High priority cause for paging and establishment

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for enabling high priority cause indication for paging and establishment. The UE may use a high priority access cause indication to indicate, to the network, a need for high priority service even if high priority services has not yet been established. According to certain embodiments, a network may determine that a UE should be paged and that the reason for the page is for the sake of communicating a high priority service. The network pages the UE and indicates that the page is due to a high priority service. The UE receives the page and determines, based on the indication, that the page is due to a high priority service. The UE then establishes a connection and indicates, via an establishment cause, that the connection establishment is due to a high priority service. The network prioritizes connections based on the establishment cause.

Description

HIGH PRIORITY CAUSE FOR PAGING AND ESTABLISHMENT Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to paging and establishment and in particular to high priority cause for paging and establishment. Background

[0002] There are certain services which are considered to have higher priority compared to for example normal mobile broadband services. For example, Mission Critical Services (MCS) and Multimedia Priority Services (MPS).

[0003] When a User Equipment (UE) accesses the system, the UE will indicate that it has such services ongoing when the UE establishes the connection to the network. The UE indicates this with a Radio Resource Control (RRC) resume request and RRC setup request cause value. When the network receives a RRC resume request and RRC setup request message from a UE that indicates such high priority services, the network can prioritize this UE’s connection establishment attempt and drop other UE’s attempts when there is high network load and / or the network cannot admit all UEs.

[0004] When an MPS and MCS should be established for the UE, the UE may be paged to establish a radio-connection with the network and after which the MPS / MCS can be established. The MPS and MCS service can then remain established for the UE even if the radio connection between the UE and the radio network may be released. If the UE should later establish a radio-connection to the network, the UE can indicate that this particular UE is using MPS / MCS and, thereafter, the network can prioritize such UE.

[0005] There currently exist certain challenge(s), however. For example, current systems and methods only allow the UE to know that a high priority access is used if that service is already running in / on the UE, i.e. the service is already established for the UE. However, current techniques do not allow the UE to use this high priority access / resume cause values if the UE gets paged by the network and the purpose is to set up such high priority access services. This means that, if the network is loaded, andthe UE gets paged for the purpose of setting up a high priority service, the UE will not use a cause value associated with a high priority service. Thus, the network may not give high(er) priority to the UE’s connection resume / setup attempt and, thus, the UE resume / setup may be rejected by the network. Summary

[0006] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. For example, methods and systems are provided for enabling high priority cause indication for paging and establishment. Specifically, the methods and systems enable the UE to use a high priority access cause indication to indicate, to the network, a need for high priority service even if high priority services has not yet been established.

[0007] According to certain embodiments, for example, a network may determine that a UE should be paged and that the reason for the page is for the sake of communicating a high priority service. The network pages the UE and indicates that the page is due to a high priority service. The UE receives the page and determines, based on the indication, that the page is due to a high priority service. The UE then establishes a connection and indicates, via an establishment cause, that the connection establishment is due to a high priority service. The network prioritizes connections based on the establishment cause.

[0008] According to another embodiment, for example, the network pages the UE and indicates to NG-RAN node to store the paging priority with the UE identifier. When UE establishes the connection, the NG-RAN node uses the stored information to prioritize the establishment.

[0009] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). For example, certain embodiments may provide a technical advantage of enabling a UE to use a high priority access cause indication even if high priority services has not yet been established.

[0010] Other advantages may be readily apparent to one having skill in the art. Certain embodiments may have none, some, or all of the recited advantages.

[0011] Embodiments of a base station, communication system, and a method in a communication system are also disclosed. Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012] The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, and together with the description serve to explain principles of the disclosure.

[0013] FIG.1 illustrates an example method for enabling a high priority access cause indication, according to certain embodiments;

[0014] FIG.2 shows an example of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments;

[0015] FIG.3 shows a UE in accordance with some embodiments;

[0016] FIG.4 shows a network node, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0017] FIG.5 is a block diagram of a host in accordance with various aspects described herein;

[0018] FIG.6 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. Detailed Description

[0019] The embodiments set forth below represent information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best mode of practicing the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure.

[0020] At least some of the following abbreviations and terms may be used in this disclosure. • 2D Two Dimensional• 3GPP Third Generation Partnership Project • 5G Fifth Generation • AAS Antenna Array System • AoA Angle of Arrival • AoD Angle of Departure • ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit • BF Beamforming • BLER Block Error Rate • BW Beamwidth • CPU Central Processing Unit • CSI Channel State Information • dB Decibel • DCI Downlink Control Information • DFT Discrete Fourier Transform • DSP Digital Signal Processor • eNB Enhanced or Evolved Node B • FIR Finite Impulse Response • FPGA Field Programmable Gate Array • gNB New Radio Base Station • ICC Information Carrying Capacity • IIR Infinite Impulse Response • LTE Long Term Evolution • MIMO Multiple Input Multiple Output • MME Mobility Management Entity • MMSE Minimum Mean Square Error • MTC Machine Type Communication • NR New Radio • OTT Over-the-Top • PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel• PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel • PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel • P-GW Packet Data Network Gateway • RAM Random Access Memory • ROM Read Only Memory • RRC Radio Resource Control • RRH Remote Radio Head • SCEF Service Capability Exposure Function • SINR Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio • TBS Transmission Block Size • UE User Equipment • ULA Uniform Linear Array • URA Uniform Rectangular Array

[0021] Node: As used herein, a node can be a network node or a UE.

[0022] User Equipment (UE): As used herein, the term “UE” (also referred to as a wireless device) is a non-limiting term that refers to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and / or with another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, device to device (D2D) UE, vehicular to vehicular (V2V), machine type UE, MTC UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), Unified Serial Bus (USB) dongles, etc.

[0023] Radio Node: As used herein, a “radio node” is either a radio access node or a wireless device.

[0024] Radio Access Node: As used herein, a “radio access node” or “radio network node” is any node in a radio access network of a cellular communications network that operates to wirelessly transmit and / or receive signals. Some examples of a radio access node include, but are not limited to, a base station (e.g., a New Radio (NR) base station (gNB) in a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) FifthGeneration (5G) NR network or an enhanced or evolved Node B (eNB) in a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) network), a high-power or macro base station, a low-power base station (e.g., a micro base station, a pico base station, a home eNB, or the like), and a relay node.

[0025] Core Network Node: As used herein, a “core network node” is any type of node in a core network. Some examples of a core network node include, e.g., a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW), a Service Capability Exposure Function (SCEF), or the like.

[0026] Wireless Device: As used herein, a “wireless device” is any type of device that has access to (i.e., is served by) a cellular communications network by wirelessly transmitting (and / or receiving) signals to (and / or from) a radio access node. Some examples of a wireless device include, but are not limited to, a User Equipment device (UE) in a 3GPP network and a Machine Type Communication (MTC) device.

[0027] Network Node: As used herein, a “network node” is any node that is either part of the radio access network or the core network of a cellular communications network / system. Examples of network nodes are NodeB, base station (BS), multi- standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB (eNB), gNodeB (gNB), Master eNB (MeNB), Secondary eNB (SeNB), integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), Central Unit (e.g. in a gNB), Distributed Unit (e.g. in a gNB), Baseband Unit, Centralized Baseband, C- RAN, access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Remote Radio Head (RRH), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node (e.g. Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), etc.), Operations & Maintenance (O&M), Operations Support System (OSS), Self Organizing Network (SON), positioning node (e.g. E-SMLC), etc.

[0028] Cell: As used herein, a “cell” is a combination of radio resources (such as, for example, antenna port allocation, time and frequency) that a wireless device may use to exchange radio signals with a radio access node, which may be referred to as ahost node or a serving node of the cell. However, it is important to note that beams may be used instead of cells, particularly with respect to 5G NR. As such, it should be appreciated that the techniques described herein are equally applicable to both cells and beams.

[0029] Note that references in this disclosure to various technical standards (such as 3GPP TS 38.211 V15.1.0 (2018-03) and 3GPP TS 38.214 V15.1.0 (2018-03), for example) should be understood to refer to the specific version(s) of such standard(s) that is(were) current at the time the present application was filed, and may also refer to applicable counterparts and successors of such versions.

[0030] The description herein focuses on a 3GPP cellular communications system and, as such, 3GPP terminology or terminology similar to 3GPP terminology is oftentimes used. However, the concepts disclosed herein are not limited to a 3GPP system.

[0031] In some embodiments, generic terminology, “radio network node” or simply “network node (NW node)”, is used. It can be any kind of network node which may comprise base station, radio base station, base transceiver station, base station controller, network controller, evolved Node B (eNB), Node B, gNodeB (gNB), relay node, access point, radio access point, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH), Central Unit (e.g. in a gNB), Distributed Unit (e.g. in a gNB), Baseband Unit, Centralized Baseband, C-RAN, access point (AP), etc.

[0032] The term radio access technology (RAT), may refer to any RAT such as, for example, Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRA), Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRA), narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT), WiFi, Bluetooth, next generation RAT, NR, 4G, 5G, etc. Any of the equipment denoted by the terms node, network node or radio network node may be capable of supporting a single or multiple RATs.

[0033] The term signal or radio signal used herein can be any physical signal or physical channel. Examples of DL physical signals are reference signal (RS) such as PSS, SSS, CSI-RS, DMRS signals in SS / PBCH block (SSB), discovery reference signal(DRS), CRS, PRS etc. RS may be periodic e.g. RS occasion carrying one or more RSs may occur with certain periodicity e.g.20 ms, 40 ms etc. The RS may also be aperiodic. Each SSB carries NR-PSS, NR-SSS and NR-PBCH in 4 successive symbols. One or multiple SSBs are transmit in one SSB burst which is repeated with certain periodicity e.g.5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms and 160 ms. The UE is configured with information about SSB on cells of certain carrier frequency by one or more SS / PBCH block measurement timing configuration (SMTC) configurations. The SMTC configuration comprising parameters such as SMTC periodicity, SMTC occasion length in time or duration, SMTC time offset with regard to reference time (e.g., serving cell’s SFN) etc. Therefore, SMTC occasion may also occur with certain periodicity e.g.5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms and 160 ms. Examples of UL physical signals are reference signal such as SRS, DMRS etc. The term physical channel refers to any channel carrying higher layer information e.g. data, control etc. Examples of physical channels are PBCH, NPBCH, PDCCH, PDSCH, sPUCCH, sPDSCH, sPUCCH, sPUSCH, MPDCCH, NPDCCH, NPDSCH, E-PDCCH, PUSCH, PUCCH, NPUSCH, etc.

[0034] The term time resource used herein may correspond to any type of physical resource or radio resource expressed in terms of length of time. Examples of time resources are: symbol, time slot, subframe, radio frame, TTI, interleaving time, slot, sub-slot, mini-slot, system frame number (SFN) cycle, hyper-SFN (H-SFN) cycle etc.

[0035] Systems and methods are disclosed herein that provide for enabling high priority cause indication for paging and establishment.

[0036] For example, methods and systems are provided for enabling high priority cause for paging and establishment. Specifically, the methods and systems enable the UE to use a high priority access cause indication to indicate, to the network, a need for high priority service even if high priority services have not yet been established.

[0037] FIG. 1 illustrates an example method for enabling a high priority access cause indication, according to certain embodiments.

[0038] As illustrated the method includes at least one of the following steps:

[0039] Step 1 (at 102): Network determines that a UE should be paged and that the reason for the page is for the sake of communicating a high priority service.

[0040] Step 2 (at 104): Network pages the UE and indicates that the page is due to a high priority service.

[0041] Step 3 (at 106): The UE receives the page and determines, based on the indication, if the page is due to a high priority service

[0042] Step 4 (at 108): UE establishes a connection and indicates that the connection establishment is due to a high priority service.

[0043] Step 5 (at 110): Network prioritizes connections based on the establishment cause.

[0044] Each of these steps will be discussed below in details with reference to specific embodiments.

[0045] The embodiments described herein may be applied to, for example, MCS, MPS, or any other high priority service,

[0046] The terms special paging cause indication, paging source priority indication, and high priority cause indication may be used interchangeably herein.

[0047] The terms connection establishment indication and connection resume cause indication, and high priority cause indication may be used interchangeably herein Step 1 (at 102)- Network Determines that a UE Should be Paged for the Sake of Communicating a High Priority Service

[0048] According to certain embodiments, a Radio Access Network (RAN) node determines that a page that should be sent to a UE for the purpose of establishing a high priority service. The RAN node knows this based on an indication from a core network node such as, for example, an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF).

[0049] In a particular embodiment, the AMF knows that a UE that is to be paged due to that a high priority service should be established based on knowledge that the data that should be sent to this UE is a session establishment setup message. This canbe indicated by Unified Data Management (UDM), Application layer, Non-Access Stratum (NAS), etc.

[0050] There may be different high priority services. For example, there may be MCSs, MPSs, etc. The network may determine not only that the page is for the purpose of a high priority service, but also which such service the page is for.

[0051] In a particular embodiment, the network applies the behaviour described herein only when a high priority service shall be started. This means that, if a session (or similar) for a high priority service is already established for the UE, and the UE needs to be paged due to traffic for this already-established service, the network would not apply the behaviour described herein, i.e. would not use a special paging cause, etc. Instead, according to this particular embodiment, the special paging cause indication will only be used when such a session is about to be started.

[0052] In a particular embodiment, the network applies the behaviour described herein only when the UE supports the relevant behaviors. For example, only if the UE supports setting the establishment cause to indicate high priority access in response to receiving a page which indicates that the page is due to high priority access establishment. In a particular embodiment, the network may determine that the UE supports this based on capability indications from the UE.

[0053] In an example, an explicit “Paging source priority” Information Element (IE) is sent from AMF to Next Generation-RAN (NG-RAN) node in the “PAGING” message, to indicate to NG-RAN node the UE is paged for a high priority service. For example, the Paging Priority IE defined in TS 38.413 v18.0.0 may be modified by the addition of the explicit Paging Source Priority as shown below. It is specified that the NG-RAN node includes this information when page the UE. 9.3.1.78 Paging Priority This element indicates the paging priority for paging a UE.IE / Group Name Presence Range IE type and Semantics description reference Paging Priority M ENUMERATED Lower value codepoint (PrioLevel1, indicates higher priority. PrioLevel2, PrioLevel3, PrioLevel4, PrioLevel5, PrioLevel6, PrioLevel7, PrioLevel8, …) Paging source priority O ENUMERATED Indicating the paging (emergency, cause, or the paging ,mps- source priority. PriorityAccess, mcs- PriorityAccess, …, notAvailable, mo- ExceptionData) Step 2 ( at 104) and Step 3 (at 106) - Network Pages the UE and Indicates that the Page is Due to a High Priority Service and the UE Receives the Page and Determines, Based on the Indication, that the Page is Due to a High Priority Service

[0054] According to certain embodiments, if the network has determined that the page is for the purpose of setting up or sending traffic related to a high priority service (as described above), the network sends a paging indication to the UE and indicates this purpose / cause. In a particular embodiment, this could be implemented as a field that, when present indicates that the page is for a high priority service or, when not present / absent indicates that it is not for a high priority service. Alternative, in a particular embodiment, it can be a binary indication that is set to a first value to indicate that the page / message is for a high priority service, and to a second value to indicate that the page / message is not for a high priority service.

[0055] In case there are multiple services that may be considered high priority, e.g. both MSC(s) and MPS(s), for example, the network may further indicate which particular high priority service the page is for. For example, when the page is for MCS(s), the network may indicate that the page is for MCS(s). Alternatively, when the page is for MPS(s), the network may indicate that the page is for MPS(s). In a particular embodiment, this is implemented using one indication per service.

[0056] In a particular embodiment, such indication(s) can be implemented into 3GPP TS 38.331 v18.0.0 as shown below. It can be seen that in this example embodiment an indication “mps-r18” has been added, which can be present or absent to indicate whether the UE is paged for the purpose (of establishing) an MPS-service. For example, if the indication is present, it indicates that the network is paging the UE due to the MPS service. 6.2.2 Message definitions […] – Paging The Paging message is used for the notification of one or more UEs. Signalling radio bearer: N / A RLC-SAP: TM Logical channel: PCCH Direction: Network to UE Paging message -- ASN1START -- TAG-PAGING-START Paging ::= SEQUENCE { pagingRecordList PagingRecordList OPTIONAL, -- Need N lateNonCriticalExtension OCTET STRING OPTIONAL, nonCriticalExtension Paging-v1700-IEs OPTIONAL } Paging-v1700-IEs ::= SEQUENCE { pagingRecordList-v1700 PagingRecordList-v1700 OPTIONAL, -- Need N pagingGroupList-r17 PagingGroupList-r17 OPTIONAL, -- Need N nonCriticalExtension Paging-v1800-IEs OPTIONAL } Paging-v1800-IEs ::= SEQUENCE { pagingRecordList-v1800 PagingRecordList-v1800 OPTIONAL, -- Need NpagingGroupList-v1800 PagingGroupList-v1800 OPTIONAL, -- Need N nonCriticalExtension SEQUENCE {} OPTIONAL } PagingRecordList ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxNrofPageRec)) OF PagingRecord PagingRecordList-v1700 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxNrofPageRec)) OF PagingRecord-v1700 PagingGroupList-r17 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxNrofPageGroup- r17)) OF TMGI-r17 PagingRecordList-v1800 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxNrofPageRec)) OF PagingRecord-v1800 PagingGroupList-v1800 ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxNrofPageGroup- r17)) OF GroupPaging-r18 PagingRecord ::= SEQUENCE { ue-Identity PagingUE-Identity, accessType ENUMERATED {non3GPP} OPTIONAL, -- Need N ... } PagingRecord-v1700 ::= SEQUENCE { pagingCause-r17 ENUMERATED {voice} OPTIONAL -- Need N } PagingRecord-v1800 ::= SEQUENCE { mt-SDT ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL, -- Need N mps-r18 ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL -- Need N } PagingUE-Identity ::= CHOICE { ng-5G-S-TMSI NG-5G-S-TMSI,inactiveReceptionAllowed-r18 ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL -- Need N } -- TAG-PAGING-STOP -- ASN1STOPPagingRecord field descriptions accessType Indicates whether the Paging message is originated due to the PDU sessions from the non-3GPP access. inactiveReceptionAllowed Indicates whether the UE with a valid PTM configuration for a TMGI in the PagingGroupList stays in RRC_INACTIVE to receive the corresponding MBS multicast session. mps Indicates that the page is for the purpose of MPS. mt-SDT Mobile Terminated SDT indication. The network includes mt-SDT indication in paging message only if the UE's I-RNTI is included in the paging message. pagingRecordList If the network includes pagingRecordList-v1700, it includes the same number of entries, and listed in the same order, as in pagingRecordList (i.e. without suffix). If the network includes pagingRecordList-v1800, it includes the same number of entries, and listed in the same order, as in pagingRecordList (i.e. without suffix). pagingCause Indicates whether the Paging message is originated due to IMS voice. If this field is present, it implies that the corresponding paging entry is for IMS voice. If upper layers indicate the support of paging cause and if this field is not present but pagingRecordList-v1700 is present, it implies that the corresponding paging entry is for a service other than IMS voice. Otherwise, paging cause is undetermined. pagingGroupList If the network includes pagingGroupList-v1800, it includes the same number of elements, and listed in the same order, as in pagingGroupList-r17. The first element corresponds to the first TMGI in pagingGroupList- r17. The second element corresponds to the second TMGI in pagingGroupList-r17, and so on. Step 4 (at 108) UE Establishes a Connection and Indicates that the Connection Establishment is Due to a High Priority Service

[0057] According to certain embodiments, if the network indicates that the page is for setting up a high priority service, the UE sets a connection establishment or connection resume cause indication to a value to indicate that the UE is establishing the connection for a high priority service.

[0058] This can be implemented in 3GPP TS 38.331 v18.0.0 as shown below where it can be seen that the UE will set the resumeCause to mps-PriorityAccess if the network indicates MPS when paging the UE. 5.3.2.3 Reception of the Paging message by the UE or PagingRecord by the L2 U2N Remote UE Upon receiving the Paging message by the UE or receiving PagingRecord from its connected L2 U2N Relay UE by a L2 U2N Remote UE, the UE shall: […] 1> if in RRC_INACTIVE, for the PagingRecord, if any, included in the UuMessageTransferSidelink message received from the connected L2 U2N Relay UE: 2> if the ue-Identity included in the PagingRecord matches the UE's stored fullI-RNTI:3> if the UE is configured by upper layers with Access Identity 1 or if the paging record indicates that the paging is for mps: 4> initiate the RRC connection resumption procedure according to 5.3.13 with resumeCause set to mps-PriorityAccess; 3> else if the UE is configured by upper layers with Access Identity 2: 4> initiate the RRC connection resumption procedure according to 5.3.13 with resumeCause set to mcs-PriorityAccess; 3> else if the UE is configured by upper layers with one or more Access Identities equal to 11- 15: 4> initiate the RRC connection resumption procedure according to 5.3.13 with resumeCause set to highPriorityAccess; 3> else if mt-SDT indication was included in the paging message and if the conditions for initiating SDT for a resume procedure initiated in response to RAN paging according to 5.3.13.1b are fulfilled: 4> initiate the RRC connection resumption procedure according to 5.3.13 with resumeCause set to mt-SDT: […]

[0059] In a particular embodiment, if the UE is setting up a connection from being in IDLE, wherein the RRCSetupRequest message is used, the technique can be implement in 3GPP TS 38.331 v18.0.0 as follows: 5.3.3.3 Actions related to transmission of RRCSetupRequest message The UE shall set the contents of RRCSetupRequest message as follows: 1> set the ue-Identity as follows: 2> if upper layers provide a 5G-S-TMSI: 3> set the ue-Identity to ng-5G-S-TMSI-Part1; 2> else: 3> draw a 39-bit random value in the range 0..239-1 and set the ue-Identity to this value; NOTE 1: Upper layers provide the 5G-S-TMSI if the UE is registered in the TA of the current cell. 1> if the establishment of the RRC connection is the result of release with redirect with mpsPriorityIndication (either in NR or E-UTRAN) or if the establishment of the RRC connection is the result of a paging which indicated that the paging is for mps: 2> set the establishmentCause to mps-PriorityAccess; 1> else: 2> set the establishmentCause in accordance with the information received from upper layers;NOTE 2: In case the L2 U2N Relay UE initiates RRC connection establishment triggered by reception of message from a L2 U2N Remote UE via SL-RLC0 or SL-RLC1 as specified in 5.3.3.1a, the L2 U2N Relay UE sets the establishmentCause by implementation, but it can only set the emergency, mps-PriorityAccess, or mcs-PriorityAccess as establishmentCause if the same cause value is in the message received from the L2 U2N Remote UE via SL-RLC0. […] Step 5 (at 110) Network Prioritizes Connections Based on the Establishment Cause

[0060] According to certain embodiments, when the network gets a resume request or RRC setup request message indicating MPS access, the network will consider this as a high priority connection setup attempt and hence prioritize it higher compared to a normal resume / setup request.

[0061] NG-RAN Node is Instructed to Store the Paging Priority and Use it in Connection Control During Congestion

[0062] According to certain other embodiments, the NG-RAN node stores, when indicated, the paging priority, or additional paging source information together with the UE paging identifier. This information may be used when the UE establishes the connection and the congestion handling control is performed, so that the UE paged by high priority source / high paging priority can be handled accordingly.

[0063] For example, the Paging Priority IE defined in TS 38.413 v18.0.0 may be modified by the addition of an explicit indication to store the Paging Priority as shown below. 9.3.1.78 Paging Priority This element indicates the paging priority for paging a UE.IE / Group Name Presence Range IE type and Semantics description reference Paging Priority M ENUMERATED Lower value codepoint (PrioLevel1, indicates higher priority. PrioLevel2, PrioLevel3, PrioLevel4, PrioLevel5, PrioLevel6, PrioLevel7, PrioLevel8, …) Store Paging Priority O ENUMERATED Indicating that NG-RAN (true, …) node should store the Paging priority

[0064] FIG. 2 shows an example of a communication system 200 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0065] In the example, the communication system 200 includes a telecommunication network 202 that includes an access network 204, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 206, which includes one or more core network nodes 208. The access network 204 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 210a and 210b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 210), or any other similar 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access node or non-3GPP access point. The network nodes 210 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 212a, 212b, 212c, and 212d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 212) to the core network 206 over one or more wireless connections.

[0066] 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 200 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 200 may include and / orinterface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0067] The UEs 212 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 210 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 210 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 212 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 202 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 202.

[0068] In the depicted example, the core network 206 connects the network nodes 210 to one or more hosts, such as host 216. 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 206 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 208) 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 208. 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).

[0069] The host 216 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 204 and / or the telecommunication network 202, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 216 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0070] As a whole, the communication system 200 of FIG. 2 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.

[0071] In some examples, the telecommunication network 202 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 202 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 202. For example, the telecommunications network 202 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 IoT services to yet further UEs.

[0072] In some examples, the UEs 212 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 204 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 204. 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).

[0073] In the example, the hub 214 communicates with the access network 204 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 212c and / or 212d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 210b). In some examples, the hub 214 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 214 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 206 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 214 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 210, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 214. As another example, the hub 214 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 214 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 214 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 214 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 214 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular in if one or more of the UEs are low energy IoT devices.

[0074] The hub 214 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 210b. The hub 214 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 214 and UEs (e.g., UE 212c and / or 212d), and between the hub 214 and the core network 206. In other examples, the hub 214 is connected to the core network 206 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 214 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 204 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In somescenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 210 while still connected via the hub 214 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 214 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 210b. In other embodiments, the hub 214 may be a non-dedicated hub – that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 210b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0075] FIG. 3 shows a UE 300, which may be an embodiment of the UE 212 of FIG. 2, in accordance with some embodiments.

[0076] 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.

[0077] 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 isnot 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).

[0078] The UE 300 includes processing circuitry 302 that is operatively coupled via a bus 304 to an input / output interface 306, a power source 308, a memory 310, a communication interface 312, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in FIG. 3. 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.

[0079] The processing circuitry 302 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 310. The processing circuitry 302 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 302 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0080] In the example, the input / output interface 306 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 300. 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, amagnetometer, 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.

[0081] In some embodiments, the power source 308 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 308 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 308 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 300 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 308. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 308 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 300 to which power is supplied.

[0082] The memory 310 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 310 includes one or more application programs 314, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 316. The memory 310 may store, for use by the UE 300, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0083] The memory 310 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini- dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistantmodule 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 310 may allow the UE 300 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 310, which may be or comprise a device- readable storage medium.

[0084] The processing circuitry 302 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 312. The communication interface 312 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 322. The communication interface 312 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 318 and / or a receiver 320 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 318 and receiver 320 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 322) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0085] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 312 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access(WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0086] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 312, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

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

[0088] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (IoT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an IoT 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 forAugmented 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 IoT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the IoT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 300 shown in FIG. 3.

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

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

[0091] FIG. 4 shows a network node 400, which may be an embodiment of the network node 210 of FIG. 2, in accordance with some embodiments.

[0092] As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or withother 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)).

[0093] 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).

[0094] 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).

[0095] The network node 400 includes a processing circuitry 402, a memory 404, a communication interface 406, and a power source 408. The network node 400 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 400 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 uniqueNodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 400 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 404 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 410 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 400 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 400, 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 400.

[0096] The processing circuitry 402 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 400 components, such as the memory 404, to provide network node 400 functionality.

[0097] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 402 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 402 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 412 and baseband processing circuitry 414. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 412 and the baseband processing circuitry 414 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 412 and baseband processing circuitry 414 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0098] The memory 404 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 harddisk), 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 402. The memory 404 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 402 and utilized by the network node 400. The memory 404 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 402 and / or any data received via the communication interface 406. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 402 and memory 404 is integrated.

[0099] The communication interface 406 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 406 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 416 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 406 also includes radio front- end circuitry 418 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 410. Radio front-end circuitry 418 comprises filters 420 and amplifiers 422. The radio front-end circuitry 418 may be connected to an antenna 410 and processing circuitry 402. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 410 and processing circuitry 402. The radio front-end circuitry 418 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 418 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 420 and / or amplifiers 422. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 410. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 410 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 418. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 402. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0100] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 400 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 418, instead, the processing circuitry 402 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 410. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 412 is part of the communication interface 406. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 406 includes one or more ports or terminals 416, the radio front-end circuitry 418, and the RF transceiver circuitry 412, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 406 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 414, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0101] The antenna 410 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 410 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 418 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 410 is separate from the network node 400 and connectable to the network node 400 through an interface or port.

[0102] The antenna 410, communication interface 406, and / or the processing circuitry 402 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 410, the communication interface 406, and / or the processing circuitry 402 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.

[0103] The power source 408 provides power to the various components of network node 400 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 408 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 400 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 400 may be connectable to an externalpower 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 408. As a further example, the power source 408 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.

[0104] Embodiments of the network node 400 may include additional components beyond those shown in FIG. 4 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 400 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 400 and to allow output of information from the network node 400. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 400.

[0105] FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a host 500, which may be an embodiment of the host 216 of FIG. 2, in accordance with various aspects described herein.

[0106] As used herein, the host 500 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and / or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud- implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 500 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0107] The host 500 includes processing circuitry 502 that is operatively coupled via a bus 504 to an input / output interface 506, a network interface 508, a power source 510, and a memory 512. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as FIG. S 3 and 4, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 500.

[0108] The memory 512 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 514 and data 516, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host 500 or data generated by the host 500 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 500 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 514 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application programs 514 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 500 may select and / or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs 514 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0109] FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 600 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized.

[0110] 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 600 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 radioconnectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized.

[0111] Applications 602 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0112] Hardware 604 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 606 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 608a and 608b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 608), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 606 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 608.

[0113] The VMs 608 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 606. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 602 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 608, 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.

[0114] In the context of NFV, a VM 608 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non- virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 608, and that part of hardware 604 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM withothers 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 608 on top of the hardware 604 and corresponds to the application 602.

[0115] Hardware 604 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 604 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 604 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 610, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 602. In some embodiments, hardware 604 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 612 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units. Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested withinmultiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware. In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally. EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS Group A Example Embodiments

[0116] Example Embodiment A1. A method performed by a user equipment for enabling high priority cause indication for paging and establishment, the method comprising: • any of the user equipment steps, features, or functions described above, either alone or in combination with other steps, features, or functions described above.

[0117] Example Embodiment A2. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising one or more additional user equipment steps, features or functions described above.

[0118] Example Embodiment A3. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: • providing user data; and • forwarding the user data to a host computer via the transmission to the network node. Group B Example Embodiments

[0119] Example Embodiment B1. A method performed by a network node for enabling high priority cause indication for paging and establishment, the method comprising: • any of the network node steps, features, or functions described above, either alone or in combination with other steps, features, or functions described above.

[0120] Example Embodiment B2. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising one or more additional network node steps, features or functions described above.

[0121] Example Embodiment B3. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: • obtaining user data; and • forwarding the user data to a host or a user equipment. Group C Example Embodiments

[0122] Example Embodiment C1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) for enabling high priority cause indication for paging and establishment, the method comprising at least one of: • receiving an indication that a page is for a high priority service; and• transmitting a request to establish a connection with a network, the request comprising a connection establishment cause indication indicating that the request to establish the connection is for the high priority service.

[0123] Example Embodiment C2a. The method of Example Embodiment C1, wherein the page includes the indication that the page is for the high priority service.

[0124] Example Embodiment C2b. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C2a, wherein at least one of: • the UE is not currently running or using the high priority service when the steps of Example Embodiment C1 are performed, and • the UE is to start using the high priority service after the steps of Example Embodiment C1 are performed.

[0125] Example Embodiment C3. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C2b, comprising receiving the page and determining based on the page that the page is for the high priority service.

[0126] Example Embodiment C4. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C3, wherein the high priority service comprises at least one of a MCS and a MPS.

[0127] Example Embodiment C5. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C4, comprising transmitting, to the network node, capability information indicating tha the UE supports transmitting a request to establish a connection in response to receiving the page that is for the high priority service.

[0128] Example Embodiment C6. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C5, wherein the indication comprises an information element indicating that the page is for the high priority service.

[0129] Example Embodiment C7. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C6, wherein at least one of: • the UE is configured to determine that the page is for the high priority service when the information element includes at least a first value, and• the UE is configured to determine that the page is not for the high priority service when the information element includes a second value and / or no value, and • the UE is configured to determine a type of the high priority service based on a value of the information element.

[0130] Example Embodiment C8. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C7, wherein the connection establishment cause indication indicates that the request to establish the connection is for setting up the high priority service.

[0131] Example Embodiment C9. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C8, wherein the connection establishment cause indication indicates a type of the high priority service.

[0132] Example Embodiment C10. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C9, wherein the connection establishment cause indication indicates that the request to establish the connection is for at least one of a MCS and a MPS.

[0133] Example Embodiment C11. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C10, wherein the page comprises a paging message.

[0134] Example Embodiment C12. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C11, wherein the page is received from a gNB, RAN-gNB, TRP, access point, or other network node.

[0135] Example Embodiment C13. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C12, wherein the request to establish the connection is transmitted to a gNB, RAN-gNB, TRP, access point, or other network node.

[0136] Example Embodiment C14. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C13, wherein the request to establish the connection with the network is transmitted based on the indication that the page is for the high priority service.

[0137] Example Embodiment C15. The method of Example Embodiments C1 to C14, further comprising: • providing user data; and • forwarding the user data to a host via the transmission to the network node.

[0138] Example Embodiment C16. A user equipment comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments C1 to C15.

[0139] Example Embodiment C17. A user equipment configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments C1 to C15.

[0140] Example Embodiment C18. A wireless device comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments C1 to C15.

[0141] Example Embodiment C19. A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments C1 to C15.

[0142] Example Embodiment C20. A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments C1 to C15.

[0143] Example Embodiment C21. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments C1 to C15. Group D Example Embodiments

[0144] Example Embodiment D1. A method performed by at least one network node for enabling high priority cause indication for paging and establishment, the method comprising at least one of:• transmitting, to a UE, an indication that a page is for a high priority service; and • receiving, from the UE, a request to establish a connection with a network, the request comprising a connection establishment cause indication indicating that the request to establish the connection is for the high priority service.

[0145] Example Embodiment D2. The method of Example Embodiment D1, wherein the page includes the indication that the page is for the high priority service.

[0146] Example Embodiment D3. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D2, comprising determining that the page is or should be sent for the high priority service.

[0147] Example Embodiment D4. The method of Example Embodiment D3, wherein the network node comprises a gNB, NG-RAN node, TRP, or other access point, and the method comprises: • receiving an indication from a core network node and / or a function associated with a core network, and • determining, based on the indication from the core network node and / or the function associated with the core network that the page to be sent to the UE is for the high priority service.

[0148] Example Embodiment D5. The method of Example Embodiment D4, wherein the indication from the core network node comprises a PagingPriority Information Element and / or a PagingSourcePriority.

[0149] Example Embodiment D6. The method of Example Embodiment D3, wherein an AMF determines that the page is for a high priority service based on a signal received from a UDM, Application layer, and / or NAS.

[0150] Example Embodiment D7. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D6, comprising:• determining that the UE is not currently running or using the high priority service when the steps of Example Embodiment D1 are performed, and • determining to send the indication that the page is for the high priority service based on the UE not currently running or using the high priority service.

[0151] Example Embodiment D8. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D6, comprising: • determining that the UE is currently running or using the high priority service, and • determining not to send an indication that a page is for a high priority service based on the UE currently running or using the high priority service.

[0152] Example Embodiment D9. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D8, comprising transmitting the page for the high priority service to the UE.

[0153] Example Embodiment D10. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D9, wherein the high priority service comprises at least one of a MCS and a MPS.

[0154] Example Embodiment D11. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D10, comprising receiving, from the UE, capability information indicating tha the UE supports transmitting a request to establish a connection in response to receiving the page that is for the high priority service.

[0155] Example Embodiment D12. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D11, wherein the indication comprises an information element indicating that the page is for the high priority service.

[0156] Example Embodiment D13. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D12, comprising at least one of:• configuring the UE to determine that the page is for the high priority service when the information element includes at least a first value, and • configuring the UE to determine that the page is not for the high priority service when the information element includes a second value and / or no value, and • configuring the UE to determine a type of the high priority service based on a value of the information element.

[0157] Example Embodiment D14. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D13, wherein the connection establishment cause indication indicates that the request to establish the connection is for setting up the high priority service.

[0158] Example Embodiment D15. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D14, wherein the connection establishment cause indication indicates a type of the high priority service.

[0159] Example Embodiment D16. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D15, wherein the connection establishment cause indication indicates that the request to establish the connection is for at least one of a MCS and a MPS.

[0160] Example Embodiment D17. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D16, wherein the page comprises a paging message.

[0161] Example Embodiment D18. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D17, wherein the indication that the page is for the high priority service is transmitted by an AMF or other core network node or function.

[0162] Example Embodiment D19. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D18, wherein the request to establish the connection is received by a gNB, RAN-gNB, TRP, access point, or other network node.

[0163] Example Embodiment D20. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D19, wherein the request to establish the connection with thenetwork is transmitted based on the indication that the page is for the high priority service.

[0164] Example Embodiment D21. The method of any of the previous Example Embodiments, further comprising: • obtaining user data; and • forwarding the user data to a host or a user equipment.

[0165] Example Embodiment D22. A network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D21.

[0166] Example Embodiment D23. A network node configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D21.

[0167] Example Embodiment D24. A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D21.

[0168] Example Embodiment D25. A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D21.

[0169] Example Embodiment D26. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D21. Group E Example Embodiments

[0170] Example Embodiment E1. A method performed by at least one network node comprising at least one of: • obtaining information indicating a paging priority of a UE; and • based on the information indicating the paging priority of the UE, performing at least one connection control operation.

[0171] Example Embodiment E2. The method of Example Embodiment E1, wherein the information comprises an indication to store the information indicating the paging priority of the UE.

[0172] Example Embodiment E3. The method of any one of Example Embodiments E1 to E2, comprising storing the information indicating the paging priority of the UE.

[0173] Example Embodiment E4. The method of Example Embodiment E3, comprising further storing, as being associated with the information, at least one of: • a UE paging identifier, and • paging source information.

[0174] Example Embodiment E5. The method of any one of Example Embodiments E1 to E4, wherein obtaining the information comprises receiving the information in a message.

[0175] Example Embodiment E6. The method of Example Emboidment E5, wherein the message comprises at least one Information Element that contains and / or indicates the information.

[0176] Example Embodiment E7. The method of any one of Example Embodiments E1 to E6, comprising any of the steps and / or features and / or operations of Example Embodiments D1 to D21.

[0177] Example Embodiment E8. A network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments E1 to E7.

[0178] Example Embodiment E9. A network node configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments E1 to E7.

[0179] Example Embodiment E10. A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments E1 to E7.

[0180] Example Embodiment E11. A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which whenexecuted on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments E1 to E7.

[0181] Example Embodiment E12. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments E1 to E7. Group F Example Embodiments

[0182] Example Embodiment F1. A user equipment for enabling high priority cause indication for paging and establishment, the UE comprising: • processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A and C Example Embodiments; and • power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

[0183] Example Embodiment F2. A network node for enabling high priority cause indication for paging and establishment, the network node comprising: • processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B, D, and E Example Embodiments; • power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

[0184] Example Embodiment F3. A user equipment (UE) for enabling high priority cause indication for paging and establishment, the UE comprising: • an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals; • radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry; • the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A and C Example Embodiments;• an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry; • an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and • a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.

[0185] Example Embodiment F4. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: • processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and • a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), • wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry, the communication interface and processing circuitry of the UE being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A and C Example Embodiments to receive the user data from the host.

[0186] Example Embodiment F5. The host of the previous Example Embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the UE to transmit the user data to the UE from the host.

[0187] Example Embodiment F6. The host of the previous 2 Example Embodiments, wherein: • the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and • the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0188] Example Embodiment F7. A method implemented by a host operating in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: • providing user data for the UE; and • initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the UE performs any of the operations of any of the Group A and C Example embodiments to receive the user data from the host.

[0189] Example Embodiment F8. The method of the previous Example Embodiment, further comprising: • at the host, executing a host application associated with a client application executing on the UE to receive the user data from the UE.

[0190] Example Embodiment F9. The method of the previous Example Embodiment, further comprising: • at the host, transmitting input data to the client application executing on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, • wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.

[0191] Example Embodiment F10. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: • processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and • a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), • wherein the UE comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry, the communication interface and processing circuitry of the UE being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A and C Example Embodiments to transmit the user data to the host.

[0192] Example Embodiment F11. The host of the previous Example Embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the UE to transmit the user data from the UE to the host.

[0193] Example Embodiment F12. The host of the previous 2 Example Embodiments, wherein: • the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and • the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0194] Example Embodiment F13. A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: • at the host, receiving user data transmitted to the host via the network node by the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A and C Example Embodiments to transmit the user data to the host.

[0195] Example Embodiment F14. The method of the previous Example Embodiment, further comprising: • at the host, executing a host application associated with a client application executing on the UE to receive the user data from the UE.

[0196] Example Embodiment F15. The method of the previous Example Embodiment, further comprising: • at the host, transmitting input data to the client application executing on the UE, the input data being provided by executing the host application, • wherein the user data is provided by the client application in response to the input data from the host application.

[0197] Example Embodiment F16. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising:• processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and • a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a network node in a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B, D, and E Example Embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

[0198] Example Embodiment F17. The host of the previous Example Embodiment, wherein: • the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application that provides the user data; and • the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to receive the transmission of user data from the host.

[0199] Example Embodiment F18. A method implemented in a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: • providing user data for the UE; and • initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the network node performs any of the operations of any of the Group B, D, and E Example Embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

[0200] Example Embodiment F19. The method of the previous Example Embodiment, further comprising, at the network node, transmitting the user data provided by the host for the UE.

[0201] Example Embodiment F20. The method of any of the previous 2 Example Embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host by executing a host application that interacts with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0202] Example Embodiment F21. A communication system configured to provide an over-the-top service, the communication system comprising: • a host comprising: • processing circuitry configured to provide user data for a user equipment (UE), the user data being associated with the over-the-top service; and • a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data toward a cellular network node for transmission to the UE, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B, D, and E Example Embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

[0203] Example Embodiment F22. The communication system of the previous Example Embodiment, further comprising: • the network node; and / or • the user equipment.

[0204] Example Embodiment F23. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: • processing circuitry configured to initiate receipt of user data; and • a network interface configured to receive the user data from a network node in a cellular network, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B, D, and E Example Embodiments to receive the user data from a user equipment (UE) for the host.

[0205] Example Embodiment F24. The host of the previous 2 Example Embodiments, wherein: • the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and• the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

[0206] Example Embodiment F25. The host of the any of the previous 2 Example Embodiments, wherein the initiating receipt of the user data comprises requesting the user data.

[0207] Example Embodiment F26. A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: • at the host, initiating receipt of user data from the UE, the user data originating from a transmission which the network node has received from the UE, wherein the network node performs any of the steps of any of the Group B, D, and E Example Embodiments to receive the user data from the UE for the host.

[0208] Example Embodiment F27. The method of the previous Example Embodiment, further comprising at the network node, transmitting the received user data to the host.

[0209]

[0210]

[0211] While processes in the figures may show a particular order of operations performed by certain embodiments of the present disclosure, it should be understood that such order is representative, and that alternative embodiments may perform the operations in a different order, combine certain operations, overlap certain operations, etc.

[0212] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein.

Claims

Claims What is claimed is:

1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) for enabling high priority cause indication for paging and establishment, the method comprising at least one of: receiving an indication that a page is for a high priority service; and transmitting a request to establish a connection with a network, the request comprising a connection establishment cause indication indicating that the request to establish the connection is for the high priority service.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the indication comprises receiving the page including the indication that the page is for the high priority service.

3. The method of any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein the high priority service comprises at least one of a Mission Critical Service, MCS, and a Multimedia Priority Service, MPS.

4. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, comprising transmitting, to a network node, capability information indicating that the UE supports transmitting a request to establish a connection in response to receiving the page that is for the high priority service.

5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the indication comprises an information element indicating that the page is for the high priority service.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein at least one of: the UE is configured to determine that the page is for the high priority service when the information element includes at least a first value, and the UE is configured to determine that the page is not for the high priority service when the information element includes a second value and / or no value, and the UE is configured to determine a type of the high priority service based on a value of the information element.

7. The method of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the connection establishment cause indication indicates that the request to establish the connection is for setting up the high priority service.

8. The method of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the connection establishment cause indication indicates a type of the high priority service.

9. The method of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the page is received from a gNB, RAN-gNB, TRP, access point, or other network node.

10. The method of any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the request to establish the connection is transmitted to a gNB, RAN-gNB, TRP, access point, or other network node.

11. A user equipment comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of claims 1 to 10.

12. A method performed by a network node for enabling high priority cause indication for paging and establishment, the method comprising at least one of: transmitting, to a UE, an indication that a page is for a high priority service; and receiving, from the UE, a request to establish a connection with a network, the request comprising a connection establishment cause indication indicating that the request to establish the connection is for the high priority service.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein transmitting the indication comprises transmitting the page including the indication that the page is for the high priority service.

14. The method of any one of claims 12 to 13, comprising determining that the page is or should be sent for the high priority service.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the network node comprises a gNB, NG-RAN node, TRP, or other access point, and the method comprises: receiving an indication from a core network node and / or a function associated with a core network, anddetermining, based on the received indication that the page to be sent to the UE is for the high priority service.

16. The method of claims 15, wherein the indication from the core network node comprises a PagingPriority Information Element and / or a PagingSourcePriority.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein an Access and Mobility Management Function, AMF, determines that the page is for a high priority service based on a signal received from any one or more of a Unified Data Management, UDM, Application layer, and a Non-Access Stratum, NAS.

18. The method of any one of claims 12 to 17, comprising: determining that the UE is not currently running or using the high priority service when the steps of Example Embodiment D1 are performed, and determining to send the indication that the page is for the high priority service based on the UE not currently running or using the high priority service.

19. The method of any one of claims 12 to 17, comprising: determining that the UE is currently running or using the high priority service, and determining not to send an indication that a page is for a high priority service based on the UE currently running or using the high priority service.

20. The method of any one of claims 12 to 19, wherein the high priority service comprises at least one of a Mission Critical Service, MCS, and a Multimedia Priority Service, MPS.

21. The method of any one of claims 12 to 20 comprising receiving, from the UE, capability information indicating that the UE supports transmitting a request to establish a connection in response to receiving the page that is for the high priority service.

22. The method of any one of claims 12 to 21, wherein the indication comprises an information element indicating that the page is for the high priority service.

23. The method of any one of claims 12 to 22, comprising at least one of:configuring the UE to determine that the page is for the high priority service when the information element includes at least a first value, and configuring the UE to determine that the page is not for the high priority service when the information element includes a second value and / or no value, and configuring the UE to determine a type of the high priority service based on a value of the information element.

24. The method of any one of claims 12 to 23, wherein the connection establishment cause indication indicates that the request to establish the connection is for setting up the high priority service.

25. The method of any one of claims 12 to 24, wherein the connection establishment cause indication indicates a type of the high priority service.

26. The method of any one of claims 12 to 25, wherein the page comprises a paging message.

27. The method of any one of claims 12 to 26, wherein the indication that the page is for the high priority service is transmitted by an AMF or other core network node or function.

28. The method of any one of claims 12 to 27, wherein the request to establish the connection is received by a gNB, RAN-gNB, TRP, access point, or other network node.

29. A method performed by a network node comprising at least one of: obtaining information indicating a paging priority of a UE; and based on the information indicating the paging priority of the UE, performing at least one connection control operation.

30. The method of claim 29, comprising storing any one or more of the information indicating the paging priority of the UE; a UE paging identifier, and paging source information.

31. The method of any one of claims 29 to 30, wherein obtaining the information comprises receiving the information in a message.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the message comprises at least one Information Element that contains and / or indicates the information.

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