboring NG-RAN node that the UE shall be notified with “Notification Alert”.

[0118] When RAN paging is used, the neighboring NG-RAN node is informed by the anchor / old serving NG-RAN node that the UE shall be notified with “Notification Alert”, and subsequently to be paged by the “paging” message.

[0119] The neighboring NG-RAN node (the receiver) is specified to store the paging information for later use, i.e. a “partial paging UE context can be created.

[0120] The neighboring NG-RAN node is specified to send the Notification Alert upon the reception of the indicator.

[0121] For RRC Inactive UE, RAN paging is used to page the UE.

[0122] In one embodiment, for both Group 1 and Group 2 solutions, the anchor / old servingNG-RAN node informs the neighboring NG-RAN node that the UE shall be notified with“Notification Alert” upon paging failure. The information is sent to the neighboring NG-RAN node via Xn interface using a new procedure (see, e.g., Figures 14A and 14B). Figure 14 illustrates an example of the procedure. In this procedure, the anchor / old serving NG-RAN node sends a RAN Notification Alert to the neighboring NG-RAN node that informs the NG-RAN node that the UE shall be notified with a Notification Alert upon paging failure. Figure 14B illustrates an example embodiment of the RAN Notification Alert.

[0123] In one embodiment, the neighboring NG-RAN node (e.g., gNB2-CU) may further be informed by the anchor / old serving NG-RAN node (e.g., gNBl-CU) that the “Notification Alert” should be sent to UE using the existing procedure, e.g. RAN Paging, refer to Figure 15. Figure 15 illustrates an example of the RAN Paging message in which the neighboring NG-RAN node (e.g., gNB2-CU) may further be informed by the anchor / old serving NG-RAN node (e.g., gNBl- CU) that the “Notification Alert” should be sent to UE using the existing procedure, e.g. RAN Paging.

[0124] In one embodiment, if the RAN paging message has been sent, the NG-RAN node 2 (the receiver of the RAN paging message) is specified to store the paging information for later use, i.e. a “partial paging UE context can be created.

[0125] In one embodiment, the NG-RAN node2 (the receiver of the RAN paging message) is specified to send the Notification Alert upon the reception of the indicator. In another embodiment, NG-RAN node2 (the receiver of the RAN paging message) is specified to send the Notification Alert, followed by the RAN Paging message.

[0126] The description thus far has focused on the operation of the network. Now, a discussion of UE-side embodiments will be provided. In one embodiment, the UE indicates its capability of handling the “enhanced paging” function, e.g. “Notification Alert”, via NAS signaling or subscription (e.g. stored on Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), Universal SIM (USIM) or embedded SIM (eSIM)). The CN indicates this UE capability to the NG-RAN node via signaling message (e.g., message sent at Paging procedure or Notification Alert procedure) on the interface between the CN and the NG-RAN (e.g., Ng).

[0127] In one embodiment, UE indicates its capability of “Notification Alert” via RRC explicitly. Upon the reception, the NG-RAN node includes it in the Initial UE Message (example) to the CN, where the CN will store this information together with UE identity, e.g. 5G-S-TMSI, to be used for the next paging.

[0128] Figure 21 illustrates three alternative procedures in which the UE capability for handling Notification Alerts is provided to the network, in accordance with example embodiments of the present disclosure. In Alternative 1, the UE sends, to the RAN node, anindication that the UE supports Notification Alerts, e.g., via RRC (step 2100). The RAN node sends, to a CN node (e.g., AMF), a message (e.g., an N2 message such as, e.g., an Initial UE Message) that includes information that indicates that the UE supports Notification Alerts (step 2102). The CN node stores information that indicates that the UE supports Notification Alerts (step 2104).

[0129] In Alternative 2, the UE sends, to a CN node (e.g., AMF), information that indicates that the UE supports Notification Alerts (e.g., via a PDU such as, e.g., an UL NAS PDU) (step 2106). The CN node stores information that indicates that the UE supports Notification Alerts (step 2108).

[0130] In Alternative 3, the CN node (e.g., AMF) obtains information from, e.g., a Unified Data Management (UDM), that indicates that the UE supports Notification Alerts (step 2110). This information may, for example, be included in subscription information of the UE.

[0131] In one embodiment, UE acknowledges the Notification Alert message.

[0132] Figure 16 illustrates one example of a paging and notification alert procedure in accordance with one example embodiment of the present disclosure. Optional steps are represented by dashed lines / boxes. The process of Figure 16 involves a UE 1600, a first network node 1601 (e.g., a gNB or gNB-DU), and optionally a second network node 1602 (e.g., gNB-CU in the case the first network node 1601 is a gNB-DU, a CN node, or a second gNB). As illustrated, the UE 1600 may send, to the first network node 1601 (or to some other network node (e.g., gNB-CU) via the first network node 1601), information that indicates that the UE 1600 supports Notification Alerts, as described herein (step 1603). The UE 1600 may send, to the first network node 1601 (or to some other network node (e.g., gNB-CU) via the first network node 1601), information that suggests values for timers T_nw, T o, T_p, and / or T_pw (step 1604). The first network node 1601 may send (via broadcast or unicast), to the UE 1600, information that configures values for T_nw, T o, T_p, and / or T_pw (step 1606).

[0133] The second network node 1602 may send a Notification Alert for the UE 1600 to the first network node 1601 (step 1607). This notification alert may be sent in accordance with any of the Group 1, Group 2, or Group 3 embodiments described above.

[0134] The first network node 1601 transmits a Notification Alert to the UE 1600 (e.g., on a notification channel) during the time window during which the UE 1600 is configured to monitor for a Notification Alert (step 1608). The UE monitors for a Notification Alert (e.g., on a new notification channel) during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts a time offset T o before a periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE 1600 is configured to monitor for incoming paging (step 1610). Details regarding the configured timers as well as thetransmission of the Notification Alert on the notification channel are described above and are equally applicable here to Figure 16.

[0135] Optionally, the UE 1600 sends, to the network node 1600 (or to another network node (e.g., gNB-CU) via the first network node 1601), an acknowledgement of reception of the Notification Alert (step 1612). As discussed above, in one embodiment, the UE 1600 sends the notification upon receiving user input from the user of the UE 1600, where the user input acknowledges that the user has received the notification alert (and, e.g., moved the UE 1600 to a more signal strength or quality position such as, e.g., out of the user’s pocket). As also discussed above, in another embodiment, the UE 1600 sends the acknowledgement in step 1612 upon autonomously detecting that the UE 1600 has been moved to a position with improved radio coverage conditions (e.g., signal strength or quality above a certain threshold).

[0136] The first network node 1601, optionally upon receiving the acknowledgement of step 1612, sends a paging message in a paging opportunity (e.g., a next paging opportunity after sending the Notification Alert or a next paging opportunity after receiving the acknowledgement of step 1612) (step 1614). The UE 1600 monitors for and detects the paging message in the associated paging opportunity (step 1616). The UE 1600 may then act in response to the detected paging message in the conventional manner. Note that, in one embodiment, the paging opportunities may occur at a shorter periodicity T _p after expiry of T o during the paging transmission window of length T_pw, as described above.

[0137] Figure 17 shows an example of a communication system 1700 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0138] In the example, the communication system 1700 includes a telecommunication network 1702 that includes an access network 1704, such as a Radio Access Network (RAN), and a core network 1706, which includes one or more core network nodes 1708. The access network 1704 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 1710A and 1710B (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 1710), or any other similar Third Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP Access Points (APs). Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network 1702 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 1702 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similarorganization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network 1702, including one or more network nodes 1710 and / or core network nodes 1708.

[0139] Examples of an ORAN network node include an Open Radio Unit (O-RU), an Open Distributed Unit (O-DU), an Open Central Unit (O-CU), including an O-CU Control Plane (O- CU-CP) or an O-CU User Plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non- real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an Al, Fl, Wl, El, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface defined by the 0-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes 1710 facilitate direct or indirect connection of User Equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 1712A, 1712B, 1712C, and 1712D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 1712) to the core network 1706 over one or more wireless connections.

[0140] 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 1700 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 1700 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0141] The UEs 1712 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 1710 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 1710 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 1712 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 1702to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 1702.

[0142] In the depicted example, the core network 1706 connects the network nodes 1710 to one or more hosts, such as host 1716. 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 1706 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 1708) 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 1708. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-Concealing Function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0143] The host 1716 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 1704 and / or the telecommunication network 1702, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 1716 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0144] As a whole, the communication system 1700 of Figure 17 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 1700 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 Second, Third, Fourth, or Fifth Generation (2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G) standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., Sixth Generation (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 asthe 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.

[0145] In some examples, the telecommunication network 1702 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunication network 1702 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 1702. For example, the telecommunication network 1702 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 Internet of Things (loT) services to yet further UEs.

[0146] In some examples, the UEs 1712 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 1704 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 1704.Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-Radio Access Technology (RAT) or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of WiFi, New Radio (NR), and LTE, i.e. being configured for Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC), such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial RAN (E-UTRAN) NR - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0147] In the example, a hub 1714 communicates with the access network 1704 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 1712C and / or 1712D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 1710B). In some examples, the hub 1714 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 1714 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 1706 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 1714 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 1710, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 1714. As another example, the hub 1714 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 1714 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a Virtual Reality (VR) headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 1714 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 1714 then provides to the UEeither directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 1714 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0148] The hub 1714 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 1710B. The hub 1714 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 1714 and UEs (e.g., UE 1712C and / or 1712D), and between the hub 1714 and the core network 1706. In other examples, the hub 1714 is connected to the core network 1706 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 1714 may be configured to connect to a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) service provider over the access network 1704 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 1710 while still connected via the hub 1714 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 1714 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 1710B. In other embodiments, the hub 1714 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and the network node 1710B, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0149] Figure 18 shows a UE 1800 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 Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), wireless camera, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, Laptop Embedded Equipment (LEE), Laptop Mounted Equipment (LME), smart device, wireless Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3GPP, including a Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UE, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0150] A UE may support Device-to-Device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3 GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), Vehi cl e-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 notinitially, 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).

[0151] The UE 1800 includes processing circuitry 1802 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1804 to an input / output interface 1806, a power source 1808, memory 1810, a communication interface 1812, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 18. 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.

[0152] The processing circuitry 1802 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 1810. The processing circuitry 1802 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 1802 may include multiple Central Processing Units (CPUs).

[0153] In the example, the input / output interface 1806 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 1800. 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.

[0154] In some embodiments, the power source 1808 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 1808 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 1808 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 1800 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 1808. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 1808 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 1800 to which power is supplied.

[0155] The memory 1810 may be or be configured to include memory such as Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Programmable ROM (PROM), Erasable PROM (EPROM), Electrically EPROM (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 1810 includes one or more application programs 1814, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 1816. The memory 1810 may store, for use by the UE 1800, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0156] The memory 1810 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, High Density Digital Versatile Disc (HD- DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, Holographic Digital Data Storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini Dual In-line Memory Module (DIMM), Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a tamper resistant module in the form of a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) including one or more Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs), such as a Universal SIM (USIM) and / or Internet Protocol Multimedia Services Identity Module (ISIM), other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as a ‘SIM card.’ The memory 1810 may allow the UE 1800 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 1810, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0157] The processing circuitry 1802 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 1812. The communicationinterface 1812 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 1822. The communication interface 1812 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 1818 and / or a receiver 1820 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 1818 and receiver 1820 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., the antenna 1822) and may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0158] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 1812 may include cellular communication, WiFi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short- range communications such as Bluetooth, NFC, 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 according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, NR, UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP), Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Quick User Datagram Protocol Internet Connection (QUIC), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0159] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 1812, 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).

[0160] 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.

[0161] A UE, when in the form of an loT device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application, and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a television, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or 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 1800 shown in Figure 18.

[0162] 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 3 GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship, an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0163] 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.

[0164] Figure 19 shows a network node 1900 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged, and / or operable tocommunicate 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, APs (e.g., radio APs), Base Stations (BSs) (e.g., radio BSs, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), NR Node Bs (gNBs)), and O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O- CU).

[0165] 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 RRUs 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).

[0166] 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 BS 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).

[0167] The network node 1900 includes processing circuitry 1902, memory 1904, a communication interface 1906, and a power source 1908. The network node 1900 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and an 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 1900 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 NodeB s. 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 1900 may be configured to support multiple RATs. In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1904 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1910 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1900may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1900, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, Long Range Wide Area Network (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 the network node 1900.

[0168] The processing circuitry 1902 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, CPU, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, 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 1900 components, such as the memory 1904, to provide network node 1900 functionality.

[0169] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1902 includes a System on a Chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1902 includes one or more of Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1912 and baseband processing circuitry 1914. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 1912 and the baseband processing circuitry 1914 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 the RF transceiver circuitry 1912 and the baseband processing circuitry 1914 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0170] The memory 1904 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, RAM, 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 1902. The memory 1904 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 1902 and utilized by the network node 1900. The memory 1904 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1902 and / or any data received via the communication interface 1906. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1902 and the memory 1904 are integrated.

[0171] The communication interface 1906 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 1906 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 1916 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 1906also includes radio front-end circuitry 1918 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 1910. The radio front-end circuitry 1918 comprises filters 1920 and amplifiers 1922. The radio front-end circuitry 1918 may be connected to the antenna 1910 and the processing circuitry 1902. The radio front-end circuitry 1918 may be configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna 1910 and the processing circuitry 1902. The radio front-end circuitry 1918 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 1918 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of the filters 1920 and / or the amplifiers 1922. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 1910. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1910 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1918. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1902. In other embodiments, the communication interface 1906 may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0172] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 1900 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1918; instead, the processing circuitry 1902 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1910. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1912 is part of the communication interface 1906. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1906 includes the one or more ports or terminals 1916, the radio front-end circuitry 1918, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1912 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1906 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1914, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0173] The antenna 1910 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1910 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 1918 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1910 is separate from the network node 1900 and connectable to the network node 1900 through an interface or port.

[0174] The antenna 1910, the communication interface 1906, and / or the processing circuitry 1902 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node 1900. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node, and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 1910, the communication interface 1906, and / or the processing circuitry 1902 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node 1900. Any information, data, and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node, and / or any other network equipment.

[0175] The power source 1908 provides power to the various components of the network node 1900 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1908 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1900 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1900 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid or an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 1908. As a further example, the power source 1908 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.

[0176] Embodiments of the network node 1900 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 19 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 1900 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1900 and to allow output of information from the network node 1900. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1900.

[0177] Figure 20 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 2000 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 2000 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 2000 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface.

[0178] Applications 2002 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 2000 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0179] Hardware 2004 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 2006 (also referred to as hypervisors or VM Monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 2008A and 2008B (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 2008), and / or perform any of the functions, features, and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 2006 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 2008.

[0180] The VMs 2008 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking, or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 2006. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 2002 may be implemented on one or more of the VMs 2008, 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.

[0181] In the context of NFV, a VM 2008 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 2008, and that part of the hardware 2004 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs 2008, 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 2008 on top of the hardware 2004 and corresponds to the application 2002.

[0182] The hardware 2004 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. The hardware 2004 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, the hardware 2004 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 2010, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of the applications 2002. In some embodiments, the hardware 2004 is coupled to one or more radiounits 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 RAN or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 2012 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0183] 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.

[0184] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored 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 hardwired 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 theprocessing 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.

[0185] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein.Group A Embodiments

[0186] Embodiment 1 : A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, (1600), the method comprising: monitoring (1610) for a notification alert of a paging during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts a time offset T o before a periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE (1600) is configured to monitor for incoming paging; and detecting (1610) a notification alert during the time window, as a result of the monitoring (1610).

[0187] Embodiment 2: The method of embodiment 1, wherein monitoring (1610) for a notification alert of a paging during the time window comprises monitoring (1610) for a notification alert of a paging during the time window on a notification channel.

[0188] Embodiment 3: The method of embodiment 2, wherein the UE (1600) obtains information about time and frequency resources for monitoring the notification channel based on pre-defined information or by receiving the information in a broadcast channel (e.g. System Information Block (SIB) such as SIB 1).

[0189] Embodiment 4: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 3, further comprising transmitting (1612), to a network node, an acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert.

[0190] Embodiment 5: The method of embodiment 4, wherein transmitting (1612) the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert comprises transmitting (1612) the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert upon reception of user input from a user of the UE (1600) that acknowledges that the user has received the notification alert.

[0191] Embodiment 6: The method of embodiment 4, wherein transmitting (1612) the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert comprises transmitting (1612) the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert upon autonomous detection by the UE (1600) that the UE (1600) has been moved to a position with improved signal strength or quality (e.g., a signal strength or quality above a certain (e.g., configured or defined) threshold).

[0192] Embodiment 7: The method of any of embodiments 4 to 6, wherein transmitting (1612) the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert comprises transmitting aconfigured PRACH preamble or sending an indication during or after a connection setup procedure (e.g., in Msg3 or Msg5).

[0193] Embodiment 8: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 7, further comprising: monitoring for a paging message in a paging opportunity after reception of the notification alert.

[0194] Embodiment 9: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 8, wherein periodically reoccurring paging opportunities are repeated with a shortened periodicity after expiry of T o during a paging transmission window of length T_pw.

[0195] Embodiment 10: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 9, further comprising sending (1603), to a network node, information that indicates that the UE (1600) supports notification alerts of paging.

[0196] Embodiment 11 : The method of any of embodiments 1 to 10, further comprising sending (1604), to a network node, information that suggests values for T_nw and T o.

[0197] Embodiment 12: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 10, further comprising receiving (1606), from a network node, information that configures T_nw and T o.

[0198] Embodiment 13 : The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host via the transmission to the network node.Group B Embodiments

[0199] Embodiment 14: a method performed by a first network node (1601), the method comprising: transmitting (1608), to a User Equipment, UE, (1600), a notification alert of a paging, the notification alert being transmitting during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts a time offset T o before a periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE (1600) is configured to monitor for incoming paging.

[0200] Embodiment 15: The method of embodiment 14, wherein transmitting (1608) the notification alert during the time window comprises transmitting (1608) the notification alert during the time window on a notification channel.

[0201] Embodiment 16: The method of embodiment 15, wherein information about time and frequency resources that the UE (1600) is to monitor the notification channel is either predefined or transmitted by the first network node (1601) in a broadcast channel (e.g. System Information Block (SIB) such as SIB1).

[0202] Embodiment 17: The method of any of embodiments 14 to 16, further comprising receiving (1612), from the UE (1600), an acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert.

[0203] Embodiment 18: The method of embodiment 17, wherein receiving (1612) the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert comprises receiving a configured PRACH preamble or receiving an indication during or after a connection setup procedure (e.g., in Msg3 or Msg5).

[0204] Embodiment 19: The method of any of embodiments 14 to 18, further comprising: transmitting (1614), to the UE (1600), a paging message in a paging opportunity after transmitting the notification alert (and, e.g., after receiving the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert from the UE (1600)).

[0205] Embodiment 20: The method of any of embodiments 14 to 19, wherein periodically reoccurring paging opportunities are repeated with a shortened periodicity after expiry of T o during a paging transmission window of length T_pw.

[0206] Embodiment 21 : The method of any of embodiments 14 to 20, further comprising receiving (1603), from the UE (1600), information that indicates that the UE (1600) supports notification alerts of paging.

[0207] Embodiment 22: The method of any of embodiments 14 to 21, further comprising receiving (1604), from the UE (1600), information that suggests values for T_nw and T o.

[0208] Embodiment 23 : The method of any of embodiments 14 to 22, further comprising transmitting (1606), to the UE (1600), information that configures T_nw and T o.

[0209] Embodiment 24: The method of any of embodiments 14 to 23, further comprising a notification alert from a second network node (1602) that indicates that the notification alert is to be sent to the UE (1600).

[0210] Embodiment 25 : The method of embodiment 24, wherein the first network node (1601) is a DU of a RAN node and the second network node (1602) is a CU of a RAN node.

[0211] Embodiment 26: The method of embodiment 24, wherein the first network node (1601) is a RAN node and the second network node (1602) is a CN node.

[0212] Embodiment 27 : The method of embodiment 24, wherein the first network node(1601) is a first RAN node and the second network node (1602) is a second RAN node.

[0213] Embodiment 28: A method performed by a second network node (1602), the method comprising: sending, to a first network node (1601), information about a notification alert(s) for paging for a User Equipment, UE.

[0214] Embodiment 29: The method of embodiment 28, further comprising determining that the UE is subject to applying a notification alert procedure that provides notification alerts prior to sending a paging message.

[0215] Embodiment 30: The method of embodiment 28, wherein determining that the UE is subject to applying the notification alert procedure comprises determining that the UE is in poor network coverage.

[0216] Embodiment 31 : The method of any of embodiments 28 to 30, wherein the first network node (1601) is a DU of a RAN node and the second network node (1602) is a CU of a RAN node.

[0217] Embodiment 32: The method of any of embodiments 28 to 30, wherein the first network node (1601) is a RAN node and the second network node (1602) is a CN node.

[0218] Embodiment 33 : The method of any of embodiments 28 to 30, wherein the first network node (1601) is a first RAN node and the second network node (1602) is a second RAN node.

[0219] Embodiment 34: The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host or a user equipment.Group C Embodiments

[0220] Embodiment 35: A user equipment comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

[0221] Embodiment 36: A network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

[0222] Embodiment 37: A user equipment (UE) comprising: an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals; radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry; the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, (1600), the method comprising: monitoring (1610) for a notification alert of a paging during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts a time offset T o before a periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE (1600) is configured to monitor for incoming paging; and detecting (1610) a notification alert during the time window, as a result of the monitoring (1610).

2. The method of claim 1, wherein monitoring (1610) for a notification alert of a paging during the time window comprises monitoring (1610) for a notification alert of a paging during the time window on a notification channel that uses one or more robust physical layer transmission parameters.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one or more robust physical layer transmission parameters comprises a modulation order not larger than a certain modulation order threshold, a code rate not larger than a certain code rate threshold, and / or a transmission power above a certain power threshold.

4. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein the UE (1600) obtains information about time and frequency resources for monitoring the notification channel based on pre-defined information or by receiving the information in a broadcast channel.

5. The method of any of claims 1 to 4, further comprising transmitting (1612), to a network node, an acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein transmitting (1612) the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert comprises transmitting (1612) the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert upon reception of user input from a user of the UE (1600) that acknowledges that the user has received the notification alert.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein transmitting (1612) the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert comprises transmitting (1612) the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert upon autonomous detection by the UE (1600) that the UE (1600) has been moved to a position with improved signal strength or quality.

8. The method of any of claims 5 to 7, wherein transmitting (1612) the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert comprises transmitting a configured Physical Random Access Channel, PRACH, preamble or sending an indication during or after a connection setup procedure.

9. The method of any of claims 1 to 8, further comprising monitoring (1616) for a paging message in a paging opportunity after reception of the notification alert.

10. The method of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein periodically reoccurring paging opportunities are repeated with a shortened periodicity after expiry of T o during a paging transmission window of length T_pw.

11. The method of any of claims 1 to 10, further comprising sending (1603), to a network node, information that indicates that the UE (1600) supports notification alerts of paging.

12. The method of any of claims 1 to 11 , further comprising sending (1604), to a network node, information that suggests values for the configured length T_nw of the time window and the time offset T o.

13. The method of any of claims 1 to 11, further comprising receiving (1606), from a network node, information that configures the configured length T_nw of the time window and the time offset T o.

14. A User Equipment, UE, (1600), adapted to: monitor (1610) for a notification alert of a paging during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts a time offset T o before a periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE (1600) is configured to monitor for incoming paging; and detect (1610) a notification alert during the time window, as a result of the monitoring (1610).

15. The UE (1600) of claim 14, further adapted to perform the method of any of claims 2 to16. A User Equipment, UE, (1600; 1800), comprising: a communication interface (1812) comprising a transmitter (1818) and a receiver (1820); and processing circuitry (1802) associated with the communication interface (1812), the processing circuitry (1802) configured to cause the UE (1600; 1800) to: monitor (1610) for a notification alert of a paging during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts a time offset T o before a periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE (1600) is configured to monitor for incoming paging; and detect (1610) a notification alert during the time window, as a result of the monitoring (1610).

17. The UE (1600; 1800) of claim 16, further adapted to perform the method of any of claims 2 to 13.

18. A method performed by a first network node (1601), the method comprising: transmitting (1608; 710; 1106), to a User Equipment, UE, (1600), a notification alert of a paging, the notification alert being transmitted during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts a time offset T o before a periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE (1600) is configured to monitor for incoming paging; and transmitting (1614; 712; 1110), to the UE (1600), a paging message in a paging opportunity after transmitting (1618) the notification alert.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein transmitting (1608; 710) the notification alert during the time window comprises transmitting (1608; 710) the notification alert during the time window on a notification channel that uses one or more robust physical layer transmission parameters.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the one or more robust physical layer transmission parameters comprises a modulation order not larger than a certain modulation order threshold, a code rate not larger than a certain code rate threshold, and / or a transmission power above a certain power threshold.

21. The method of claim 19 or 20, wherein information about time and frequency resourcesthat the UE (1600) is to monitor the notification channel is either pre-defined or transmitted by the first network node (1601) in a broadcast channel.

22. The method of any of claims 18 to 21, further comprising, prior to transmitting (1614) the paging message, receiving (1612), from the UE (1600), an acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein receiving (1612) the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert comprises receiving, from the UE, a configured Physical Random Access Channel, PRACH, preamble or receiving an indication during or after a connection setup procedure.

24. The method of any of claims 18 to 23, wherein: transmitting (1614) the paging message comprises transmitting (1614), to the UE, the paging message in the paging opportunity after transmitting the notification alert and, receiving the acknowledgement of reception of the notification alert from the UE (1600).

25. The method of any of claims 18 to 24, wherein periodically reoccurring paging opportunities are repeated with a shortened periodicity after expiry of T o during a paging transmission window of length T_pw.

26. The method of any of claims 18 to 25, further comprising receiving (1603), from the UE (1600), information that indicates that the UE (1600) supports notification alerts of paging.

27. The method of any of claims 18 to 25, wherein: the first network node (1601) is a Central Unit, CU, of a Radio Access Network, RAN, node; transmitting (710) the notification alert of the paging to the UE comprises transmitting (710), to a Distributed Unit, DU, of the RAN node, a notification alert message about the notification alert to be sent to the UE; and transmitting (712) the paging message to the UE comprises transmitting (712) the paging message to the UE via the DU of the RAN node.

28. The method of claim 27, further comprising receiving (704), from another network node,information that indicates that the UE (1600) supports notification alerts of paging.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the another network node is a core network node, and receiving (704) the information that indicates that the UE (1600) supports notification alerts of paging comprises receiving (704) a paging related message comprising the information that indicates that the UE (1600) supports notification alerts of paging.

30. The method of any of claims 27 to 29, further comprising: transmitting (706), to the UE, an initial paging message via the DU of the RAN node; detecting (708) a paging failure related to the initial paging message for the UE; and responsive to detecting (708) the paging failure, determining (708) that the notification alert is to be sent to the UE.

31. The method of any of claims 18 to 21, wherein the first network node (1601) is a Distributed Unit, DU, of a Radio Access Network, RAN, node.

32. The method of any of claims 18 to 25, wherein: the first network node (1601) is either a RAN node or a Central Unit, CU, of the Radio Access Network, RAN, node.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising receiving (1607; 1104) a notification alert from a core network node (1602) that indicates that the notification alert is to be sent to the UE (1600).

34. The method of any of claims 18 to 33, further comprising receiving (1604), from the UE (1600), information that suggests values for the configured length T_nw of the time window and the time offset T o.

35. The method of any of claims 18 to 34, further comprising transmitting (1606), to the UE (1600), information that configures the configured length T_nw of the time window and the time offset T o.

36. A first network node (1601) adapted to: transmit (1608; 710; 1106), to a User Equipment, UE, (1600), a notification alert of apaging, the notification alert being transmitting during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts a time offset T o before a periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE (1600) is configured to monitor for incoming paging; and transmit (1614; 712; 1110), to the UE (1600), a paging message in a paging opportunity after transmitting (1618) the notification alert.

37. The first network node (1601) of claim 36, further adapted to perform the method of any of claims 19 to 35.

38. A first network node (1601; 1900) comprising processing circuitry (1902) configured to cause the first network node (1601; 1900) to: transmit (1608; 710; 1106), to a User Equipment, UE, (1600), a notification alert of a paging, the notification alert being transmitting during a time window of configured length T_nw that starts a time offset T o before a periodically reoccurring paging opportunity the UE (1600) is configured to monitor for incoming paging; and transmit (1614; 710; 1106), to the UE (1600), a paging message in a paging opportunity after transmitting (1618) the notification alert.

39. The first network node (1601; 1900) of claim 38, wherein the processing circuitry (1902) is further configured to cause the first network node (1601; 1900) to perform the method of any of claims 19 to 35.

40. A method performed by a second network node (1602), the method comprising: sending (1601; 704; 1104), to a first network node, information about a notification alert for paging for a User Equipment, UE.

41. The method of claim 40, further comprising determining (1102) that the UE is subject to applying a notification alert procedure that provides notification alerts prior to sending a paging message.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein determining (1102) that the UE is subject to applying the notification alert procedure comprises determining that the UE is in poor network coverage.

43. The method of any of claims 40 to 42, wherein the first network node (1601) is aDistributed Unit, DU, of a Radio Access Network, RAN, node and the second network node (1602) is a Central Unit, CU, of the RAN node.

44. The method of any of claims 40 to 42, wherein the first network node (1601) is a Radio Access Network, RAN, node and the second network node (1602) is a Core Network, CN, node.

45. The method of any of claims 40 to 42, wherein the first network node (1601) is a first Radio Access Network, RAN, node and the second network node (1602) is a second Radio Access Network, RAN, node.

46. A second network node (1602) adapted to: send (1601; 704; 1104), to a first network node, information about a notification alert for paging for a User Equipment, UE.

47. The second network node (1602) of claim 46, further adapted to perform the method of any of claims 41 to 45.

48. A second network node (1602; 1900) comprising processing circuitry (1902) configured to cause the second network node (1602; 1900) to: send (1601; 704; 1104), to a first network node, information about a notification alert for paging for a User Equipment, UE.

49. The second network node (1602; 1900) of claim 48, wherein the processing circuitry (1902) is further configured to cause the second network node (1602; 1900) to perform the method of any of claims 41 to 45.

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