Improved multicast-broadcast service (MBS)

Abstract

The present disclosure is related to a terminal device, a network node, and methods for improved MBS. A method at a terminal device comprises: transmitting, to a network node, a first message indicating an interest in and / or a request for an MBS service. A method at a network node comprises: receiving, from a terminal device, a first message indicating an interest in and / or a request for an MBS service.

Description

[0001] IMPROVED MULTICAST-BROADCAST SERVICE (MBS)

[0002] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

[0003] This application claims priority to the PCT International Application No. PCT / CN2024 / 074565, entitled "IMPROVED MULTICAST-BROADCAST SERVICE (MBS)", filed on January 30th, 2024, which is incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.

[0004] Technical Field

[0005] The present disclosure is related to the field of telecommunication, and in particular, to a terminal device, a network node, and methods for improved Multicast- Broadcast Service (MBS).

[0006] Background

[0007] The introduction of 5G New Radio (NR) multicast-broadcast services as part of 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 17 (or Rel-17) and Release 18 (or Rel- 18) offers communication service providers the ability to serve one-to-many use cases, using 3GPP mobile network infrastructures, in a better way.

[0008] MBS can offer improved efficiency potential, where a single downlink radio signal can be reached by multiple devices, known in 3GPP as User Equipments (UEs). This can also be referred to as Point-To-Multipoint (PTM) distribution. The underlying mobile network's ability is able to provide the required reliability, coverage, latency, mobility, and scalability.

[0009] Rel-17 NR MBS specifies both:

[0010] - a broadcast communication service, in which data is transmitted to all users in a broadcast service area, and

[0011] - a multicast communication service, in which data is transmitted to a dedicated set of users (i.e., not all users within coverage of the multicast service are authorized to receive the data).

[0012] The broadcast service is received without the UE using the Uplink (UL), which is always possible as long as the UE is within coverage. To receive multicast, the UE however needs to be "connected" and will therefore also need to use the uplink, as with unicast.

[0013] NR multicast inherits most of the functionalities from NR unicast - including those that address reliability, coverage, latency, and mobility. Efficiency and scalability, which are identified as missing for unicast group communications, are addressed in Rel-17 NR multicast, which makes it a perfect solution for public safety Mission Critical Push-To- Talk (MCPTT) services.

[0014] When NR broadcast is used, the reliability and efficiency is reduced compared to multicast because the UEs do not send feedback to the 5G network. However, the upside for broadcast is its scalability and the fact that devices can always receive the signals. With Rel-17, since multicast reception requires the UE to be connected and use the uplink, if multicast scalability reaches a limit due to uplink congestion, the broadcast option can instead be used to allow some or all UEs to receive transmission without being connected.

[0015] In Rel-18, multicast reception in Radio Resource Control (RRC) INACTIVE is supported, which provides improved scalability for multicast, along with the mobility and coverage features.

[0016] Rel-17 and Rel-18 multicast-broadcast functionalities are generic, meaning that with the large similarities between the unicast and multicast-broadcast functionalities, it is expected that UEs will be able to support NR multicast-broadcast with little or no hardware impact. The same may also be applicable for the network side.

[0017] For unicast, this implies varying degrees of irregular capacity requirements across different geographies. This means that while traffic may be sufficiently low to allow for unicast to provide such services at some times, at other times the exclusive use of unicast services could cause congestion, which may be unacceptable since services with many users are often considered very important. This is again a scalability issue which may not be best addressed by designing the network for using unicast to support such worst-case events.

[0018] To support scalability, PTM functionality is instead required. With broadcast, the 5G network cannot keep track of which UEs are receiving the broadcast MBS session, so cannot adapt the transmission to this. Instead, the broadcast transmission needs to be "always on", with some possible adaptation via the application layer. However, it is wasteful to always use broadcast, even when no one is receiving, just to support congestion cases.

[0019] In the other extreme, always using unicast, also for extreme capacity situations, also seems irrational, since it will either be very expensive or will not support the scalability requirements due to congestion.

[0020] However, with multicast, group services could be efficiently delivered irrespective of the size of the user group. Thanks to the UE feedback, the network always knows the number of users in a cell that need to receive (i.e. UEs have joined) the multicast session. If there is no such user, nothing is transmitted for the MBS session in the cell. If there is one user, the multicast transmission can be performed as efficiently as with unicast. When the number of users increases, the multicast transmission can gradually adapt to the actual number and reception conditions of UEs and in extreme cases of congestion (with Rel-18) many of them will receive multicast in RRC INACTIVE.

[0021] This means that with 5G multicast, the requirements of reliability, coverage, latency, mobility, efficiency, and scalability can be fulfilled for any number of UEs ranging from zero to extremely many, in a better way than with either of unicast and broadcast, or combinations of these. The design principle of 5G systems for MBS is to enable multicast and broadcast services by the existing network entities as much as possible with essential software upgrades, in order to minimize newly added MBS-specific network entities which cause increase of early-stage MBS network construction cost. Similar with User Plane Function (UPF) and Session Management Function (SMF) for unicast, upgraded UPF and SMF called Multicast and Broadcast UPF (or MB-UPF) and MB-SMF are introduced, in charge of data delivery anchor to the 5G System (5GS) and MBS session management based on policy rules, respectively.

[0022] Summary

[0023] In the 3GPP Release 19 (Rel-19) Work Item (WI) " Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) for NR Phase 3' , RP-234078, it specifies that MBS as one of objectives will be supported in NTN scenario, but for some cases the intended service area is expected to be smaller than the coverage of a Uu cell, some enhancements need to be done to notify the service area of a Broadcast service. Therefore, the WI requests below studies:

[0024] Given that, it is most likely that the service area of MBS is contained in a System Information Block (SIB) signaling with assistance information carrying certain formats of area definition, e.g. using a circle with a definition of a center of the circle and a radius as what has been designed in NTN Rel-17 to present a Terrestrial Network (TN) cell coverage in SIB signaling by an NTN cell.

[0025] It appears that this kind of MBS assistance information can abbreviate the transmitted bits and avoid the overhead of signaling. However, due to inaccuracy of area definition for the service area of MBS and limited by inaccuracy of UE's position, one of the consequences is that UEs may encounter such situations:

[0026] - a UE, which is practically located in the service area of MBS and function as the target of MBS, cannot receive MBS because the UE determines that its position is out of the coverage indicated by the MBS assistance information;

[0027] - a UE, which is practically located out of the service area of MBS and does not function as a target of MBS, may receive MBS because the UE determines that its position is in the coverage indicated by the MBS assistance information.

[0028] These situations herein result in negative effects, e.g., inappropriate MBS service or missing MBS service.

[0029] Therefore, to address or at least partially alleviate one or more of the above issues, some embodiments of the present disclosure are provided. According to a first aspect of the present disclosure, a method at a terminal device is provided. The method comprises: transmitting, to a network node, a first message indicating an interest in and / or a request for an MBS service.

[0030] According to a second aspect of the present disclosure, a terminal device is provided. The terminal device comprises: a processor; a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the terminal device to: transmit, to a network node, a first message indicating an interest in and / or a request for an MBS service. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the terminal device to perform any of the methods of the first aspect.

[0031] According to a third aspect of the present disclosure, a method at a network node is provided. The method comprises: receiving, from a terminal device, a first message indicating an interest in and / or a request for an MBS service.

[0032] According to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, a network node is provided. The network node comprises: a processor; a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the network node to: receiving, from a terminal device, a first message indicating an interest in and / or a request for an MBS service. In some embodiments, the instructions, when executed by the processor, further cause the network node to perform any of the methods of the third aspect.

[0033] According to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure, a computer program comprising instructions is provided. The instructions, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods of any of the first aspect and the third aspect.

[0034] According to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure, a carrier containing the computer program of the fifth aspect is provided. In some embodiments, the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium.

[0035] According to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure, a telecommunication system is provided. The telecommunication system comprises: a terminal device; and a network node. In some embodiments, the terminal device comprises: a processor; a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the terminal device to perform at least one of: transmit, to the network node, a first message indicating an interest in and / or a request for an MBS service. In some embodiments, the network node comprises: a processor; a memory storing instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the network node to: receive, from the terminal device, the first message. In some embodiments, the instructions stored in the memory of the terminal device, when executed by the processor of the terminal device, further cause the terminal device to perform any of the methods of the first aspect. In some embodiments, the instructions stored in the memory of the network node, when executed by the processor of the network node, further cause the network node to perform any of the methods of the fourth aspect. With some embodiments of the present disclosure, one or more of the following issues may be addressed, overcome, or at least partially alleviated:

[0036] - although the UE is a valid receiver of the intended MBS service, the UE may not be able to receive the MBS service due to inaccurate positioning estimation by the UE,

[0037] - although the UE is an invalid receiver of the intended MBS service, the UE may be able to receive the MBS service due to inaccurate positioning estimation by the UE,

[0038] - valid UEs may be limited to receive the MBS service due to inaccurate defin ition / setting of an MBS service area, signaled by the gNB.

[0039] Further, with some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control granularity for the gNB to deliver an intended MBS service to UEs may be improved.

[0040] Brief Description of the Drawings

[0041] Fig. 1A through Fig. 1C are diagrams illustrating exemplary telecommunication networks in which improved MBS is applicable according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0042] Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary MBS system architecture in which improved MBS is applicable according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0043] Fig. 3 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary procedure for improved MBS according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0044] Fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method at a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0045] Fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method at a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0046] Fig. 6 schematically shows an embodiment of an arrangement which may be used in a terminal device and / or a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0047] Fig. 7 shows an example of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0048] Fig. 8 shows an exemplary User Equipment (UE) in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0049] Fig. 9 shows an exemplary network node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0050] Fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized.

[0051] Detailed Description

[0052] Hereinafter, the present disclosure is described with reference to embodiments shown in the attached drawings. However, it is to be understood that those descriptions are just provided for illustrative purpose, rather than limiting the present disclosure. Further, in the following, descriptions of known structures and techniques are omitted so as not to unnecessarily obscure the concept of the present disclosure. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the term "exemplary" is used herein to mean "illustrative," or "serving as an example," and is not intended to imply that a particular embodiment is preferred over another or that a particular feature is essential. Likewise, the terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth," and similar terms, are used simply to distinguish one particular instance of an item or feature from another, and do not indicate a particular order or arrangement, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Further, the term "step," as used herein, is meant to be synonymous with "operation" or "action." Any description herein of a sequence of steps does not imply that these operations must be carried out in a particular order, or even that these operations are carried out in any order at all, unless the context or the details of the described operation clearly indicates otherwise.

[0053] Conditional language used herein, such as "can," "might," "may," "e.g.," and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, or otherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements and / or states. Thus, such conditional language is not generally intended to imply that features, elements and / or states are in any way required for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting, whether these features, elements and / or states are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment. Also, the term "or" is used in its inclusive sense (and not in its exclusive sense) so that when used, for example, to connect a list of elements, the term "or" means one, some, or all of the elements in the list. Further, the term "each," as used herein, in addition to having its ordinary meaning, can mean any subset of a set of elements to which the term "each" is applied.

[0054] The term "based on" is to be read as "based at least in part on." The term "one embodiment" and "an embodiment" are to be read as "at least one embodiment." The term "another embodiment" is to be read as "at least one other embodiment." Other definitions, explicit and implicit, may be included below. In addition, language such as the phrase "at least one of X, Y and Z," unless specifically stated otherwise, is to be understood with the context as used in general to convey that an item, term, etc. may be either X, Y, or Z, or a combination thereof.

[0055] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limitation of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an", and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises", "comprising", "has", "having", "includes" and / or "including", when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof. It will be also understood that the terms "connect(s)," "connecting", "connected", etc. when used herein, just mean that there is an electrical or communicative connection between two elements and they can be connected either directly or indirectly, unless explicitly stated to the contrary.

[0056] Of course, the present disclosure may be carried out in other specific ways than those set forth herein without departing from the scope and essential characteristics of the disclosure. One or more of the specific processes discussed below may be carried out in any electronic device comprising one or more appropriately configured processing circuits, which may in some embodiments be embodied in one or more applicationspecific integrated circuits (ASICs). In some embodiments, these processing circuits may comprise one or more microprocessors, microcontrollers, and / or digital signal processors programmed with appropriate software and / or firmware to carry out one or more of the operations described above, or variants thereof. In some embodiments, these processing circuits may comprise customized hardware to carry out one or more of the functions described above. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

[0057] Although multiple embodiments of the present disclosure will be illustrated in the accompanying Drawings and described in the following Detailed Description, it should be understood that the disclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments, but instead is also capable of numerous rearrangements, modifications, and substitutions without departing from the present disclosure that as will be set forth and defined within the claims.

[0058] Further, please note that although the following description of some embodiments of the present disclosure is given in the context of 5G NR, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In fact, as long as MBS is involved, the inventive concept of the present disclosure may be applicable to any appropriate communication architecture, for example, to Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) / General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), Time Division - Synchronous CDMA (TD-SCDMA), CDMA2000, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), 4thGeneration Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advance (LTE-A), or 5G NR, 6thgeneration (6G) mobile system standard, etc. Therefore, one skilled in the arts could readily understand that the terms used herein may also refer to their equivalents in any other infrastructure. For example, the term "terminal device" used herein may refer to a UE, a mobile device, a mobile terminal, a mobile station, a user device, a user terminal, a wireless device, a wireless terminal, an loT device, an A-IoT device, a ZE device, or the like. For another example, the term "network node" used herein may refer to a transmission reception point (TRP), a base station, a base transceiver station, an access point, a hot spot, a NodeB, an Evolved NodeB (eNB), a gNB, a network element, a satellite, an aircraft, or the like.

[0059] In some embodiments, the term "service area" and "coverage" are used interchangeably. Although some embodiments are described below in the context of NTN, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some other embodiments, the improved MBS is applicable to a Terrestrial Network (TN) as well.

[0060] Fig. 1A is a diagram illustrating an exemplary telecommunication network 10 in which improved MBS is applicable according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Although the telecommunication network 10 is a network defined in the context of 5G NR, the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

[0061] As shown in Fig. 1A, the network 10 may comprise one or more UEs 100-1 and 100-2 (collectively, UE(s) 100) and a RAN node 105, which could be a base station, a Node B, an evolved NodeB (eNB), a gNB, or an AN node which provides the UEs 100 with access to the network. Further, the network 10 may comprise a core network (CN) 110 that is communicatively connected to the gNB 105.

[0062] However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some other embodiments, the network 10 may comprise additional nodes, less nodes, or some variants of the existing nodes shown in Fig. 1A. For example, in a network with the 4G architecture, the entities (e.g., an eNB) which perform these functions may be different from those (e.g., the gNB 105) shown in Fig. 1A. For another example, in a network with a mixed 4G / 5G architecture, some of the entities may be same as those shown in Fig. 1A, and others may be different.

[0063] Further, although two UEs 100 and one gNB 105 are shown in Fig. 1A, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some other embodiments, any number of UEs and / or any number of gNBs may be comprised in the network 10.

[0064] As shown in Fig. 1A, the UEs 100 may be communicatively connected to the gNB 105 which in turn may be communicatively connected to the CN 110 and then the Internet, such that the UEs 100 may finally communicate its user plane data with other devices outside the network 10, for example, via the gNB 105 and the CN 110.

[0065] Fig. IB and Fig. 1C are diagrams illustrating exemplary networks 10' and 10" in which improved MBS is applicable according to embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0066] As shown in Fig. IB and Fig. 1C, satellite radio access networks 10' and 10" may usually include the following components (but not limited to):

[0067] - A satellite 115 / 115' that refers to a space-borne platform.

[0068] - An earth-based gateway 120 that connects the satellite 115 to a base station (e.g., a gNB 105 shown in Fig. IB) or connects the satellite 115' to a core network (e.g., a core network 110 shown in Fig. 1C), depending on the choice of architecture.

[0069] - A feeder link that refers to the link between the gateway 120 and the satellite 115 / 115'.

[0070] - An access link, or service link, that refers to the link between the satellite 115 / 115' and a UE 100.

[0071] Depending on the orbit altitude, a satellite may be categorized as low earth orbit (LEO), medium earth orbit (MEO), or geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite. - LEO: typical heights ranging from 250 - 1,500 km, with orbital periods ranging from 90 - 120 minutes.

[0072] - MEO: typical heights ranging from 1,500 - 35,786 km, with orbital periods, PMEO, in the range 2 hours < PMEO < 24 hours. MEO and LEO are also known as NonGeo Synchronous Orbit (NGSO) type of satellite.

[0073] - GEO: height at about 35,786 km, with an orbital period of 24 hours. Also known as a Geo Synchronous Orbit (GSO) type of satellite.

[0074] In some embodiments, two basic architectures can be distinguished for satellite communication networks, depending on the functionality of the satellites in the system:

[0075] - Transparent payload (also referred to as bent pipe architecture) as shown in Fig. IB. The satellite 115 may forward the received signal between the terminal (e.g., the UE 100) and the network equipment (e.g., the gateway 120 / the gNB 105) on the ground with only amplification and a shift from uplink frequency to downlink frequency. When applied to general 3GPP architecture and terminology, the transparent payload architecture means that the gNB (e.g., the gNB 105) is located on the ground and the satellite 115 may forward signals / data between the gNB 105 and the UE 100.

[0076] - Regenerative payload as shown in Fig. 1C. The satellite 115' may include onboard processing to demodulate and decode the received signal and regenerate the signal before sending it back to the earth. When applied to general 3GPP architecture and terminology, the regenerative payload architecture means that the gNB is located in the satellite 115'.

[0077] In the work item for NR NTN in 3GPP release 17 and release 18, only the transparent payload architecture is considered.

[0078] As shown in Fig. IB and Fig. 1C, a communication satellite may typically generate 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 (but a cell consisting of multiple beams is not precluded). The footprint of a beam is also often referred to as a spotbeam. Three types of beams or cells are supported in NTN:

[0079] - Earth-fixed beams / cells: provisioned by beam(s) continuously covering the same geographical areas all the time (e.g., in the case of GEO satellites).

[0080] - Quasi-Earth-fixed beams / cells: provisioned by beam(s) covering one geographic area for a limited period and a different geographic area during another period (e.g., in the case of NGSO satellites generating steerable beams).

[0081] - Earth-moving beams / cells: provisioned by beam(s) whose coverage area slides over the earth surface (e.g., in the case of NGSO satellites generating fixed or nonsteerable beams).

[0082] Fig. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary MBS system architecture in which improved MBS is applicable according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Although the MBS system architecture shown in Fig. 2 is defined in the context of 5GS, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. As shown in Fig. 2, the architecture 20 may comprise a RAN node (e.g. gNB) 105. Further, the architecture 20 may comprise its core network portion comprising (but not limited to) an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 210, a Session Management Function (SMF) 215, a User Plane Functions (UPF) 220, and / or an Application Function (AF) 245, which are the existing entities in the current 5GS. Further, in addition to these network functions, the architecture 20 may further comprise network functions for supporting MBS, comprising (but not limited to) an MB- SMF 225, an MB-UPF 230, a Multicast / Broadcast Service Function (MBSF) 240, and a Multicast / Broadcast Service Transport Function (MBSTF) 235. These entities may communicate with each other via the service-based interfaces, such as, Namf, Nsmf, etc. and / or the reference points, such as, Nl, N2, N3, N4, N3mb, N19mb, etc.

[0083] However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some other embodiments, the architecture 20 may comprise additional network functions, less network functions, or some variants of the existing network functions shown in Fig. 2. For example, in a network with the 4G architecture, the entities which perform these functions (e.g., mobility management entity (MME)) may be different from those shown in Fig. 2 (e.g., the AMF 210). For another example, in a network with a mixed 4G / 5G architecture, some of the entities may be same as those shown in Fig. 2, and others may be different. Further, the functions shown in Fig. 2 are not essential to the embodiments of the present disclosure. In other words, some of them may be missing from some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0084] As mentioned earlier, due to inaccuracy of area definition for the service area of MBS and limited by inaccuracy of UE's position, especially in the NTN scenario shown in Fig. IB and Fig. 1C (but the same problem may also occur in the TN scenario shown in Fig. 1A), one of the consequences is that UEs may encounter such situations:

[0085] - a UE, which is practically located in the service area of MBS and function as the target of MBS, cannot receive MBS because the UE determines that its position is out of the coverage indicated by the MBS assistance information;

[0086] - a UE, which is practically located out of the service area of MBS and does not function as a target of MBS, may receive MBS because the UE determines that its position is in the coverage indicated by the MBS assistance information.

[0087] These situations herein result in negative effects, e.g., inappropriate MBS service or missing MBS service.

[0088] Therefore, to address or at least partially alleviate one or more of the above issues, some embodiments of the present disclosure are provided.

[0089] Some embodiments of the present disclosure propose a solution that addresses or at least partially alleviate the above-described problem by introducing set(s) of mechanisms for the UE in NTN (e.g. UE served by NTN network, e.g. node, gNB) to request, accept, and reject MBS provided by the serving network node based on rules presented below. In some embodiments, the mechanisms may enable a UE which is not within the signaled MBS service to receive the MBS service. In some embodiments, the mechanisms may also enable a UE which is within the signaled MBS service not to receive the MBS service.

[0090] In some embodiments, a UE interested to receive MBS broadcast services may report MBS interest and / or send MBS request to the network node provided the UE identifies it's position relationship with the provided (e.g., broadcasted by the network node) MBS service area.

[0091] To the end, the network node may verify the MBS interest and / or MBS request by the UE, and then decide to provide MBS service to the UE. In some embodiments, for the purpose, the UE may provide UE assistance information to the network node for evaluation.

[0092] In some embodiments, an indicator / request message is introduced for a UE to indicate / request a specific MBS service. In some embodiments, additional / specific gNB actions / response to handle / treat UEs respectively for an intended MBS service may be defined.

[0093] With some embodiments of the present disclosure, one or more of the following issues may be addressed, overcome, or at least partially alleviated:

[0094] - although the UE is a valid receiver of the intended MBS service, the UE may not be able to receive the MBS service due to inaccurate positioning estimation by the UE,

[0095] - although the UE is an invalid receiver of the intended MBS service, the UE may be able to receive the MBS service due to inaccurate positioning estimation by the UE,

[0096] - valid UEs may be limited to receive the MBS service due to inaccurate defin ition / setting of an MBS service area, signaled by the gNB.

[0097] Further, with some embodiments of the present disclosure, the control granularity for the gNB to deliver an intended MBS service to UEs may be improved.

[0098] In some embodiments of the present disclosure, the term "satellite" may often be used even when a more appropriate term would be "radio network node (RN node) associated with the satellite". The term "RN node" may refer to any type of radio node associated with a satellite. Examples of RN node are radio access network node, base station (BS), eNB, gNB, etc. The term "satellite" may also be called as a satellite node, satellite access node (SAN), an NTN node, high altitude platform (HAPS), node in earth atmosphere, node in the space etc. Here, the radio access node (e.g. eNB, gNB, BS, etc.) associated with a satellite might include both a regenerative satellite (e.g., the satellite 115' shown in Fig. 1C), where the RN node (e.g. eNB, gNB, BS, etc.) is the satellite payload, i.e. the RN node (e.g. eNB, gNB, BS, etc.) is integrated with the satellite, or a transparent satellite (e.g., the satellite 115 shown in Fig. IB), where the satellite payload is a relay and RN node (e.g. eNB, gNB, BS, etc.) is on the ground (i.e. the satellite relays the communication between the RN node (e.g. eNB, gNB, BS etc.) on the ground and the UE).

[0099] In some embodiments, the proposed solution(s) may be a set(s) of mechanisms for a UE that is served by a first cell (Celli), which in turn is served or managed or operated by a first NTN / SAN network node (NW1), e.g., UE served by NTN / SAN node such as satellite node to apply MBS service based on rules presented in some embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0100] In some embodiments, the MBS of the satellite can be received by UEs in a larger area than MBS service area whose coverage is indicate by one or more than one signaling provided by the network node, wherein a UE may receive or be interested to receive MBS.

[0101] In some embodiments, the UE may report MBS interest and / or send MBS request to the network node provided the SIB signaling indicating the intended service area and the SIB signaling indicating to provide MBS (e.g., SIB21), and at the least one of the below conditions are met:

[0102] - the UE receiving or interested to receive MBS or have received MBS in a time period determines its position is inside of the provided (broadcasted) coverage of MBS, with respect to the MBS assistance information provided by the network node.

[0103] - the UE receiving or interested to receive MBS or have received MBS in a time period determines its position is out of the provided (broadcasted) coverage of MBS, with respect to the MBS assistance information provided by the network node.

[0104] - the UE receiving or interested to receive MBS or have received MBS in a time period move from inside to the outside of the provided (broadcasted) coverage of MBS, with respect to the MBS assistance information provided by the network node.

[0105] - the UE receiving or interested to receive MBS or have received MBS in a time period move from outside to the inside of the provided (broadcasted) coverage of MBS, with respect to the MBS assistance information provided by the network node.

[0106] - the UE receiving or interested to receive MBS or have received MBS in a time period can't determine its position.

[0107] - the UE receiving or interested to receive MBS or have received MBS in a time period requests the network node to identify the UEs' position.

[0108] - the UE receiving or interested to receive MBS or have received MBS in a time period is leaving or will leave the coverage of the serving cell managed by the network node.

[0109] In some embodiments, to compensate inaccuracy of provided (broadcasted) coverage of MBS and the UE's position, some margins may be provided to be added into the aforementioned conditions additionally, e.g.,

[0110] - The UE may determine its position is inside of the provided (broadcasted) coverage of MBS, if the UE

[0111] - The distance between the UE's location and one or multiple predefined locations is lower than a certain distance threshold (DH1).

[0112] - The UE may determine its position is outside of the provided (broadcasted) coverage of MBS, if the UE

[0113] - The distance between the UE's location and one or multiple predefined locations is higher than a certain distance threshold (DH2). In some embodiments, the one or multiple predefined locations may comprise the center of the provided coverage, the boundary of the provided coverage, and / or any other locations that have a specific spatial relationship with the provided coverage.

[0114] In some embodiments, the MBS interest and / or MBS request may be carried via the MBS Interest Indication in the message such as RRC signaling (e.g., UEAssistancelnformation message), Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), or Layer 1 (LI) signaling (indicator carried in Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) etc.). In addition, there may be other additional information e.g., UE assistance information, carried together MBS Interest indication i.e., in the same message. In some embodiments, some examples of the UE assistance information may be presented as follows:

[0115] - The UE's position.

[0116] - Indicator indicating that the UE does not have valid position information.

[0117] - The distance from the UE's position to the boundary of the provided (broadcasted) coverage of MBS service.

[0118] - The UE's estimation to move in / out of the provided (broadcasted) coverage of MBS service.

[0119] - Indicator indicating whether the UE has received MBS recently (e.g., in a predefined time period).

[0120] - Estimated time (instant) at which the UE may leave the coverage of the serving cell / the provided coverage area of the intended MBS service managed by the network node.

[0121] In some embodiments, the network node (e.g., the gNB) receiving MBS interest indicator and / or MBS request from the UE and the UE assistance information, may in turn determine to accept or reject the MBS interest and / or MBS request received from the UE with respect to one or multiple below criteria:

[0122] - In one example, the network node may determine to provide the intended MBS service to a UE whose position is outside of the provided (broadcasted) MBS service area.

[0123] - In one example, the network node may determine not to provide the intended MBS service to a UE whose position is outside of the provided (broadcasted) MBS service area.

[0124] - In one example, the network node may determine to (continue) provide the intended MBS service to a UE whose position is moving from inside to outside of the provided (broadcasted) MBS service area. Additionally, the network node may also determine a maximum time period during which the network node would / will provide the intended MBS service to the UE. During this maximum time period, the UE is still deemed as a valid receiver for the intended MBS service.

[0125] - In one example, the network node may determine not to provide the intended MBS service to a UE whose position is moving from outside to inside of the provided (broadcasted) MBS service area. This decision may be valid for a maximum time period. During this time period, the UE is still deemed as an invalid receiver for the intended MBS service.

[0126] - In one example, the network node may determine to provide the intended MBS service to a UE whose position determined by the network node is inside of the provided (broadcasted) MBS service area. This would give the gNB a capability to verify whether a specific UE is a valid received for the intended MBS service although the UE is located within the provided MBS service coverage area.

[0127] - In one example, the network node may determine to provide the intended MBS service to a UE whose position determined by the network node is outside of the provided (broadcasted) MBS service area. This would give the gNB a capability to verify whether a specific UE is a valid received for the intended MBS service, although this UE is located outside of the provided MBS service coverage area.

[0128] In some embodiments, the network node receiving a MBS interest and / or MBS request from the UE and the UE assistance information may in turn verify and determine whether to deliver the service in a unicast fashion to the UE with respect to below criteria:

[0129] - In one example, the network node may determine to provide unicast service to a UE whose position is outside of the provided (broadcasted) MBS service area.

[0130] - In one example, the network node may determine not to unicast service to a UE whose position is outside of the provided (broadcasted) MBS service area.

[0131] - In one example, the network node may determine to provide unicast service to a UE whose position is moving from inside to outside of the provided (broadcasted) MBS service area.

[0132] - In one example, the network node may determine not to provide unicast service to a UE whose position is moving from outside to inside of the provided (broadcasted) MBS service area.

[0133] - In one example, the network node may determine to provide unicast service to a UE whose position determined by the network node is inside of the provided (broadcasted) MBS service area.

[0134] - In one example, the network node may determine to provide unicast service to a UE whose position determined by the network node is outside of the provided (broadcasted) MBS service area.

[0135] In some embodiments, once the UE is provided with the acceptance response by the network node, the UE may start the MBS reception procedure, e.g., applying the MCCH information acquisition procedure to receive the MCCH information.

[0136] In some embodiments, the proposed solution is demonstrated in Fig. 3, which briefly illustrates an example of the above embodiments. As shown in Fig. 3, the procedure may begin with step S310 where the UE 100 may identify whether the one or more UE side criteria (e.g., the criteria describe above) are met or not. In some embodiments, the UE may repeatedly determine whether the criteria are met or not until the one or more criteria are met or the procedure is ended. At step S320, the UE 100 may send its MBS interest / request to the network node / satellite 300 in response to determining that the one or more criteria are met at step S310. In some embodiments, the network node / satellite 300 may be the gNB 105, the satellite 115 / 115', and / or any node that is in charge of the MBS associated with the UE 100.

[0137] At step S330, the network node / satellite 300 may determine whether MBS is to be provided to the UE 100, for example, based on one or more network side criteria (e.g., the criteria describe above).

[0138] At step S340, the network node / satellite 300 may send an accept response to the UE 100 in response to determining that the MBS is to be provided to the UE 100. In some other embodiments, when the network node / satellite 300 determines that the MBS is not to be provided to the UE 100, the network node / satellite 300 may send a reject response to the UE 100 or just simply ignore the MBS interest / request from the UE 100. In such a case, the UE 100 will not start receiving the MBS service from the network node / satellite 300.

[0139] At step S350, the UE 100 and the network node / satellite 300 may start the MBS service in response to receiving the accept response at step S340.

[0140] In some embodiments, upon reception of an MBS indicator / request message from one or multiple UEs, the gNB may determine to update / reconfigure / refine the MBS service coverage area, in order to cover one or multiple additional UEs as receivers for the MBS service or remove one or multiple UEs from the receiver list for the MBS service. In some embodiments, an MBS service coverage may be updated as one of the below forms:

[0141] - Move the coverage border to cover or remove one or multiple specific UEs / sub areas.

[0142] - Update the coverage area by adding one or multiple specific UE locations or spotty areas .

[0143] - Update the coverage area by removing one or multiple specific UE locations or spotty areas.

[0144] - Update the coverage area as a list of UE locations or a list of spotty areas.

[0145] With the embodiments described above, one or more of the following issues may be addressed, overcome, or at least partially alleviated:

[0146] - although the UE is a valid receiver of the intended MBS service, the UE may not be able to receive the MBS service due to inaccurate positioning estimation by the UE,

[0147] - although the UE is an invalid receiver of the intended MBS service, the UE may be able to receive the MBS service due to inaccurate positioning estimation by the UE,

[0148] - valid UEs may be limited to receive the MBS service due to inaccurate defin ition / setting of an MBS service area, signaled by the gNB.

[0149] Further, with the embodiments described above, the control granularity for the gNB to deliver an intended MBS service to UEs may be improved. Fig. 4 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method 400 at a terminal device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 400 may be performed at a terminal device (e.g., the UE 100). The method 400 may comprise a step S410. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some other embodiments, the method 400 may comprise more steps, different steps, or any combination thereof. Further the steps of the method 400 may be performed in a different order than that described herein when multiple steps are involved. Further, in some embodiments, a step in the method 400 may be split into multiple sub-steps and performed by different entities, and / or multiple steps in the method 400 may be combined into a single step.

[0150] The method 400 may begin with step S410 where the terminal device may transmit, to a network node, a first message indicating an interest in and / or a request for an MBS service.

[0151] In some embodiments, before the step of transmitting the first message, the method 400 may further comprise: receiving, from the network node, a second message indicating at least one of: the network node is providing the MBS service; the network node is able to provide the MBS service; and a provided service area associated with the MBS service. In some embodiments, the step of transmitting the first message may be performed in response to at least one of: when the terminal device is receiving the MBS service, is interested to receive the MBS service, or have received the MBS service within a time period, determining that the terminal device is located inside a provided service area of the MBS service; when the terminal device is receiving the MBS service, is interested to receive the MBS service, or have received the MBS service within a time period, determining that the terminal device is located outside a provided service area of the MBS service; when the terminal device is receiving the MBS service, is interested to receive the MBS service, or have received the MBS service within a time period, determining that the terminal device moves from inside to outside of a provided service area of the MBS service; when the terminal device is receiving the MBS service, is interested to receive the MBS service, or have received the MBS service within a time period, determining that the terminal device moves from outside to inside of a provided service area of the MBS service; when the terminal device is receiving the MBS service, is interested to receive the MBS service, or have received the MBS service within a time period, the terminal device being not able to determine its location with respect to a provided service area of the MBS service; when the terminal device is receiving the MBS service, is interested to receive the MBS service, or have received the MBS service within a time period, requesting the network node to identify the location of the terminal device; and when the terminal device is receiving the MBS service, is interested to receive the MBS service, or have received the MBS service within a time period, determining that the terminal device is leaving or will leave a coverage of a serving cell managed by the network node. In some embodiments, it may be determined that the terminal device is located inside the provided service area of the MBS service when a distance between the location of the terminal device and one or more predefined locations associated with the provided service area is shorter than a first distance threshold. In some embodiments, it may be determined that the terminal device is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service when a distance between the location of the terminal device and one or more predefined locations associated with the provided service area is longer than a second distance threshold.

[0152] In some embodiments, the first message may indicate the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service by at least one of: RRC signaling; MAC CE; and LI signaling.

[0153] In some embodiments, the first message may further indicate at least one of: the location of the terminal device; an indicator indicating that the terminal device does not have valid location information; a distance from the location of the terminal device to a boundary of the provided service area of the MBS service; an estimation of the terminal device moving in or out of the provided service area of the MBS service; an indicator indicating whether the terminal device has received the MBS service in a predefined time period; an estimated time at which the terminal device leaves or plans to leave the coverage of the serving cell managed by the network node; and an estimated time at which the terminal device leaves or plans to leave the provided service area of the MBS service managed by the network node.

[0154] In some embodiments, the method 400 may further comprise: receiving, from the network node, a third message indicating whether the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service is accepted or rejected. In some embodiments, the third message indicating that the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service is accepted may be received in response to at least one of: the first message indicating that the terminal device is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service; the first message indicating that the terminal device moves from inside to outside of the provided service area of the MBS service; that the location of the terminal device, which is determined by the network node, is inside the provided service area of the MBS service; and that the location of the terminal device, which is determined by the network node, is outside the provided service area of the MBS service. In some embodiments, the third message may further indicate a first maximum time period during which the terminal device is deemed by the network node as a valid receiver for the MBS service.

[0155] In some embodiments, the third message indicating that the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service is rejected may be received in response to at least one of: the first message indicating that the terminal device is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service; and the first message indicating that the terminal device moves from outside to inside of the provided service area of the MBS service. In some embodiments, the third message may further indicate a second maximum time period during which the terminal device is deemed by the network node as an invalid receiver for the MBS service.

[0156] In some embodiments, the third message may further indicate whether or not to deliver the MBS service to the terminal device in a unicast fashion. In some embodiments, the method 400 may further comprise: receiving, from the network node, a fourth message, which is different from the third message and indicates whether or not to deliver the MBS service to the terminal device in a unicast fashion. In some embodiments, the third message or the fourth message may be received in response to at least one of: the first message indicating that the terminal device is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service; the first message indicating that the terminal device moves from inside to outside of the provided service area of the MBS service; that the location of the terminal device, which is determined by the network node, is inside the provided service area of the MBS service; and that the location of the terminal device, which is determined by the network node, is outside the provided service area of the MBS service. In some embodiments, the third message or the fourth message is received in response to at least one of: the first message indicating that the terminal device is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service; the first message indicating that the terminal device moves from outside to inside of the provided service area of the MBS service; and the first message indicating that the terminal device moves from inside to outside of the provided service area of the MBS service.

[0157] In some embodiments, the method 400 may further comprise: starting an MBS reception procedure in response to the third message indicating that the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service is accepted. In some embodiments, the method 400 may further comprise: receiving, from a network node, a fifth message indicating an update of the provided service area of the MBS service. In some embodiments, the update of the provided service area of the MBS service may comprise at least one of: moving the boundary of the provided service area; adding one or more locations and / or spotty areas into the provided service area; removing one or more locations and / or spotty areas from the provided service area; and updating the provided service area as a list of locations and / or spotty areas. In some embodiments, the network node may be an NTN node.

[0158] Fig. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method 500 at a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The method 500 may be performed at a network node (e.g., the gNB 105, the satellite 115', or the network node / satellite 300). The method 500 may comprise a step S510. However, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. In some other embodiments, the method 500 may comprise more steps, different steps, or any combination thereof. Further the steps of the method 500 may be performed in a different order than that described herein when multiple steps are involved. Further, in some embodiments, a step in the method 500 may be split into multiple sub-steps and performed by different entities, and / or multiple steps in the method 500 may be combined into a single step.

[0159] The method 500 may begin with step S510 where the network node may receive, from a terminal device, a first message indicating an interest in and / or a request for an MBS service.

[0160] In some embodiments, before the step of receiving the first message, the method 500 may further comprises: transmitting, to the terminal device, a second message indicating at least one of: the network node is providing the MBS service; the network node is able to provide the MBS service; and a provided service area associated with the MBS service. In some embodiments, the first message may indicate the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service by at least one of: RRC signaling; MAC CE; and LI signaling.

[0161] In some embodiments, the first message may further indicate at least one of: the location of the terminal device; an indicator indicating that the terminal device does not have valid location information; a distance from the location of the terminal device to a boundary of the provided service area of the MBS service; an estimation of the terminal device moving in or out of the provided service area of the MBS service; an indicator indicating whether the terminal device has received the MBS service in a predefined time period; an estimated time at which the terminal device leaves or plans to leave the coverage of the serving cell managed by the network node; and an estimated time at which the terminal device leaves or plans to leave the provided service area of the MBS service managed by the network node. In some embodiments, the method 500 may further comprise: determining whether the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service, which is received from the terminal device, is accepted or rejected based on at least the first message; and transmitting, to the terminal device, a third message indicating whether the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service is accepted or rejected based on at least the determination. In some embodiments, the step of determining whether the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service, which is received from the terminal device, is accepted or rejected may comprise: determining that the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service, which is received from the terminal device, is accepted in response to at least one of: the first message indicating that the terminal device is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service; the first message indicating that the terminal device moves from inside to outside of the provided service area of the MBS service; that the location of the terminal device, which is determined by the network node, is inside the provided service area of the MBS service; and that the location of the terminal device, which is determined by the network node, is outside the provided service area of the MBS service. In some embodiments, the third message may further indicate a first maximum time period during which the terminal device is deemed by the network node as a valid receiver for the MBS service. In some embodiments, the step of determining whether the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service, which is received from the terminal device, is accepted or rejected may comprise: determining that the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service, which is received from the terminal device, is rejected in response to at least one of: the first message indicating that the terminal device is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service; and the first message indicating that the terminal device moves from outside to inside of the provided service area of the MBS service. In some embodiments, the third message may further indicate a second maximum time period during which the terminal device is deemed by the network node as an invalid receiver for the MBS service.

[0162] In some embodiments, before the step of transmitting the third message, the method 500 may further comprise: determining whether or not to deliver the MBS service to the terminal device in a unicast fashion. In some embodiments, the third message may further indicate whether or not to deliver the MBS service to the terminal device in a unicast fashion. In some embodiments, the method 500 may further comprise: determining whether or not to deliver the MBS service to the terminal device in a unicast fashion; and transmitting, to the terminal device, a fourth message, which is different from the third message and indicates whether or not to deliver the MBS service to the terminal device in a unicast fashion.

[0163] In some embodiments, the third message or the fourth message may be transmitted in response to at least one of: the first message indicating that the terminal device is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service; the first message indicating that the terminal device moves from inside to outside of the provided service area of the MBS service; that the location of the terminal device, which is determined by the network node, is inside the provided service area of the MBS service; and that the location of the terminal device, which is determined by the network node, is outside the provided service area of the MBS service. In some embodiments, the third message or the fourth message may be transmitted in response to at least one of: the first message indicating that the terminal device is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service; the first message indicating that the terminal device moves from outside to inside of the provided service area of the MBS service; and the first message indicating that the terminal device moves from inside to outside of the provided service area of the MBS service.

[0164] In some embodiments, the method 500 may further comprise: determining an update of the provided service area of the MBS service upon reception of one or more messages from one or more terminal devices indicating their interest in and / or request for the MBS service; and transmitting, to the terminal device, a fifth message indicating the update of the provided service area of the MBS service. In some embodiments, the update may be determined in order to cover one or more additional terminal devices as receivers for the MBS service and / or to remove one or more terminal devices from a receiver list for the MBS service. In some embodiments, the update of the provided service area of the MBS service may comprise at least one of: moving the boundary of the provided service area; adding one or more locations and / or spotty areas into the provided service area; removing one or more locations and / or spotty areas from the provided service area; and updating the provided service area as a list of locations and / or spotty areas. In some embodiments, the network node may be an NTN node.

[0165] Fig. 6 schematically shows an embodiment of an arrangement 600 which may be used in a terminal device and / or a network node according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Comprised in the arrangement 600 are a processing unit 606, e.g., with a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) or a Central Processing Unit (CPU). The processing unit 606 may be a single unit or a plurality of units to perform different actions of procedures described herein. The arrangement 600 may also comprise an input unit 602 for receiving signals from other entities, and an output unit 604 for providing signal(s) to other entities. The input unit 602 and the output unit 604 may be arranged as an integrated entity or as separate entities.

[0166] Furthermore, the arrangement 600 may comprise at least one computer program product 608 in the form of a non-volatile or volatile memory, e.g., an Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), a flash memory and / or a hard drive. The computer program product 608 comprises a computer program 610, which comprises code / computer readable instructions, which when executed by the processing unit 606 in the arrangement 600 causes the arrangement 600 and / or the terminal device and / or the network node in which it is comprised to perform the actions, e.g., of the procedure described earlier in conjunction with Fig. 3 through Fig. 5 or any other variant.

[0167] The computer program 610 may be configured as a computer program code structured in a computer program module 610A. Hence, in an exemplifying embodiment when the arrangement 600 is used in a terminal device, the code in the computer program of the arrangement 600 includes: a module 610A configured to transmit, to a network node, a first message indicating an interest in and / or a request for an MBS service.

[0168] Additionally or alternatively, the computer program 610 may be further configured as a computer program code structured in a computer program module 610B. Hence, in an exemplifying embodiment when the arrangement 600 is used in a network node, the code in the computer program of the arrangement 600 includes a module 610B configured to receive, from a terminal device, a first message indicating an interest in and / or a request for a MBS service.

[0169] The computer program modules could essentially perform the actions of the flow illustrated in Fig. 3 through Fig. 5, to emulate the terminal device and / or the network node. In other words, when the different computer program modules are executed in the processing unit 606, they may correspond to different modules in the terminal device and / or the network node. Although the code means in the embodiments disclosed above in conjunction with Fig. 6 are implemented as computer program modules which when executed in the processing unit causes the arrangement to perform the actions described above in conjunction with the figures mentioned above, at least one of the code means may in alternative embodiments be implemented at least partly as hardware circuits.

[0170] The processor may be a single CPU (Central processing unit), but could also comprise two or more processing units. For example, the processor may include general purpose microprocessors; instruction set processors and / or related chips sets and / or special purpose microprocessors such as Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASICs). The processor may also comprise board memory for caching purposes. The computer program may be carried by a computer program product connected to the processor. The computer program product may comprise a computer readable medium on which the computer program is stored. For example, the computer program product may be a flash memory, a Random-access memory (RAM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM), or an EEPROM, and the computer program modules described above could in alternative embodiments be distributed on different computer program products in the form of memories within the terminal device and / or the network node.

[0171] Fig. 7 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0172] In the example, the communication system QQ100 includes a telecommunication network QQ102 that includes an access network QQ104, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network QQ106, which includes one or more core network nodes QQ108. The access network QQ104 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes QQllOa and QQllOb (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes QQ110), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access node or non-3GPP access point. The network nodes QQ110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs QQ112a, QQ112b, QQ112c, and QQ112d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs QQ112) to the core network QQ106 over one or more wireless connections.

[0173] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system QQ100 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system QQ100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system. The UEs QQ112 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes QQ110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes QQ110 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs QQ112 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network QQ102 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network QQ102.

[0174] In the depicted example, the core network QQ106 connects the network nodes QQ110 to one or more hosts, such as host QQ116. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network QQ106 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node QQ108) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node QQ108. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (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).

[0175] The host QQ116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network QQ104 and / or the telecommunication network QQ102, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host QQ116 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and prerecorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0176] As a whole, the communication system QQ100 of Fig. 7 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0177] In some examples, the telecommunication network QQ102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network QQ102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network QQ102. For example, the telecommunications network QQ102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0178] In some examples, the UEs QQ112 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network QQ104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network QQ104. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi- RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0179] In the example, the hub QQ114 communicates with the access network QQ104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and / or QQ112d) and network nodes (e.g., network node QQllOb). In some examples, the hub QQ114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub QQ114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network QQ106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes QQ110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub QQ114. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub QQ114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub QQ114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub QQ114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular in if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices. The hub QQ114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node QQllOb. The hub QQ114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub QQ114 and UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and / or QQ112d), and between the hub QQ114 and the core network QQ106. In other examples, the hub QQ114 is connected to the core network QQ106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub QQ114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network QQ104 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes QQ110 while still connected via the hub QQ114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node QQllOb. In other embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node QQllOb, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0180] Fig. 8 shows a UE QQ200 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0181] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0182] The UE QQ200 includes processing circuitry QQ202 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ204 to an input / output interface QQ206, a power source QQ208, a memory QQ210, a communication interface QQ212, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Fig. 8. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0183] The processing circuitry QQ202 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory QQ210. The processing circuitry QQ202 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry QQ202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0184] In the example, the input / output interface QQ206 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE QQ200. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0185] In some embodiments, the power source QQ208 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source QQ208 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source QQ208 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE QQ200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source QQ208. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source QQ208 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE QQ200 to which power is supplied.

[0186] The memory QQ210 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory J

[0187] (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory QQ210 includes one or more application programs QQ214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data QQ216. The memory QQ210 may store, for use by the UE QQ200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0188] The memory QQ210 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual inline memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as 'SIM card.' The memory QQ210 may allow the UE QQ200 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory QQ210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0189] The processing circuitry QQ202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface QQ212. The communication interface QQ212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna QQ222. The communication interface QQ212 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter QQ218 and / or a receiver QQ220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter QQ218 and receiver QQ220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna QQ222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0190] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface QQ212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, locationbased communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0191] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface QQ212, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0192] 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.

[0193] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Nonlimiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE QQ200 shown in Fig. 8.

[0194] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0195] 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.

[0196] Fig. 9 shows a network node QQ300 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)).

[0197] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0198] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi- cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs). The network node QQ300 includes a processing circuitry QQ302, a memory QQ304, a communication interface QQ306, and a power source QQ308. The network node QQ300 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node QQ300 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node QQ300 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory QQ304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna QQ310 may be shared by different RATs). The network node QQ300 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node QQ300, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node QQ300.

[0199] The processing circuitry QQ302 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node QQ300 components, such as the memory QQ304, to provide network node QQ300 functionality.

[0200] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and the baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0201] The memory QQ304 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer- readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device- readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry QQ302. The memory QQ304 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry QQ302 and utilized by the network node QQ300. The memory QQ304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry QQ302 and / or any data received via the communication interface QQ306. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 and memory QQ304 is integrated.

[0202] The communication interface QQ306 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface QQ306 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) QQ316 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface QQ306 also includes radio front-end circuitry QQ318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna QQ310. Radio front-end circuitry QQ318 comprises filters QQ320 and amplifiers QQ322. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may be connected to an antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters QQ320 and / or amplifiers QQ322. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna QQ310. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna QQ310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry QQ318. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry QQ302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0203] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node QQ300 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry QQ318, instead, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna QQ310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 is part of the communication interface QQ306. In still other embodiments, the communication interface QQ306 includes one or more ports or terminals QQ316, the radio front-end circuitry QQ318, and the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface QQ306 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry QQ314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0204] The antenna QQ310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna QQ310 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry QQ318 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna QQ310 is separate from the network node QQ300 and connectable to the network node QQ300 through an interface or port.

[0205] The antenna QQ310, communication interface QQ306, and / or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna QQ310, the communication interface QQ306, and / or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0206] The power source QQ308 provides power to the various components of network node QQ300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source QQ308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node QQ300 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source QQ308. As a further example, the power source QQ308 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0207] Embodiments of the network node QQ300 may include additional components beyond those shown in Fig. 11 for providing certain aspects of the network node's functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node QQ300 and to allow output of information from the network node QQ300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node QQ300.

[0208] Fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ500 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments QQ500 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized.

[0209] Applications QQ502 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment QQ500 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0210] Hardware QQ504 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers QQ506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs QQ508a and QQ508b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs QQ508), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer QQ506 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs QQ508.

[0211] The VMs QQ508 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer QQ506. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance QQ502 may be implemented on one or more of VMs QQ508, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0212] In the context of NFV, a VM QQ508 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, nonvirtualized machine. Each of the VMs QQ508, and that part of hardware QQ504 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs QQ508 on top of the hardware QQ504 and corresponds to the application QQ502.

[0213] Hardware QQ504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware QQ504 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware QQ504 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration QQ510, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications QQ502. In some embodiments, hardware QQ504 is coupled to one or more radio units that each includes one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system QQ512 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0214] The present disclosure is described above with reference to the embodiments thereof. However, those embodiments are provided just for illustrative purpose, rather than limiting the present disclosure. The scope of the disclosure is defined by the attached claims as well as equivalents thereof. Those skilled in the art can make various alternations and modifications without departing from the scope of the disclosure, which all fall into the scope of the disclosure.

Claims

ClaimsWhat is claimed is:

1. A method (400) at a terminal device (100), the method (400) comprising: transmitting (S320, S410), to a network node (105, 115', 300), a first message indicating an interest in and / or a request for a Multicast-Broadcast Service (MBS) service.

2. The method (400) of claim 1, wherein before the step of transmitting (S320, S410) the first message, the method (400) further comprises: receiving, from the network node (105, 115', 300), a second message indicating at least one of:- the network node (105, 115', 300) is providing the MBS service;- the network node (105, 115', 300) is able to provide the MBS service; and- a provided service area associated with the MBS service.

3. The method (400) of claim 1 or 2, wherein the step of transmitting (S320, S410) the first message is performed in response to at least one of:- when the terminal device (100) is receiving the MBS service, is interested to receive the MBS service, or have received the MBS service within a time period, determining that the terminal device (100) is located inside a provided service area of the MBS service;- when the terminal device (100) is receiving the MBS service, is interested to receive the MBS service, or have received the MBS service within a time period, determining that the terminal device (100) is located outside a provided service area of the MBS service;- when the terminal device (100) is receiving the MBS service, is interested to receive the MBS service, or have received the MBS service within a time period, determining that the terminal device (100) moves from inside to outside of a provided service area of the MBS service;- when the terminal device (100) is receiving the MBS service, is interested to receive the MBS service, or have received the MBS service within a time period, determining that the terminal device (100) moves from outside to inside of a provided service area of the MBS service;- when the terminal device (100) is receiving the MBS service, is interested to receive the MBS service, or have received the MBS service within a time period, the terminal device (100) being not able to determine its location with respect to a provided service area of the MBS service;- when the terminal device (100) is receiving the MBS service, is interested to receive the MBS service, or have received the MBS service within a time period,requesting the network node (105, 115', 300) to identify the location of the terminal device (100); and- when the terminal device (100) is receiving the MBS service, is interested to receive the MBS service, or have received the MBS service within a time period, determining that the terminal device (100) is leaving or will leave a coverage of a serving cell managed by the network node (105, 115', 300).

4. The method (400) of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein it is determined that the terminal device (100) is located inside the provided service area of the MBS service when a distance between the location of the terminal device (100) and one or more predefined locations associated with the provided service area is shorter than a first distance threshold; and / or wherein it is determined that the terminal device (100) is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service when a distance between the location of the terminal device (100) and one or more predefined locations associated with the provided service area is longer than a second distance threshold.

5. The method (400) of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the first message indicates the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service by at least one of:- Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling;- Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE); and- Layer 1 (LI) signaling.

6. The method (400) of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the first message further indicates at least one of:- the location of the terminal device (100);- an indicator indicating that the terminal device (100) does not have valid location information;- a distance from the location of the terminal device (100) to a boundary of the provided service area of the MBS service;- an estimation of the terminal device (100) moving in or out of the provided service area of the MBS service;- an indicator indicating whether the terminal device (100) has received the MBS service in a predefined time period;- an estimated time at which the terminal device (100) leaves or plans to leave the coverage of the serving cell managed by the network node (105, 115', 300); and- an estimated time at which the terminal device (100) leaves or plans to leave the provided service area of the MBS service managed by the network node (105, 115', 300).

7. The method (400) of any of claims 1 to 6, further comprising:receiving (S340), from the network node (105, 115', 300), a third message indicating whether the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service is accepted or rejected.

8. The method (400) of claim 7, wherein the third message indicating that the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service is accepted is received in response to at least one of:- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service;- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) moves from inside to outside of the provided service area of the MBS service;- that the location of the terminal device (100), which is determined by the network node (105, 115', 300), is inside the provided service area of the MBS service; and- that the location of the terminal device (100), which is determined by the network node (105, 115', 300), is outside the provided service area of the MBS service.

9. The method (400) of claim 8, wherein the third message further indicates a first maximum time period during which the terminal device (100) is deemed by the network node (105, 115', 300) as a valid receiver for the MBS service.

10. The method (400) of any of claims 7 to 9, wherein the third message indicating that the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service is rejected is received in response to at least one of:- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service; and- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) moves from outside to inside of the provided service area of the MBS service.

11. The method (400) of claim 10, wherein the third message further indicates a second maximum time period during which the terminal device (100) is deemed by the network node (105, 115', 300) as an invalid receiver for the MBS service; and / orwherein the third message further indicates whether or not to deliver the MBS service to the terminal device (100) in a unicast fashion.

12. The method (400) of any of claims 7 to 11, further comprising: receiving, from the network node (105, 115', 300), a fourth message, which is different from the third message and indicates whether or not to deliver the MBS service to the terminal device (100) in a unicast fashion.

13. The method (400) of claim 11 or 12, wherein the third message or the fourth message is received in response to at least one of:- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service;- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) moves from inside to outside of the provided service area of the MBS service;- that the location of the terminal device (100), which is determined by the network node (105, 115', 300), is inside the provided service area of the MBS service; and- that the location of the terminal device (100), which is determined by the network node (105, 115', 300), is outside the provided service area of the MBS service.

14. The method (400) of any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the third message or the fourth message is received in response to at least one of:- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service;- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) moves from outside to inside of the provided service area of the MBS service; and- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) moves from inside to outside of the provided service area of the MBS service.

15. The method (400) of any of claims 7 to 14, further comprising: starting (S350) an MBS reception procedure in response to the third message indicating that the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service is accepted.

16. The method (400) of any of claims 1 to 15, further comprising: receiving, from a network node (105, 115', 300), a fifth message indicating an update of the provided service area of the MBS service.

17. The method (400) of claim 16, wherein the update of the provided service area of the MBS service comprises at least one of:- moving the boundary of the provided service area;- adding one or more locations and / or spotty areas into the provided service area;- removing one or more locations and / or spotty areas from the provided service area; and- updating the provided service area as a list of locations and / or spotty areas.

18. The method (400) of any of claims 1 to 17, wherein the network node (105, 115', 300) is a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) node.

19. A terminal device (100, 600, 700) comprising: a processor (606); a memory (608) storing instructions which, when executed by the processor (606), cause the terminal device (100, 600, 700) to: transmit, to a network node (105, 115', 300), a first message indicating an interest in and / or a request for a Multicast-Broadcast Service (MBS) service.

20. The terminal device (100, 600, 700) of claim 19, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor (606), further cause the terminal device (100, 600, 700) to perform the method (400) of any of claims 2 to 18.

21. A method (500) at a network node (105, 115', 300), the method (500) comprising: receiving (S320, S510), from a terminal device (100), a first message indicating an interest in and / or a request for a Multicast-Broadcast Service (MBS) service.

22. The method (500) of claim 21, wherein before the step of receiving (S320, S510) the first message, the method (500) further comprises: transmitting, to the terminal device (100), a second message indicating at least one of:- the network node (105, 115', 300) is providing the MBS service;- the network node (105, 115', 300) is able to provide the MBS service; and- a provided service area associated with the MBS service.

23. The method (500) of claims 21 or 22, wherein the first message indicates the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service by at least one of:- Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling;- Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE); and- Layer 1 (LI) signaling.

24. The method (500) of any of claims 21 to 23, wherein the first message further indicates at least one of:- the location of the terminal device (100);- an indicator indicating that the terminal device (100) does not have valid location information;- a distance from the location of the terminal device (100) to a boundary of the provided service area of the MBS service;- an estimation of the terminal device (100) moving in or out of the provided service area of the MBS service;- an indicator indicating whether the terminal device (100) has received the MBS service in a predefined time period;- an estimated time at which the terminal device (100) leaves or plans to leave the coverage of the serving cell managed by the network node (105, 115', 300); and- an estimated time at which the terminal device (100) leaves or plans to leave the provided service area of the MBS service managed by the network node (105, 115', 300).

25. The method (500) of any of claims 21 to 24, further comprising: determining (S330) whether the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service, which is received from the terminal device (100), is accepted or rejected based on at least the first message; and transmitting (S340), to the terminal device (100), a third message indicating whether the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service is accepted or rejected based on at least the determination.

26. The method (500) of claim 25, wherein the step of determining (S330) whether the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service, which is received from the terminal device (100), is accepted or rejected comprises: determining that the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service, which is received from the terminal device (100), is accepted in response to at least one of:- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service;- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) moves from inside to outside of the provided service area of the MBS service;- that the location of the terminal device (100), which is determined by the network node (105, 115', 300), is inside the provided service area of the MBS service; and- that the location of the terminal device (100), which is determined by the network node (105, 115', 300), is outside the provided service area of the MBS service.

27. The method (500) of claim 26, wherein the third message further indicates a first maximum time period during which the terminal device (100) is deemed by the network node (105, 115', 300) as a valid receiver for the MBS service.

28. The method (500) of any of claims 25 to 27, wherein the step of determining (S330) whether the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service, which is received from the terminal device (100), is accepted or rejected comprises: determining that the interest in and / or the request for the MBS service, which is received from the terminal device (100), is rejected in response to at least one of:- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service; and- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) moves from outside to inside of the provided service area of the MBS service.

29. The method (500) of claim 28, wherein the third message further indicates a second maximum time period during which the terminal device (100) is deemed by the network node (105, 115', 300) as an invalid receiver for the MBS service.

30. The method (500) of any of claims 25 to 29, wherein before the step of transmitting (S340) the third message, the method (500) further comprises: determining whether or not to deliver the MBS service to the terminal device (100) in a unicast fashion, wherein the third message further indicates whether or not to deliver the MBS service to the terminal device (100) in a unicast fashion.

31. The method (500) of any of claims 25 to 29, further comprising: determining whether or not to deliver the MBS service to the terminal device (100) in a unicast fashion; and transmitting, to the terminal device (100), a fourth message, which is different from the third message and indicates whether or not to deliver the MBS service to the terminal device (100) in a unicast fashion.

32. The method (500) of claim 30 or 31, wherein the third message or the fourth message is transmitted in response to at least one of:- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service;- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) moves from inside to outside of the provided service area of the MBS service;- that the location of the terminal device (100), which is determined by the network node (105, 115', 300), is inside the provided service area of the MBS service; and- that the location of the terminal device (100), which is determined by the network node (105, 115', 300), is outside the provided service area of the MBS service.

33. The method (500) of any of claims 30 to 32, wherein the third message or the fourth message is transmitted in response to at least one of:- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) is located outside the provided service area of the MBS service;- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) moves from outside to inside of the provided service area of the MBS service; and- the first message indicating that the terminal device (100) moves from inside to outside of the provided service area of the MBS service.

34. The method (500) of any of claims 21 to 33, further comprising: determining an update of the provided service area of the MBS service upon reception of one or more messages from one or more terminal devices (100) indicating their interest in and / or request for the MBS service; and transmitting, to the terminal device (100), a fifth message indicating the update of the provided service area of the MBS service.

35. The method (500) of claim 34, wherein the update is determined in order to cover one or more additional terminal devices (100) as receivers for the MBS service and / or to remove one or more terminal devices (100) from a receiver list for the MBS service.

36. The method (500) of claim 34 or 35, wherein the update of the provided service area of the MBS service comprises at least one of:- moving the boundary of the provided service area;- adding one or more locations and / or spotty areas into the provided service area;- removing one or more locations and / or spotty areas from the provided service area; and- updating the provided service area as a list of locations and / or spotty areas.

37. The method (500) of any of claims 21 to 36, wherein the network node (105, 115', 300) is a Non-Terrestrial Network (NTN) node.

38. A network node (105, 115', 300, 600, 800) comprising: a processor (606); a memory (608) storing instructions which, when executed by the processor (606), cause the network node (105, 115', 300, 600, 800) to: receive, from a terminal device (100), a first message indicating an interest in and / or a request for a Multicast-Broadcast Service (MBS) service.

39. The network node (105, 115', 300, 600, 800) of claim 38, wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor (606), further cause the network node (105, 115', 300, 600, 800) to perform the method (500) of any of claims 22 to 37.

40. A computer program (610) comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor (606), cause the at least one processor (606) to carry out the method (400, 500) of any of claims 1 to 18 and 21 to 37.

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