First network node, third network node and methods performed thereby, for handling scheduling of information

Abstract

A method, performed by a first network node (111), for handling scheduling of information. The first network node (111) operates in a wireless communications network (100). The first network node (111) determines (402) the scheduling of the information for transmission or reception by a second network node (112) operating in the wireless communications network (100) in a set of time and frequency resources. The determining (402) is based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of downlink (DL) information and uplink (UL) information based on one or more criteria. The first network node (111) then initiates (404) transmission or reception of the information according to the determined scheduling.

Description

[0001] FIRST NETWORK NODE, THIRD NETWORK NODE AND METHODS PERFORMED THEREBY, FOR HANDLING SCHEDULING OF INFORMATION

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates generally to a first network node and methods performed thereby for handling scheduling of information. The present disclosure further relates generally to a third network node and methods performed thereby, for handling the scheduling of information.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] Wireless devices within a wireless communications network may be e.g., User Equipments (UEs), stations (STAs), mobile terminals, wireless terminals, terminals, and / or Mobile Stations (MS). Wireless devices are enabled to communicate wirelessly in a cellular communications network or wireless communication network, sometimes also referred to as a cellular radio system, cellular system, or cellular network. The communication may be performed e.g., between two wireless devices, between a wireless device and a regular telephone and / or between a wireless device and a server via a Radio Access Network (RAN) and possibly one or more core networks, comprised within the wireless communications network. Wireless devices may further be referred to as mobile telephones, cellular telephones, laptops, or tablets with wireless capability, just to mention some further examples. The wireless devices in the present context may be, for example, portable, pocket-storable, hand-held, computer-comprised, or vehicle-mounted mobile devices, enabled to communicate voice and / or data, via the RAN, with another entity, such as another terminal or a server.

[0006] The wireless communications network covers a geographical area which may be divided into cell areas, each cell area being served by a network node, which may be an access node such as a radio network node, radio node or a base station (BS), e.g., a Radio Base Station (RBS), which sometimes may be referred to as e.g., gNB, evolved Node B (“eNB”), “eNodeB”, “NodeB”, “B node”, Transmission Point (TP), or BTS (Base Transceiver Station), depending on the technology and terminology used. The base stations (BSs) may be of different classes such as e.g., Wide Area Base Stations, Medium Range Base Stations, Local Area Base Stations, Home Base Stations, pico base stations, etc... , based on transmission power and thereby also cell size. A cell may be understood to be the geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the base station or radio node at a base station site, or radio node site, respectively. One base station, situated on the base station site, may serve one or several cells. Further, each base station may support one or several communication technologies. The base stations communicate over the air interface operating on radio frequencies with the terminals within range of the base stations. The wireless communications network may also be a non-cellular system, comprising network nodes which may serve receiving nodes, such as wireless devices, with serving beams. In 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE), base stations, which may be referred to as eNodeBs or even eNBs, may be directly connected to one or more core networks. In the context of this disclosure, the expression Downlink (DL) may be used for the transmission path from the base station to the wireless device. The expression Uplink (UL) may be used for the transmission path in the opposite direction i.e. , from the wireless device to the base station.

[0007] The standardization organization 3GPP is currently in the process of specifying a New Radio Interface called NR or 5G-UTRA, as well as a Fifth Generation (5G) Packet Core Network (CN), which may be referred to as Next Generation (NG) Core Network, abbreviated as NG-CN, NGC, 5G CN or 5G Core (5GC). NG may be understood to refer to the interface / reference point between the Radio Access Network (RAN) and the CN in 5G / NR. In a 5G System (5GS), a radio base station in NR may be referred to as a gNB or 5G Node B. An NR UE may be referred to as an nUE.

[0008] The demand for wireless communication system bitrate continues to increase. Low frequency spectrum fills up and higher frequency spectrum is taken into use. In 5G cellular systems, a new frequency range is introduced, FRequency 2 (FR2), corresponding to the frequency range 24250 MHz - 52600 MHz. In 5G, beamforming is introduced both to increase capacity and coverage. Beamforming and beam-steering may be performed from coherently combining radio frequency (RF) signals from smaller antenna elements. By phase-shifting and / or amplifying a signal into the antenna elements, a desired beam may be formed.

[0009] Beamforming may be understood to benefit from using Time Division Duplex (TDD), in that a reciprocal channel may be obtained between a BS and a User Equipment (UE). Channel information, e.g. Channel state information, and signal propagation properties, in one direction may be reused in both directions. This may be understood to simplify the beamforming procedure.

[0010] TDD may be understood to be an efficient way to utilize a frequency band since resources may be dynamically allocated between DL and UL. However, in practice, fully flexible TDD may be understood to generate a lot of interference, and 3GPP TDD systems normally use fixed DL / UL partitioning, typically 4:1, in order to reflect that DL traffic may be normally dominating.

[0011] DL dominated TDD patterns have inherent problems in that the UL duty cycle is small, degrading UL capacity, and sensitivity and roundtrip latency is limited by the TDD cycle.

[0012] An approach to address this problem may be to use full duplex operation, where transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) may be operating at the same time. This may be understood to mean that channel capacity may be doubled and all TDD problems may be addressed. However, this operation causes severe isolation problems both internally in each node, since transmitter and receiver are active at the same time, with up to 200dB power difference, and in between nodes due to cross-link-interference (CLI). A typical BS may be understood to have ~80dBm Equivalent Isotropic Radiated Power (EIRP) and ~-120dBm Effective equivalent Isotropic Sensitivity (EIS). These isolation problems have so far prohibited the use of full duplex.

[0013] A recent proposal to partly mitigate the isolation problems may be to run subband full duplex (SBFD). The time and / or frequency allocation of resources in SBFD is schematically depicted with an example in Figure 1. As depicted in Figure 1 , in subband full duplex, parts of the DL resources may be converted to UL resources, allowing continuous operation in UL. In the depicted DL / LIL partitioning, out of the five sets of time resources depicted, the first four have DL and UL allocation, that is, they are mixed (“X”), whereas the fifth set is entirely UL. Accordingly, this is represented at the top of the figure with the “XXXXU” sequence. It may be understood that Figure 1 is an oversimplified sketch and details may be omitted to simplify the representation. This may be understood to address the UL sensitivity and latency problems in TDD mode.

[0014] SBFD may be understood to resolve some of the full duplex isolation problems in that transmitter and receiver may work at different frequencies. Also the DL frequency portion may isolate the UL from other adjacent carriers.

[0015] SBFD may be implemented only on the BS side. UEs may operate in flexible TDD mode and optimize performance on a need basis.

[0016] In many frequency bands, it may be common to use carrier aggregation (CA). Since the maximum carrier bandwidth supported in NR may be understood to be limited by the numerology, a wider bandwidth transmission may be achieved by CA. This situation may also be described by Figure 1 , but in that case, each DL block may be understood to represent one carrier. For example, in today’s deployments, a carrier bandwidth of 100MHz may be understood to be common, and hence in the first four slots, two 100MHz carriers may be used for DL, while the mid carrier may be used for UL. In the last slot, all three carriers may be used for UL. This may also be referred to as flexible duplexing with CA.

[0017] In spite of the advantages it affords, the SBFD scheme may lead to interference, saturation, distortion and sensitivity issues that may degrade the performance of a communications in a wireless network.

[0018] SUMMARY

[0019] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. According to a first aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method, performed by a first network node. The method is for handling scheduling of information. The first network node operates in a wireless communications network. The first network node determines the scheduling of the information for transmission or reception by a second network node operating in the wireless communications network, in a set of time and frequency resources. The determining is based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of DL information and UL information based on one or more criteria. The first network node initiates transmission or reception of the information according to the determined scheduling.

[0020] According to a second aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method, performed by a third network node. The method is for handling the scheduling of information. The third network node operates in the wireless communications network. The third network node sends first indication to the first network node operating in the wireless communications network. The first indication requests to apply a criterion to determine the scheduling of information for transmission or reception by the second network node in the set of time and frequency resources. The criterion is based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of information by the second network node and the third network node.

[0021] According to a third aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by the first network node, configured to perform the method. The wireless device may be understood to be for handling the scheduling of information. The first network node is configured to operate in the wireless communications network. The first network node is configured to determine the scheduling of the information for transmission or reception by the second network node configured to operate in the wireless communications network in the set of time and frequency resources. The determining is configured to be based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of DL information and UL information based on the one or more criteria. The first network node is further configured to initiate transmission or reception of the information according to the scheduling configured to be determined.

[0022] According to a fourth aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by the third network node, configured to perform the method. The third network node may be understood to be for handling the scheduling of information. The scheduling of information is configured to operate in the wireless communications network. The third network node is configured to send the first indication to the first network node configured to operate in the wireless communications network. The first indication is configured to request to apply the criterion to the determination of the scheduling of the information for transmission or reception by the second network node configured to operate in the wireless communications network in the set of time and frequency resources. The criterion is configured to be based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of information by the second network node and the third network node.

[0023] By determining the scheduling of the information, the first network node may enable to minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of DL information and UL information based on the one or more criteria. As a non-limiting example, the first network node may be able to adopt a scheduling strategy to optimize (SB)FD performance based on e.g., traffic and Quality of Service (QoS), on a per need basis. As a result, the first network node may enable to achieve a better UL performance in SBFD mode.

[0024] By sending the first indication to the first network node, the third network node may enable that the first network node may determine the scheduling of the information based on the sent first indication thereby enabling to minimize interference between the transmission and reception of information by the second network node and the third network node.

[0025] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] Examples of embodiments herein are described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings, according to the following description.

[0027] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a non-limiting example of usage of time / frequency allocation of resources in SBFD, according to existing methods.

[0028] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram illustrating a non-limiting example of usage of separate transmitter (TX) and receiver (RX) antennas to improve TX<->RX isolation, according to existing methods.

[0029] Figure 3 is a schematic diagram depicting an example of a wireless communications network, according to embodiments herein.

[0030] Figure 4 is a flowchart depicting a method in a first network node, according to embodiments herein.

[0031] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram depicting a non-limiting example of a DL slot where SBFD may be used, according to embodiments herein.

[0032] Figure 6 is a schematic diagram depicting another non-limiting example of SBFD with low DL allocation, according to embodiments herein.

[0033] Figure 7 is a schematic diagram depicting a non-limiting example of a slot structure for NR FR2, which may be used in embodiments herein.

[0034] Figure 8 is a signalling diagram depicting a non-limiting example of a method in a first network node, according to embodiments herein.

[0035] Figure 9 is a flowchart depicting a method in a third network node, according to embodiments herein.

[0036] Figure 10 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an embodiments of a first network node, according to embodiments herein. Figure 11 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an embodiments of a third network node, according to embodiments herein.

[0037] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] As part of the development of embodiments herein, one or more challenges with the existing technology will first be identified and discussed.

[0039] Although SBFD may be understood to relax the isolation requirements to a large extent, there are very stringent isolation requirements remaining. TX and RX may be understood to be operating simultaneously in the same BS. Therefore, the TX signal may cause RX saturation. TX noise, e.g., normal thermal noise or Johnson noise, may degrade sensitivity and distortion from TX and / or RX, which may originate from the signal passing through a nonlinear component, may degrade sensitivity. This may be somewhat mitigated with separate RX and TX antenna and isolating material in between, as schematically illustrated on the left panel of Figure 2. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram depicting an example of usage of separate TX and RX antennas to improve TX<->RX isolation (Iso). The TX antenna depicted on the left side of Figure 2 may be reused in RX-mode as well, to improve sensitivity in the dedicated UL slot. Interference between radios and / or antennas in one mast, as well as interference from adjacent sites may cause interference, as schematically depicted on the right side of Figure 2. Other base stations, both collocated in the same mast as well as other sites may cause interference, both the ones using the same carrier and the ones using other carriers in the same frequency band, see Figure 2 right.

[0040] UEs closely located transmitting and receiving may interfere each other.

[0041] All these factors may be understood to be cumulative and cause the SBFD proposal to be less effective as traffic in the cellular system may be increased.

[0042] Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments address one or more of the challenges identified with the existing methods and provide solutions to the challenges discussed.

[0043] Embodiments herein may be understood to address the problems identified with the existing methods and may be understood to relate to an SBFD optimized scheduling. Embodiments herein may be understood to take advantage of the fact that traffic may be understood to vary considerably in a cellular system. Even during a busy hour of the day, only 50% of the resources may be utilized in average. This may be understood to enable a frequency reuse of one in the cellular system, that is, all BS may use the full frequency range of an operator. Normally, the operators may try to evenly distribute the traffic in both frequency and time domain to minimize the interference in between different BS. This may be understood to statistically reduce the interference. Symbol based power save (SBPS) may be understood to be a way to save power by switching off parts of the BS transmitter when there may be no data to be sent. This may favor sending all data available, both in DL and UL, in few fully loaded symbols and then use SBPS.

[0044] According to embodiments herein, when using SBFD, this strategy may be changed to optimize performance. Resources may be freed up both in frequency domain and time domain to optimize SBFD performance. Preferably, this may be coordinated between BSs, to ensure the interference level in used SBFD symbols may be low.

[0045] This may also be accompanied by optimizing the UE UL Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS), taking into account the estimated interference level and antenna size.

[0046] Some of the embodiments contemplated will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which examples are shown. In this section, the embodiments herein will be illustrated in more detail by a number of exemplary embodiments. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein. The disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art. It should be noted that the exemplary embodiments herein are not mutually exclusive. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present in another embodiment and it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art how those components may be used in the other exemplary embodiments.

[0047] Figure 3 depicts two non-limiting examples, in panel a) and panel b), respectively, of a wireless network or wireless communications network 100, sometimes also referred to as a wireless communications system, cellular radio system, or cellular network, in which embodiments herein may be implemented. The wireless communications network 100 may be a 5G system, 5G network, or Next Gen System. In other examples, the wireless communications network 100 may be a newer system, e.g., a Sixth Generation (6G) system, with similar functionality. Yet in other examples, the wireless communications network 100 may in addition, support other technologies such as, for example, Long-Term Evolution (LTE), e.g., LTE-M, LTE Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), LTE TDD, LTE Half-Duplex Frequency Division Duplex (HD-FDD), LTE operating in an unlicensed band, such as LTE Licensed- Assisted Access (LAA), enhanced eLAA (eLAA), further enhanced LAA (feLAA) and / or MulteFire. Yet in other examples, the wireless communications network 100 may further support other technologies such as, for example Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (UTRA) TDD, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) network, GSM / Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE) Radio Access Network (GERAN) network, Ultra-Mobile Broadband (UMB), EDGE network, network comprising any combination of Radio Access Technologies (RATs) such as e.g. MultiStandard Radio (MSR) base stations, multi-RAT base stations etc., any 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) cellular network, WiFi networks, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), or any cellular network or system. The wireless communications network 100 may support Machine Type Communication (MTC), enhanced MTC (eMTC), Internet of Things (loT) and / or NarrowBand Internet of Things (NB-loT). Thus, although terminology from 5G / NR and LTE may be used in this disclosure to exemplify embodiments herein, this should not be seen as limiting the scope of the embodiments herein to only the aforementioned system.

[0048] The wireless communications network 100 may comprise a plurality of network nodes, whereof a first network node 111 , a second network node 112 and a third network node 113 are depicted in the non-limiting example of Figure 3. Any of the first network node 111, the second network node 112 and the third network node 113 may be a radio network node. That is, a transmission point such as a radio base station, for example a gNB, or any other network node with similar features capable of serving a user equipment, such as a wireless device, in the wireless communications network 100. In some examples, any of the first network node 111 , the second network node 112 and the third network node 113 may be a distributed node, and may partially perform its functions in collaboration with a virtual node in a cloud 115. Any of the first network node 111 , the second network node 112 and the third network node 113 may be directly connected to one or more core networks, e.g., to one or more network nodes in the one or more core networks.

[0049] In some examples, the wireless communications network 100 may include an access network, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network, which may include one or more core network nodes. The access network may include one or more access network nodes, such as any of the first network node 111 , the second network node 112 and the third network node 113, e.g., which may be generally referred to as network nodes, or any other similar 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node may not necessarily be limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it may be understood that network nodes may include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the wireless communications network 100 may include one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node may be understood to be a node in the wireless communications network 100 that may support an ORAN specification, e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization, and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the wireless communications network 100, including one or more network nodes and / or core network nodes. Examples of an ORAN network node may include an open radio unit (0-Rll), an open distributed unit (0-Dll), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU- CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller, near-real time or non-real time, hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application, e.g., xApp, or a non-real time control application, e.g., rApp, or any combination thereof, the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification. Any of the first network node 111 , the second network node 112 and the third network node 113 may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1, F1 , W1 , E1, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment, in which one or more network functions may be virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the O- RAN Alliance or comparable technologies.

[0050] The wireless communications network 100 may cover a geographical area, which in some embodiments may be divided into cell areas, wherein each cell area may be served by a radio network node, although, one radio network node may serve one or several cells. In the example of Figure 3, the second network node 112 serves a first cell 121 and the third network node serves a second cell 122. Any of the first network node 111 , the second network node 112 and the third network node 113 may be of different classes, such as, e.g., macro base station, home base station or pico base station, based on transmission power and thereby also cell size. In some examples, the any of the first network node 111 , the second network node 112 and the third network node 113 may serve receiving nodes with serving beams. The network node 100 may support one or several communication technologies, and its name may depend on the technology and terminology used.

[0051] The first network node 111 may be understood to be the network node having a capability to schedule the information that the second network node 112 may be going to transmit or receive.

[0052] Any of the first network node 111 , the second network node 112 and the third network node 113 may be understood to be able to transmit or receive information in a set of time and frequency resources.

[0053] The third network node 113 may be understood to be a neighbor network node to the second network node 112.

[0054] In some examples, such as that depicted in panel a) of Figure 3, the first network node 111 may be co-located or be the same network node as the second network node 112. In some examples, the first network node 111 and the second network node 112 may be different nodes.

[0055] In any of these examples, the first network node 111 may be a virtual node in the cloud 115, as depicted in panel b) of Figure 3.

[0056] In some examples, the first node 111 may be a Distributed Unit (DU) and the second network node 112 may be a radio unit (RU).

[0057] In some examples, the first node 111 may be a Centralized Unit (CU) and the second network node 112 may be a DU or an RU.

[0058] One or more wireless devices may be located in the wireless communication network 100. In some embodiments, the one or more wireless devices may comprise one or more first wireless devices 131 , whereof one such first wireless device 13 is depicted in the nonlimiting example of Figure 3. In some embodiments, the one or more wireless devices may comprise one or more second wireless devices 132, whereof one such first wireless device 13 is depicted in the non-limiting example of Figure 3. Any of wireless devices comprised in the wireless communications network 100, such as any of the first wireless devices 131 and the second wireless devices 132, may be a wireless communication device such as a User Equipment (UE), e.g., 5G UE or nUE, which may also be known as e.g., mobile terminal, wireless terminal and / or mobile station, a mobile telephone, cellular telephone, or laptop with wireless capability, just to mention some further examples. Any of wireless devices comprised in the wireless communications network 100, such as any of the first wireless devices 131 and the second wireless devices 132 may be, for example, portable, pocket-storable, hand-held, computer-comprised, or a vehicle-mounted mobile device, enabled to communicate voice and / or data, via the RAN, with another entity, such as a server, a laptop, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), or a tablet, Machine-to-Machine (M2M) device, a sensor, loT device, NB-loT device, device equipped with a wireless interface, such as a printer or a file storage device, modem, or any other radio network unit capable of communicating over a radio link in a communications system. Any of wireless devices comprised in the wireless communications network 100, such as any of the first wireless devices 131 and the second wireless devices 132 comprised in the wireless communications network 100 may be enabled to communicate wirelessly in the wireless communications network 100. The communication may be performed e.g., via a RAN, and possibly the one or more core networks, which may be comprised within the wireless communications network 100.

[0059] The one or more first wireless devices 131 may have UL limited coverage.

[0060] The second wireless devices 132 may have DL limited coverage.

[0061] The one or more first wireless devices 131 may be configured to communicate within the wireless communications network 100 with the second network node 112 over a first link 141, e.g., a radio link. The one or more second wireless devices 132 may be configured to communicate within the wireless communications network 100 with the second network node

[0062] 112 over a second link 142, e.g., a radio link. The first network node 111 may be configured to communicate within the wireless communications network 100 with the third network node

[0063] 113 over a third link 143, e.g., a radio link or a wired link. The second network node 112 may be configured to communicate within the wireless communications network 100 with the first network node 111 over a fourth link 144, e.g., a radio link or a wired link. The second network node 112 may be configured to communicate within the wireless communications network 100 with the third network node 113 over a fifth link 145, e.g., a radio link or a wired link.

[0064] Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and / or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a / an / the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and / or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

[0065] In general, the usage of “first”, “second”, “third”, “fourth” and / or “fifth” herein may be understood to be an arbitrary way to denote different elements or entities, and may be understood to not confer a cumulative or chronological character to the nouns they modify, unless otherwise noted, based on context.

[0066] Several embodiments are comprised herein. It should be noted that the examples herein are not mutually exclusive. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present in another embodiment and it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art how those components may be used in the other exemplary embodiments.

[0067] More specifically, the following are embodiments related to a network node, such as the first network node 111 , e.g., a gNB.

[0068] Embodiments of a method, performed by the first network node 111 will now be described with reference to the flowchart depicted in Figure 4. The method may be understood to be for handling scheduling of information. The first network node 111 operates in the wireless communications network 100. The method may be understood to be computer- implemented. In some examples, the wireless communications network 100 may support at least one of: NR, and NB-loT.

[0069] Several embodiments are comprised herein. In some embodiments all the actions may be performed. In some embodiments, one or more actions may be performed. It should be noted that the examples herein may be not mutually exclusive. One or more embodiments may be combined, where applicable. All possible combinations are not described to simplify the description. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present in another embodiment and it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art how those components may be used in the other exemplary embodiments. A non-limiting example of the method performed by the first network node 111 is depicted in Figure 4. Some actions may be performed in a different order than that shown in Figure 4. In Figure 4, optional actions are represented with dashed lines.

[0070] Action 401

[0071] In this Action 401 , the first network node 111 may receive a first indication from the third network node 113 operating in the wireless communications network 100. The first indication may request to apply a criterion to determine a scheduling of information for transmission or reception by the second network node 112 in a set of time and frequency resources, as will be described in the next Action 402.

[0072] As explained earlier, the first network node 111 may be understood to be the network node having a capability to schedule the information that the second network node 112 may be going to transmit or receive.

[0073] Information may be understood to be, e.g., data, control information, etc.

[0074] Transmission or reception may be understood to be via radio signals.

[0075] The set of time and frequency resources may be understood to be, for example, units of time and frequency carriers, respectively. As a non-limiting example, the set of time and frequency resources may be a set of slots comprising Orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols for transmission in NR FR2.

[0076] The criterion may be based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of information by the second network node 112 and the third network node 113.

[0077] The third network node 113 may be understood to be a neighboring network node to the second network node 112.

[0078] Minimizing interference may be understood to be used herein as referring to taking one or more measures to reduce interference to an extent that may be within the reach of the first network node 111. It may be understood that eliminating interference altogether may not be possible. However, interference may be further reduced than a certain interference level that may be afforded by scheduling with a fixed allocation. Particularly, to apply the criterion to determine the scheduling, wherein the criterion may be based on minimizing the interference between the transmission and reception of information may be understood to mean to schedule the transmission and reception of information factoring in the interference that may be caused, so that a creation of interference may be avoided, or be reduced as much as possible.

[0079] In particular examples, minimizing interference may be understood to refer herein to minimizing the interference that may occur due to SBFD, that is the residual impairment when SBFD may be in place. This may comprise leakage from Tx to Rx, potential leakage, e.g., distortion, from neighboring sectors, and / or other sites. It may be understood that normally, there may be no interference from transmitters since in "normal" TDD there may understood to be no transmission and reception at the same time.

[0080] The receiving in this Action of the first indication may be performed, e.g., via the fourth link 144.

[0081] In some examples, the first indication may request that the second network node 112 operate on SBFD. In some of such examples, when the first network node 111 may receive the first indication, the first network node 111 may switch to SBFD mode.

[0082] In some embodiments, the first indication may request sector and site coordination. Particularly, in some embodiments, the first indication may further request that the second network node 112 operate on SBFD in coordination with the third network node 113. That is, the first indication may request to coordinate SBFD operation between sectors and neighboring sites. This may be understood to be in order to minimize cross talk between sectors and sites. A sector may be understood to be a part of a site covering a subset of the surrounding area, e.g., 120 degrees. A site may be understood to be e.g., a cell tower or a mast, with antennas used to provide coverage over a number of sectors.

[0083] In coordination may be understood to mean that a joint scheduling decision may be made, here, to minimize the interference generated by the involved nodes.

[0084] The criterion based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of information by the second network node 112 and / or the third network node 113 may be further based, in some examples, on minimizing the interference during a simultaneous operation of a TX and a Rx of the second network node 112, and using one of SBFD and normal mode.

[0085] Action 402

[0086] In this Action 402, the first network node 111 determines the scheduling of the information for transmission or reception by the second network node 112 operating in the wireless communications network 100, in the set of time and frequency resources.

[0087] Determining may be understood as calculating, estimating, deriving, deciding or similar. Scheduling may be understood as allocating time and frequency resources for communication needs of UE, e.g., wireless devices, in both UL and DL, e.g., while keeping all other criteria in mind, such as DL interference, power consumption, SBFD interference. Scheduling may be based on the network node having obtained input communication needs of UE, e.g., wireless devices, in both UL and DL and CSI for the UEs, e.g., wireless devices.

[0088] The set of time and frequency resources may be, in some non-limiting examples, a TDD pattern for NR FR2. A typical TDD pattern may last 625 ps, divided into three downlink slots, one UL slot and a switching slot. Each slot may be 14 OFDM symbols, which may be 125 ps with 120 kHz subcarrier spacing (SCS).

[0089] The determining in this Action 402 is based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of DL information and UL information based on one or more criteria.

[0090] In some examples, the first network node 111 may determine the scheduling taking into account that NR may be understood to implement a lean carrier concept, according to which when there is no traffic, only the Synchronization Signal Blocks (SSBs) may be understood to be sent. One criterion of the one or more criteria may be to allow for long sleep times. In order to allow for long sleep times, the first network node 111 may schedule traffic, that is, any of the DL information and UL information, by the second network node 112, next to the SSBs. This sleep mode may be understood to allow longer startup time than SBPS and may thus be more efficient.

[0091] In normal mode, that is when no SBFD may be used, the first network node 111 , that is, the scheduler, may select a scheduling scheme as a balance between generation of interference between the second network node 112, the third network node 113, and the wireless devices 130, that is, BS<->UE interference, and power save. When enabling SBFD, the first network node 111 may take also this into account and trade power efficiency and BS<->UE interference versus SBFD performance. Depending on DL and / or UL traffic needs, the first network node 111 may optimize performance for low latency and / or sensitivity.

[0092] In some examples, the determining in this Action 402 may be based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of DL information and UL information during a simultaneous operation of a TX and a Rx of the second network node 112, and using one of SBFD and normal mode. In some examples, all network nodes in an area may implement SBFD, e.g., with the same allocation, e.g., Tx / Rx in the same frequency range. In other examples, only one network node may be using SBFD, while the other network nodes may transmit in a normal fashion, or with a different allocation of Tx and Rx.

[0093] In some embodiments, a first criterion of the one or more criteria may comprise maximizing a separation in at least one of frequency and time, in the set of time and frequency resources, between the transmission and reception of UL information and DL information. First group of embodiments

[0094] In a first group of embodiments, the first criterion may comprise maximizing DL and UL frequency separation. The one or more criteria may also comprise constraints of the information to be transmitted, such as rate, latency, etc... For example, if the first network node 111 may have to schedule low-rate DL traffic with low latency requirements, the first network node 111 may schedule the DL slots from outside in. Outside here may be understood to refer to the edges, on both sides, of a range of frequencies of transmission. A non-limiting example of this first group of embodiments is depicted in Figure 5. This may be understood to maximize a gap that may be understood to be between UL and DL in the mixed slots, which may be understood to improve performance in case the performance may be limited by nonlinearity of the RX or the TX of the second network node 112. That is, the first network node 111 may allocate DL resources so that a frequency distance between DL and UL may be maximized. This may be combined with allocating the UL resources as far away from the DL resources in frequency as possible. If TX or RX has a non-linear behavior, e.g., x+k*x3, distortion from the TX may leak into the RX band and degrade sensitivity.

[0095] It may be understood that outside the frequency region depicted in Figure 5 there may be other carriers, possibly from other operators, which may degrade performance. The UL position may be understood to be centered in the SBFD region to isolate it as much as possible from this.

[0096] In the case when flexible duplexing and CA of many carriers may be deployed, a similar scheme may be adopted. For lower-rate DL communication, the frequency separation between DL carriers and the allocated UL carrier may be required to be maximized in order to minimize the inband interference.

[0097] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram depicting a DL-slot where SBFD may be used. The DL portion of the frequency range may be populated from outside in order to minimize interference in the UL frequency portion, while at the same time, using the respective DL frequency portions to isolate the UL from other adjacent carriers.

[0098] Second group of embodiments

[0099] In a second group of embodiments, the first criterion may comprise maximizing DL and UL time separation. As stated earlier, one or more criteria may also comprise the constraints of the information to be transmitted, such as rate, latency, etc... For example, if the first network node 111 may have no, or relaxed, latency requirements, the first network node 111 may collect all DL traffic in as few slots and / or symbols as possible, and get better UL performance in other symbols and / or slots. Thus, UL traffic may be scheduled in symbols with no or as little DL traffic as possible. It may be noted that this may also help to mitigate UL->DL interference because the wireless devices 130 may not transmit in the same time resources used for DL reception. A non-limiting example of the second group of embodiments is depicted in Figure 6. Figure 6 is a schematic diagram depicting an SBFD scheme with low DL allocation. The DL portion of the frequency range may be populated from left to right, to minimize interference in the UL frequency portion. Similarly, the UL traffic may be populated from right to left. In case the traffic conditions may not allow complete separation in time between DL and UL, embodiments of the second group of embodiments may be combined with embodiments of the first group of embodiments, so that the separation in frequency and time, in the set of time and frequency resources, between the transmission and reception of UL information and DL information may be maximized.

[0100] Third group of embodiments

[0101] In a third group of embodiments, the first network node 111 may determine a coverage aware scheduling. Usually, a cell may be understood to serve both coverage and noncoverage limited wireless devices 130, e.g., UEs. Because UL coverage limited wireless devices, such as the one or more first wireless devices 131, e.g., UEs may be understood to be more sensitive to increased interference, since for example, they may be operating with no TX power margin and / or already operating at the lowest MCS, it may be preferable to schedule such one or more first wireless devices 131 in time resources where no or little DL interference may be present. With regard to the TX power margin, it may be understood that the transmit power of a wireless device may be controlled by the network node to be just sufficient for the targeted Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR), e.g., <=>MCS selection.

[0102] In accordance with the foregoing, in some embodiments of the third group of embodiments, a second criterion of the one or more criteria may comprise scheduling the one or more first wireless devices 131 having UL limited coverage in a first subset of the time and frequency resources wherein DL interference may be below a first threshold, or absent. The first network node 111 may know what may be scheduled on DL both for the second network node 112 and the third network 113 and based on that, estimate the UL interference.

[0103] Similarly, DL coverage limited wireless devices, such as the one or more second wireless devices 132 may have to be scheduled in time resources without or at least with limited UL interference.

[0104] In accordance with the foregoing, in some embodiments of the third group of embodiments, a third criterion of the one or more criteria may comprise scheduling the one or more second wireless devices 132 having DL limited coverage in a second subset of the time and frequency resources wherein UL interference may be below a second threshold, or absent. This may be understood to relate to UE<->UE interference. The first network node 111 may estimate the position of the wireless devices and determine if they may be likely to interfere with each other.

[0105] The first threshold and the second threshold may be the same or different, and they may be understood to be configurable. Fourth group of embodiments

[0106] In some embodiments, the second network node 112 may comprise a first antenna capable of reception and a second antenna capable of transmission and reception. In some of such embodiments, in a fourth group of embodiments, a fourth criterion of the one or more criteria may comprise enabling the first antenna and the second antenna to operate in reception mode in at least a third subset of the set of time and frequency resources wherein DL information may be absent.

[0107] That is, in such embodiments, in case there may be no DL traffic and the antenna configuration of the second network node 112 may be such as that depicted in Figure 2, the first network node 111 may choose to enable both antennas in RX-mode and thus improve UL sensitivity further. The first network node 111 may accompany this scheduling strategy with dynamic MCS choice to avoid retransmissions or having too good Signal to Interference Noise Ratio (SINR). Having too good SINR may happen, for example, when scheduling a very low MCS, which may result in zero bit errors. This may mean that possible resources may have been wasted.

[0108] In some embodiments, at least the third subset of the set of time and frequency resources may be SBFD slots. That is, in some embodiments of the fourth group of embodiments, the usage of both antennas in RX mode may be enabled, or performed, also in SBFD slots.

[0109] As mentioned earlier, in some embodiments, the first network node 111 may be the same node or may be co-localized with, the second network node 112.

[0110] Fifth group of embodiments

[0111] In a fifth group of embodiments, a fifth criterion of the one or more criteria may comprise scheduling UL control information in slots comprising only UL information.

[0112] The fifth criterion may be applied in examples wherein CA and flexible duplexing may be used.

[0113] The fifth criterion may be understood to aim at protecting important data and / or signals. For example, in the case when CA and flexible duplexing may be used, important UL signaling e.g., UL control signaling, Sounding Reference Signals (SRS), etc., may need to be protected and may therefore be scheduled in UL only slots.

[0114] Sixth group of embodiments

[0115] The criterion that the first indication may request to apply in Action 401 may be understood to be a sixth criterion. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the first indication may request to apply a sixth criterion to the determining in Action 402 of the scheduling. The sixth criterion may be based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of information by the second network node 112 and the third network node 113.

[0116] As any of the criteria described may be combined, it may be understood that the application of any of the group of embodiments described may be aligned between sector and sites.

[0117] In some examples, when the first indication may request request that the second network node 112 operate on SBFD, the first network node 111 may switch to SBFD mode, where a combination of embodiments from any of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth groups of embodiments may be applied.

[0118] By performing the determining in this Action 402, the first network node 111 may be able to adopt a scheduling strategy to optimize (SB)FD performance based on traffic and Quality of Service (QoS), on a per need basis. The first network node 111 may also be able, in some embodiments, to optimize UL MCS accordingly. As a result, the first network node 111 may enable to achieve a better UL performance in SBFD mode.

[0119] Action 403

[0120] In this Action 403, first network node 111 may determine a Modulation and Coding Scheme for the transmission of the UL information in at least the third subset of the set of time and frequency resources.

[0121] The first network node 111 may perform this Action 403 to, for example, accompany the scheduling strategy of the fourth group of embodiments with a dynamic MCS choice in order to avoid retransmissions or having too good SINR. One example of such a dynamic choice of MCS may be when swapping between one panel in SBFD mode and using both panels in the dedicated UL slot => SNR may improve 3dB. MCS may then be updated accordingly.

[0122] The first network node 111 may then initiate an indication of the determined MCS to the wireless device 130 which may be transmitting the UL information.

[0123] Action 404

[0124] In this Action 404, the first network node 111 initiates transmission or reception of the information according to the determined scheduling.

[0125] Initiating transmission may be understood to comprise starting the transmission by the first network node 111 itself, or enabling, triggering or facilitating the transmission by the second network node 112. For example, the first network node 111 may instruct the second network node 112 to transmit or receive the information using the determined scheduling.

[0126] As mentioned earlier, in some embodiments, the first network node 111 may be the same node or may be co-localized with, the second network node 112.

[0127] During the transmission of the transmission or the reception of the information according to the determined scheduling a TX and a RX of the second network node 112 may be operating simultaneously. Figure 7 is a schematic diagram depicting a typical an example slot structure of a TDD pattern for NR FR2. A TDD pattern lasts 625 ps, divided into 3 downlink slots, one UL slot and a switching slot. Ten slots, slot 0 to slot 9 are depicted in Figure 3. Each slot is 14 OFDM symbols which is 125 ps with 120 kHz SCS.

[0128] Figure 8 is a flowchart depicting a non-limiting example of a method performed by a first network node 111 , according to embodiments herein. In this example, at 801, the first network node 111 may be running a scheduler in legacy mode. At 802, the first network node 111 may receive a request for SBFD operation. The SBFD request may come from both, its own cell, e.g., the first cell 121 served by the second network node 112, and other sector and / or sites, if the sixth group of embodiments is used. In such case, at 802, the first network node 111 may receive the first indication requesting that the second network node 112 operate on SBFD in coordination with the third network node 113, in agreement with Action 401. At 803, when SBFD operation is requested, the scheduler of the first network node 111 may switch to SBFD mode, where a combination of embodiments from any of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth groups of embodiments may be applied, in accordance with Action 402. At 804, the first network node 111 may continue to receive SBFD requests, in agreement with Action 401. At 805, when no more SBFD requests may be received, the first network node 111 may revert to a legacy, or “normal” scheduling mode.

[0129] Embodiments of a method, performed by the third network node 113 will now be described with reference to the flowchart depicted in Figure 9. The method may be understood to be for handling scheduling of information. The third network node 113 operates in the wireless communications network 100. The method may be understood to be computer- implemented.

[0130] In some examples, the wireless communications network 100 may support at least one of: NR and NB-loT.

[0131] Several embodiments are comprised herein. It should be noted that the examples herein may be not mutually exclusive. One or more embodiments may be combined, where applicable. All possible combinations are not described to simplify the description. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present in another embodiment and it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art how those components may be used in the other exemplary embodiments. A non-limiting example of the method performed by the third network node 113 is depicted in Figure 9. The detailed description of some of the following corresponds to the same references provided above, in relation to the actions described for the first network node 111 , and will thus not be repeated here. For example, the set of time and frequency resources may be a set of slots comprising OFDM symbols for transmission in NR FR2.

[0132] Action 901

[0133] In this Action 901 , the first network node 111 sends the first indication to the first network node 111 operating in the wireless communications network 100. The first indication requests to apply the criterion, that is, the sixth criterion, to determine the scheduling of information for transmission or reception by the second network node 112 in the set of time and frequency resources. The (sixth) criterion is based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of information by the second network node 112 and the third network node 113.

[0134] In some embodiments, the first indication may further request that the second network node 112 operate on SBFD in coordination with the third network node 113.

[0135] In some embodiments, the first network node 111 may be co-located or may be the same network node as the second network node 112.

[0136] Certain embodiments disclosed herein may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s), which may be summarized as follows. Embodiments herein, may be understood to enable to achieve a better UL performance in SBFD mode.

[0137] Figure 10 depicts an example of the arrangement that the first network node 111 may comprise to perform the method actions described above in relation to Figure 4, and / or any of Figures 5-6 and / or Figure 8. The first network node 111 may be understood to be for handling the scheduling of information. The first network node 111 may be configured to operate in the wireless communications network 100.

[0138] In some examples, the wireless communications network 100 may be configured to support at least one of: NR and NB-loT.

[0139] Several embodiments are comprised herein. It should be noted that the examples herein are not mutually exclusive. One or more embodiments may be combined, where applicable. All possible combinations are not described to simplify the description. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present in another embodiment and it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art how those components may be used in the other exemplary embodiments. The detailed description of some of the following corresponds to the same references provided above, in relation to the actions described for the first network node 111 and will thus not be repeated here. For example, the set of time and frequency resources may be configured to be a set of slots comprising OFDM symbols for transmission in NR FR2. The first network node 111 is configured to determine the scheduling of the information for transmission or reception by the second network node 112 configured to operate in the wireless communications network 100 in the set of time and frequency resources. The determining is configured to be based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of DL information and UL information based on the one or more criteria.

[0140] The first network node 111 is further configured to initiate transmission or reception of the information according to the scheduling configured to be determined.

[0141] In some embodiments, the first criterion of the one or more criteria may be configured to comprise maximizing the separation in at least one of frequency and time, in the set of time and frequency resources, between the transmission and reception of UL information and DL information.

[0142] In some embodiments, the second criterion of the one or more criteria may be configured to comprise scheduling the one or more first wireless devices 131 configured to have UL limited coverage in the first subset of the time and frequency resources wherein DL interference may be below the first threshold, or absent.

[0143] In some embodiments, the third criterion of the one or more criteria may be configured to comprise scheduling the one or more second wireless devices 132 configured to have DL limited coverage in the second subset of the time and frequency resources wherein UL interference may be below the second threshold, or absent.

[0144] In some embodiments, the second network node 112 may be configured to comprise the first antenna configured to be capable of reception and the second antenna configured to be capable of transmission and reception. In some of such embodiments, the fourth criterion of the one or more criteria may be configured to comprise enabling the first antenna and the second antenna to operate in reception mode in at least the third subset of the set of time and frequency resources wherein DL information may be absent.

[0145] In some embodiments, at least the third subset of the set of time and frequency resources may be configured to be SBFD slots.

[0146] In some embodiments, the first network node 111 may be further configured to determine the MCS for the transmission of the UL information in at least the third subset of the set of time and frequency resources.

[0147] In some embodiments, the fifth criterion of the one or more criteria may be configured to comprise scheduling UL control information in slots comprising only UL information.

[0148] In some embodiments, the first network node 111 may be further configured to receive the first indication from the third network node 113 configured to operate in the wireless communications network 100. The first indication may be configured to request to apply the sixth criterion to the determining of the scheduling. The sixth criterion may be configured to be based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of information by the second network node 112 and the third network node 113.

[0149] In some embodiments, the first indication may be further configured to request that the second network node 112 operate on SBFD in coordination with the third network node 113.

[0150] In some embodiments, the first network node 111 may be configured to be co-located or configured to be the same network node as the second network node 112.

[0151] The embodiments herein in the first network node 111 may be implemented through one or more processors, such as a processing circuitry 1001 in the first network node 111 depicted in Figure 10, together with computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. A processor, as used herein, may be understood to be a hardware component. The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the embodiments herein when being loaded into the first network node 111. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the first network node 111.

[0152] The processing circuitry 1001 may be configured to, or operable to, perform the method actions according to Figure 4, and / or any of Figures 5-6 and / or Figure 8.

[0153] The first network node 111 may further comprise a memory 1002 comprising one or more memory units. The memory 1002 is arranged to be used to store obtained information, store data, configurations, schedulings, and applications etc. to perform the methods herein when being executed in the first network node 111.

[0154] In some embodiments, the first network node 111 may receive information from, e.g., the second network node 112, the third network node 113, the one or more first wireless devices 131 , the one or more second wireless devices 132, or another network node, device or structure in the wireless communications network 100, through a receiving port 1003. In some embodiments, the receiving port 1003 may be, for example, connected to one or more antennas in first network node 111. Since the receiving port 1003 may be in communication with the processing circuitry 1001, the receiving port 1003 may then send the received information to the processing circuitry 1001. The receiving port 1003 may also be configured to receive other information.

[0155] The processing circuitry 1001 in the first network node 111 may be further configured to transmit or send information to e.g., the second network node 112, the third network node 113, the one or more first wireless devices 131 , the one or more second wireless devices 132, or another network node, device or structure in the wireless communications network 100, through a sending port 1004, which may be in communication with the processing circuitry 1001 , and the memory 1002. Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the processing circuitry 1001 described above may comprise a combination of analog and digital modules, and / or one or more processors configured with software and / or firmware, e.g., stored in memory, that, when executed by the one or more processors such as the processing circuitry 1001, perform as described above. One or more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in a single Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a System-on-a-Chip (SoC).

[0156] Also, in some embodiments, the first network node 111 may be configured to perform the actions of Figure 4, and / or any of Figures 5-6 and / or Figure 8 with respective units that may be implemented as one or more applications running on one or more processors such as the processing circuitry 1001.

[0157] The first network node 111 may be configured to perform any of the Actions described in relation to Figure 4, and / or any of Figures 5-6 and / or Figure 8, e.g., by means of the processing circuitry 1001 within the first node 111 , configured to perform any of such actions.

[0158] Also, in some embodiments, different units comprised within the first node 111 may be configured to perform the different actions described above, implemented as one or more applications running on one or more processors such as the processing circuitry 1001.

[0159] Thus, the methods according to the embodiments described herein for the first network node 111 may be respectively implemented by means of a computer program 1005 product, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processing circuitry 1001 , cause the at least one processing circuitry 1001 to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the first network node 111. The computer program 1005 product may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 1006. The computer- readable storage medium 1006, having stored there on the computer program 1005, may comprise instructions which, when executed on at least one processing circuitry 1001, cause the at least one processing circuitry 1001 to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the first network node 111. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium 1006 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as a CD ROM disc, or a memory stick. In other embodiments, the computer program 1005 product may be stored on a carrier containing the computer program 1005 just described, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or the computer-readable storage medium 1006, as described above.

[0160] The first network node 111 may comprise a communication interface configured to facilitate communications between the first network node 111 and other nodes or devices, e.g., the second network node 112, the third network node 113, the one or more first wireless devices 131 , the one or more second wireless devices 132, or another network node, device or structure in the wireless communications network 1000. The interface may, for example, include a transceiver configured to transmit and receive radio signals over an air interface in accordance with a suitable standard.

[0161] In other embodiments, the first network node 111 may also comprise a radio circuitry 1007, which may comprise e.g., the receiving port 1003 and the sending port 1004. The radio circuitry 1007 may be configured to set up and maintain at least a wireless connection with the second network node 112, the third network node 113, the one or more first wireless devices 131, the one or more second wireless devices 132, or another network node, device or structure in the wireless communications network 100. Circuitry may be understood herein as a hardware component.

[0162] Hence, embodiments herein also relate to the first network node 111 comprising the processing circuitry 1001 and the memory 1002, said memory 1002 containing instructions executable by said processing circuitry 1001 , whereby the first network node 111 is operative to perform the actions described herein in relation to the first network node 111 , e.g., in Figure 4, and / or any of Figures 5-6 and / or Figure 8.

[0163] Figure 11 depicts an example of the arrangement that the third network node 113 may comprise to perform the method actions described above in relation to Figure 9, and / or any of Figures 5-6. The third network node 113 may be understood to be for handling the preamble. The third network node 113 may be configured to operate in the wireless communications network 100.

[0164] In some examples, the wireless communications network 100 may be configured to support at least one of: NR and NB-loT.

[0165] Several embodiments are comprised herein. It should be noted that the examples herein are not mutually exclusive. One or more embodiments may be combined, where applicable. All possible combinations are not described to simplify the description. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present in another embodiment and it will be obvious to a person skilled in the art how those components may be used in the other exemplary embodiments. The detailed description of some of the following corresponds to the same references provided above, in relation to the actions described for the third network node 113 and will thus not be repeated here. For example, the set of time and frequency resources may be configured to be a set of slots comprising OFDM symbols for transmission in NR FR2.

[0166] The third network node 113 is configured to send the first indication to the first network node 111 configured to operate in the wireless communications network 100. The first indication is configured to request to apply the criterion, that is, the sixth criterion, to the determination of the scheduling of the information for transmission or reception by the second network node 112 configured to operate in the wireless communications network 100 in the set of time and frequency resources. The (sixth) criterion is configured to be based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of information by the second network node 112 and the third network node 113.

[0167] In some embodiments, the first indication may be further configured to request that the second network node 112 operate on SBFD in coordination with the third network node 113.

[0168] In some embodiments, the first network node 111 may be configured to be co-located or configured to be the same network node as the second network node 112.

[0169] The embodiments herein in the third network node 113 may be implemented through one or more processors, such as a processing circuitry 1101 in the third network node 113 depicted in Figure 11 , together with computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. A processor, as used herein, may be understood to be a hardware component. The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the embodiments herein when being loaded into the third network node 113. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the third network node 113.

[0170] The processing circuitry 1101 may be configured to, or operable to, perform the method actions according to Figure 9, and / or any of Figures 5-6.

[0171] The third network node 113 may further comprise a memory 1102 comprising one or more memory units. The memory 1102 is arranged to be used to store obtained information, store data, configurations, schedulings, and applications etc. to perform the methods herein when being executed in the third network node 113.

[0172] In some embodiments, the third network node 113 may receive information from, e.g., the first network node 111 , the second network node 112, the one or more first wireless devices 131 , the one or more second wireless devices 132, or another network node, device or structure in the wireless communications network 100, through a receiving port 1103. In some embodiments, the receiving port 1103 may be, for example, connected to one or more antennas in third network node 113. Since the receiving port 1103 may be in communication with the processing circuitry 1101 , the receiving port 1103 may then send the received information to the processing circuitry 1101. The receiving port 1103 may also be configured to receive other information.

[0173] The processing circuitry 1101 in the third network node 113 may be further configured to transmit or send information to e.g., the first network node 111, the second network node 112, the one or more first wireless devices 131 , the one or more second wireless devices 132, or another network node, device or structure in the wireless communications network 100, through a sending port 1104, which may be in communication with the processing circuitry 1101, and the memory 1102.

[0174] Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that the processing circuitry 1101 described above may comprise a combination of analog and digital modules, and / or one or more processors configured with software and / or firmware, e.g., stored in memory, that, when executed by the one or more processors such as the processing circuitry 1101, perform as described above. One or more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in a single Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a System-on-a-Chip (SoC).

[0175] Also, in some embodiments, the third network node 113 may be configured to perform the actions of Figure 9, and / or any of Figures 5-6 with respective units that may be implemented as one or more applications running on one or more processors such as the processing circuitry 1101.

[0176] The first node 111 may be configured to perform any of the Actions described in relation to Figure 9, and / or any of Figures 5-6, e.g., by means of the processing circuitry 1101 within the first node 111, configured to perform any of such actions.

[0177] Also, in some embodiments, different units comprised within the first node 111 may be configured to perform the different actions described above, implemented as one or more applications running on one or more processors such as the processing circuitry 1101.

[0178] Thus, the methods according to the embodiments described herein for the third network node 113 may be respectively implemented by means of a computer program 1105 product, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processing circuitry 1101, cause the at least one processing circuitry 1101 to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the third network node 113. The computer program 1105 product may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 1106. The computer- readable storage medium 1106, having stored there on the computer program 1105, may comprise instructions which, when executed on at least one processing circuitry 1101, cause the at least one processing circuitry 1101 to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the third network node 113. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium 1106 may be a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, such as a CD ROM disc, or a memory stick. In other embodiments, the computer program 1105 product may be stored on a carrier containing the computer program 1105 just described, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or the computer-readable storage medium 1106, as described above. The third network node 113 may comprise a communication interface configured to facilitate communications between the third network node 113 and other nodes or devices, e.g., the first network node 111, the second network node 112, the one or more first wireless devices 131 , the one or more second wireless devices 132, or another network node, device or structure in the wireless communications network 100. The interface may, for example, include a transceiver configured to transmit and receive radio signals over an air interface in accordance with a suitable standard.

[0179] In other embodiments, the third network node 113 may also comprise a radio circuitry 1107, which may comprise e.g., the receiving port 1103 and the sending port 1104. The radio circuitry 1107 may be configured to set up and maintain at least a wireless connection with the first network node 111 , the second network node 112, the one or more first wireless devices 131, the one or more second wireless devices 132, or another network node, device or structure in the wireless communications network 100. Circuitry may be understood herein as a hardware component.

[0180] Hence, embodiments herein also relate to the third network node 113 comprising the processing circuitry 1101 and the memory 1102, said memory 1102 containing instructions executable by said processing circuitry 1101 , whereby the third network node 113 is operative to perform the actions described herein in relation to the third network node 113, e.g., in Figure 11 , and / or any of Figures 5-6.

[0181] Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and / or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a / an / the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and / or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

[0182] As used herein, the expression “at least one of:” followed by a list of alternatives separated by commas, and wherein the last alternative is preceded by the “and” term, may be understood to mean that only one of the list of alternatives may apply, more than one of the list of alternatives may apply or all of the list of alternatives may apply. This expression may be understood to be equivalent to the expression “at least one of:” followed by a list of alternatives separated by commas, and wherein the last alternative is preceded by the “or” term.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method performed by a first network node (111), the method being for handling scheduling of information, the first network node (111) operating in a wireless communications network (100), the method comprising:- determining (402) the scheduling of the information for transmission or reception by a second network node (112) operating in the wireless communications network (100) in a set of time and frequency resources, wherein the determining (402) is based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of downlink, DL, information and uplink, UL, information based on one or more criteria, and- initiating (404) transmission or reception of the information according to the determined scheduling.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein a first criterion of the one or more criteria comprises maximizing a separation in at least one of frequency and time, in the set of time and frequency resources, between the transmission and reception of uplink, UL, information and downlink, DL, information.

3. The method according to any of claims 1-2, wherein a second criterion of the one or more criteria comprises scheduling one or more first wireless devices (131) having UL limited coverage in a first subset of the time and frequency resources wherein DL interference is below a first threshold, or absent.

4. The method according to any of claims 1-3, wherein a third criterion of the one or more criteria comprises scheduling one or more second wireless devices (132) having DL limited coverage in a second subset of the time and frequency resources wherein UL interference is below a second threshold, or absent.

5. The method according to any of claims 1-4, wherein the second network node (112) comprises a first antenna capable of reception and a second antenna capable of transmission and reception, and wherein a fourth criterion of the one or more criteria comprises enabling the first antenna and the second antenna to operate in reception mode in at least a third subset of the set of time and frequency resources wherein DL information is absent.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein at least the third subset of the set of time and frequency resources are Subband Full Duplex, SBFD, slots.

7. The method according to any of claims 5-6, further comprising:- determining (403) a Modulation and Coding Scheme for the transmission of the UL information in at least the third subset of the set of time and frequency resources.

8. The method according to any of claims 1-7, wherein a fifth criterion of the one or more criteria comprises scheduling UL control information in slots comprising only UL information.

9. The method according to any of claims 1-8, further comprising:- receiving (401) a first indication from a third network node (113) operating in the wireless communications network (100), the first indication requesting to apply a sixth criterion to the determining (402) of the scheduling, the sixth criterion being based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of information by the second network node (112) and the third network node (113).

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the first indication further requests that the second network node (112) operate on SBFD in coordination with the third network node (113).

11. The method according to any of claims 1-10, wherein the first network node (111) is co-located or is the same network node as the second network node (112).

12. A method performed by a third network node (113), the method being for handling scheduling of information, the third network node (113) operating in a wireless communications network (100), the method comprising:- sending (901) a first indication to a first network node (111) operating in the wireless communications network (100), the first indication requesting to apply a criterion to a determination of a scheduling of the information for transmission or reception by a second network node (112) operating in the wireless communications network (100) in a set of time and frequency resources, the criterion being based on minimizing interference between the transmission andreception of information by the second network node (112) and the third network node (113).

13. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first indication further requests that the second network node (112) operate on SBFD in coordination with the third network node (113).

14. The method according to any of claims 12-13, wherein the first network node (111) is co-located or is the same network node as the second network node (112).

15. A first network node (111), for handling scheduling of information, the first network node (111) being configured to operate in a wireless communications network (100), the first network node (111) being further configured to:- determine the scheduling of the information for transmission or reception by a second network node (112) configured to operate in the wireless communications network (100) in a set of time and frequency resources, wherein the determining is configured to be based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of downlink, DL, information and uplink, UL, information based on one or more criteria, and- initiate transmission or reception of the information according to the scheduling configured to be determined.

16. The first network node (111) according to claim 15, wherein a first criterion of the one or more criteria is configured to comprise maximizing a separation in at least one of frequency and time, in the set of time and frequency resources, between the transmission and reception of uplink, UL, information and downlink, DL, information.

17. The first network node (111) according to any of claims 15-16, wherein a second criterion of the one or more criteria is configured to comprise scheduling one or more first wireless devices (131) configured to have UL limited coverage in a first subset of the time and frequency resources wherein DL interference is below a first threshold, or absent.

18. The first network node (111) according to any of claims 15-17, wherein a third criterion of the one or more criteria is configured to comprise scheduling one or more second wireless devices (132) configured to have DL limited coverage in a second subset ofthe time and frequency resources wherein UL interference is below a second threshold, or absent.

19. The first network node (111) according to any of claims 15-18, wherein the second network node (112) is configured to comprise a first antenna configured to be capable of reception and a second antenna configured to be capable of transmission and reception, and wherein a fourth criterion of the one or more criteria is configured to comprise enabling the first antenna and the second antenna to operate in reception mode in at least a third subset of the set of time and frequency resources wherein DL information is absent.

20. The first network node (111) according to claim 19, wherein at least the third subset of the set of time and frequency resources are configured to be Subband Full Duplex, SBFD, slots.

21. The first network node (111) according to any of claims 19-20, being further configured to:- determine a Modulation and Coding Scheme for the transmission of the UL information in at least the third subset of the set of time and frequency resources.

22. The first network node (111) according to any of claims 15-21, wherein a fifth criterion of the one or more criteria is configured to comprise scheduling UL control information in slots comprising only UL information.

23. The first network node (111) according to any of claims 15-22, being further configured to:- receive a first indication from a third network node (113) configured to operate in the wireless communications network (100), the first indication being configured to request to apply a sixth criterion to the determining of the scheduling, the sixth criterion being configured to be based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of information by the second network node (112) and the third network node (113).

24. The first network node (111) according to claim 23, wherein the first indication is further configured to request that the second network node (112) operate on SBFD in coordination with the third network node (113).

25. The method according to any of claims 15-24, wherein the first network node (111) is configured to be co-located or configured to be the same network node as the second network node (112).

26. A third network node (113), for handling scheduling of information, the third network node (113) being configured to operate in a wireless communications network (100), the third network node (113) being further configured to:- send a first indication to a first network node (111) configured to operate in the wireless communications network (100), the first indication being configured to request to apply a criterion to a determination of a scheduling of the information for transmission or reception by a second network node (112) configured to operate in the wireless communications network (100) in a set of time and frequency resources, the criterion being configured to be based on minimizing interference between the transmission and reception of information by the second network node (112) and the third network node (113).

27. The third network node (113) according to claim 26, wherein the first indication is configured to further request that the second network node (112) operate on SBFD in coordination with the third network node (113).

28. The third network node (113) according to any of claims 26-27, wherein the first network node (111) is configured to be co-located or is configured to be the same network node as the second network node (112).

Images