Satellite based beam switching in dependence of DL transmissions

Abstract

Embodiments described herein relate to methods and apparatuses for switching between sets of one or more beams based on a resource management or scheduling event. In certain embodiments a method (400) is performed by a multi-beam based satellite access node (600), wherein the satellite based access node (600) produces a plurality of beams corresponding to a plurality of cells providing service to one or more wireless devices (700). The method comprising determining (410) a first group of one or more beams from the plurality of beams to be active wherein the active one or more beams correspond to at least one first cells of the plurality of cells and in response to a resource management or scheduling event, inactivating (420) the first group of beams and activating a second group of one or more beams, wherein the second group of one or more beams corresponds to at least one second cells of the plurality of cells and the first group of beams and the first cells are different from the second group of beams and the second cells.

Description

[0001] Satellite based beam switching in dependence of DL transmissions

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] The present disclosure relates, in general, to wireless communications and, more particularly, systems and methods for satellite based access to perform beam switching in dependence of downlink transmissions.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] A wireless network may comprise a non-terrestrial network (NTN) component. The NTN component may comprise a constellation of several satellites that can orbit the earth using one or more orbital planes. For example, the constellation of satellites may comprise low Earth orbit (LEO) medium Earth orbit (MEO) or geostationary Earth orbit (GEO) satellites.

[0006] FIGURE 1 illustrates an example architecture of an NTN. The example architecture of the NTN depicted in Figure 1 comprises a satellite 102 in communication with an earthbased gateway 104. The gateway 104 connects the satellite 102 to a base station or a core network, depending on the choice of architecture. A feeder link 106 refers to the link between the satellite 102 and the gateway 104. The satellite 102 is also in communication with one or more UEs 108 via a service link 110.

[0007] The satellite 102 may comprise a satellite antenna, wherein the satellite antenna may be in communication with a Radio Access Network (RAN) node. In the case of Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) New Radio (NR), the RAN node may be a gNodeB (gNB). Depending on the architecture, components of the nodes may be located either on the ground or onboard the satellite 102. The ground components and the onboard components may be connected through satellite gateways 104 via the feeder link 106.

[0008] Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) was introduced for NR, LTE-MTC, and NB-loT in Rel- 17. An overview of the functionalities added to NR for operating as a non-terrestrial network can be found in X. Lin et al., "5G from Space: An Overview of 3GPP", IEEE Communications Standards Magazine, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 147-153, December 2021.; M. S. Hassan et al., "NTN: from 5G NR to 6G," 2023 IEEE International Conference on Wireless for Space and Extreme Environments (WiSEE), Aveiro, Portugal, 2023, pp. 173-178, doi: 10.1109 / WiSEE58383.2023.10289427; and NTN & Satellite in Rel-17 & 18, Munira Jaffar & Nicolas Chuberre, [Online], Available: https: / / www.3gpp.org / news- events / partner-news / ntn-rel17.

[0009] In 3GPP Rel-19, NTN will continue to evolve and as part of its evolution the industry has considered downlink coverage enhancements for NR-NTN. The scope of the work defined in the 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) is defined for example by RP- 234078, “New WID: Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) for NR Phase 3” 3GPP TSG RAN Meeting #102, Edinburgh, Scotland, December 11-15, 2023 and RP-240775, “New WID: Non-Terrestrial Networks (NTN) for NR Phase 3” 3GPP TSG RAN Meeting #103, Maastricht, The Netherlands, March 18-22, 2024.

[0010] It will be appreciated that in both an NTN and a terrestrial network (TN) each node (e.g. base station or satellite) in the network is expected to provide coverage to a specific territory by dividing the area of the specific territory into coverage sectors. In the case of NTN, the satellites transmit radio signals, in the form of satellite beams 112, towards those areas.

[0011] Each satellite 102 in the constellation of satellites can provide wireless network access to a user equipment (UE) 108 positioned on, or near, the Earth’s surface via the service link 110. For example, the satellites may comprise onboard antennas that can radiate beams 112 towards one or more centres of respective one or more Earth-Fixed Cells (EFCs) 114, wherein these beams 112 may be transmitter beams for the downlink (DL) and receiver beams for the uplink (UL). In the DL, the total power of the satellite antenna is shared between simultaneous DL beams. This is not true for the UL.

[0012] An EFC 114 comprises a specific and fixed geographic area with a specific centre. Compared to moving cells, an EFC 114 is especially beneficial in an NTN comprising one or more LEO satellites as the LEO satellites may steer their beams 112 to compensate the orbiting motion of the satellites. Consequently, cell selection is much simpler.

[0013] The LEO satellites may steer their beams 112 toward the centres of EFCs 114. Therefore, beam power loss occurs to UEs not located at the EFC centres. The angle between the satellite-to-EFC centre and the satellite-to-UE is called a misalignment angle. For a given satellite antenna, the larger the misalignment angle is, the more severe the beam power loss the UE 108 experiences.

[0014] SUMMARY

[0015] Towards supporting the introduction of downlink coverage enhancements in Rel-19 for NR-NTN, one or more of the techniques under discussion (i.e., “Beam Hopping,” “Satellite beam width”, and “Frequency Re-use”) account for timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies of physical channels and signals used in the NR system.

[0016] The timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies of physical channels and signals used in the NR system become part of the dimensioning and design of one or more of the techniques under discussion to enhance the downlink coverage for NR-NTN in Rel-19 (i.e., “Beam Hopping,” “Satellite beam width”, and “Frequency Re-use”).

[0017] The following advantages are foreseen:

[0018] • The techniques under discussion to enhance the downlink coverage for NR-NTN in Rel-19 (i.e., “Beam Hopping,” “Satellite beam width”, and “Frequency Re-use”) won’t incur in creating issues on physical channels and signals having timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies in the NR system.

[0019] • The techniques under discussion to enhance the downlink coverage for NR-NTN in Rel-19 are backward compatible with existing NR procedures or limit the required updates on the technical specification to support concepts under investigation such as beam-hopping.

[0020] • Some aspects of this invention can incorporate flexibility to one or more of the techniques under discussion to enhance the downlink coverage for NR-NTN, for example in 3GPP Rel-19, e.g., using a 12-PRB (physical resource block) synchronisation signal physical broadcast channel (SS / PBCH) size and 12-PRB / 15-PRB / 20-PRB CORESET#0 size is foreseen to be beneficial for a Frequency Re-use technique when the available bandwidth is limited.

[0021] In a first aspect a method performed by a multi-beam based satellite access node is provided. The satellite based access node produces a plurality of beams corresponding to a plurality of cells providing service to one or more wireless devices. The method comprising determining a first group of one or more beams from the plurality of beams to be active wherein the active one or more beams correspond to at least one first cells of the plurality of cells; and in response to a resource management or scheduling event, inactivating the first group of beams and activating a second group of one or more beams, wherein the second group of one or more beams corresponds to at least one second cells of the plurality of cells and the first group of beams and the first cells are different from the second group of beams and the second cells. In certain examples of the first aspect the scheduling event comprises transmitting a first set of downlink physical channels and / or signals having timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies; and switching to the second group of one or more beams after transmitting the first set of physical channels and / or signals.

[0022] In a second aspect a method performed by a wireless device configured for nonterrestrial network communications is provided. The method comprising: receiving from a satellite based access node a first group of one or more beams from a plurality of beams wherein the first group of beams correspond to at least one first cells of a plurality of cells served by the satellite based access node; and in response to a resource management or scheduling event, receiving a second group of one or more beams, and ceasing to receive the first group of beams, wherein the second group of one or more beams corresponds to at least one second cells of the plurality of cells and the first group of beams and the first cells are different from the second group of beams and the second cells. In certain examples of the second aspect the scheduling event comprises receiving a first set of downlink physical channels and / or signals having timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies; and the wireless device switches to the second group of one or more beams after receiving the first set of physical channels and / or signals.

[0023] In a third aspect a satellite based access node is provided. The satellite based access node produces a plurality of beams corresponding to a plurality of cells providing service to one or more wireless devices. The satellite based access node configured to determine a first group of one or more beams from the plurality of beams to be active wherein the active one or more beams correspond to at least one first cells of the plurality of cells; and in response to a resource management or scheduling event, inactivate the first group of beams and activating a second group of one or more beams, wherein the second group of one or more beams corresponds to at least one second cells of the plurality of cells and the first group of beams and the first cells are different from the second group off beams and the second cells. In certain examples of the third aspect the scheduling event comprises transmitting a first set of downlink physical channels and / or signals having timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies; and switching to the second group of one or more beams after transmitting the first set of physical channels and / or signals.

[0024] In a fourth aspect a wireless device for non-terrestrial network communications is provided. The wireless device configured to receive from a satellite based access node a first group of one or more beams from a plurality of beams wherein the first group of beams correspond to at least one first cells of a plurality of cells served by the satellite based access node; and in response to a resource management or scheduling event, receive a second group of one or more beams, and cease to receive the first group of beams, wherein the second group of one or more beams corresponds to at least one second cells of the plurality of cells and the first group of beams and the first cells are different from the second group off beams and the second cells. . In certain examples of the fourth aspect the scheduling event comprises transmitting a first set of downlink physical channels and / or signals having timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies; and switching to the second group of one or more beams after transmitting the first set of physical channels and / or signals.

[0025] In a fifth aspect, a computer program is provided. The computer program comprises instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0026] In a sixth aspect, a carrier containing the computer program according to the fifth aspect is provided. The carrier comprises one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal or computer readable storage medium.

[0027] In a seventh aspect, a computer program product comprising non transitory computer readable media is provided. The computer program product having stored thereon a computer program according to the fifth aspect. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] For a better understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure, and to show how it may be put into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example only, to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0029] FIGURE 1 illustrates an example architecture of an NTN.

[0030] FIGURE 2a illustrates an example according to some embodiments.

[0031] FIGURE 2b illustrates an example according to some embodiments.

[0032] FIGURE 3 illustrates an example implementation of the method performed by the controller node, according to certain embodiments.

[0033] FIGURE 4 shows an example flow chart according to certain embodiments.

[0034] FIGURE 5 shows an example flow chart according to certain embodiments.

[0035] FIGURE 6 illustrates a satellite-based access node comprising processing circuitry (or logic).

[0036] FIGURE 7 illustrates a wireless device or UE comprising processing circuitry (or logic), is a block diagram illustrating a controller node according to some embodiments.

[0037] FIGURE 8 shows an exemplary communication system in accordance with some embodiments.

[0038] FIGURE 9 shows an exemplary UE in accordance with some embodiments.

[0039] FIGURE 10 shows an exemplary network node in accordance with some embodiments.

[0040] FIGURE 11 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0041] A non-terrestrial network should: offer optimized performance especially when addressing handset terminals (including smartphones with -5.5 dBi antenna gain) w.r.t. downlink coverage considering the NTN deployment constraints such as payload power limitation, large satellite footprint and limited feeder link bandwidth. DL coverage enhancements are needed to accommodate satellite payload constraints which may be unable to have all its beams active with the « nominal » EIRP density per beam (see Section 6.1.1 in TR 38.821) at a given time due to limited power and limited feeder link bandwidth, while maximizing the number of beams that can be activated simultaneously, and ensuring that all user terminals can be served across the satellite foot print while maximizing the overall satellite throughput and ensuring that all satellite’s radio cells are kept alive even without traffic but allowing new users to join or preventing impact on enduser QoS.

[0042] DL coverage enhancements can be considered at both:

[0043] • Link level to improve the link margin of selected physical channels in order to accommodate the EIRP reduction in FR1-NTN. A link margin improvement for physical channels (e.g. physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH, and physical downline control channel, PDCCH) may be considered without impact on SSB design.

[0044] • System level to support an efficient dynamic and flexible power sharing between beams or different beam pattern / size (i.e., wide or narrow) across the satellite foot print for FR1-NTN and FR2-NTN.

[0045] As a result of several Rel-19 workshops and discussions during the 3GPP RAN Plenary# 102 and 103, it is agreed to study and specify if beneficial downlink coverage enhancements targeting support for additional reference satellite payload parameters covering both GSO and NGSO constellations operating in FR1-NTN or FR2-NTN [RAN1 , RAN2, RAN4] to:

[0046] • Define additional reference satellite payload parameters assuming power sharing among satellite beams or different satellite beam patterns / size (i.e. wide or narrow) across the satellite footprint, such that satellite beams may not all be simultaneously active or may be active below the nominal EIRP density per satellite beam (see section 6.1.1 in TR 38.821) due to limited power and limited feeder link bandwidth.

[0047] • Define the corresponding power sharing assumptions and necessary link level and system level evaluation methodology and relevant KPIs for evaluations of the coverage, to allow for identification of physical channels / signals and system-level aspects that need enhancements and the corresponding needed improvements.

[0048] • Study and if needed specify solutions, including link level enhancements for FR1- NTN (e.g. for PDCCH, PDSCH) and / or system level enhancements for FR1-NTN and / or FR2-NTN, allowing dynamic and flexible power sharing between satellite beams or different satellite beam patterns / size (i.e. wide or narrow) across the satellite footprint.

[0049] • Notes for this objective: o SSB channel enhancement is not considered o Antenna gain of UE shall be assumed to be -5.5dBi in case of smartphone in FR1- NTN, the UE is assumed to be a full duplex UE, and at least 2Rx are considered at the UE o NGSO to be considered in priority: LEO Set-1 @ 600 km o Rel-18 network energy saving techniques should be considered as baseline in the system level study

[0050] For DL coverage study, it is agreed to consider the following additional reference satellite parameters scenarios for LEO600km Set1 in FR1 (i.e., S-band), referred to as Set1-1 FR1 , Set1-2 FR1 and Set1-3 FR1 :

[0051] Note: RAN1 will aim to identify necessary enhancements for these scenarios in the study phase. At the end of the study phase, RAN1 will further discuss whether the potential enhancements will be specified within Rel-19 framework.

[0052] For DL coverage study at system level, consider the following additional reference satellite payload parameters for LEO600km in FR2 (i.e., Ka-band): Adopt the following phased array antenna parameters for LEO 600km in FR1 : RAN1 agreed to consider the following performance metrics for DL Coverage enhancement evaluation at system level:

[0053] At least:

[0054] • CDF of the received SINR

[0055] • The dwell time and revisit time interval for each beam illumination across the coverage

[0056] • Periodicity of common control channels (e.g. synchronisation signalling block (SSB), control resource set for system information block 1 , CORESETO / SIB1 , system information block 19, SIB19) and corresponding coverage ratio Other metrics may be reported such as

[0057] • CDF of the cell throughput

[0058] • CDF of user perceived throughput (UPT)

[0059] • CDF of Latency • Ratio of mean served cell throughput and offered cell throughput, denoted by p (refer to 3GPP TR36.889)

[0060] For system level study based on analytical evaluation:

[0061] • N1 beam footprints are in state “off’ o These beam footprints are not served by any signal (no satellite service in this area)

[0062] • N2 beam footprints are in state “common messages only” o These beam footprints do not have any active user traffic, and are served the necessary information for cell discovery and initial access. o Optionally, companies may consider user arrival (e.g. RACH access) in this type of cell, and should describe how this is taken into account in the analytical evaluation

[0063] • N3 beam footprints are in state “active traffic” o These beam footprints have X active (e.g. VoNR) users each. o These beam footprints are also served the necessary information for cell discovery and initial access

[0064] • N1 + N2 + N3 = “Total number of beam footprints “

[0065] • N1 , N2, N3, X are to be reported by companies.

[0066] • Resource utilization obtained under the assumptions above is to be reported by companies.

[0067] • Other assumptions made in the evaluation are to be reported by companies, e.g. power sharing scheme, beam hopping scheme, etc.

[0068] For NR NTN Rel-19 DL coverage evaluation, UE characteristics for handheld terminals in Table 6.1 .1 .1-3 in TR 38.821 can be reused, with the following:

[0069] • -5.5 dBi antenna gain is assumed

[0070] • at least 2Rx are considered at the UE o 4Rx can be optionally considered and reported

[0071] Note: Redcap device is not considered in the scope of DL coverage study

[0072] The following traffic models are considered for system level evaluation of DL coverage:

[0073] • FTP3: as in Table 6.1 .1 .1-7 of TR 38.821 : 0.5MB as packet size, 200ms as mean inter-arrival time

[0074] • FTP3 IM: 0.1 MB as packet size, 2s as mean inter-arrival time

[0075] • VoIP can be considered in the evaluation. It is up to company report which traffic model is used among the discussed traffic models in their evaluations.

[0076] • Other models may be used as well, and parameter (e.g. packet size and arrival rate) adjustment can be optionally considered and reported.

[0077] For NR NTN Rel-19 DL coverage evaluation, Beam layout defined in Table 6.1.1.1-4 in TR 38.821 can be reused.

[0078] • Using other beam layouts is not precluded, and should be reported by companies

[0079] For NR NTN Rel-19 DL coverage evaluation, a value of beam steering latency equal to 0 at least if phase array antenna is assumed.

[0080] Values different from 0 can be optionally reported

[0081] DL coverage is evaluated at link level with the following considerations:

[0082] • NGSO at LEO-600 operating in FR1 is considered in priority

[0083] • Additional satellite payload parameters defined for system level evaluation are used

[0084] • FFS: Antenna gain reduction due to steering loss can be considered

[0085] For the evaluation of NTN downlink coverage at link level, reuse the target data rate from Rel-18 NTN Coverage enhancements:

[0086] • For VoIP: AMR 4.75 kbps (TBS of 184 bits without CRC in physical layer) with 20 ms data arriving interval

[0087] • For data rate service: both 3 kbps and 1 Mbps can be considered o Companies can also use the data rates corresponding to the traffic types used for system level evaluations

[0088] For link-level study, downlink coverage performance in NR NTN is evaluated according to the following steps.

[0089] Step 1 : CNR is calculated as defined in 6.1.3.1 of TR 38.821 Step 2: Required SNR of target service is evaluated by LLS

[0090] Step 3: The CNR and the required SNR are compared

[0091] For link-level study, for NR NTN DL coverage enhancement, the following channels / signals can be considered for evaluations:

[0092] PDSCH for VoIP

[0093] PDSCH for low data rate service

[0094] PDSCH Msg.2

[0095] PDSCH Msg.4

[0096] PDSCH carry SIB, e.g., SIB1 , SIB 19

[0097] PDSCH for paging

[0098] PDCCH

[0099] Broadcast PDCCH (e.g. PDCCH of Msg.2, paging)

[0100] SSB

[0101] Note: RAN1 will aim to identify necessary link-level enhancements for these channels in the study phase. At the end of the study phase, RAN1 will further discuss whether the potential link-level enhancements will be specified within Rel-19 framework.

[0102] For DL coverage performance evaluation, the following are assumed for all channels / signals

[0103] • Channel model / Delay spread: o Channel model as in Table 6.1.2-4 of TR38.821 , NTN-TDL-C (LOS)

[0104] • Evaluation scenario: o Rural (LOS)

[0105] • Channel estimation: Realistic estimation: o Companies are encouraged to report channel estimation method.

[0106] • SCS: o 15 kHz only

[0107] • UE speed: 3 km / h

[0108] • Frequency drift: TBD

[0109] • Frequency offset: 0.1 ppm

[0110] For link budget calculation, parameters in the following tables are assumed: Parameters

[0111] Carrier frequency 2 GHz for DL (S-band)

[0112] Satellite altitude 600 km

[0113] Target elevation angle 30° (LEO)

[0114] Atmospheric loss Equation (6.6-8) in [38.811]

[0115] Shadowing margin 3 dB

[0116] Scintillation loss Section 6.6.6 in [38.811]

[0117] Ionospheric loss: = 2.2 dB

[0118] Tropospheric loss: Table 6.6.6.2.1-1 of [38.811]

[0119] Additional loss 0 dB

[0120] Clear sky conditions Yes

[0121] Satellite antenna polarization Circular polarization

[0122] Terminal type [S band: (M, N, P) = (1,1,2)]

[0123] UE antenna gain -5.5dBi

[0124] Free space path loss Equation (6.6-2) in [38.811]

[0125] Polarization loss 3dB

[0126] Outcome CNR

[0127] Moreover, the following techniques (and variants of them) are currently under discussion towards enhancing the DL coverage. In Figure 2a an example of a “beam hopping technique” is depicted. In Figure 2b an example of a “frequency reuse technique” is depicted.

[0128] • Beam time-division multiplexing (also known as. beam hopping), where multiple beams across the satellite footprint are time-multiplexed to provide coverage in the corresponding cells on the earth, which is illustrated in Figure 2-b. The “beam hopping technique” may be considered to resemble a scheme that turns ON-and-OFF beams strategically within the satellite footprint, i.e., at a specific time, beams in one beam hopping pattern are active whereas the beams associated with other beam hopping patterns are inactive. There can be different “beam hopping” variants / strategies: o In one variant of this technique, time is equally allocated for each beam hopping pattern agnostic e.g., to the traffic demands. o In another variant of this technique, time is nonuniformly allocated across beam hopping patterns, subject e.g., to the traffic demands. A beam hopping pattern corresponding to the larger traffic demands gets more active time.

[0129] By considering the same beamwidth over all the beams illuminated from a satellite, the power sharing across beams can be optimized to enhance the downlink coverage, subject to the total power budget at the satellite payload.

[0130] • Satellite beamwidth can be varied under the premise of equal power allocation across the beams of satellite footprint, subject to the total power budget at the satellite payload. Currently in TR 38.858 hexagonal cell radius (and beam size) is coupled with 3dB beamwidth. In such case, if the beamwidth reduces, then the number of beams to cover a region of interest increases and hence the share of power per beam decreases. On the other hand, wider the beamwidth, lower the number of beams to cover a region of interest and hence the share of power per beam increases. Alternative to this, one can optimize the beam size separately by decoupling it with the cell radius that is fixed in the region of interest (i.e., considering a beamwidth 3dB), with the goal of enhancing the downlink coverage.

[0131] • Additionally, there exist a frequency reuse technique (cf. Figure 2-b) widely used in practice for interference management, which can serve as a baseline technique while assessing the system-level performance of the above techniques. Specifically, the frequency reuse technique relies on the cell deployment strategy where the total carrier bandwidth is partitioned across cells such that neighboring cells do not interfere each other. For instance, each cell gets 1 / 3 of the total carrier bandwidth when the frequency reuse factor = 3, while each cell gets the total carrier bandwidth when frequency reuse factor = 1.

[0132] The disclosure aims to provide design considerations that apply to one or more of the above-mentioned techniques aiming at enhancing the downlink coverage for NR-NTN.

[0133] 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.

[0134] The following sets forth specific details, such as particular embodiments or examples for purposes of explanation and not limitation. It will be appreciated by one skilled in the art that other examples may be employed apart from these specific details. In some instances, detailed descriptions of well-known methods, nodes, interfaces, circuits, and devices are omitted so as not obscure the description with unnecessary detail. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the functions described may be implemented in one or more nodes using hardware circuitry (e.g., analog and / or discrete logic gates interconnected to perform a specialized function, ASICs, PLAs, etc.) and / or using software programs and data in conjunction with one or more digital microprocessors or general purpose computers. Nodes that communicate using the air interface may have suitable radio communications circuitry. Moreover, where appropriate the technology can additionally be considered to be embodied entirely within any form of computer- readable memory, such as (ROM, EEPROM, Flash memory, a memory disc, RAM etc.) solid-state memory, magnetic disk, or optical disk containing an appropriate set of computer instructions that would cause a processor to carry out the techniques described herein.

[0135] Hardware implementation may include or encompass, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, a reduced instruction set processor, hardware (e.g., digital or analogue) circuitry including but not limited to application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC) and / or field programmable gate array(s) (FPGA(s)), and (where appropriate) state machines capable of performing such functions.

[0136] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. 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. Although particular problems and solutions may be described using new radio (NR) terminology, it should be understood that the same solutions apply to long term evolutions (LTE) and other wireless networks as well, where applicable.

[0137] As described above, an NTN may be deployed to provide coverage to a variety of territories, including open space or water areas, rural areas, suburban areas or urban areas where extra coverage is required for some emergency and / or occasional events. Due to the diversity of the possible deployment regions in NTN, and the large area over which the NTN may be deployed, an NTN faces the issue of heavily imbalanced population density and / or traffic load in a particular region of interest. It will be appreciated that a region of interest may be defined as a geographical area upon the earths surface. The region of interest may be defined in some circumstances as a region mapping to a spherical estimate of the earth’s surface, or alternatively the region of interest could map exactly to the surface of the earth. It will also be appreciated that the region of interest may also be defined as an area for which the NTN is required to provide coverage.

[0138] Timing interrelations of PHY channels and signals on the downlink coverage enhancement techniques may be considered as part of a method for beam hopping or beam switching.

[0139] For example, in a non-terrestrial satellite communication network based on an NR system, a scheduler in a gNodeB instructs a given satellite based access node to turn- ON a first group of one or more beams illuminating a group of one or more cells among a plurality of beams and cells composing other groups that remained turned-OFF within the satellite’s footprint, resembling a beam hopping scheme since only one group of beams and cells are turned-ON at a time within the satellite’s footprint; wherein the group of one or more beams prevail illuminating a group of one or more cells at least until a set of downlink physical channels and signals having timing interrelations and / or codependencies have been transmitted.

[0140] Afterwards a beam hopping is performed turning-ON a second group of one or more beams illuminating a second group of one or more cells, and successively across all the groups of beams and cells within the satellite’s footprint.

[0141] In one example, the set of downlink physical channels and signals include at least the Synchronization Signals and Physical Broadcast Channel Block (SS / PBCH, a.k.a. SSB), the Control Resource Set Zero (CORESET#0) for the Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) scheduling System Information Block 1 (SIB1) and its associated Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), PDCCH scheduling SIB19 and its associated PDSCH.

[0142] In one example, the set of downlink physical channels and signals mentioned in the previous embodiment primarily encompasses downlink physical channels and signals transmitted during initial access.

[0143] In one example, a subset of the set of downlink physical channels and signals mentioned in the previous embodiment is considered, wherein the subset can include one or more downlink physical channel(s) and / or signal(s).

[0144] In one example, the timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies can be exemplified through referring to SS / PBCH and CORESET#0, since SS / PBCH carries the Master Information Block (MIB) which contains the CORESET#0 configuration. Another example is PDCCH in CORESET#0 which schedules PDSCH containing SIB1. In turn, SIB1 contains information about other SIBs (e.g., SIB19) to be successively transmitted using also PDCCH scheduling PDSCH.

[0145] In one example the amount of time the group of one or more beams prevail illuminating a group of one or more cells before performing a beam hopping depends on the channel bandwidth, frequency range (e.g., FR1), subcarrier spacing, etc, since the timing relationships of physical channels and signals are tightly connected to configuration tables in the NR Technical Specifications (e.g., Table 13-0 to Table 13.10, Table 13-11 to Table 15A in TS 38.213, Table 4.3.2-1 in TS 38.211 , Table 5.1.2.1-1 in TS 38.214) and other configurations associated to specific physical channels and signals described in TS 38.331 (e.g., periodicities, symbol and slot location of a given physical channel and / or signal, time-domain or frequency-domain multiplexing of physical channels having co-dependencies, etc).

[0146] In one example the Table 13-0 which corresponds to a 3 MHz Channel bandwidth using a 15 kHz subcarrier spacing for frequency division duplex (FDD) in FR1 has also been included as a possible configurable table. In one example, the beam hopping performed in the previous embodiment accounts for a transient period when switching from one set of beams and cells to another set of beams and cells.

[0147] In one example, for incorporating flexibility to any of coverage enhancement techniques (e.g., beam hopping and / or frequency re-use technique), the 12-PRB SS / PBCH size is allowed to be used / configured for channel bandwidths other than a 3MHz channel bandwidth.

[0148] In one example, a 12-PRB SS / PBCH size can be used by the Frequency Re-use technique to increase the frequency re-use factor when the available bandwidth is limited.

[0149] In one example, for incorporating flexibility to any of coverage enhancement techniques (e.g., beam hopping and / or frequency re-use technique), the 12-PRB CORESET#0 size is allowed to be used / configured for channel bandwidths other than a 3MHz channel bandwidth.

[0150] In one example, a 12-PRB CORESET#0 size can be used by the Frequency Re-use technique to increase the frequency re-use factor when the available bandwidth is limited.

[0151] In one example, for incorporating flexibility to any of coverage enhancement techniques (e.g., beam hopping and / or frequency re-use technique), the 15-PRB CORESET#0 size is allowed to be used / configured for channel bandwidths other than a 3MHz channel bandwidth.

[0152] In one example, a 15-PRB CORESET#0 size can be used by the Frequency Re-use technique to increase the frequency re-use factor when the available bandwidth is limited.

[0153] In one example, a group of one or more beams prevails illuminating a group of one or more cells at least until both a set of downlink physical channels and signals having timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies and a set of uplink physical channels and signals have been transmitted, afterwards a beam hopping is performed turning-ON a second group of one or more beams illuminating a second group of one or more cells, and successively across all the groups of beams and cells within the satellite’s footprint. In one dependent embodiment, the uplink physical channels and signals include for example the Physical Random-Access Channel (PRACH) and Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

[0154] In one example, one or more of the downlink coverage enhancements techniques can be combined together (e.g., “Beam Hopping” and “Satellite beam width” or “Frequency Re-use” and “Satellite beam width”) upon accounting for one or more of the embodiments in previous sections.

[0155] In Figure 3 an Illustration of geometrical representation of Satellite and its distance to a point on the Earth surface is depicted.

[0156] In one example in relation to the “satellite beam width”, scalable adjacent beam spacing (ABS) is used while keeping the same half-power beam width (i.e., not changing the half power beam width when adjacent beam spacing is changed). For instance, adjacent beam spacing in the UV plane is set as V3n x sin(0.5 x HPBW [rad]), where n is configurable scaling factor, HPBW is half power beam width. In an 3D cartesian system ABS = V3 x r , where r = ri x RE[m] x e [rad] is the cell radius, REis Earth’s radius, and 6[rad] = sin-1( - x sin (0.5 x HPBW [rad]) is the Earth central angle between the cell center and cell edge, d = ^RE2+ (RE+ hy + 2 X REX (RE+ K) X cos (0.5 X HPBW [rad] is the slant range (distance) of the cell edge to a satellite viewing the cell center at the nadir point orbiting in altitude h (see Figure 3).

[0157] This allows to optimize the required number of beams required to cover or illuminate a certain region of interest within the satellite footprint while controlling the interference (e.g., SIR balancing) and consequently yields increased beam illumination ON-time for a specific epoch between two instances a beam is illuminated, which is commonly called revisit time in the context of beam hopping.

[0158] In one example, one or more of the downlink coverage enhancements techniques can be combined together (e.g., “Beam Hopping” and “Satellite beam width” or “Frequency Re-use” and “Satellite beam width”) upon accounting for one or more of the embodiments in previous sections, and can be further combined with enhancements incorporated to one or more specific physical channel (e.g., power boosting applied to a given physical channel, any modification to the physical layer structure of the channel in time and / or in frequency domain, increase number repetitions applied to a given physical channel).

[0159] In one dependent embodiment, if the periodicity of the SS / PBCH block is increased, then the periodicity of the MIB Transmission Time Interval (TTI) is also increased.

[0160] In one embodiment, one or more of the embodiments in previous sections are used in an NTN deployment using “one beam per cell”.

[0161] In one example, one or more of the embodiments in previous sections are used in an NTN deployment using “more than one beam per cell”.

[0162] In one example, an NTN NR UE can also encompass a reduced capability UE also known as RedCap or eRedCap supporting non-terrestrial communications.

[0163] In one embodiment, one or more of the embodiments (or similar ones) in previous sections can be used or are applicable in loT-NTN, encompassing both LTE-MTC over NTN and NB-loT over NTN.

[0164] In one example, one or more of the embodiments in previous sections are equally applicable to a non-terrestrial network scenario based on transparent payload or regenerative payload.

[0165] In one example, one or more of the embodiments in previous sections are equally applicable to different satellite orbits such as LEO, MEO, and GEO.

[0166] Depending on the downlink enhancements coverage technique to introduced as described in preceding examples, if a 12-PRB CORESET#0 were to become available / configurable for channel bandwidths other than 3MHz, then a clarification is foreseen to be required in TS 38.213 and / or TS 38.211).

[0167] FIGURE 4 depicts a flowchart according to certain examples of a method performed by a satellite based access node. In some examples the satellite based access node is responsible for providing non-terrestrial network (NTN) radio access to one or more wireless devices or UEs. In some examples the satellite based access node comprises a 3GPP radio base station. In other examples the satellite based access node comprises a subset of the functions of a radio base station and the remaining functions are performed by a remote base station such as an eNodeB or gNodeB. In some examples the remote base station is a terrestrial base station which communicates with the satellite bases access node via a terrestrial gateway.

[0168] In more detail, the method 400 is performed by a multi-beam based satellite access node, wherein the satellite based access node produces a plurality of beams corresponding to a plurality of cells providing service to one or more wireless devices. The method 400 begins with the satellite based access node determining 410 a first group of one or more beams from the plurality of beams to be active wherein the active one or more beams correspond to at least one first cells of the plurality of cells. The method proceeds with the satellite based access node (in response to a resource management or scheduling event, inactivating the first group of beams and activating a second group of one or more beams, wherein the second group of one or more beams corresponds to at least one second cells of the plurality of cells and the first group of beams and the first cells are different from the second group of beams and the second cells.

[0169] In some examples the satellite based access node determines 410 the different groups or sets of one or more beams through configuration and / or scheduling signalling from the base station or gNB. For example the gNB instructs the satellite based access node to turn on the first group of beams whilst the other available beams (groups of beams which form the footprint or coverage area served by the satellite based access node) remain off.

[0170] In some examples the method comprises transmitting a first set of downlink physical channels and / or signals having timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies; and switching to the second group of one or more beams after transmitting the first set of physical channels and / or signals. In some examples the satellite based access node is instructed to switch off or inactivate the first group of beams and switch on or activate the second group of beams after transmitting the downlink physical channel or signals. In some examples the satellite based access node repeats the processes by switching on a third group of beams covering at least a third cell and so on across all groups of beams and cells within the satellites footprint or coverage area. In some examples the method includes receiving a first set of uplink physical channels and / or signals and switching or hopping to the second group of one or more beams after receiving the first set of uplink physical channels and / or signals. In some examples the set of downlink physical channels and signals include one of:

[0171] Synchronization Signals and Physical Broadcast Channel Block, SSB; Control Resource Set Zero, CORESET#0, for the Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH, scheduling System Information Block 1 , SIB1 , and its associated Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH; and PDCCH scheduling SIB19 and its associated PDSCH.

[0172] In some examples the set of downlink physical channels and signals comprise downlink physical channels and signals transmitted during initial access. In some examples the timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies for one or more physical channel to be successively transmitted, are obtained from the SS / PBCH and / or CORESET#0.

[0173] In some examples the SS / PBCH carries the Master Information Block (MIB) which contains the CORESET#0 configuration. In some examples the PDCCH in CORESET#0 schedules PDSCH containing SIB1 , wherein SIB1 contains information about other SIBs (e.g., SIB19) to be successively transmitted using PDCCH scheduling PDSCH. In some examples the amount of time the first group of one or more beams is active depends on one or more of: the channel bandwidth; the transmission bandwidth; frequency range; operation mode (e.g. FDD); and subcarrier spacing. In some examples the timing relationships of physical channels and signals are determined according to one or more of: a configuration table in a wireless standard; configurations associated to specific physical channels and signals such as periodicities, symbol and slot location of a given physical channel; and / or signal, time-domain or frequency-domain multiplexing of physical channels and / or signals having co-dependencies.

[0174] In some examples the switching between the first group of one or more means to the second set of one or more beams comprises a beam hopping procedure wherein a transient period exists when switching from one set of beams and cells to another set of beams and cells. For example, a 12-PRB SS / PBCH size and 12-PRB / 15-PRB / 20 PRB CORESET#0 size is configured for frequency re-use. In some examples the channel bandwidth is less than a 5MHz channel bandwidth . In some examples a satellite beam width is determined by scalable adjacent beam spacing while keeping the same halfpower beam width. In some examples when the periodicity of the SS / PBCH block is increased, the periodicity of the MIB Transmission Time Interval (TTI) is also increased. In some examples the satellite based access node is comprised in a non-terrestrial network, NTN, deployment using “one beam per cell”. In other examples the satellite based access node is comprised in a non-terrestrial network, NTN, deployment using “multiple beams per cell”.

[0175] In the above described method, the wireless device may be configured for NTN communications, including NR-NTN. This may comprise loT-NTN including LTE-MTC over NTN and / or NB-loT over NTN and / or RecCap over NTN. The non-terrestrial network scenario may comprise transparent payload architecture or regenerative payload architecture. The satellite based access node may be orbiting in one of LEO, MEO, and GEO.

[0176] FIGURE 5 depicts a flowchart according to certain examples of a method performed by a wireless device or UE for communicating with a satellite based access node. For example, the wireless device may be configured for 3GPP non-terrestrial network communications.

[0177] In more detail, the method 500 begins with the wireless device receiving 510 from a satellite based access node a first group of one or more beams from a plurality of beams wherein the first group of beams correspond to at least one first cells of a plurality of cells served by the satellite based access node. The method 500 proceeds with the wireless device, in response to a resource management or scheduling event, receiving 520 a second group of one or more beams, and ceasing to receive the first group of beams, wherein the second group of one or more beams corresponds to at least one second cells of the plurality of cells and the first group of beams and the first cells are different from the second group of beams and the second cells. For example, the wireless device ceases to receive the first group (or set) of beams because the wireless device is configured for beam hopping between the defined groups of beams, in response to certain resource management or scheduled event, for example receiving certain downlink signaling. In other examples the wireless determines that the first group of beams has been inactivated after receiving certain DL signalling.

[0178] In some examples the scheduling event comprises receiving a first set of downlink physical channels and / or signals having timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies; and the wireless device switches to the second group of one or more beams after receiving the first set of physical channels and / or signals. In some examples the method further comprises the wireless device transmitting a first set of uplink physical channels and / or signals first, in response to the DL transmission and switches to the second group of one or more beams after transmitting the first set of uplink physical channels and / or signals. In some examples, the procedure is a random access procedure where the beam hopping occurs after the wireless device moves to a connected state.

[0179] In some examples the set of downlink physical channels and signals include one of:

[0180] Synchronization Signals and Physical Broadcast Channel Block, SSB; Control Resource Set Zero, CORESET#0, for the Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH, scheduling System Information Block 1 , SIB1 , and its associated Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH; and PDCCH scheduling SIB19 and its associated PDSCH.

[0181] In some examples the set of downlink physical channels and signals comprise downlink physical channels and signals transmitted during initial access. In some examples the timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies for one or more physical channel to be successively transmitted, are obtained from the SS / PBCH and / or CORESET#0. In some examples the SS / PBCH carries the Master Information Block (MIB) which contains the CORESET#0 configuration. In some examples the PDCCH in CORESET#0 which schedules PDSCH containing SIB1 , wherein SIB1 contains information about other SIBs (e.g., SIB19) to be successively transmitted using PDCCH scheduling PDSCH. In some examples the amount of time the first group of one or more beams is active depends on one or more of: the channel bandwidth; transmission bandwidth; frequency range; the operation mode (e.g. FDD); and the subcarrier spacing. In some examples the timing relationships of physical channels and signals are determined according to one or more of: a configuration table in a wireless standard such as 3GPP specifications; configurations associated to specific physical channels and signals such as periodicities, symbol and slot location of a given physical channel; and / or signal, time-domain or frequency-domain multiplexing of physical channels and / or signals having codependencies.

[0182] In some examples the switching between the first group of one or more means to the second set of one or more beams comprises a beam hopping procedure wherein a transient period exists when switching from one set of beams and cells to another set of beams and cells. For example, the first set of beams and the second set of beams are active together for a period of time. In some examples a 12-PRB SS / PBCH size and 12- PRB / 15-PRB / 20-PRB CORESET#0 size is configured for frequency re-use and / or beam hopping. In some examples the channel bandwidth is less than a 5MHz channel bandwidth. In some examples a satellite beam width is determined by scalable adjacent beam spacing while keeping the same half-power beam width. In some examples the periodicity of the SS / PBCH block is increased, the periodicity of the MIB Transmission Time Interval (TTI) is also increased. In some examples the satellite based access node is comprised in a non-terrestrial network, NTN, deployment using “one beam per cell”. In other examples the NTN deployment comprises multiple beams per cell. In some examples the wireless device is configured for 3GPP NTN communications including NR-NTN, and / or loT-NTN including LTE-MTC over NTN and / or NB-loT over NTN and / or RedCap over NTN. In some examples the non-terrestrial network scenario comprises either transparent payload or regenerative payload. The satellite based access node may be orbiting in any one of LEO, MEO, and GEO.

[0183] FIGURE 6 illustrates a satellite-based access node 600 comprising processing circuitry (or logic) 601. The processing circuitry 601 controls the operation of the satellite-based access node 600 and can implement the method described herein in relation to a satellite-based access node. The processing circuitry 601 can comprise one or more processors, processing units, multi-core processors or modules that are configured or programmed to control the satellite-based access node 600 in the manner described herein. In particular implementations, the processing circuitry 601 can comprise a plurality of software and / or hardware modules that are each configured to perform, or are for performing, individual or multiple steps of the method described herein in relation to the satellite-based access node 600. It will be appreciated that the satellite-based access node 600 may comprise one or more virtual machines running different software and / or processes. The satellite-based access node 600 may therefore comprise, or be implemented in or as one or more servers, switches and / or storage devices and / or may comprise cloud computing infrastructure that runs the software and / or processes.

[0184] Optionally, the satellite-based access node 600 may comprise a memory 603. In some embodiments, the memory 603 of the satellite-based access node 600 can be configured to store instructions (e.g. program code) executable by the processing circuitry 601 of the satellite-based access node 600 whereby the satellite-based access node 600 is operable to perform any of the methods described herein (e.g. the methods described with reference to Figure 4).

[0185] Alternatively or in addition, the memory 603 of the satellite-based access node 600, can be configured to store any requests, resources, information, data, signals, or similar that are described herein. The processing circuitry 601 of the satellite-based access node 600 may be configured to control the memory 603 of the satellite-based access node 600 to store any requests, resources, information, data, signals, or similar that are described herein.

[0186] In some embodiments, the satellite-based access node 600 may optionally comprise a communications interface 602. The communications interface 602 of the satellite-based access node 600 can be for use in communicating with other nodes, such as other virtual nodes or logical nodes which comprise a non-terrestrial network such as an eNodeB or gNodeB and / or terrestrial gateways. For example, the communications interface 602 of the satellite-based access node 600 can be configured to transmit to and / or receive from other nodes requests, resources, information, data, signals, or similar. The processing circuitry 601 of satellite-based access node 600 may be configured to control the communications interface 602 of the satellite-based access node 600 to transmit to and / or receive from other nodes requests, resources, information, data, signals, or similar. The communications interface 602 can use any suitable communication technology.

[0187] The satellite-based access node 600 may be configured to operate in the manner described herein in respect of a satellite-based access node.

[0188] FIGURE 7 illustrates a wireless device 700 comprising processing circuitry (or logic) 701 . The processing circuitry 701 controls the operation of the wireless device 700 and can implement the method described herein in relation to a wireless device. The processing circuitry 701 can comprise one or more processors, processing units, multi-core processors or modules that are configured or programmed to control the wireless device 700 in the manner described herein. In particular implementations, the processing circuitry 701 can comprise a plurality of software and / or hardware modules that are each configured to perform, or are for performing, individual or multiple steps of the method described herein in relation to the wireless device 700. It will be appreciated that the wireless device 700 may comprise one or more virtual machines running different software and / or processes.

[0189] Optionally, the wireless device 700 may comprise a memory 703. In some embodiments, the memory 703 of the wireless device 700 can be configured to store instructions (e.g. program code) executable by the processing circuitry 701 of the wireless device 700 whereby the wireless device 700 is operable to perform any of the methods described herein (e.g. the methods described with reference to Figure 5).

[0190] FIGURE 8 shows an example of a communication system 8800 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0191] In the example, the communication system 8800 includes a telecommunication network 802 that includes an access network 804, such as a radio access network (RAN), and in particular an NTN, and a core network 806, which includes one or more core network nodes 808. The access network 804 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 810A and 810B (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 810), 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 is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network 802 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 802 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 network 802, including one or more network nodes 810 and / or core network nodes 808. As described previously the NTN Access Network 804 may be decomposed into one or more satellite-based access nodes. Depending on the deployment, these may comprise base station functionality or may be transmitting and receiving signalling and data transparently via a gateway to a terrestrial base station.

[0192] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an 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 (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 810 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 812A, 812B, 812C, and 812D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 812) to the core network 806 over one or more wireless connections.

[0193] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 8800 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 8800 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0194] The UEs 812 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 810 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 810 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 812 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 802 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 802. In particular the UEs 812 may be specifically configured or adapted to support non-terrestrial communications such as 3GPP NTN. In the depicted example, the core network 806 connects the network nodes 810 to one or more host computing systems, such as host 816. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 806 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 808) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 808. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0195] The host 816 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 804 and / or the telecommunication network 802. The host 816 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0196] As a whole, the communication system 8800 of FIGURE 8 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0197] In some examples, the telecommunication network 802 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 802 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 802. For example, the telecommunications network 802 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)ZMassive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0198] In some examples, the UEs 812 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 804 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 804. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multistandard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR- DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0199] In the example, the hub 814 communicates with the access network 804 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 812C and / or 812D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 810B). In some examples, the hub 814 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 814 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 806 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 814 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 810, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 814. As another example, the hub 814 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 814 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a Virtual Reality (VR) device, display, loudspeaker, or other media delivery device, the hub 814 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 814 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 814 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0200] The hub 814 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 81 OB. The hub 814 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 814 and UEs (e.g., UE 812C and / or 812D), and between the hub 814 and the core network 806. In other examples, the hub 814 is connected to the core network 806 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 814 may be configured to connect to a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) service provider over the access network 804 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 810 while still connected via the hub 814 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 814 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 810B. In other embodiments, the hub 814 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 810B, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0201] FIGURE 9 shows a wireless device or UE 900 in accordance with some embodiments. The UE 900 presents additional details of some embodiments of the UE 812 of FIGURE 8. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage / playback device, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop- embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), an Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), orvehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0202] The UE 900 includes processing circuitry 902 that is operatively coupled via a bus 904 to an input / output interface 906, a power source 908, a memory 910, a communication interface 912, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in FIGURE 9. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0203] The processing circuitry 902 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 910. The processing circuitry 902 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 902 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0204] In the example, the input / output interface 906 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 900. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0205] In some embodiments, the power source 908 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 908 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 908 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 900 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 908. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 908 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 900 to which power is supplied.

[0206] The memory 910 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 910 includes one or more application programs 914, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 916. The memory 910 may store, for use by the UE 900, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0207] The memory 910 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD- DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUlCC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 910 may allow the UE 900 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 910, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0208] The processing circuitry 902 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 912. The communication interface 912 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 922. The communication interface 912 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 918 and / or a receiver 920 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 918 and receiver 920 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 922) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0209] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 912 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11 , Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth. Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 912, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0210] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0211] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 900 shown in FIGURE 9.

[0212] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0213] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0214] FIGURE 10 shows a network node 1000 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0215] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi- cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0216] The network node 1000 includes a processing circuitry 1002, a memory 1004, a communication interface 1006, and a power source 1008. The network node 1000 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 1000 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 1000 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1004 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1010 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1000 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1000, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 1000.

[0217] The processing circuitry 1002 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1000 components, such as the memory 1004, to provide network node 1000 functionality. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1002 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1002 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1012 and baseband processing circuitry 1014. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1012 and the baseband processing circuitry 1014 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1012 and baseband processing circuitry 1014 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0218] The memory 1004 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), readonly memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computerexecutable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 1002. The memory 1004 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 1002 and utilized by the network node 1000. The memory 1004 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1002 and / or any data received via the communication interface 1006. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1002 and memory 1004 is integrated.

[0219] The communication interface 1006 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 1006 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 1016 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 1006 also includes radio front-end circuitry 1018 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 1010. Radio front-end circuitry 1018 comprises filters 1020 and amplifiers 1022. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 may be connected to an antenna 1010 and processing circuitry 1002. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1010 and processing circuitry 1002. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1020 and / or amplifiers 1022. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 1010. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1010 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1018. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1002. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0220] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 1000 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1018, instead, the processing circuitry 1002 includes radio frontend circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1010. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1012 is part of the communication interface 1006. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1006 includes one or more ports or terminals 1016, the radio front-end circuitry 1018, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1012, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1006 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1014, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0221] The antenna 1010 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1010 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 1018 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1010 is separate from the network node 1000 and connectable to the network node 1000 through an interface or port.

[0222] The antenna 1010, communication interface 1006, and / or the processing circuitry 1002 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 1010, the communication interface 1006, and / or the processing circuitry 1002 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. The power source 1008 provides power to the various components of network node 1000 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1008 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1000 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1000 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 1008. As a further example, the power source 1008 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0223] Embodiments of the network node 1000 may include additional components beyond those shown in FIGURE 10 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 1000 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1000 and to allow output of information from the network node 1000. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1000. In some embodiments providing a core network node, such as core network node 108 of FIGURE 8, some components, such as the radio front-end circuitry 1018 and the RF transceiver circuitry 1012 may be omitted.

[0224] FIGURE 11 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1100 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 1100 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 1100 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. Virtualization may facilitate distributed implementations of a network node, UE, core network node, or host.

[0225] Applications 1102 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0226] Hardware 1104 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 1106 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1108a and 1108b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1108), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1106 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1108.

[0227] The VMs 1108 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1106. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1102 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1108, 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.

[0228] In the context of NFV, a VM 1108 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 1108, and that part of hardware 1104 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 1108 on top of the hardware 1104 and corresponds to the application 1102.

[0229] Hardware 1104 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1104 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1104 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 1110, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1102. In some embodiments, hardware 1104 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 1112 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0230] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non- computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0231] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0232] It should be noted that the above-mentioned embodiments illustrate rather than limit the invention, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternative embodiments without departing from the scope of the appended claims. The word “comprising” does not exclude the presence of elements or steps other than those listed in a claim, “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality, and a single processor or other unit may fulfil the functions of several units recited in the claims. Any reference signs in the claims shall not be construed so as to limit their scope.

Claims

CLAIMS1 . A method performed by a multi-beam based satellite access node, wherein the satellite based access node produces a plurality of beams corresponding to a plurality of cells providing service to one or more wireless devices, the method comprising: determining a first group of one or more beams from the plurality of beams to be active wherein the active one or more beams correspond to at least one first cells of the plurality of cells; and in response to a resource management or scheduling event, inactivating the first group of beams and activating a second group of one or more beams, wherein the second group of one or more beams corresponds to at least one second cells of the plurality of cells and the first group of beams and the first cells are different from the second group of beams and the second cells.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the scheduling event comprises: transmitting a first set of downlink physical channels and / or signals having timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies; and switching to the second group of one or more beams after transmitting the first set of physical channels and / or signals.

3. The method as claim 2, further comprising receiving a first set of uplink physical channels and / or signals and switching to the second group of one or more beams after receiving the first set of uplink physical channels and / or signals.

4. The method as claimed in claim 2 or 3, wherein the set of downlink physical channels and signals include one of:Synchronization Signals and Physical Broadcast Channel Block, SSB;Control Resource Set Zero, CORESET#0, for the Physical DownlinkControl Channel, PDCCH, scheduling System Information Block 1 , SIB1 , and its associated Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH; andPDCCH scheduling SIB19 and its associated PDSCH.

5. The method as claimed in claim 4 wherein the set of downlink physical channels and signals are enhanced by increasing a number repetitions applied to a given physical channel.

6. The method as claimed in and of claims 2 to 5, wherein the set of downlink physical channels and signals comprise downlink physical channels and signals transmitted during initial access.

7. The method as claimed in any of claims 2 to 6, wherein the timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies for one or more physical channel to be successively transmitted, are obtained from the SS / PBCH and / or CORESET#0.

8. The method as claimed in any of the preceding claims, wherein the amount of time the first group of one or more beams is active depends on one or more of: the channel bandwidth; the transmission bandwidth; frequency range; the operation mode (e.g., FDD); and subcarrier spacing.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein the timing relationships of physical channels and signals are determined according to one or more of: a configuration table in a wireless standard; configurations associated to specific physical channels and signals such as periodicities, symbol and slot location of a given physical channel and / or signal, time-domain or frequency-domain multiplexing of physical channels and / or signals having co-dependencies.

10. The method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the switching between the first group of one or more means to the second set of one or more beams comprises a beam hopping procedure wherein a transient period exists when switching from one set of beams and cells to another set of beams and cells.11 . The method as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9, wherein a 12-PRB SS / PBCH size and 12-PRB / 15-PRB / 20-PRB CORESET#0 size is configured for frequency re-use and / or beam hopping.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11 , wherein the channel bandwidth is less than a 5MHz channel bandwidth.

13. The method according to any of the preceding claims wherein a satellite beam width is determined by scalable adjacent beam spacing while keeping the same half-power beam width.

14. The method according to any of the preceding claims wherein when the periodicity of the SS / PBCH block is increased, the periodicity of the MIB Transmission Time Interval (TTI) is also increased.

15. A method performed by a wireless device configured for non-terrestrial network communications, the method comprising: receiving from a satellite based access node a first group of one or more beams from a plurality of beams wherein the first group of beams correspond to at least one first cells of a plurality of cells served by the satellite based access node; and in response to a resource management or scheduling event, receiving a second group of one or more beams, and ceasing to receive the first group of beams, wherein the second group of one or more beams corresponds to at least one second cells of the plurality of cells and the first group of beams and the first cells are different from the second group of beams and the second cells.

16. The method as claimed in claim 15, wherein the scheduling event comprises: receiving a first set of downlink physical channels and / or signals having timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies; and switching to the second group of one or more beams after receiving the first set of physical channels and / or signals.

17. The method as claim 16, further comprising transmitting a first set of uplink physical channels and / or signals and switching to the second group of one ormore beams after transmitting the first set of uplink physical channels and / or signals.

18. The method as claimed in claim 16 or 17, wherein the set of downlink physical channels and signals include one of:Synchronization Signals and Physical Broadcast Channel Block, SSB;Control Resource Set Zero, CORESET#0, for the Physical DownlinkControl Channel, PDCCH, scheduling System Information Block 1 , SIB1 , and its associated Physical Downlink Shared Channel, PDSCH; andPDCCH scheduling SIB19 and its associated PDSCH.

19. The method as claimed in claim 18, wherein the set of downlink physical channels and signals are enhanced by increasing a number repetitions applied to a given physical channel.

20. The method as claimed in and of claims 16 to 19, wherein the set of downlink physical channels and signals comprise downlink physical channels and signals transmitted during initial access.21 . The method as claimed in any of claims 16 to 20, wherein the timing interrelations and / or co-dependencies for one or more physical channel to be successively transmitted are obtained from the SS / PBCH and / or CORESET#0.

22. The method as claimed in any of claims 15 to 21 , wherein the amount of time the first group of one or more beams is active depends on one or more of: the channel bandwidth; the transmission bandwidth; frequency range; the operation mode (e.g., FDD); and subcarrier spacing.

23. The method as claimed in claim 22, wherein the timing relationships of physical channels and signals are determined according to one or more of: a configuration table in a wireless standard; configurations associated to specific physical channels and signals such as periodicities, symbol and slot location of a given physical channel and / orsignal, time-domain or frequency-domain multiplexing of physical channels and / or signals having co-dependencies.

24. The method as claimed in any one of claims 15 to 23, wherein the switching between the first group of one or more means to the second set of one or more beams comprises a beam hopping procedure wherein a transient period exists when switching from one set of beams and cells to another set of beams and cells.

25. The method as claimed in any of claims 15 to 23, wherein a 12-PRB SS / PBCH size and 12-PRB / 15-PRB / 20-PRB CORESET#0 size is configured for frequency re-use and / or beam hopping.

26. The method as claimed in claim 25, wherein the channel bandwidth is less than a 5MHz channel bandwidth.

27. The method according to any of claims 15 to 26, wherein a satellite beam width is determined by scalable adjacent beam spacing while keeping the same halfpower beam width.

28. The method according to any of claims 15 to 27, wherein when the periodicity of the SS / PBCH block is increased, the periodicity of the MIB Transmission Time Interval (TTI) is also increased.

29. A satellite based access node, wherein the satellite based access node produces a plurality of beams corresponding to a plurality of cells providing service to one or more wireless devices, the satellite based access node configured to: determine a first group of one or more beams from the plurality of beams to be active wherein the active one or more beams correspond to at least one first cells of the plurality of cells; andIn response to a resource management or scheduling event, inactivate the first group of beams and activating a second group of one or more beams, wherein the second group of one or more beams corresponds to at least one second cells of the plurality of cells and the first group of beams and the first cells are different from the second group off beams and the second cells.

30. The satellite based access node according to claim 34, further configured to perform any of the methods of claims 2 to 14.31 . A wireless device for non-terrestrial network communications, the wireless device configured to: receive from a satellite based access node a first group of one or more beams from a plurality of beams wherein the first group of beams correspond to at least one first cells of a plurality of cells served by the satellite based access node; and in response to a resource management or scheduling event, receive a second group of one or more beams, and cease to receive the first group of beams, wherein the second group of one or more beams corresponds to at least one second cells of the plurality of cells and the first group of beams and the first cells are different from the second group off beams and the second cells.

32. The wireless device according to claim 31 , further configured to perform any of the methods of claims 16 to 28.

33. A computer program, a carrier containing a computer program or a computer program product comprising non transitory computer readable media having stored thereon a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method according to any of claims 1 to 14 or 15 to 28.

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