Non-coordinated radio resource spectrum sharing

Abstract

A method and network node for non-coordinated radio resource spectrum sharing are disclosed. According to one aspect, a method in a network node includes determining an allocation of radio resources to user equipments (UEs) served by the plurality of vendors in an event of a collision of signals of a first UE served by a first one of the plurality of vendors with signals of a second UE served by a second one of the plurality of vendors, based at least in part on at least one predefined rule. The method includes allocating the radio resources for use by a radio interface of the network nodes as determined.

Description

[0001] NON-COORDINATED RADIO RESOURCE SPECTRUM SHARING

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and in particular, to non-coordinated radio resource spectrum sharing.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] The Third Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) has developed and is developing standards for Fourth Generation (4G) (also referred to as Long Term Evolution (LTE)) and Fifth Generation (5G) (also referred to as New Radio (NR)) wireless communication systems. Such systems provide, among other features, broadband communication between network nodes, such as base stations, and user equipment (UE), as well as communication between network nodes and between UEs. The 3GPP is also developing standards for Sixth Generation (6G) wireless communication networks.

[0006] Current schemes for sharing spectrum usually use proprietary interfaces, including internal or external interfaces between upper layer entities which need to coordinate the use of radio resources. It is difficult to anticipate the needs of standardized interfaces that will effectively perform coordination in a field where features are constantly added, and standards development will typically lag behind needs. FIG. 1 is an example of vendors sharing resources in a communication network.

[0007] SUMMARY

[0008] Some embodiments advantageously provide methods and network nodes for noncoordinated radio resource spectrum sharing.

[0009] When two entities share one radio frequency (RF) carrier, for best performance, these entities should coordinate use of time and frequency domain resources to avoid collisions. However, a suboptimal sharing of resources may still be achieved with suboptimal or even no coordination.

[0010] An extension to the open radio access network (O-RAN) L2 / L3 Split or Interface (OLLS) standard is proposed, where resource collision policy may be configured to produce a desired outcome. For highest performance, the upper layers should communicate to coordinate radio resources in such a way as to avoid collisions and optimize spectrum use. However, in cases where this is impractical or imperfect, collisions may result, and these may be managed by establishing and configuring rules. By determining what should happen when collisions occur, one may tailor the network to guide the joint system to an expected outcome. Under low to medium load, sharing with some collisions will provide an acceptable solution.

[0011] Allowing a limited number of collisions to take place in spectrum sharing is a tradeoff to simplify coordination and interface specification.

[0012] Some embodiments disclosed herein allow spectrum sharing in a multi-vendor deployment with a minimum level of standardized signals between UEs. It does not preclude more advanced proprietary or potentially standardized interfaces for coordination, but specifies what should happen when such coordination is imperfect, or even absent.

[0013] According to one aspect, a method is provided of spectrum sharing in a radio of a network node, the radio shared by a plurality of vendors serving user equipments, UEs. The method includes determining an allocation of radio resources to UEs served by the plurality of vendors in an event of a collision of signals of a first UE served by a first one of the plurality of vendors with signals of a second UE served by a second one of the plurality of vendors, based at least in part on at least one predefined rule. The method includes allocating the radio resources for use by the radio as determined.

[0014] According to this aspect, in some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes granting precedence for a first duration of time to the first UE served by the first vendor. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes granting precedence for a second duration of time to a first one of the first and second UEs to request a scheduling grant. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes allocating a first percent of the radio resources to the first UE and a second percent of the radio resources to the second UE, the second percent of the radio resources being less than the first percent of the radio resources. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes discarding an allocation to the first UE when the first UE has a lower priority than the second UE. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes puncturing bits of a first transmission to the first UE using bits of a second transmission to the second UE. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes applying spatial diversity to avoid the collision. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes allocating more power to the first UE than to the second UE. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes discarding a grant to the first UE. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes applying interference combining to the colliding signals from the first and second UEs. According to another aspect, a network node configured to communicate with user equipments, UEs, is configured to determine an allocation of radio resources to UEs served by a plurality of vendors in an event of a collision of signals of a first UE served by a first one of the plurality of vendors with signals of a second UE served by a second one of the plurality of vendors, based at least in part on at least one predefined rule. The network node is also configured to allocate the radio resources for use by the radio as determined.

[0015] According to this aspect, in some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes granting precedence for a first duration of time to the first UE served by the first vendor. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes granting precedence for a second duration of time to a first one of the first and second UEs to request a scheduling grant. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes allocating a first percent of the radio resources to the first UE and a second percent of the radio resources to the second UE, the second percent of the radio resources being less than the first percent of the radio resources. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes discarding an allocation to the first UE when the first UE has a lower priority than the second UE. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes puncturing bits of a first transmission to the first UE using bits of a second transmission to the second UE. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes applying spatial diversity to avoid the collision. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes allocating more power to the first UE than to the second UE. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes discarding a grant to the first UE. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes applying interference combining to the colliding signals from the first and second UEs.

[0016] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] A more complete understanding of the present embodiments, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

[0018] FIG. 1 is an example of vendors sharing resources in a communication network;

[0019] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of an example network architecture illustrating a communication system according to principles disclosed herein; FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a network node in communication with a user equipment over a wireless connection according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0020] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 60 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized;

[0021] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example process in a network node for non-coordinated radio resource spectrum sharing.

[0022] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0023] Before describing in detail example embodiments, it is noted that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of apparatus components and processing steps related to non-coordinated radio resource spectrum sharing. Accordingly, components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein.

[0024] As used herein, relational terms, such as “first” and “second,” “top” and “bottom,” and the like, may be used solely to distinguish one entity or element from another entity or element without necessarily requiring or implying any physical or logical relationship or order between such entities or elements. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the concepts described herein. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and / or “including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0025] In embodiments described herein, the joining term, “in communication with” and the like, may be used to indicate electrical or data communication, which may be accomplished by physical contact, induction, electromagnetic radiation, radio signaling, infrared signaling or optical signaling, for example. One having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that multiple components may interoperate and modifications and variations are possible of achieving the electrical and data communication. In some embodiments described herein, the term “coupled,” “connected,” and the like, may be used herein to indicate a connection, although not necessarily directly, and may include wired and / or wireless connections.

[0026] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the concepts described herein. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes” and / or “including” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and / or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and / or groups thereof.

[0027] The term “network node” used herein may be any kind of network node comprised in a radio network which may further comprise any of base station (BS), radio base station, base transceiver station (BTS), base station controller (BSC), radio network controller (RNC), g Node B (gNB), evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB), Node B, multistandard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, multi-cell / multicast coordination entity (MCE), relay node, donor node controlling relay, radio access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH), a core network node (e.g., mobile management entity (MME), self-organizing network (SON) node, a coordinating node, positioning node, MDT node, etc.), an external node (e.g., 3rd party node, a node external to the current network), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), a spectrum access system (SAS) node, an element management system (EMS), etc. The network node may also comprise test equipment. The term “radio node” used herein may be used to also denote a user equipment (UE) such as a wireless device (WD) or a radio network node.

[0028] In some embodiments, the non-limiting terms wireless device (WD) or a user equipment (UE) are used interchangeably. The UE herein may be any type of wireless device capable of communicating with a network node or another UE over radio signals, such as a wireless device (WD). The UE may also be a radio communication device, target device, device to device (D2D) UE, machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine communication (M2M), low-cost and / or low-complexity UE, a sensor equipped with UE, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (loT) device, or a Narrowband loT (NB-IOT) device etc. Also, in some embodiments the generic term “radio network node” is used. It may be any kind of a radio network node which may comprise any of base station, radio base station, base transceiver station, base station controller, network controller, RNC, evolved Node B (eNB), Node B, gNB, Multi-cell / multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), relay node, access point, radio access point, Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH).

[0029] Note that although terminology from one particular wireless system, such as, for example, 3GPP LTE and / or New Radio (NR), may be used in this disclosure, this should not be seen as limiting the scope of the disclosure to only the aforementioned system. Other wireless systems, including without limitation Wide Band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), may also benefit from exploiting the ideas covered within this disclosure.

[0030] Note further, that functions described herein as being performed by a user equipment or a network node may be distributed over a plurality of user equipments and / or network nodes. In other words, it is contemplated that the functions of the network node and user equipment described herein are not limited to performance by a single physical device and, in fact, may be distributed among several physical devices.

[0031] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0032] Some embodiments are directed to non-coordinated radio resource spectrum sharing.

[0033] Returning to the drawing figures, in which like elements are referred to by like reference numerals, there is shown in FIG. 2 a schematic diagram of a communication system 10, according to an embodiment, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network that may support standards such as LTE and / or NR (5G), which comprises an access network 12, such as a radio access network, and a core network 14. The access network 12 comprises a plurality of network nodes 16a, 16b, 16c (referred to collectively as network nodes 16), such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 18a, 18b, 18c (referred to collectively as coverage areas 18). Each network node 16a, 16b, 16c is connectable to the core network 14 over a wired or wireless connection 20. A first user equipment (UE) 22a located in coverage area 18a is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding network node 16a. A second UE 22b in coverage area 18b is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding network node 16b. While a plurality of UEs 22a, 22b (collectively referred to as user equipments 22) are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding network node 16. Note that although only two UEs 22 and three network nodes 16 are shown for convenience, the communication system may include many more UEs 22 and network nodes 16.

[0034] Also, it is contemplated that a UE 22 may be in simultaneous communication and / or configured to separately communicate with more than one network node 16 and more than one type of network node 16. For example, a UE 22 may have dual connectivity with a network node 16 that supports LTE and the same or a different network node 16 that supports NR. As an example, UE 22 may be in communication with an eNB for LTE / E-UTRAN and a gNB for NR / NG-RAN.

[0035] A network node 16 (eNB or gNB) is configured to include a vendor resource allocator 24 which may be configured to determine an allocation of radio resources to UEs served by a plurality of vendors in an event of a collision of signals of a first UE served by a first one of the plurality of vendors with signals of a second UE served by a second one of the plurality of vendors, based at least in part on at least one predefined rule.

[0036] Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE 22 and network node 16 discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to FIG. 2.

[0037] The communication system 10 includes a network node 16 provided in a communication system 10 and including hardware 28 enabling it to communicate with the UE 22. The hardware 28 may include a radio interface 30 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 32 with a UE 22 located in a coverage area 18 served by the network node 16. The radio interface 30 may be formed as or may include, for example, one or more RF transmitters, one or more RF receivers, and / or one or more RF transceivers. The radio interface 30 includes an array of antennas 34 to radiate and receive signal(s) carrying electromagnetic waves.

[0038] In the embodiment shown, the hardware 28 of the network node 16 further includes processing circuitry 36. The processing circuitry 36 may include a processor 38 and a memory 40. In particular, in addition to or instead of a processor, such as a central processing unit, and memory, the processing circuitry 36 may comprise integrated circuitry for processing and / or control, e.g., one or more processors and / or processor cores and / or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array) and / or ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuitry) adapted to execute instructions. The processor 38 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and / or read from) the memory 40, which may comprise any kind of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory, e.g., cache and / or buffer memory and / or RAM (Random Access Memory) and / or ROM (Read-Only Memory) and / or optical memory and / or EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).

[0039] Thus, the network node 16 further has software 42 stored internally in, for example, memory 40, or stored in external memory (e.g., database, storage array, network storage device, etc.) accessible by the network node 16 via an external connection. The software 42 may be executable by the processing circuitry 36. The processing circuitry 36 may be configured to control any of the methods and / or processes described herein and / or to cause such methods, and / or processes to be performed, e.g., by network node 16. Processor 38 corresponds to one or more processors 38 for performing network node 16 functions described herein. The memory 40 is configured to store data, programmatic software code and / or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software 42 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 38 and / or processing circuitry 36, causes the processor 38 and / or processing circuitry 36 to perform the processes described herein with respect to network node 16. For example, processing circuitry 36 of the network node 16 may include a vendor resource allocator 24 which may be configured to determine an allocation of radio resources to UEs served by a plurality of vendors in an event of a collision of signals of a first UE served by a first one of the plurality of vendors with signals of a second UE served by a second one of the plurality of vendors, based at least in part on at least one predefined rule. The memory 40 may be configured to store predefined rules 26 for performing the allocation determination by the vendor resource allocator 24.

[0040] The communication system 10 further includes the UE 22 already referred to. The UE 22 may have hardware 44 that may include a radio interface 46 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 32 with a network node 16 serving a coverage area 18 in which the UE 22 is currently located. The radio interface 46 may be formed as or may include, for example, one or more RF transmitters, one or more RF receivers, and / or one or more RF transceivers. The radio interface 46 includes an array of antennas 48 to radiate and receive signal(s) carrying electromagnetic waves.

[0041] The hardware 44 of the UE 22 further includes processing circuitry 50. The processing circuitry 50 may include a processor 52 and memory 54. In particular, in addition to or instead of a processor, such as a central processing unit, and memory, the processing circuitry 50 may comprise integrated circuitry for processing and / or control, e.g., one or more processors and / or processor cores and / or FPGAs (Field Programmable Gate Array) and / or ASICs (Application Specific Integrated Circuitry) adapted to execute instructions. The processor 52 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and / or read from) memory 54, which may comprise any kind of volatile and / or nonvolatile memory, e.g., cache and / or buffer memory and / or RAM (Random Access Memory) and / or ROM (Read-Only Memory) and / or optical memory and / or EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory).

[0042] Thus, the UE 22 may further comprise software 56, which is stored in, for example, memory 54 at the UE 22, or stored in external memory (e.g., database, storage array, network storage device, etc.) accessible by the UE 22. The software 56 may be executable by the processing circuitry 50. The software 56 may include a client application 58. The client application 58 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the UE 22.

[0043] The processing circuitry 50 may be configured to control any of the methods and / or processes described herein and / or to cause such methods, and / or processes to be performed, e.g., by UE 22. The processor 52 corresponds to one or more processors 52 for performing UE 22 functions described herein. The UE 22 includes memory 54 that is configured to store data, programmatic software code and / or other information described herein. In some embodiments, the software 56 and / or the client application 58 may include instructions that, when executed by the processor 52 and / or processing circuitry 50, causes the processor 52 and / or processing circuitry 50 to perform the processes described herein with respect to UE 22.

[0044] In some embodiments, the inner workings of the network node 16 and UE 22 may be as shown in FIG. 3 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of FIG. 2.

[0045] The wireless connection 32 between the UE 22 and the network node 16 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. More precisely, the teachings of some of these embodiments may improve the data rate, latency, and / or power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, better responsiveness, extended battery lifetime, etc. In some embodiments, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve.

[0046] Although FIGS. 2 and 3 show various “units” such vendor resource allocator 24 as being within a respective processor, it is contemplated that these units may be implemented such that a portion of the unit is stored in a corresponding memory within the processing circuitry. In other words, the units may be implemented in hardware or in a combination of hardware and software within the processing circuitry.

[0047] In some embodiments, the communication system 10 includes one or more Open- RAN (ORAN) network nodes 16. An ORAN network node 16 is a node in the telecommunication system 10 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication system 10, including one or more network nodes 16 in the access network 12 and / or core network nodes 14.

[0048] Examples of an ORAN network node 16 include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near- real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an Al, Fl, Wl, El, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node 16 may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes 16 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 22a, 22b, 22c (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 22) to the core network 14 over one or more wireless connections.

[0049] FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 60 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 60 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node 16, UE 22, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 60 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface.

[0050] Applications 62 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 60 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0051] Hardware 64 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 66 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 68a and 68b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 68), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 66 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs QQ508.

[0052] The VMs 68 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 66. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 62 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 68, 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.

[0053] In the context of NFV, a VM 68 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 68, and that part of hardware 64 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 68 on top of the hardware 64 and corresponds to the application 62.

[0054] Hardware 64 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 64 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 64 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 70, which, among others, oversees life cycle management of applications 62. In some embodiments, hardware 64 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 72 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0055] FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an example process in a network node 16 for noncoordinated radio resource spectrum sharing. One or more blocks described herein may be performed by one or more elements of network node 16 such as by one or more of processing circuitry 36 (including the vendor resource allocator 24), processor 38, and / or radio interface 30. Network node 16 such as via processing circuitry 36 and / or processor 38 and / or radio interface 30 is configured to determine an allocation of radio resources to UEs 22 served by the plurality of vendors in an event of a collision of signals of a first UE 22 served by a first one of the plurality of vendors with signals of a second UE 22 served by a second one of the plurality of vendors, based at least in part on at least one predefined rule (Block S10). The method includes allocating the radio resources for use by the radio as determined (Block S12).

[0056] According to this aspect, in some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes granting precedence for a first duration of time to the first UE 22 served by the first vendor. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes granting precedence for a second duration of time to a first one of the first and second UEs 22 to request a scheduling grant. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes allocating a first percent of the radio resources to the first UE 22 and a second percent of the radio resources to the second UE 22, the second percent of the radio resources being less than the first percent of the radio resources. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes discarding an allocation to the first UE 22 when the first UE 22 has a lower priority than the second UE 22. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes puncturing bits of a first transmission to the first UE 22 using bits of a second transmission to the second UE 22. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes applying spatial diversity to avoid the collision. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes allocating more power to the first UE 22 than to the second UE 22. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes discarding a grant to the first UE 22. In some embodiments, the at least one predefined rule includes applying interference combining to the colliding signals from the first and second UEs 22.

[0057] Having described the general process flow of arrangements of the disclosure and having provided examples of hardware and software arrangements for implementing the processes and functions of the disclosure, the sections below provide details and examples of arrangements for non-coordinated radio resource spectrum sharing.

[0058] Device priority, e.g., UE 22 device priority: which upper layer takes precedence when a collision occurs may be determined by the network node 16 according to one or more of the following rules:

[0059] • UE 22 A takes precedence;

[0060] • UE 22 B takes precedence;

[0061] • A time and frequency pattern indicates precedence;

[0062] • The first UE 22 to request takes precedence; and

[0063] • Priority included with allocations. Further, there are various ways to handle the lower priority allocations. In the downlink, in some embodiments, the network node 16 follows one or more of the following rules or take one or more of the following actions:

[0064] • Discard the low priority allocation;

[0065] • Puncture the low priority allocation, hoping it has enough redundancy to be received;

[0066] • Split the power, relying on spatial diversity to help.

[0067] For uplink, in some embodiments, the network node 16 follows one or more of the following rules or take one or more of the following actions:

[0068] • Discard the low priority grant, preventing the UE 22 from colliding;

[0069] • Attempt reception of both, possibly with interference combining.

[0070] Some embodiments may impact the O-RAN LLS specification to configure the collision policy, and add housekeeping fields to the allocations.

[0071] A coordination interface may also be implemented This coordination interface may be responsible for informing entities of a protocol of coordination to be followed, as described above. It is the communication channel between the two entities that communicate the signals of coordination. A coordination interface between two base stations of two vendors can be implemented at either base station or a third entity (controller).

[0072] As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the concepts described herein may be embodied as a method, data processing system, computer program product and / or computer storage media storing an executable computer program. Accordingly, the concepts described herein may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects all generally referred to herein as a “circuit” or “module.” Any process, step, action and / or functionality described herein may be performed by, and / or associated to, a corresponding module, which may be implemented in software and / or firmware and / or hardware. Furthermore, the disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a tangible computer usable storage medium having computer program code embodied in the medium that may be executed by a computer. Any suitable tangible computer readable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD-ROMs, electronic storage devices, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices.

[0073] Some embodiments are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, systems and computer program products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, may be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer (to thereby create a special purpose computer), special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0074] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable memory or storage medium that may direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function / act specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0075] The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions / acts specified in the flowchart and / or block diagram block or blocks.

[0076] It is to be understood that the functions / acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality / acts involved. Although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths to show a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.

[0077] Computer program code for carrying out operations of the concepts described herein may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Python, Java® or C++. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the disclosure may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

[0078] Many different embodiments have been disclosed herein, in connection with the above description and the drawings. It will be understood that it would be unduly repetitious and obfuscating to literally describe and illustrate every combination and subcombination of these embodiments. Accordingly, all embodiments may be combined in any way and / or combination, and the present specification, including the drawings, shall be construed to constitute a complete written description of all combinations and subcombinations of the embodiments described herein, and of the manner and process of making and using them, and shall support claims to any such combination or subcombination.

[0079] Abbreviations that may be used in the preceding description include:

[0080] Abbreviation Explanation

[0081] CRS Cell-specific reference signal

[0082] LA Link adaptation

[0083] LTE Long term evolution (4G)

[0084] NR New radio (5G)

[0085] O-LLS O-RAN L2 / L3 Split or O-RAN L2 / L3 Interface

[0086] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein are not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings without departing from the scope of the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method of spectrum sharing in a radio interface (30) of a network node (16), the radio interface (30) shared by a plurality of vendors serving user equipments, UEs (22), the method comprising: determining (S10) an allocation of radio resources to UEs (22) served by the plurality of vendors in an event of a collision of signals of a first UE (22) served by a first one of the plurality of vendors with signals of a second UE (22) served by a second one of the plurality of vendors, based at least in part on at least one predefined rule; and allocating (S12) the radio resources for use by the radio interface (30) as determined.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes granting precedence for a first duration of time to the first UE (22) served by the first vendor.

3. The method of any of Claims 1 and 2, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes granting precedence for a second duration of time to a first one of the first and second UEs (22) to request a scheduling grant.

4. The method of any of Claims 1-3, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes allocating a first percent of the radio resources to the first UE (22) and a second percent of the radio resources to the second UE, the second percent of the radio resources being less than the first percent of the radio resources.

5. The method of any of Claims 1-4, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes discarding an allocation to the first UE (22) when the first UE (22) has a lower priority than the second UE (22).

6. The method of any of Claims 1-5, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes puncturing bits of a first transmission to the first UE (22) using bits of a second transmission to the second UE (22).

7. The method of any of Claims 1-6, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes applying spatial diversity to avoid the collision.

8. The method of any of Claims 1-7, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes allocating more power to the first UE (22) than to the second UE (22).

9. The method of any of Claims 1-8, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes discarding a grant to the first UE (22).

10. The method of any of Claims 1-9, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes applying interference combining to the colliding signals from the first and second UEs (22).

11. A network node (16) configured for spectrum sharing in a radio interface (30) of the network node (16), the radio interface (30) shared by a plurality of vendors serving user equipments, UEs (22), the network node (16) configured to: determine an allocation of radio resources to UEs (22) served by a plurality of vendors in an event of a collision of signals of a first UE (22) served by a first one of the plurality of vendors with signals of a second UE (22) served by a second one of the plurality of vendors, based at least in part on at least one predefined rule; and allocate the radio resources for use by a radio interface (30) as determined.

12. The network node (16) of Claim 11, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes granting precedence for a first duration of time to the first UE (22) served by the first vendor.

13. The network node (16) of any of Claims 11 and 12, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes granting precedence for a second duration of time to a first one of the first and second UEs (22) to request a scheduling grant.

14. The network node (16) of any of Claims 11-13, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes allocating a first percent of the radio resources to the first UE (22) and a second percent of the radio resources to the second UE, the second percent of the radio resources being less than the first percent of the radio resources.

15. The network node (16) of any of Claims 11-14, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes discarding an allocation to the first UE (22) when the first UE (22) has a lower priority than the second UE (22).

16. The network node (16) of any of Claims 11-15, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes puncturing bits of a first transmission to the first UE (22) using bits of a second transmission to the second UE (22).

17. The network node (16) of any of Claims 11-16, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes applying spatial diversity to avoid the collision.

18. The network node (16) of any of Claims 11-17, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes allocating more power to the first UE (22) than to the second UE (22).

19. The network node (16) of any of Claims 11-18, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes discarding a grant to the first UE (22).

20. The network node (16) of any of Claims 11-19, wherein the at least one predefined rule includes applying interference combining to the colliding signals from the first and second UEs (22).

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