Managing functional states

Abstract

There is provided a method (10000) for managing the functional state of a first communication device (30000). The method is performed by the first communication device (30000). The method comprises, in response to obtaining (11000) a first indication (10), determining (12000) a functional state of the first communication device based on at least one criterion. The at least one criterion is based on a degradation of hardware of the first communication device (30000). The method comprises performing (13000) at least one task based on the functional state of the first communication device (30000). The at least one task comprises at least one of: adapting (13100) one or more procedures; adapting (13200) one or more first communication device parameters; transmitting (13300) a second indication (20) comprising information related to the functional state of the first communication device (30000) to a second communication device (40000).

Description

[0001] MANAGING FUNCTIONAL STATES

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] This disclosure relates to methods for managing the functional state of a communication device and communication devices, a system, a computer program and a computer program product.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] A communication device, e.g., user equipment (UE), base station (BS), is made up of different components and parts such as: baseband units, e.g., processors, memory; radio components, e.g., antennas, power amplifiers; synchronization components, e.g., clocks, frequency synthesizer; and battery.

[0006] The overall performance of a communication device in the telecommunication field is impacted by all the components used for wireless communication related procedures e.g., time-frequency synchronization, signal processing, signal reception, signal transmission, measurements.

[0007] For example, degraded signal quality, e.g., low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) or Signal-to-interference-plus- noise ratio (SINR), will decrease bit rate, or throughput, and leads to overall loss of system performance, e.g., in terms of cell throughput and / or spectral efficiency, as well as causes user dissatisfaction.

[0008] This degraded signal quality may be caused by the degradation of one or more components, active and passive, of the wireless device.

[0009] For example, a degradation of an active component, e.g., power amplifiers, transistors, Silicon-controlled rectifiers, of a wireless device could generate an unwanted frequency in a signal or distort the signal, e.g., as an intermodulation (IM) product of other frequencies in the signal or as a non-linear effect of an amplifier. The non-linear effect of an amplifier is further discussed in N. Moghadam, G. Fodor, et al. "On the Energy Efficiency of MIMO Hybrid Beamforming for Millimeter-Wave Systems With Nonlinear Power Amplifiers", IEEE Transactions on Wireless Comm., Vol. 17, Issue 11, Nov. 2018.

[0010] As another example, a degradation of a passive component, e.g., antennas, connectors, switches, clipping circuits, of the wireless device, could generate an unwanted frequency in the signal, such as a passive intermodulation (PIM) product of other frequencies in the signal. 3GPP TR 37.808, Passive Intermodulation handling for Base Stations, V12.0.0 describes more in details the issue of PIM and its handling.

[0011] Currently there is no mechanism for operators to determine if the performance degradation in their network is due to the degradation of the components of UEs and / or BSs. In existing solutions, the performance degradation is typically alleviated by using classical methods such as: retuning system parameters, e.g., increasing power, increasing / using more antennas; deploying more devices, e.g., BSs. These approaches are not adequate, and in some cases, they may increase cost, generate more interference or distortion, and even decrease the spectral or energy efficiency.

[0012] SUMMARY

[0013] It is an object of the invention to enable improved handling of a degradation of a component of a communication device in a communication network.

[0014] According to an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a first method for managing the functional state of a first communication device. The first method is performed by a first communication device. The first method comprises in response to obtaining a first indication, determining a functional state of the first communication device based on at least one criterion. The at least one criterion is based on a degradation of hardware of the first communication device. The first method comprises, performing at least one task based on the functional state of the first communication device. The at least one task comprises at least one of: adapting one or more procedures; adapting one or more first communication device parameters; transmitting a second indication comprising information related to the functional state of the first communication device to a second communication device.

[0015] A communication device may be a communication node, a node, user equipment (UE), a base station (BS), a network node, a NodeB (NB), a gNodeB (gNB), an eNodeB (eNB), a multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNB, gNB, MeNB, SeNB, a location measurement unit (LMU), an integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, a network controller, a radio network controller (RNC), a base station controller (BSC), a relay, a donor node controlling relay, a base transceiver station (BTS), a Central Unit, e.g. in a gNB, a Distributed Unit, e.g. in a gNB, a Baseband Unit, a Centralized Baseband, a Radio Access Network (RAN), a Cloud-RAN (C-RAN), a Centralized-RAN, an access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, a transmission reception point (TRP), a remote radio unit (RRU), a remote radio head (RRH), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), intelligent reflective surface, a core network node, e.g. a mobile switching center (MSC), a mobility management entity (MME)., an operation and maintenance (O&M) node, an operation support system (OSS), a self-organizing network (SON), a positioning node, e.g. an evolved serving mobile location center (E-SMLC). A communication device may further be any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and / or with another communication device in a cellular or mobile communication system. Further examples of a communication device are target device, air-to-ground (ATG) UE, device to device (D2D) UE, vehicular to vehicular (V2V), machine type UE, machine-type-communication (MTC) UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a tablet, a mobile terminal, a smart phone, a laptop embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop mounted equipment (LME), an USB dongle, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), an ambient internet-of-things (loT) device, a passive loT device, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktop computer, a wireless cameras, a gaming console or device, a music storage / playback device, a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a tablet, a laptop, an Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) device, a wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), a vehicle, a vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

[0016] A communication device may have a user in the sense of a human who owns and / or operates the relevant device.

[0017] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). 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).

[0018] A first indication may be any physical signal or physical channel used for operation, e.g., transmission and / or reception, between communication devices and / or nodes e.g., between UE and a network node, between UEs. The term physical channel refers to any channel carrying higher layer information e.g., data, control. Examples of physical channels are physical broadcast channel (PBCH), narrowband physical broadcast channel (NPBCH), physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), shortened PDCCH (sPDCCH), narrowband PDCCH (NPDCCH), physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), shortened PDSCH (sPDSCH), narrowband PDSCH (NPDSCH), physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), shortened PUCCH (sPUCCH), narrowband PUCCH (NPUCCH), physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), shortened PUSCH (sPUSCH), narrowband physical uplink shared channel (NPUSCH), MTC PDCCH (MPDCCH), enhanced PDCCH (E- PDCCH), etc. Examples of downlink (DL) physical signals are reference / synchronization signals ( RS / SS) such as primary / secondary SS (PSS / SSS), channel state information RS (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signal (DMRS) signals in SS / PBCH block (SSB), discovery reference signal (DRS), cell reference signal (CRS), positioning reference signal (PRS), etc.

[0019] A RS may be periodic, for example an RS occasion, carrying one or more RSs, may occur with certain periodicity e.g., 20 ms, 40 ms. The RS may also be aperiodic. Each SSB carries NR-PSS, NR-SSS and NR- PBCH in 4 successive symbols. One or multiple SSBs are transmit in one SSB burst, wherein the SSB burst is repeated with a certain periodicity e.g., 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms and 160 ms.

[0020] A criterion may be pre-defined, obtained by a communication device, received by a communication device, based on an historical value / data. Information related to a criterion may be received from a communication device via a signaling message, e.g., via radio resource control (RRC), medium access control (MAC) control element (CE), downlink control information (DCI), non-access stratum (NAS) signaling.

[0021] A criterion may be: a passive intermodulation product (PIM) characteristic; an amplifier linearity characteristic; a synchronization component characteristic, e.g., a clock accuracy characteristic, or a frequency accuracy characteristic; a baseband resource characteristic; a battery storage / capacity characteristic; a transceiver performance characteristic, e.g., a noise figure or noise factor characteristic; a reference sensitivity characteristic; a maximum output power characteristic; a received signal quality characteristic; a transmitted signal quality characteristic; or a beampattern characteristic.

[0022] Hardware, which may be understood as one or more pieces / components of hardware, may be a component of a communication device. The hardware may be an active component, e.g., an amplifier, a power amplifier (PA), a low noise amplifier (LNA), an operational amplifier, a differential amplifier, a transistor, or a Silicon-controlled rectifier. The hardware may be a passive component, e.g., an antenna, a connector joining components, an electronic switch, or a clipping circuit. The hardware may be: a baseband unit, e.g., processor, a memory; a radio component, e.g., an antenna, or an amplifier; a synchronization component, e.g., a clock synthesizer, a clock synchronizer, a frequency synthesizer, a frequency, synchronizer, a local oscillator (LO), or a phase lock loop (PLL); or a battery.

[0023] A degradation of hardware may be a degradation of physical properties of a communication device and its hardware. A degradation of hardware may be caused by corrosion, oxidation, debris, pollution and dust at contact areas between the hardware and other hardware and / or outside environment, and / or rusty connectors. A task may include adapting one or more procedures, transmitting and / or signaling the information related to a functional state of a communication device to a second communication device, configuring a communication device to adapt one or more procedures, adapting one or more parameters, configuring a communication device to adapt one or more parameters. A task may further include transmitting / sending an indication / message to a communication device indicating an action to be performed by the user / subscriber / owner of the communication device, for example, the indication / message can request the subscriber to return the communication device to the operator, and / or contact the operator of the communication device to replace the communication device or one or more parts / components of the communication device.

[0024] A functional state may be also referred to with the term "operational age". A functional state may indicate the extent to which a communication device or one or more of its components can adequately function or operate or perform a required tasks e.g., achieving maximum target bitrate above reference value. The term "operational age" indicates the functional state of a communication device as opposed to the chronological age, which indicates the duration since the communication device was built or first launched.

[0025] A procedure may be not scheduling, or abstaining from scheduling, a communication device with higher order modulation (HOM), not using a higher, or lower, order modulation coding scheme (MCS) for data scheduling, not operating a communication device at its maximum output power, or operating a communication device at an output power below the maximum output power, turning off a transmitter, not transmitting, etc. Examples of HOM are 64QAM, 256Q.AM, etc. Examples of higher MCS are MCS comprising of code rate above 1 / 2 and / or modulation larger than 16Q.AM. A procedure may further be configuring a communication device to stop performing certain procedures, receiving a configuration to stop transmitting certain procedures, sending a configuration to stop transmitting certain procedures. Furthermore, a procedure may be time-frequency synchronization, signal processing, signal reception, signal transmission, measurements, etc.

[0026] A parameter may be a system parameter, e.g., a power usage, an antenna usage, or an antenna mode.

[0027] The method may comprise obtaining the at least one criterion. The at least one criterion is based on a degradation of hardware of the first communication device.

[0028] The at least one task may comprises at least one of: receiving a configuration from the second communication device; receiving, from the second communication device, a third indication indicating an action to be performed by the first communication device, and / or by a subscriber of the first communication device, and / or by an user of the first communication device. The at least one task comprising receiving, from the second communication device, a third indication indicating an action to be performed by the first communication device, and / or by a subscriber of the first communication device, and / or by an user of the first communication device; and wherein the at least one task further comprises at least one of: forwarding the action to be performed by the subscriber of the first communication device and / or the user of the first communication device, to the subscriber of the first communication device and / or the user of the first communication device, respectively; performing the action to be performed by the first communication device.

[0029] The configuration may comprise at least one of: a fourth indication indicating to adapt one or more procedures; a fifth indication indicating to adapt or more first communication device parameters.

[0030] The one or more procedures may comprise at least one of interrupting a transmission; turning off a transmitter; turning off one or more antennas.

[0031] The action to be performed by the first communication device, and / or the subscriber of the first communication device, and / or the user of the first communication device may comprise at least one of: replacing a faulty hardware component of the first communication device; replacing the first communication device.

[0032] The at least one criterion may comprise at least one of: based on a pre-defined value; based on a historical value.

[0033] The pre-defined value and / or the historical value may be received from the second communication device.

[0034] The at least one criterion may be based on at least one of: a passive intermodulation product characteristic; an amplifier linearity characteristic; a synchronization component characteristic; a baseband resource characteristic; a battery storage capacity characteristic; and a transceiver performance characteristic.

[0035] A passive intermodulation product characteristic may be one or more characteristics of the PIM generated by a communication device. A passive component of the communication device which has become corroded, oxidized, or rusted starts generating PIM. Examples of the characteristics of PIM are power level of the PIM, order of the PIM, power level of certain order of the PIM, and frequency of the

[0036] PIM. An amplifier linearity characteristic may be changes in the transfer characteristics of an amplifier, e.g., PA, LNA, used by a communication device. Prolonged or persistent exposure of the communication device to extreme conditions may result in changes in some of the physical and / or chemical properties of the electronic elements, e.g., transistors, constituting the amplifier. This in turn may alter the linear zone of the operation of the amplifier. For example, the linear zone may shrink over time impairing the ability of the amplifier to linearly amplify the signal over the full dynamic range of the input signal as indicated in the manufacturer's specification.

[0037] A synchronization component characteristic may be a characteristic of: a clock component, which are used for time generation and synchronization; and / or a frequency component, such as a synthesizer, a local oscillator, a phase lock loop, which are used for frequency generation, frequency synchronization, etc. The accuracy of a clock component and of a frequency component may degrade over time.

[0038] A baseband resource characteristic may be parameters related to the baseband resource that can enable a communication device to determine its functional state. Some examples are memory capacity and processor speed. The maximum usable memory, i.e., maximum capacity and / or the speed of the processor of the communication device may decrease over time due to various factors such as exposure to the extreme conditions, dust or other environmental pollutants etc.

[0039] A battery storage capacity characteristic may be a battery storage / capacity reduction. The maximum usable capacity of the battery of a communication device may decrease over time due to several factors. Examples of such factors are: exposure to extreme conditions; using low grade charger(s); voltage fluctuations; degradation of electrodes, e.g., exposure to dust, pollution; loss of lithium ions due to extreme heat or extreme cold.

[0040] A transceiver performance characteristic may be a degradation of one or more parameters related to the transceiver, i.e., receiver and / or transmitter, of a communication device. The degradation may occur due to a wide range of factors, for example, exposure to extreme conditions. Some of these parameters may be noise figure or noise factor, a reference sensitivity, a maximum output power, a received signal quality, a transmitted signal quality, and a beampattern.

[0041] The at least one criterion based on the passive intermodulation product characteristic may be at least one of: an estimated power of a passive intermodulation product is above a first passive intermodulation product power threshold; an estimated power of a certain order of intermodulation of the passive intermodulation product is above a second passive intermodulation product power threshold; the passive intermodulation product comprises at least a certain order of intermodulation. A passive intermodulation product power threshold may be a pre-defined and / or configured power value that a passive intermodulation product can't exceed to avoid unwanted emission that, for example, could create excessive interference to a communication device or could fail to follow emission guidelines at a specific frequency / band.

[0042] An order of an intermodulation product may be defined as the sum of the absolute values of the frequency components of the intermodulation product, and depends on the non-linearity, number, and frequency of signals present in a communication device.

[0043] The at least one criterion based on an amplifier linearity characteristic may be at least one of: an output signal is estimated, and / or detected at an output signal frequency when a corresponding input signal power is below a first input signal power threshold, and the corresponding input signal frequency is different from the output signal frequency; an estimated and / or detected power of an output signal at an output signal frequency, exceeds a first output signal power threshold when a corresponding input signal power does not exceed the first input signal power threshold, and the corresponding input signal frequency is different from the output signal frequency; an output signal contains a non-linear component of at least a certain order when a corresponding input signal power is below a first input signal power threshold; an estimated power of an harmonic of a certain order of an output signal is above a second output signal power threshold, when a corresponding input signal power is below the first input signal power threshold.

[0044] A signal power threshold may be a pre-defined and / or configured power value that a non-linearity effect of an amplifier linearity characteristic can't exceed to avoid unwanted emission that, for example, could create excessive interference to a communication device or could fail to follow emission guidelines at a specific frequency / band.

[0045] A higher order harmonic of a signal may be that part of a signal whose frequency is an integral multiple of the fundamental signal frequency, i.e., the first harmonic. As an example, an output signal base frequency from a power amplifier, is the input signal frequency.

[0046] The at least one criterion based on a synchronization component characteristic may be at least one of: a clock accuracy characteristic; a frequency accuracy characteristic.

[0047] A clock accuracy characteristic may be the accuracy of the components generating a clock signal or synchronizing a clock signal, and / or the accuracy of the clock signal or synchronizing the clock signal generated by the component. The accuracy may degrade over time due to environmental factors e.g., prolonged operation of a communication device in extreme conditions. A frequency accuracy characteristic may be the accuracy of the components generating a frequency signal or synchronizing a frequency signal and / or the accuracy of the frequency signal or synchronizing the frequency signal generated by the component. The accuracy may degrade over time due to environmental factors e.g., prolonged operation of a communication device in extreme conditions.

[0048] The at least one criterion based on a clock accuracy characteristic may be at least one of: an accuracy of at least one clock of the first communication device is below a first clock accuracy threshold; an accuracy of at least one clock of the first communication device used for a certain type of procedure is below a second clock accuracy threshold; a timing accuracy of a synchronization activity, obtained under a reference condition, has decreased compared to a previous timing accuracy of a synchronization activity obtained under the reference condition.

[0049] A clock accuracy threshold may be a pre-defined and / or configured value based on a reference clock accuracy that represent the maximum clock accuracy degradation that a communication device can experience before being considered nonfunctional. The clock accuracy threshold may have different values depending on the type of procedure that is used for a specific clock component.

[0050] The at least one criterion based on a frequency accuracy degradation may be at least one of: a frequency accuracy of the first communication device is below a first frequency accuracy threshold; a magnitude of a doppler frequency of the first communication device, at a certain frequency and at a certain speed, is above a first doppler frequency magnitude threshold.

[0051] A frequency accuracy threshold may be a pre-defined and / or configured value based on a reference frequency accuracy that represent the minimum frequency accuracy that a communication device can experience to be considered functional.

[0052] A doppler frequency threshold may be a pre-defined and / or configured value based on a reference doppler frequency that represent the maximum doppler frequency that a communication device can experience to be considered functional.

[0053] The at least one criterion based on a baseband resource characteristic may be at least one of: a memory capacity characteristic; a processor resource characteristic.

[0054] A memory capacity characteristic may be the capacity of a memory component in the baseband of a communication device. The maximum usable memory, i.e., maximum capacity, of the communication device may decrease over time due to various factors such as exposure to the extreme conditions, dust, or other environmental pollutants. A processor resource characteristic may be a characteristic of a performance of a processing unit in the baseband of a communication device. The performance may be defined as number of instructions executed in a unit of time at a reference clock frequency. For example, a metric used to measure such performance may be millions of instructions per second (MIPS) or millions of operations per second (MOPS). The performance of a processing unit may decrease over time due to various factors such as exposure to the extreme conditions, dust, or other environmental pollutants etc.

[0055] The at least one criterion based on a memory capacity characteristic may be at least one of: a maximum memory capacity of a baseband memory of the first communication device is below a first memory capacity threshold; a maximum memory capacity of a baseband memory of the first communication device is below a second memory capacity of a baseband memory threshold over a first time period.

[0056] A memory capacity threshold may be a pre-defined and / or configured value based on a reference maximum memory capacity of a baseband memory of a communication device. The memory capacity threshold represents the minimum memory capacity, either at a specific time or over a time period, that a baseband memory of the communication device must have to be considered functional.

[0057] A time resource and / or time period may correspond to any type of interval of time, physical resource or radio resource expressed in terms of length of time. Examples of time resources are symbol, time slot, subframe, radio frame, transmission time interval (TTI), interleaving time, slot, sub-slot, mini-slot, system frame number (SFN) cycle, hyper-SFN (H-SFN) cycle.

[0058] The at least one criterion based on a processor resource characteristic may be at least one of: a maximum instruction execution rate of the first communication device at a first clock frequency is below a first instruction execution rate threshold; a maximum instruction execution rate of the first communication device at a second clock frequency is below a second instruction execution rate threshold over a second time period.

[0059] An instruction rate threshold may be a pre-defined and / or configured value based on a reference maximum instruction rate of a processor of a communication device. The instruction rate threshold represents the minimum instruction rate, either at a specific time or over a time period, that the processor of the communication device must have to be considered functional.

[0060] The at least one criterion based on a battery capacity storage characteristic may be at least one of: a maximum battery storage capacity is below a first battery storage capacity threshold; a maximum talk time is below a first talk time threshold; a maximum standby time is below a first standby time threshold. A battery storage capacity threshold may be a pre-defined and / or configured value based on a reference maximum battery capacity. The battery storage capacity threshold represents the minimum battery capacity that a communication device must have to be considered functional.

[0061] A talk time threshold may be a pre-defined and / or configured value based on a reference talk time. The talk time threshold represents the minimum talk time that a communication device can experience to be considered functional.

[0062] A standby time threshold may be a pre-defined and / or configured value based on a reference standby time. The standby time threshold represents the minimum standby time that a communication device can experience to be considered functional.

[0063] The at least one criterion based on a transceiver performance characteristic may be at least one of: a noise figure or noise factor characteristic; a reference sensitivity characteristic; a maximum output power characteristic; a receiver signal quality characteristic; a transmitter signal quality characteristic; a beam pattern characteristic.

[0064] A noise figure / factor (NF) characteristic may represent an amount of signal degradation caused by a radio component of a transceiver of a communication device. A lower value of the NF corresponds to better transceiver performance, e.g., less signal loss / degradation, compared to higher value of the NF.

[0065] A reference sensitivity (REFSENS) characteristic may represent a minimum mean power applied at a communication device receiver at which certain throughput is achieved for certain reference signal configuration, e.g., certain transmit power, channel bandwidth, frequency band, numerology, such as subcarrier spacing, certain modulation and coding scheme (MCS) such as Q.PSK and coding rate of 1 / 3.

[0066] A maximum output power (Pout) characteristic may represent a maximum possible output power, also called maximum nominal power or power class, with which a communication device can transmit a signal. The maximum output power may further depend on factors such as frequency bands, frequency range (FR), e.g., FR1 such as sub-6 GHz, FR2 such as mmWave. The Pout may decrease over time for the natural degradation of the power component, especially when operating consistently or regularly in extreme temperatures.

[0067] A received signal quality (RSQ.) characteristic may represent a degradation of a received signal quality

[0068] ( RSQ) of the receiver of a communication device. The degradation may happen over time due to partial or full impairment of one or more receiver parameters e.g., baseband or RF filter. A transmitted signal quality characteristic may represent a parameter or metric to assess a signal quality performance of a transmitter of a communication device or more specifically a quality of the signal modulated by the transmitter of the communication device. For example, error vector magnitude (EVM) can be used as such a metric or parameter. The EVM is a measure of the difference between a reference waveform and a measured waveform. The EVM is expressed as a percentage. A lower EVM values means a better modulated signal quality compared to signals having higher EVM values.

[0069] A beam pattern characteristic may represent a transmitted beampattern quality from a communication device. The transmitted beampattern quality represents a comparison between a radiated energy in all directions with a radiated energy in the direction of one or more intended receivers.

[0070] The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one criterion comprises at least one criterion obtained by the first communication device.

[0071] The at least one criterion may comprise at least one criterion received from the second communication device.

[0072] The first indication may comprise at least one of: a periodic trigger; an aperiodic trigger; a request from the second communication device; a threshold indication, a criterion.

[0073] A trigger, a request and / or a threshold indication may be used to initiate or start a determination of a functional state of a communication device.

[0074] The threshold indication may be at least one of: an average bitrate is below a first average bitrate threshold during a third time period; a peak bitrate is below a first peak bitrate threshold during a fourth time period; a signal quality value is below a first signal quality threshold during a fifth time period.

[0075] The at least one of: any of the indications, any of the requests, any of the times, any of the discrete levels, any of the criterions, any of the historical values, any of the pre-defined values; any of the thresholds, any of the frequencies, any of the time periods, and / or any of the orders may be at least one of: pre-defined; configured by the second communication device; obtained by the first communication device.

[0076] The first communication device and / or the second communication device may be base station, a user equipment or a network device.

[0077] The determining the functional state of the first communication device may be performed upon receiving a request from a second communication device or is performed at a time indicated by the second communication device. The functional state may be expressed in terms of at least two discrete levels.

[0078] The at least two discrete levels may be at least two of: dysfunctional; quasi-functional; functional.

[0079] A dysfunctional level may represent that a communication device is fully dysfunctional, and all of the criteria are satisfied.

[0080] A quasi-functional level may represent that a communication device is partially functional, and some of the criteria are satisfied.

[0081] A functional level may represent that a communication device is fully functional, and none of the criteria are satisfied.

[0082] The at least two discrete levels may be at least one of: pre-defined; obtained by the first communication device; configured by the second communication device.

[0083] According to an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a second method for managing the functional state of a first communication device. The second method is performed by a second communication device. The second method comprises, in response to obtaining information related to a functional state of a first communication device, performing at least one task based on the functional state of the first communication device. The at least one task is at least one of: adapting one or more procedures related to the first communication device; transmitting, to the first communication device, a third indication indicating an action to be performed by the first communication device and / or by a subscriber of the first communication device and / or by an user of the first communication device; transmitting a configuration to the first communication device.

[0084] The second method may comprise transmitting a first indication.

[0085] The first indication may comprise at least one of: a periodic trigger; an aperiodic trigger; a request from the second communication device; a threshold indication; a criterion.

[0086] The threshold indication is at least one of: an average bitrate is below a first average bitrate threshold during a third time period; a peak bitrate is below a first peak bitrate threshold during a fourth time period; a signal quality value is below a first signal quality threshold during a fifth time period.

[0087] The first communication device and / or the second communication device may be a base station or a user equipment or a network device.

[0088] The configuration may comprise at least one of: a fourth indication indicating to adapt one or more procedures; a fifth indication indicating to adapt or more first communication device parameters. The adapting one or more procedures with the first communication device may comprise at least one of: scheduling the first communication device with lower order modulation; using lower order modulation coding scheme for data scheduling; operating the first communication device at a reduced maximum power.

[0089] The fourth indication indicating to adapt one or more procedures may comprise at least one of: interrupting a transmission; turning off a transmitter; turning off one or more antennas.

[0090] The action to be performed by the first communication device and / or by the subscriber of the first communication device and / or by the user of the first communication device may comprise at least one of: replacing a faulty hardware component of the first communication device; replacing the first communication device.

[0091] The method may comprise transmitting to the first communication device: any of the indications, any of the requests, any of the times, any of the discrete levels, any of the criterions, any of the historical values, any of the pre-defined values; any of the thresholds, any of the frequencies, any of the time periods, any of the discrete levels, and / or any of the orders.

[0092] The discrete level may be at least one of: dysfunctional; quasi-functional; functional.

[0093] According to an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a first communication device comprising a processor and a memory configured to cause the first communication device to perform the first method, as described earlier.

[0094] According to an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a second communication device comprising a processor and a memory configured to cause the second communication device to perform the second method, as described earlier.

[0095] According to an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause a first communication device to perform the first method as described earlier, and / or a second communication device to perform the second method as described earlier.

[0096] According to an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium, wherein the computer readable storage medium comprises instructions which are executable by a processor to cause a first communication device to perform the first method as described earlier, and / or a second communication device to perform the second method as described earlier. According to an aspect of the disclosure, there is provided a system comprising at least one first communication device as described earlier and at least one second communication device as described earlier.

[0097] FIGURES

[0098] Figure 1 illustrates a first communication device and a second communication device.

[0099] Figure 2 illustrates a flowchart representing a first method.

[0100] Figure 3 illustrates a flowchart representing a second method.

[0101] Figure 4 illustrates a communication device.

[0102] Figure 5 illustrates a computer program product.

[0103] Figure 6 illustrates a system.

[0104] Figure 7 illustrates the criterions.

[0105] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0106] Figure 1 illustrates a first communication device 30000 and a second communication device 40000.

[0107] Figure 1 further shows some features and signals transmitted according to a method, performed by a first communication device 30000, wherein said method is described in further detail in the description relating to Figure 2, and a method performed by a second communication device 40000, wherein said method is described in further detail in the description relating to Figure 3. In the example, the second communication device 40000, may transmit a first indication 10 to the first communication device. In response to obtaining 11000 the first indication 10, the first communication device 30000 determines 12000 its functional state. The functional state is based on at least one criterion, the at least one criterion may have been obtained from the first indication 10.

[0108] The first communication device 10000, performs 13000 at least one task based on its functional state. The at least one task may be transmitting a second indication 20, to the second communication device 20000, or to any other device / node, comprising information related to its, i.e., the first communication device's 30000, functional state. The second communication device 40000, in response to obtaining 21000 information related to the functional state of the first communication device 30000, either from the second indication 20 transmitted by the first communication device or from another device / node, performs 22000 at least one task. The at least one task may be transmitting 22300 a configuration to the first communication device 30000. The configuration may comprise a fourth indication 40 and / or a fifth indication 50. The fourth indication 40 indicates to adapt one or more procedures, e.g., interrupting a transmission, turning off a transmitter, turning off one or more antennas. The fifth indication 50 indicates to adapt one or more parameters. The at least one task may further be transmitting 22200 a third indication 30. The third indication indicates an action to be performed by the first communication device 30000 and / or by a subscriber of the first communication device 30000 and / or by an user of the first communication device 30000.

[0109] Some advantages of the invention presented in this disclosure will be apparent from this brief example of what this invention enables.

[0110] The mechanisms of this invention automatically and proactively enable a device, e.g., especially UE devices, to diagnose any minor or major defect that degrades its performance.

[0111] While some hardware impairments may be known and may be compensated with calibration procedures, hardware degradation due to aging effect or external influences it's not currently measured, tracked and acted upon, this invention provide solutions to this.

[0112] This enables operators to automatically identify devices whose functional capabilities have significantly degraded regardless of their chronological age. In this way, target user performance and system performance can be maintained by replacing quasi-functional devices or by modifying some of the procedures in such devices. An operator may inform a subscriber with a degraded device to have it substituted because the device may reduce the capacity of the operator (or may offer to substitute it itself). For example, in loT deployments, when devices are in areas difficult to service, this invention enable an operator of such devices to accurately monitor the status of such devices to assess their functional state.

[0113] Figure 2 illustrates a flowchart representing a first method 10000 performed by a first communication device 30000 (not shown; see e.g., Figure 1).

[0114] According to the first method 10000, a first communication device 30000, in response to obtaining 11000 a first indication 10 (not shown; see e.g., Figure 1), determines 12000 a functional state of the first communication device based on at least one criterion.

[0115] The first indication 10 may comprise at least one of: a periodic trigger; an aperiodic trigger; a request from the second communication device 40000 (not shown; see e.g., Figure 1); a threshold indication; and a criterion.

[0116] In response to obtaining 11000 a first indication 10 comprising a periodic trigger, the first communication device initiates the determining 12000 its functional state periodically e.g., once every certain time period. The first communication device 30000 may further determine 12000 its functional state over a certain duration once every certain time period. The certain time period and certain duration may be pre-defined, configured by a second communication device 40000 and / or obtained by the first communication device 30000.

[0117] In response to obtaining 11000 a first indication 10, comprising a request from the second communication device 40000, the first communication device initiates the determining 12000 its functional state. The second communication device 40000 may indicate whether the first communication device 30000 should determine its functional state immediately or starting from a certain future time instance, e.g., at certain absolute time such as UTC time, cell time such as one or more of SFN, subframe number, slot number.

[0118] In response to obtaining 11000 a first indication 10, comprising an aperiodic trigger and / or a threshold indication, the first communication device initiates the determining its functional state. The aperiodic trigger may be triggered when one or more conditions are met. Some of these conditions may be based on the threshold indication. Examples of the conditions are an average bitrate is below a first average bitrate threshold during a third time period; a peak bitrate is below a first peak bitrate threshold during a fourth time period; a signal quality value is below a first signal quality threshold during a fifth time period. The one or more conditions and / or one or more associated parameters, e.g., the thresholds and the time periods, can be pre-defined, obtained by the first communication device 30000 or configured by the second communication device 40000.

[0119] The at least one criterion is based on a degradation of hardware of the first communication device (30000). The at least one criterion is discussed in further detail in the text relating to Figure 7.

[0120] The determination of the functional state of the first communication device 30000 comprises the determination the functional state of the first communication device 30000 based on the at least one criterion. The functional state is discussed in further detail in the text relating to Figure 7.

[0121] The method 10000 comprises performing 13000 at least one task based on the functional state of the first communication device 30000. The at least one task comprises at least one of: adapting 13100 one or more procedures; adapting 13200 one or more first communication device parameters; transmitting 13300 information related to the functional state of the first communication device 30000 to a second communication device 40000.

[0122] The first communication device 30000 may transmit 13300 information related to the functional state of the first communication device 30000 to a second communication device 40000 regardless of the outcome / result of the determination of its functional state. The first communication device 30000 may transmit 13300 information related to the functional state of the first communication device 30000 to a second communication device 40000 only if the first communication device 30000 determines that the first communication device 30000 functional state is unacceptable. The functional state of the first communication device 30000 may be considered unacceptable if it has been considered as not fully functional e.g., the first communication device 30000 is considered as dysfunctional or semi functional.

[0123] The transmitted information may also include information related to the one or more criteria related to the functional state met by the first communication device 30000.

[0124] The transmitted information may also include information related to the one or more criteria related to the functional state not met by the first communication device 30000.

[0125] The first communication device 30000 may use information related to the obtained functional state of the first communication device 30000 for adapting 13100 one or more procedures and / or adapting 13200 one or more first communication device parameters. For example, if the power amplifier linear zone of operation has shrunk then the first communication device 30000 may keep the maximum power of the input signal at the amplifier input below a certain threshold. In another example, if the baseband resources have degraded, e.g., memory, processor speed, then the first communication device 30000 will avoid using the baseband resources for processing data for online communication of wireless signal and for other applications, e.g., offline applications. This will prevent loss of wireless data signals. The one or more procedures may comprise at least one of: interrupting 13110 a transmission; turning off 13120 a transmitter; turning off 13130 one or more antennas. The first communication device 30000 parameter may comprise at least one of: an antenna mode, a MCS, a transmission mode, etc.

[0126] The at least one task may further comprise least one of: receiving 13310 a configuration from the second communication device 40000; receiving 13320, from the second communication device 40000, a third indication 30 indicating an action to be performed by the first communication device 30000, and / or by a subscriber of the first communication device 30000, and / or by an user of the first communication device 30000.

[0127] The configuration may comprise at least one of: a fourth indication 40 indicating to adapt the one or more procedures; a fifth indication 50 indicating to adapt or more first communication device 3000 parameters.

[0128] Following the receiving 13320, the at least one task may further comprise at least one of: forwarding 13321 the action to be performed by the subscriber of the first communication device 30000 and / or the user of the first communication device 30000, to the subscriber of the first communication device 30000 and / or the user of the first communication device 30000, respectively; performing 13322 the action to be performed by the first communication device 30000.

[0129] The configuration may comprise at least one of: a fourth indication 40 indicating to adapt the one or more procedures; a fifth indication 50 indicating to adapt or more first communication device 30000 parameters.

[0130] The action to be performed by the first communication device 30000, and / or the subscriber of the first communication device 30000, and / or the user of the first communication device 30000 may comprise at least one of: replacing 13323 a faulty hardware component of the first communication device 30000; replacing 13324 the first communication device 30000.

[0131] In general, a criterion may be pre-defined, obtained by the first communication device 30000, or configured by the second communication device 40000. Thresholds, frequencies, and time periods may be pre-defined, obtained by the first communication device 30000, or configured by the second communication device 40000. Thresholds, frequencies, orders, and time periods may be, respectively, the same, or different.

[0132] Figure 3 illustrates a flowchart representing a second method 20000 performed by a second communication device 40000.

[0133] According to the second method 20000, a second communication device 40000 in response to obtaining 21000 information related to a functional state of a first communication device, performs 22000 at least one task based on the functional state of the first communication device 30000.

[0134] The second communication device 40000 may obtain 21000 information related to the functional state of the first communication device 30000 by receiving it from the first communication device or from another device / node, e.g., a communication device, a core network node, a base station, a UE, which has the information.

[0135] The second communication device may send a request to the first communication device 30000 or to another node to transmit the information related to the functional state of the first communication device 30000 to the second communication device 40000. The first communication device 30000 may proactively transmit the information related to the functional state of the first communication device 30000 to the second communication device 40000.

[0136] The at least one task is at least one of: adapting 22100 one or more procedures related to the first communication device 30000; transmitting 22200, to the first communication device, third indication 30 indicating an action to be performed by the first communication device 30000 and / or by a subscriber of the first communication device 30000 and / or by an user of the first communication device 30000; transmitting 22300 a configuration to the first communication device 30000.

[0137] The second communication device may transmit 23000 a first indication 10 (not shown; see e.g., Figure 1).

[0138] The first indication may comprise at least one of: a periodic trigger, an aperiodic trigger, a request from the second communication device 40000, a threshold indication, a criterion.

[0139] The threshold indication may be at least one of: an average bitrate is below a first average bitrate threshold during a third time period, a peak bitrate is below a first peak bitrate threshold during a fourth time period, a signal quality value is below a first signal quality threshold during a fifth time period.

[0140] The adapting 22100 one or more procedures related to the first communication device 30000 may comprise not performing one or more procedures in the first communication device 30000 based on the level of the functional state of the first communication state 30000 and / or the reason of being in that functional state.

[0141] The second communication device 40000 may stop performing certain procedure in the first communication device 30000 without explicitly informing the first communication device 30000 e.g., not scheduling the first communication device 30000 with higher order modulation (HOM), not using higher MCS for data scheduling, not operating the first communication device 30000 at its maximum output power etc. Examples of HOM are 64Q.AM, 256QAM, etc. Examples of higher MCS are MCS comprising of code rate abo1 / 2l / 2 and / or modulation larger than 16QAM. Such adaptation of the transmission of signals for the for the first communication device 30000 and / or by the first communication device 30000 may prevent signal quality degradation at the first communication device 30000 but at the expense of a lower bit rate.

[0142] The adapting 22100 one or more procedures with the first communication device 30000 may comprise at least one of: scheduling 22110 the first communication device 30000 with lower order modulation; using 22120 lower order modulation coding scheme for data scheduling; operating 22130 the first communication device 30000 at a reduced maximum power.

[0143] The configuration transmitted 22300 to the first communication device 30000 may comprise at least one of: a fourth indication 40 indicating to adapt one or more procedures; a fifth indication 50 indicating to adapt or more first communication device 30000 parameters. The fourth indication 40 indicating to adapt one or more procedures may comprise at least one of: an indication to interrupt 22310 a transmission; an indication to turn off 22320 a transmitter; an indication to turn off 22330 one or more antennas.

[0144] The action to be performed by the first communication device 30000 and / or by the subscriber of the first communication device 30000 and / or by the user of the first communication device 30000 may comprise at least one of: replacing 22210 a faulty hardware component of the first communication device 30000; replacing 22220 the first communication device 30000. Replacing the partially or fully defective device by a fully functioning device can be more beneficial for the operator as such action will increase capacity as well as improve the subscriber satisfaction.

[0145] The method 20000 may comprise, transmitting 23000 to the first communication device 30000 at least one of: any of the indications, the / any of the request; a time, a discrete level, the criterion, the historical value, the pre-defined value; a threshold, any of the frequencies, any of the time periods, and / or any of the orders.

[0146] Figure 4 illustrates a communication device 30000; 40000. The communication device 30000; 40000 comprises a processor 31000; 41000 and a memory 32000; 42000. The memory 32000; 42000 contains instructions executable by the processor 31000; 41000 whereby the communication device 30000; 40000 is operative to perform the method 10000; 20000.

[0147] The processor 31000; 41000 may be operatively coupled via a bus 33000; 43000 to an input / output interface 34000; 44000, a power source 35000; 45000, a memory 32000; 42000, a communication interface 36000; 46000, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. The level of integration between the components may vary from one communication device to another communication device. The processor 31000; 41000 may be 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 communication device 30000; 40000 components, such as the memory 32000; 42000, to provide communication device 30000; 40000 functionality. Further, certain communication devices may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc. The processor 31000; 41000 may include a system on a chip (SOC). The processor 31000; 41000 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 31100; 41100 and baseband processing circuitry 31200; 41200. The radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 31100; 41100 and the baseband processing circuitry 31200; 41200 may be on separate chips, or sets of chips, boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. Alternatively, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 31100; 41100 and baseband processing circuitry 31200; 41200 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0148] The processor 31000; 41000 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 32000; 42000. The processor 31000; 41000 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); 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 processor 31000; 41000 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs). The processor 31000; 41000 may be configured to cause the communication device 30000; 40000 to perform the methods as described with reference to Fig 2 and / or 3.

[0149] The input / output interface 34000; 44000 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 communication device 30000; 40000. 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, 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.

[0150] The power source 35000; 45000 provides power to the various components of the communication device 30000; 40000 in a form suitable for the respective components, e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component. The power source 35000; 45000 may include, or be coupled to, power management circuitry for delivering power from the power source 35000; 45000 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the communication device 30000; 40000 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. The power source 35000; 45000 may be connectable to external power source, e.g., an electricity outlet or power grid, photovoltaic device, or power cell. The power source 35000; 45000 may be structured as a battery or battery pack. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 35000; 45000. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 35000; 45000 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the communication device 30000; 40000 to which power is supplied. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0151] The memory 32000; 42000 may comprise or may be configured to include any form of volatile or nonvolatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random-access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable readonly memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, mass storage media, removable storage media, and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processor 31000; 41000. The memory 32000; 42000 may include one or more application programs 32100; 42100, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 32200; 42200, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processor 31000; 41000 and utilized by the communication device 30000; 40000. The memory 32000; 42000 may store, for use by the communication device 30000; 40000, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems. The memory 32000; 42000 may be used to store any calculations made by processor 31000; 41000 and / or any data received via a communication interface 36000; 46000. The processor 31000; 41000 and memory 32000; 42000 is integrated.

[0152] The memory 32000; 42000 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 32000; 42000 may allow the communication device 30000; 40000 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 32000; 42000, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium. The processor 31000; 41000 may be configured to communicate with a communication device 30000; 40000, an access network or other network using the communication interface 36000; 46000.

[0153] The communication interface 36000; 46000 is used in wired or wireless communication of signalling and / or data between a communication device 30000; 40000, network node, access network and / or UE. The communication interface 36000; 46000 may comprise port(s) / terminal(s) 36100; 46100 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection or wireless connection. The communication interface 36000; 46000 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 36100; 46100. The communication interface 36000; 46000 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 36200; 46200 and / or a receiver 36300; 46300 appropriate to provide network communications, e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth. Moreover, the transmitter 36200; 46200 and receiver 36300; 46300 may be coupled to one or more antennas, e.g., antenna 36100; 46100, and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately. The communication interface 36000; 46000 may include a radio front-end circuitry 36400; 46400 that may be coupled to, or a part of, the antenna 36100; 46100. Radio frontend circuitry 36400; 46400 may comprises filters 36410; 46410 and amplifiers 36420; 46420. The radio front-end circuitry 36400; 46400 may be connected to an antenna 36100; 46100 and processor 31000; 41000. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 36100; 46100 and processor 31000; 41000. The radio front-end circuitry 36400; 46400 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to communication devices 30000; 40000, network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 36400; 46400 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 36410; 46410 and / or amplifiers 36420; 46420. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 36100; 46100. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 36100; 46100 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 36400; 46400. The digital data may be passed to the processor 31000; 41000. The communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0154] The communication device 30000; 40000 may not include separate radio front-end circuitry 36400; 46400, instead, the processor 31000; 41000 may include radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 36100; 46100.

[0155] The antenna 36100; 46100 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 36100; 46100 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 36400; 46400 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. The antenna 36100; 46100 may be separate from the communication device 30000; 40000 and connectable to the communication device 30000; 40000 through an interface or port.

[0156] The antenna 36100; 46100, communication interface 36000; 46000, and / or the processor 31000; 41000 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 communication device 30000; 40000, a UE, a network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 36100; 46100, communication interface 36000; 46000, and / or the processor 31000; 41000 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the communication device 30000; 40000. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a communication device 30000; 40000, a UE, a network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0157] A communication functions of the communication interface 36000; 46000 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, nearfield 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.

[0158] Regardless of the type of sensor, a communication device 30000; 40000 may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 36000; 46000, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a communication device 30000; 40000 can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another communication device 30000; 40000. 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.

[0159] A communication device 30000; 40000 may comprise 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. The communication device 30000; 40000 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.

[0160] A communication device 30000; 40000, 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 communication device 30000; 40000 shown in Fig. 4.

[0161] In an loT scenario, a communication device 30000; 40000 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 communication device 30000; 40000 and / or a network node. The communication device 30000; 40000 may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. The communication device 30000; 40000 may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, a communication device 30000; 40000 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. Any number of a communication device 30000; 40000 may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a communication device 30000; 40000 might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone's speed information, obtained through a speed sensor, to another communication device 30000; 40000 that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the communication device 30000; 40000 may adjust the throttle on the drone, e.g., by controlling an actuator, to increase or decrease the drone's speed. The communication device 30000; 40000 can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For 1 example, a communication device 30000; 40000 might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0162] A communication device 30000; 40000 may be a network node. The term network node may refer to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a communication device or 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.

[0163] 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 communication device 30000; 40000 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).

[0164] 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).

[0165] The communication device 30000; 40000 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, which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the communication device 30000; 40000 comprises multiple separate components, e.g., BTS and BSC components, one or more of the separate components may be shared among several communication devices. 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. The communication device 30000; 40000 may be configured to support multiple RATs. In such case, some components may be duplicated, e.g., separate memory 32000; 42000 for different RATs, and some components may be reused, e.g., a same antenna 36100; 46100 may be shared by different RATs. The communication device 30000; 40000 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into the communication device 30000; 40000, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi, 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 the communication device 30000; 40000.

[0166] The communication device 30000; 40000 may include additional components beyond those shown in Fig. 4 for providing certain aspects of the communication device's functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the communication device 30000; 40000 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the communication device 30000; 40000 and to allow output of information from the communication device 30000; 40000. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the communication device 30000; 40000.

[0167] Figure 5 illustrates a computer program product 50000. The computer program product 50000 comprises a computer readable storage medium 51000. The computer readable storage medium 51000 comprises instructions, e.g., a computer program 52000 which are executable by a processor 31000; 41000 to cause a first communication device 30000 to perform the method 10000, and / or a second communication device 40000 to perform the method 20000.

[0168] The computer program product 50000 may comprise a carrier 53000 containing instructions, e.g., computer program 52000, for causing the first communication device 30000, e.g., the processor 31000 and / or the second communication device 40000, e.g., the processor 41000, to perform at least part of the method 10000; 20000 described herein. The carrier 53000 may be any one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, an electrical signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium 51000.

[0169] The computer program 52000 comprises instructions which, when executed by the processor 31000; 41000 causes a first communication device 30000 to perform the method 10000, and / or a second communication device 40000 to perform the method 20000.

[0170] The communication device 30000; 40000 functionality described herein may be performed by hardware. In such case, the communication device 30000; 40000 may be a hardware entity. At least part or all of the communication device 30000; 40000 functionality described herein may be performed in a network enabled cloud. Thus, the method 10000; 20000 described herein may be realized as a cloud implementation. The communication device 30000; 40000 functionality described herein may all be at the same location or at least some of the communication device 30000; 40000 functionality may be distributed, e.g., the communication device 30000; 40000 functionality may be performed by one or more different entities.

[0171] Figure 6 illustrates a system 60000. The system 60000 comprises at least one first communication device 30000 performing the method 10000; and at least one second communication device 40000 performing the method 20000.

[0172] Figure 7 illustrates the criterions.

[0173] The at least one criterion may be at least one of: pre-defined; obtained by the first communication device 30000 (not shown; see e.g., Figure 1), e.g., based on historical data or past history of its performance; configured by the second communication device 40000 (not shown; see e.g., Figure 1), e.g., via a signaling message, an indication.

[0174] The at least one criterion may be further based on at least one of: a passive intermodulation product characteristic 100; an amplifier linearity characteristic 200; a synchronization component characteristic 300; a baseband resource characteristic 400; a battery storage capacity characteristic 500; and / or a transceiver performance characteristic 600.

[0175] The passive intermodulation characteristic 100 based criterion may comprise one or more characteristics of the passive intermodulation product generated by the first communication device 30000. A passive component of the wireless device starts generating passive intermodulation product when it starts degrading, e.g., become corroded, oxidized, or rusted, especially when exposed to an environment congenial for such impairments. The first communication device (30000) determines the passive intermodulation product by estimating a passive intermodulation product signal generated over the expected part of its reception bandwidth. The frequencies at which the passive intermodulation product is generated depend on at least the frequencies of the input signals at its passive radio components, e.g., antennas, connectors. Examples of the characteristics of passive intermodulation product are power level of the passive intermodulation product, order of the passive intermodulation product, power level of certain order of the passive intermodulation product, frequency of the passive intermodulation product. This is described in the following examples.

[0176] In a first example, the passive intermodulation product characteristic based criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device is met if an estimated power of the aggregated passive intermodulation product is above first passive intermodulation product power threshold 101. In a second example, the passive intermodulation product characteristic based criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device is met if the estimated power of a certain order 102 of the passive intermodulation product, e.g., second order passive intermodulation product, third order passive intermodulation product, is above a second passive intermodulation product power threshold 103.

[0177] In a third example, the passive intermodulation product characteristic based criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device is met if the passive intermodulation product comprises of at least a certain order 104 of the passive intermodulation product, e.g., second order passive intermodulation product, third order passive intermodulation product.

[0178] The amplifier linearity characteristic 200 based criterion may comprise of changes in the transfer characteristics of an amplifier, e.g., Power Amplifier, Low Noise Amplifier, used by the first communication device 30000. Prolonged or persistent exposure of the first communication device 30000 to extreme conditions may result in changes in some of the physical and / or chemical properties of the electronic devices, e.g., transistors, capacitors, constituting the amplifier. This in turn may alter the linear zone of the operation of the amplifier. For example, the linear zone may shrink over time impairing the ability of the amplifier to linearly amplify the signal over the full dynamic range of the input signal as indicated in manufacturer's specification. For example, assume that as per manufacturer's specification, the amplifier of the first communication device 30000 operates in linear zone provided that the power of the input signal does not exceed a first input signal power threshold 202. However, if its linear zone is shortened over time then, the same amplifier, may operate in linear zone provided that the input signal's power does not exceed a second input signal power threshold 207, lower than the first input signal power threshold 201. However, even if the power of the input signal is between the second input signal power threshold and the first input signal power threshold, the amplifier will still produce unwanted emissions such as higher order harmonics i.e., cause nonlinearity., due to amplifier linearity degradation. The first communication device 30000 may determine whether its amplifier's linear zone of operation has been degraded, i.e., shortened, over time by estimating whether it generates any non-linear signals during the amplification process even when operating in its linear zone of operation, i.e., as in the manufacturer's specification. The presence of the non-linear signals may be estimated by the first communication device 30000 by measuring the power of signals within its receiver but outside the bandwidth of the linearly amplified signals. The non-linear signals are unwanted emissions such as higher order harmonics or intermodulation at frequencies other than the frequency of the input signal. This is described in the following examples. In a first example, the criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device 30000 based on amplifier linearity characteristic is met if the first communication device 30000 estimates and / or detects the presence of an output signal at an output signal frequency 201 different from a corresponding input signal frequency 203 when the corresponding input signal's power is below a first input signal power threshold 202, i.e., the maximum power of the input signal to ensure linear amplification process.

[0179] In a second example, the criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device 30000 based on amplifier linearly degradation is met if the first communication device 30000 estimates and / or detects a power of an output at an output signal frequency 201 different from a corresponding input signal frequency 203, and the power is above a first output signal power threshold 204 when the corresponding input signal power is below the first input signal power threshold 202.

[0180] In a third example, the criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device based on amplifier linearly degradation is met if an output signal contains a non-linear component of at least of a certain order 205, e.g., second order harmonic, third order harmonic, when the corresponding input signal power is below the first input signal power threshold 202.

[0181] In a fourth example, the criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device based on amplifier linearity degradation is met if a power of an output signal containing a nonlinear component of at least a certain order 205, e.g., second order harmonic, third order harmonic, is above a second output signal power threshold 206, when the corresponding input signal power is below the first input signal power threshold 202.

[0182] The synchronization component char"cter'stic 300 based criterion may comprise the degradation of synchronization related components. Examples of synchronization related components may be clock components which are used for time generation and synchronization, and frequency components, such as synthesizer, local oscillator, phase lock loop, etc., which are used for frequency generation, frequency synchronization, etc. A clock accuracy characteristic 310 may comprise the degradation of the clock component. The accuracy of the clock component may degrade over time. The accuracy with which the clock frequency is generated and synchronized with regards to the network may also degrade with respect to its initial accuracy over time. The natural occurring degradation may be accelerated due to environmental factors e.g., prolonged operation of the wireless in extreme conditions. The first communication device 30000 may use different types of clocks for different purposes. For example, to save power consumption, finer clock may be used by the first communication device 30000 for time synchronization with regards to the serving cell, to data reception, and coarser clock may be used for time synchronization for mobility measurements. Similarly, the first communication device 30000 may use coarser clock for operations in low activity state / mode e.g., in RRC idle / inactive state, when configured with extended discontinuous reception, DRX, cycle. The first communication device 30000 may use a finer clock for several procedures in RRC connected state etc. The clock degradation may be used for detecting the functional state and operational age of the first communication device. This is described below with examples.

[0183] As a first example, the criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device 30000 based on clock accuracy degradation is met if the accuracy of at least one clock of the first communication device is below a first clock accuracy threshold 311, based on the reference clock accuracy.

[0184] As a second example, the criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device 30000 based on clock accuracy degradation is met if the accuracy of at least one clock of the first communication device 30000 used for certain type of procedures is below a second clock accuracy threshold 312, based on the reference clock accuracy; otherwise, the criterion based on the clock accuracy degradation is not met. Examples of the procedures are fine time tuning with regards to the serving cell for receiving data, performing positioning timing measurements such as round-trip time, timing advance etc.

[0185] As a third example, the criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device 30000 based on clock accuracy degradation is met if a timing accuracy of a synchronization activity, obtained under a reference condition, has decreased compared to a previous timing accuracy of a synchronization activity obtained under the reference condition. In the above examples, it is assumed that the first communication device 30000 has means to detect its clock accuracy. The first communication device 30000 may perform synchronization in certain reference condition and compare the timing accuracy experienced by the first communication device in the same reference condition in the past. The reference condition can be opportunistically obtained by the first communication device 30000 or temporarily created by the second communication device 40000. An example of a reference condition may be the first communication device configured 3000 to receive certain type of reference signal, e.g., DMRS, TRS, SSS block, when signal quality is above certain threshold, the first communication device 30000 is operating in normal conditions, e.g., temperature between 0°C and 35°C, and when the first communication device 30000 is not performing any other operation. Examples of the reference clock accuracy are a clock accuracy declared by the manufacturer, configured by a second communication device, a pre-defined value, etc.

[0186] A frequency accuracy characteristic 320 may comprise the degradation of one or more the first communication device 30000 components related to frequency synchronization and generation. The degradation of component related to frequency synchronization and generation increases the frequency error with regard to a reference frequency error value. The reference frequency error value may be pre-defined, declared by the manufacturer configured / indicated by the second communication device 40000, etc. The detection of a frequency component degradation may be also based on the change in the doppler frequency at reference speed and reference frequency. The reference speed and reference frequency may be pre-defined, declared by the manufacturer configured / indicated by the second communication device 40000, etc. Therefore, the functional state of the first communication 30000 can be determined based on the extent to which the frequency error has degraded i.e., drifted or increased in magnitude. This is described below with examples.

[0187] As a first example, the criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device 30000 based on frequency accuracy degradation is met if the frequency accuracy of the first communication device 30000 is below a first frequency accuracy threshold 321, based on a reference frequency accuracy under a certain reference condition. The first communication device may determine the frequency accuracy degradation under the certain reference condition and compare the frequency accuracy experienced by the first communication device 30000 in the same reference condition in the past. The reference condition can be opportunistically obtained by the first communication device or temporarily created by the second communication device 40000. As a second example, the criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device based on doppler frequency degradation is met if the magnitude of the doppler frequency of the first communication device 30000 at a certain frequency and a certain speed is first doppler frequency magnitude threshold 322, based on a reference doppler frequency. The reference doppler frequency may have a pre-defined vale, be defined by a manufacture, be defined by the second communication device 40000 or be estimated by the first communication device 30000 in reference conditions.

[0188] The baseband resource component characteristic 400 based criterion may comprise parameters related to the baseband resource that can enable the first communication device 30000 to determine its functional state. Example of these parameters are memory capacity and processor speed. The maximum usable memory, i.e., maximum capacity, and / or the processor speed of the first communication device 30000 may decrease over time due to various factors such as exposure to the extreme conditions, dust, or other environmental pollutants, etc.

[0189] The criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device 30000 based on the baseband resource characteristic 400, may be further based on a memory capacity characteristic 410.

[0190] As a first example, the criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device 30000 based on the memory capacity characteristic 410 is met if a maximum capacity of the baseband memory of the first communication device 30000 is below a first baseband memory threshold 411, based on a reference maximum capacity of the baseband memory of the first communication device 30000. The maximum capacity of the baseband memory of the first communication device 30000 is a maximum amount of the data stored in the memory at certain time instance. The value of the reference maximum capacity of the baseband memory may be pre-defined, declared by the manufacturer, configured by the second communication device 40000, calculated by the first communication device 30000, etc. The reference maximum capacity of the baseband memory of the first communication device may be the maximum possible capacity of the baseband memory at the time of manufacturing the memory of the first communication device 30000 and / or the first communication device 30000. The first communication device 40000 may determine the reference maximum capacity of the baseband memory by performing certain operation e.g., by generating dummy data to completely fill in its baseband memory etc. The first communication device may determine the reference maximum capacity of the baseband memory opportunistically when the first communication device 30000 is configured to transmit and / or receive maximum possible data, etc. As a second example, the criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device 30000 based on the memory capacity characteristic 410 is met if a maximum capacity of the baseband memory of the first communication device 30000 is a second baseband memory threshold 412, based on the reference maximum capacity of the baseband memory of the first communication device, consistently over certain time period, i.e., a first time period 413. The reference maximum capacity of the baseband memory of the first communication device 30000 may be obtained according to the previous example. The first time period can be pre-defined, obtained by the first communication device 30000 or configured by the second communication device 40000.

[0191] The criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device 30000 based on the baseband resource characteristic 400, may be further based on a processor resource characteristic 420. Performance of a processor resource can be expressed as number of instructions executed per unit time at given clock speed of the processor e.g., a number of millions of instructions per second or millions of operations per second at a clock speed. The functional state of the first communication device 30000 based on the degradation of the processor resource can be determined as follows.

[0192] As a first example, the criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device 30000 based on the processor resource characteristic 420 is met if a maximum instruction / operation execution rate of a baseband processor of the first communication device 30000 at a first clock frequency 421 is below a first instruction execution rate threshold 422, based on a reference instruction / operation execution rate of the same processor.

[0193] The value of the reference instruction / operation execution rate may be pre-defined, declared by the manufacturer, configured by the second communication device 40000, obtained by the first communication device 30000, etc. The reference instruction / operation execution rate may be the maximum possible instruction execution rate of the baseband processor at certain clock speed when the processor and / or the first communication device 30000 were manufactured. The first communication device 30000 may determine the maximum instruction / operation execution rate of the baseband processor of the first communication device 30000 at certain clock frequency by performing certain operation e.g., by generating dummy data at maximum possible speed at the given clock speed. The first communication device 30000 may determine the maximum instruction / operation execution rate of the baseband processor of the first communication device at certain clock frequency opportunistically when the first communication device 30000 is configured to transmit and / or receive maximum possible data rate, etc. The certain clock frequency can be predefined, obtained by the first communication device 30000, or configured by the second communication device 40000. As a second example, the criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device 30000 based on the processor resource characteristic 420 is met if a maximum instruction / operation execution rate of the baseband processor of the first communication device 30000 at a second clock frequency 423 is below a second instruction execution rate threshold 424, based on the reference instruction / operation execution rate of the same processor, consistently over a second time period 425. The second clock frequency 423 and the second time period 425 can be predefined, obtained by the first communication device 30000 or configured by the second communication device 40000.

[0194] A battery capacity storage characteristic 500 based criterion may comprises a maximum usable capacity of the battery of the first communication device 30000 decreasing over time due to several factors. Examples of such factors are exposure to extreme conditions, using low grade charger, voltage fluctuations, degradation of electrodes, e.g., exposure to dust, pollution, loss of lithium ions due to extreme heat or extreme cold, etc.

[0195] In a first example, the criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device based on the battery storage / capacity characteristic 500 is met if a maximum usable battery storage capacity 501 of the first communication device 30000 is below a first battery storage capacity threshold 502, based on a reference battery storage capacity. The first communication device 30000 may determine the maximum usable battery storage capacity when its battery is consistently charged by power supply and when the battery cannot store any further power. The reference battery storage capacity is typically declared by the manufacturer and the information is stored in the first communication device 30000 memory but may be obtained by the first communication device 30000 or configured by the second communication defined 40000. The first battery storage capacity threshold 502 can be pre-defined, obtained by the first communication device 30000 or configured by the second communication device 40000.

[0196] In a second example, the criterion for determining the operational age of the first communication device (30000) based on the battery storage / capacity reduction 500 is met if a maximum talk time 503 and / or maximum standby time 505 of the first communication device 30000 has fallen below their respective reference values, i.e., a first talk time threshold 504, and first standby time threshold 506, respectively. The first talk time threshold 504, and the first standby time threshold 506, are based on a reference maximum talk time and on a reference maximum standby time, respectively. The reference values of the maximum talk time and / or battery's maximum standby time are declared by the manufacturer but may be obtained by the first communication device 30000 or configured by the second communication device 40000. A transceiver performance characteristic 500 based criterion may comprise one or more parameters related to the transceiver, e.g., receiver and / or transmitter, of the first communication device 30000 that may also degrade over time due to wide range of factors e.g., exposure to extreme conditions etc. Some examples of parameters related to the transceiver and that can be estimated / measured by the first communication device 30000 to determine its functional state are explained below with examples.

[0197] A noise figure / factor (NF) characteristic 610 indicates the amount of signal degradation caused by a radio component of the transceiver. Lower values of NF correspond to a better transceiver performance, e.g., less signal loss / degradation compared to higher values of the NF. The NF is expressed as a ratio of input signal to noise ratio (SNRi) at the input of the transceiver to the output signal to noise ratio (SNRo) at the output of the transceiver expressed in dB e.g., NF = SNRi / SNRo (dB). The first communication device 30000 can estimate the NF by measuring input signal's SNRi and output signal's SNRo. If a NF of the transceiver is above a NF threshold 611, based on a reference NF, then the criterion based on the NF characteristic 610 is met. The NF threshold 611 can be pre-defined, obtained by the first communication device 30000, or configured by the second communication device 40000.

[0198] A reference sensitivity characteristic 620. The reference sensitivity of the first communication device 30000 is the minimum mean power applied at the first communication device 30000 receiver at which certain throughput is achieved for certain reference signal configuration, e.g., certain transmit power, channel bandwidth, frequency band, numerology, e.g., subcarrier spacing, certain modulation and coding scheme such as quadrature phase shift keying and coding rate of 1 / 3. The first communication device 30000 can estimate the reference sensitivity value when it is scheduled with data using the reference configuration by the second communication device 40000. The throughput can be estimated by checking the hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ.) feedback e.g., number of acknowledgement / negative acknowledgement for data reception transmitted by the first communication device 30000 to the second communication device 40000 over a time period. If a reference sensitivity estimated by the first communication device 30000 using the reference signal configuration is above a reference sensitivity threshold 621, based on a reference sensitivity value that may be declared by the manufacturer, obtained by the first communication device 30000, or configured by the second communication device 40000, then the criterion related to the reference sensitivity characteristic 620 is met. The reference sensitivity threshold 621 can be pre-defined, obtained by the first communication device 30000, or configured by the second communication device. A maximum output power characteristic 630. The maximum output power of the first communication device 30000 may also be called as a maximum nominal power or a power class. The maximum output power is a maximum possible output power with which the first communication device 30000 can transmit a signal. The maximum output power may further depend on factors such as frequency bands, frequency range, e.g., frequency range 1 (FR1) such as sub-6Ghz, frequency range 2 (FR2) such as mmWave. The maximum output power may decrease over time due to increase in the tolerance / accuracy of the output power caused especially when operating consistently or regularly in extreme temperatures. If a maximum output power estimated by the first communication device 30000 for a first frequency band 631 is below a maximum output power threshold 632, based on a reference maximum power value, then the criterion related to the maximum output power characteristic 630 is met. The maximum output power threshold 632 be pre-defined, obtained by the first communication device 30000, or configured by the second communication device 40000. The reference maximum power value of the first communication device 30000 is declared by the manufacturer, pre-defined, obtained by the first communication device 30000 or configured by the second communication device 40000.

[0199] A receiver signal quality characteristic 640. The receiver signal quality of a receiver of the first communication device 30000 may degrade over time due to partial or full impairment of one or more receiver parameters e.g., baseband or RF filter. The receiver signal quality may be expressed in terms of one or more of SNR, SINR, block error rate (BER), etc. If a receiver signal quality, estimated by the first communication device for a given reference signal configuration, is above a receiver signal quality threshold 641, based on a reference receiver signal quality value, then the criterion based on the receiver signal quality characteristic 640 is met. The receiver signal quality threshold 641 can be predefined, obtained by the first communication device 30000 or configured by the second communication device 40000. The reference receiver signal quality value may be the receiver signal quality obtained by the first communication device 30000 for the given reference signal configuration in the past e.g., when the first communication device 30000 was manufactured or was in its early stage. The reference received signal quality value may be declared by the manufacturer, obtained by the first communication device 30000, or configured by the second communication device 40000 for the given reference signal configuration. The reference received signal quality value for the given reference signal configuration is configured by the second communication device 40000. A transmitter signal quality chara"teri'tic 650. The EVM is an example of the parameter or metric to assess a transmitter signal quality performance of the first communication device 30000 or more specifically the quality of the signal modulated by a transmitter of the first communication device 30000. The EVM is the measure of the difference between a reference waveform and a measured waveform, and it is expressed in percentage. A lower EVM value means better modulated signal quality compared to the higher EVM value. It depends on the modulation order e.g., quadrature phase shift keying, 16 quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), 64 QAM, 256 QAM. The EVM may also degrade, i.e., increase, over time due to operation under extreme conditions, environmental pollutants, etc. If an EVM estimated by the first communication device 30000 for a given reference signal configuration is above an EVM threshold 651, based on a reference EVM value, then the criterion based on to the transmitter signal quality characteristic 650 is met. The EVM threshold 651 can be pre-defined, obtained by the first communication device 30000 or configured by the second communication device 40000. The reference EVM may be obtained by the first communication device 30000 for the given reference signal configuration in the past e.g., when the first communication device 30000 was manufactured or was in its early stage. The reference EVM may be pre-defined for the given reference signal configuration. The reference EVM for the given reference signal configuration may be configured by the second communication device 40000.

[0200] A beampattern characteristic 660. A transmitter beampattern quality is characterized by a radiated energy in all directions compared with a desired energy in the direction of intended receivers. When the radiated signal energy, e.g., by a multi-antenna base station, coincides with the desired signal energy in the direction of the desired receiver device, e.g., user equipment device, a beampattern is close to ideal, that is, no energy is radiated towards non-intended receivers. However, due to increased non-linearity at power amplifiers in radio frequency chains, the actual and desired beampatterns deviate, which causes interference at non-intended receivers. This beampattern characteristic 660 may be measured at the transmitter using predefined test signals or at the receiver measuring the received signal strength from the direction of a known transmitter.

[0201] The functional state of the first communication 30000 device may be expressed in terms of the functional states, or levels.

[0202] The functional state may be expressed in terms of at least two discrete levels: dysfunctional and functional; or state 0 and state 1. The functional state of the first communication device 30000 may be indicated as either functional or dysfunctional. Even in a dysfunctional state the first communication device 30000 may still function, however some of its procedures may be executed with degraded performance. This is explained with examples below. In a first example, the first communication device 30000 may be considered as dysfunctional, or in state 0, if all the criteria related to its functional state are met; otherwise, it is considered as functional, or state 1.

[0203] In a second example, the first communication device 30000 may be considered as dysfunctional, or in state 0, if a certain number of criteria related to its functional state are met; otherwise, it is considered as functional, or state 1.

[0204] In a third example, the first communication device 30000 may be considered as dysfunctional, or in state 0, if at a least certain type of the criterion related to its functional state is met; otherwise, it is considered as functional, or state 1.

[0205] In a fourth example, the first communication device 30000 may be considered as dysfunctional, or in state 0, if one or more criteria related to its functional state indicated / configured by the second communication device 40000 are met; otherwise, it is considered as functional (or state 1).

[0206] The functional state may be expressed in terms of more than two levels, e.g., dysfunctional, quasi / semi-functional, functional, or state 0, state 1, state 2. This is explained with examples below.

[0207] In a first example, the first communication device 30000 may be considered as dysfunctional, or in state 0, if all the criteria related to its functional state age are met. The first communication device 30000 may be considered fully functional, or in state 2, if none of the criteria related to its functional state are met. The first communication device 30000 may be considered semi-functional, or in state 1, if a subset of the criteria is met.

[0208] In a second example, the first communication device 30000 may be considered as dysfunctional, or in state 0, if the number of criteria related to its functional state age that are met is above a first criteria threshold. The first communication device 30000 may be considered fully functional, or in state 2, if the number of criteria related to its functional state age that are met is below a second criteria threshold. The first communication device 30000 may be considered semi-functional, or in state 1, if the number of criteria related to its functional state age that are met is below the first criteria threshold and above the second criteria threshold.

[0209] In a third example, the first communication device 30000 may be considered as dysfunctional, or in state 0, if at least certain type of the criterion related its functional state is met. The first communication device 30000 may be considered fully functional, or in state 2, if none of the criteria related to its functional state are met. The first communication device 30000 may be considered semifunctional, or in state 1, if a certain type of the criterion related its functional state is met while another type of the criterion related its functional state is not met. The number and / or the type of levels describing the functional state of the first communication device 30000 can be pre-defined, obtained by the first communication device 30000 or configured by the second communication device 40000.

[0210] It will be understood that at least some or all of the method 10000; 20000 features described herein may be automated. That is, at least some or all of the method 10000; 20000 features described herein can be performed automatically.

[0211] It should be noted that the above-mentioned features illustrate rather than limit the idea, and that those skilled in the art will be able to design many alternatives 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

CLAIMS:

1. A method (10000), for managing the functional state of a first communication device (30000), performed by the first communication device (30000), wherein the method comprises: in response to obtaining (11000) a first indication (10), determining (12000) a functional state of the first communication device based on at least one criterion, wherein the at least one criterion is based on a degradation of hardware of the first communication device (30000); performing (13000) at least one task based on the functional state of the first communication device (30000), wherein the at least one task comprises at least one of: adapting (13100) one or more procedures; adapting (13200) one or more first communication device parameters; transmitting (13300) a second indication (20) comprising information related to the functional state of the first communication device (30000) to a second communication device (40000).

2. The method of claim 1, comprising obtaining (14000) at least one criterion, wherein the at least one criterion is based on a degradation of hardware of the first communication device (30000).

3. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one task comprises at least one of: receiving (13310) a configuration from the second communication device (40000); receiving (13320), from the second communication device (40000), a third indication(30) indicating an action to be performed by the first communication device (30000), and / or by a subscriber of the first communication device (30000), and / or by an user of the first communication device (30000).

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one task comprises: receiving (13320), from the second communication device (40000), a third indication(30) indicating an action to be performed by the first communication device (30000), and / or by a subscriber of the first communication device (30000), and / or by an user of the first communication device (30000); and wherein the at least one task further comprises at least one of: forwarding (13321) the action to be performed by the subscriber of the first communication device (30000) and / or the user of the first communication device (30000), to the subscriber of the first communication device (30000) and / or the user of the first communication device (30000), respectively;performing (13322) the action to be performed by the first communication device (30000).

5. The method of any of the claims 3 to 4, wherein the configuration comprises at least one of: a fourth indication (40) indicating to adapt the one or more procedures; a fifth indication (50) indicating to adapt or more first communication device (30000) parameters.

6. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the one or more procedures comprises at least one of: interrupting (13110) a transmission; turning off (13120) a transmitter; turning off (13130) one or more antennas.

7. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the action to be performed by the first communication device (30000), and / or the subscriber of the first communication device (30000), and / or the user of the first communication device (30000) comprises at least one of: replacing (13323) a faulty hardware component of the first communication device (30000); replacing (13324) the first communication device (30000).

8. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one criterion is at least one of: based on a pre-defined value; based on a historical value.

9. The method of claim 88, wherein the pre-defined value and / or the historical value is received from the second communication device (40000).

10. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one criterion is based on at least one of: a passive intermodulation product characteristic (100); an amplifier linearity characteristic (200); a synchronization component characteristic (300); a baseband resource characteristic (400); a battery storage capacity characteristic (500); a transceiver performance characteristic (600).

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the at least one criterion based on the passive intermodulation product characteristic (100) is at least one of:an estimated power of a passive intermodulation product is above a first passive intermodulation product power threshold (101); an estimated power of a certain order (102) of intermodulation of the passive intermodulation product is above a second passive intermodulation product power threshold (103); the passive intermodulation product comprises at least a certain order (104) of intermodulation.

12. The method of claim 10 or 11, wherein the at least one criterion based on an amplifier linearity characteristic (200) is at least one of: an output signal is estimated, and / or detected at an output signal frequency (201) when a corresponding input signal power is below a first input signal power threshold (202), and the corresponding input signal frequency (203) is different from the output signal frequency (201); an estimated and / or detected power of an output signal at an output signal frequency (201), exceeds a first output signal power threshold (204) when a corresponding input signal power does not exceed the first input signal power threshold (202), and the corresponding input signal frequency (203) is different from the output signal frequency (201); an output signal contains a non-linear component of at least a certain order (205) when a corresponding input signal power is below a first input signal power threshold (202); an estimated power of an harmonic of a certain order (205) of an output signal is above a second output signal power threshold (206), when a corresponding input signal power is below the first input signal power threshold (202).

13. The method of any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the at least one criterion based on a synchronization component characteristic (300) is at least one of: a clock accuracy characteristic (310); a frequency accuracy characteristic (320).

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the at least one criterion based on a clock accuracy characteristic (310) is at least one of: an accuracy of at least one clock of the first communication device is below a first clock accuracy threshold (311); an accuracy of at least one clock of the first communication device used for a certain type of procedure is below a second clock accuracy threshold (312); a timing accuracy of a synchronization activity, obtained under a reference condition,has decreased compared to a previous timing accuracy of a synchronization activity obtained under the reference condition.

15. The method of any of claims 13 or 14, wherein the at least one criterion based on a frequency accuracy characteristic (320) is at least one of: a frequency accuracy of the first communication device (30000) is below a first frequency accuracy threshold (321); a magnitude of a doppler frequency of the first communication device (30000), at a certain frequency and at a certain speed, is above a first doppler frequency magnitude threshold (322).

16. The method of any one of claims 10 to 15, wherein the at least one criterion based on a baseband resource characteristic (400) is at least one of: a memory capacity characteristic (410); a processor resource characteristic (420).

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one criterion based on a memory capacity characteristic (410) is at least one of: a maximum memory capacity of a baseband memory of the first communication device is below a first memory capacity of a first baseband memory threshold (411); a maximum memory capacity of a baseband memory of the first communication device is below a second memory capacity of a second baseband memory threshold (412) over a first time period (413).

18. The method of any one of claims 10 to 17, wherein the at least one criterion based on a processor resource characteristic (420) is at least one of: a maximum instruction execution rate of the first communication device at a first clock frequency (421) is below a first instruction execution rate threshold (422); a maximum instruction execution rate of the first communication device at a second clock frequency (423) is below a second instruction execution rate threshold (424) over a second time period (425).

19. The method of any one of claims 10 to 18, wherein the at least one criterion based on a battery capacity storage characteristic (500) is at least one of: a maximum usable battery storage capacity (501) is below a first battery storage capacity threshold (502); a maximum talk time (503) is below a first talk time threshold (504); a maximum standby time (505) is below a first standby time threshold (506).

20. The method of any one of claims 10 to 19, wherein the at least one criterion based on a transceiver performance characteristic (600) is at least one of: a noise figure or noise factor characteristic (610); a reference sensitivity characteristic (620); a maximum output power characteristic (630); a receiver signal quality characteristic (640); a transmitter signal quality characteristic (650); a beampattern characteristic (660).

21. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one criterion comprises at least one criterion obtained by the first communication device (30000).

22. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the at least one criterion comprises at least one criterion received from the second communication device (40000).

23. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the first indication (10) comprises at least one of: a periodic trigger; an aperiodic trigger; a request from the second communication device; a threshold indication; a criterion.

24. The method of claim 2323, wherein the threshold indication is at least one of: an average bitrate is below a first average bitrate threshold during a third time period; a peak bitrate is below a first peak bitrate threshold during a fourth time period; a signal quality value is below a first signal quality threshold during a fifth time period.

25. The method of the preceding claims, wherein any of the indications, any of the requests, any of the times, any of the discrete levels, any of the criterions, any of the historical values, any of the pre-defined values; any of the thresholds, any of the frequencies, any of the time periods, and / or any of the orders is at least one of: pre-defined; configured by the second communication device (40000); obtained by the first communication device (30000).

26. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the first communication device (30000) and / or the second communication device (40000) is a base station, a user equipment or a network device.

27. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein determining (12000) a functional state of the first communication device (30000) is performed upon receiving a request from a second communication device (40000) or is performed at a time indicated by the second communication device (40000).

28. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein a functional state is expressed in terms of at least two discrete levels.

29. The method of claim 2828, wherein the at least two discrete levels are at least two of: dysfunctional; quasi-functional; functional.

30. The method of any of claims 2828 to 2929, wherein the at least two discrete levels is at least one of: pre-defined; obtained by the first communication device (30000); configured by the second communication device (40000).

31. A method (20000), for managing the functional state of a first communication device (30000), performed by a second communication device (40000) wherein the method comprises: in response to obtaining (21000) information related to a functional state of a first communication device (30000); performing (22000) at least one task based on the functional state of the first communication device (30000), wherein the at least one task is at least one of: adapting (22100) one or more procedures related to the first communication device (30000); transmitting (22200), to the first communication device (30000), a third indication (30) indicating an action to be performed by the first communication device (30000) and / or by a subscriber of the first communication device (30000) and / or by an user of the first communication device (30000); transmitting (22300) a configuration to the first communication device (30000).

32. The method of claim 31, comprising transmitting (23000) a first indication (10).

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the first indication (10) comprises at least one of: a periodic trigger; an aperiodic trigger; a request from the second communication device; a threshold indication; a criterion.

34. The method of claim 3323, wherein the threshold indication is at least one of: an average bitrate is below a first average bitrate threshold during a third time period; a peak bitrate is below a first peak bitrate threshold during a fourth time period; a signal quality value is below a first signal quality threshold during a fifth time period.

35. The method of any of the claims 31 to 3431, wherein the first communication device (20000) and / or the second communication device (30000) is a base station or a user equipment or a network device.

36. The method of any of the claims 31 to 35, wherein a configuration comprises at least one of: a fourth indication (40) indicating to adapt one or more procedures; a fifth indication (50) indicating to adapt or more first communication device (3000) parameters.

37. The method of any of the claims 31 to 36 32, wherein the adapting (22100) one or more procedures with the first communication device (30000) comprises at least one of: scheduling (22110) the first communication device (30000) with lower order modulation; using (22120) lower order modulation coding scheme for data scheduling; operating (22130) the first communication device (30000) at a reduced maximum power.

38. The method of any of the claims 31 to 3736, wherein a fourth indication (40) indicating to adapt one or more procedures comprises at least one of: an indication to interrupt (22310) a transmission; an indication to turn off (22320) a transmitter; an indication to turn off (22330) one or more antennas.

39. The method of any of the claims 31 to 38, wherein the action to be performed by the first communication device (30000) and / or by the subscriber of the first communication device (30000) and / or by the user of the first communication device (30000) comprises at least one of:replacing (22210) a faulty hardware component of the first communication device(30000); replacing (22220) the first communication device (30000).

40. The method of any of the claimsSl 31 to 3939, comprising transmitting (23000) to the first communication device (30000): any of the indications, any of the requests, any of the times, any of the discrete levels, any of the criterions, any of the historical values, any of the pre-defined values; any of the thresholds, any of the frequencies, any of the time periods, any of the discrete levels, and / or any of the orders.

41. The method of claim 4028, wherein the discrete level is at least one of: dysfunctional; quasi-functional; functional.

42. A first communication device (30000) comprising a processor (31000) and a memory (32000), the memory (32000) containing instructions executable by the processor (31000) whereby the first communication device (30000) is operative to: in response to obtaining (11000) a first indication (10), determine (12000) a functional state of the first communication device based on at least one criterion, wherein the at least one criterion is based on a degradation of hardware of the first communication device (30000); perform (13000) at least one task based on the functional state of the first communication device (30000), wherein the at least one task comprises at least one of: adapt (13100) one or more procedures; adapt (13200) one or more first communication device parameters; transmit (13300) information related to the functional state of the first communication device (30000) to a second communication device (40000).

43. The first communication device (30000) of claim 42, wherein the memory containing instructions executable by the processor whereby the first communication device (30000) is operative to perform the method according to any of the claims 2 to 30.

44. A second communication device (40000) comprising a processor and a memory, the memory containing instructions executable by the processor whereby the second communication device(40000) is operative to: in response to obtaining (21000) information related to a functional state of a firstcommunication device; perform (22000) at least one task based on the functional state of the first communication device, wherein the at least one task is at least one of: adapt (22100) one or more procedures related to the first communication device; transmit (22200), to the first communication device, a third indication (30) indicating an action to be performed by the first communication device and / or by a subscriber of the first communication device and / or by an user of the first communication device; transmit (22300) a configuration to the first communication device.

45. The second communication device (40000) of claim 44, wherein the memory containing instructions executable by the processor whereby the second communication device (40000) is operative to perform the method according to any of the claims 32 to 41.

46. A computer program (52000) comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor (31000; 41000), causes a first communication device (30000) to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 30, and / or a second communication device (40000) to perform the method according to any one of claims 31 to 41.

47. A computer program product (50000) comprising a computer readable storage medium, wherein the computer readable storage medium (51000) comprises instructions which are executable by a processor (31000; 41000) to cause a first communication device (30000) to perform the method according to any one of claims 1 to 30, and / or a second communication device (40000) to perform the method according to any one of claims 31 to 41.

48. A system comprising (60000): at least one first communication device (30000) as claimed in 42 or 43; and at least one second communication device (40000) as claimed in claim 44 or 45.

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