First base station and method for mitigating interference in a wireless communication network

Abstract

A method performed by a first base station for handling communication in a wireless communication network is provided. The wireless communication network comprises the first base station and at least one second base station. The first base station configures (301) a subset of slots as default Uplink, UL, slot. The first base station monitors (302) for an overheard intent for UL traffic. The intent transmitted by a second base station. The intent for UL traffic is for UL traffic in a following default UL slot. The first base station determines (303) whether to schedule a Downlink, DL, data transmission from the first base station in the following default UL slot based on the monitoring.

Description

[0001] FIRST BASE STATION AND METHOD FOR MITIGATING INTERFERENCE IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORK

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Embodiments herein relate to a first base station and method therein. In some aspects, they relate to handling communication in a wireless communication network.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] In a typical wireless communication network, wireless devices, also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and / or User Equipment (UE), communicate via a Wide Area Network or a Local Area Network such as a Wi-Fi network or a cellular network comprising a Radio Access Network (RAN) part and a Core Network (CN) part. The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cell areas, which may also be referred to as a beam or a beam group, with each service area or cell area being served by a radio network node such as a radio access node e.g., a Wi-Fi access point, a Base Station (BS) or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be denoted, for example, a Base Station (BS), a NodeB, eNodeB (eNB), or gNodeB (gNB) as denoted in Fifth Generation (5G) telecommunications. A service area or cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over an air interface operating on a radio frequency with the wireless devices within the range of the radio network node.

[0006] 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is the standardization body for specifying the standards for the cellular system evolution, e.g., including 3G, 4G, 5G and the future evolutions. Specifications for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E- UTRA) and Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3GPP. In 4G also called a Fourth Generation (4G) network, EPS is core network and E-UTRA is radio access network. In 5G, 5GC is core network, NR is radio access network. As a continued network evolution, the new release of 3GPP specifies a 5G network also referred to as 5G New Radio (NR) and 5G Core (5GC).

[0007] Frequency bands for 5G NR are being separated into two different frequency ranges, Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and Frequency Range 2 (FR2). FR1 comprises sub-6 GHz frequency bands. Some of these bands are bands traditionally used by legacy standards but have been extended to cover potential new spectrum offerings from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. FR2 comprises frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. Bands in this millimeter wave range have shorter range but higher available bandwidth than bands in the FR1.

[0008] Multi-antenna techniques may significantly increase the data rates and reliability of a wireless communication system. For a wireless connection between a single user, such as UE, and a base station (BS), the performance is in particular improved if both the transmitter and the receiver are equipped with multiple antennas, which results in a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) communication channel. This may be referred to as Single-User (SU)-MIMO. In the scenario where MIMO techniques is used for the wireless connection between multiple users and the base station, MIMO enables the users to communicate with the base station simultaneously using the same time-frequency resources by spatially separating the users, which increases further the cell capacity. This may be referred to as Multi-User (MU)-MIMO. Note that MU-MIMO may benefit when each UE only has one antenna. The cell capacity can be increased linearly with respect to the number of antennas at the BS side. Due to that, more and more antennas are employed in BS. Such systems and / or related techniques are commonly referred to as massive MIMO.

[0009] Time Division Duplexing (TDD) is about using time division multiplexing to separate transmitted and received signals in a node, e.g. a base station in a cellular network. When the duration and I or time instances used for downlink and uplink are not fixed, but vary over time, this is referred to as dynamic TDD. The durations can e.g. be based on traffic in each of the durations. This is beneficial as no resources (time) are wasted on a direction with no traffic.

[0010] A problem with dynamic TDD in multi-cellular networks, with multiple base stations serving different subsets of terminals, is that of base station-to-base station and terminal- to-terminal interference. While a base station can control downlink and uplink transmissions to and from terminals in its own cell, it often cannot control transmissions in neighboring cells. As a result, one base station can be receiving while another nearby base station is transmitting. Quite often the desired signal received from a terminal is quite weak, e.g., lower transmit power, terminal at cell-edge, whereas the interfering signal from another base station can be very strong, e.g., high transmit power, possibly line-of-sight between base stations. To avoid base station-to-base station interference, cellular networks typically employ Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) or static TDD, where downlink and uplink are either separated in the frequency domain, or statically, in the same pattern in all cells, in the time domain. To support dynamic TDD a coordinated, or centralized scheduler, with knowledge of that nodes can be simultaneously active, could be used. However, at least in situations when there is no centralized scheduler, other means to control the interference are needed.

[0011] Wi-Fi networks make use of Carrier-sense multiple access with collision avoidance (CSMA / CA), also known as Listen Before Talk (LBT) mechanisms, where nodes with data to transmit first listen to, or sense, the radio channel and assess it clear before transmitting. To avoid collisions from multiple nodes assessing the channel free at the same time, transmissions start at pseudo random times, reducing the risk that nodes start transmitting at the same time.

[0012] A problem with LBT schemes is that of ‘hidden nodes’, exemplified in Figure 1. Imagine for example a node A transmitting data to a node B, A third node, C, is close to the receiving node B, but far from the transmitting node A, see Figure 1. Node C can start transmitting while node A is transmitting. It then interferes node B. In this case node A is hidden from node C. To overcome this problem a Request-To-Send I Clear-To-Send (RTS / CTS) mechanism exists. Using RTS / CTS, if node A wishes to send data to node B, it first sends a short RTS message to node B, and node B responds with a likewise short CTS message. Both the RTS and CTS messages contain a duration field that covers the length of the transmit opportunity (TXOP) that the initiating node wants to reserve for transmission. This duration field is then used by the network allocation vector (NAV) of any device that receives either message. The NAV is a timer that will prevent a node from trying to access the wireless channel. The idea is that all nodes that would interfere with node B, also those that do not hear node A, hear node B’s CTS, and refrain from transmitting. Since the RTS and CTS are short, the probability that a hidden node starts transmitting after the RTS is sent but before the CTS is smaller than for a regular data transmission.

[0013] Additionally, the RTS / CTS procedure deals with the ‘exposed node’ problem at the same time. Imagine the same scenario as in Figure 1 , but with an additional node D to the left of node A. Without the RTS / CTS frame exchange it would simply hear the data transmission from node A and assess that the channel is occupied and defer from transmission. With RTS / CTS it would instead hear and recognize the RTS frame but never detect a CTS response. As such it would infer that it is out of range of the receiving node that node A intends to transmit to and thus node D can initiate its own transmission as well, which increases spatial efficiency.

[0014] In Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 , a few variants of the RTS / CTS procedure have been standardized. Namely RTS / CTS, MU-RTS / CTS and CTS-to-self. The RTS / CTS works exactly as described above and is a single user means to provide protection for wireless transmission over a TXOP. The MU-RTS / CTS procedure on the other hand was introduced in 802.11 ax, together with OFDM A in order to allow an AP STA to collect CTS responses from multiple non-AP STAs with a single RTS frame for use when doing DL OFDMA transmissions. The CTS-to-self mechanism was introduced in 802.11g as a means for a transmitter to provide protection in mixed mode (OFDM / DSSS) environments. The CTS-to-self works by the transmitter setting both the transmitting and receiving address of the frame as its own MAC address. This allows the device to set up the protection in a shorter amount of time, however with some cost to the overall protection granted. This option has gained some traction lately in standardization as latency becomes more critical and additional use cases become more prevalent, such as Peer-to-Peer (P2P) communication.

[0015] SUMMARY

[0016] As a part of developing embodiments herein a problem was identified by the inventors and will first be discussed.

[0017] Coordinated or centralized scheduling requires a network architecture and transmission network, for signaling between base stations, that is not always present. Obtaining the channel knowledge required to avoid base station-to-base station interference is not trivial.

[0018] LBT and RTS / CTS mechanisms are efficient tools for supporting dynamic TDD. They, however, rely on signals and procedures that are not present in most cellular networks, like NR or LTE.

[0019] An object of embodiments herein is to improve the performance in a wireless communication network.

[0020] According to an aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method performed by a first base station for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The wireless communication network comprises the first base station and at least one second base station.

[0021] The first base station configures a subset of slots as default Uplink, UL, slot.

[0022] The first base station monitors for an overheard intent for UL traffic. The intent is transmitted by a second base station. The intent for UL traffic being for UL traffic in a following default UL slot.

[0023] The first base station determines whether to schedule a Downlink, DL, data transmission from the first base station in the following default UL slot based on the monitoring.

[0024] According to another aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a first base station configured to handle communication in a wireless communication network. The wireless communication network comprises the first base station and at least one second base station.

[0025] The first base station is configured to configure a subset of slots as default Uplink, UL, slot.

[0026] The first base station is configured to monitor for an overheard intent for UL traffic. The intent transmitted by a second base station. The intent for UL traffic is adapted to be for UL traffic in a following default UL slot,

[0027] The first base station is configured to determine whether to schedule a DL data transmission from the first base station in the following default UL slot based on the monitoring.

[0028] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0029] Examples of embodiments herein are described in more detail with reference to attached drawings in which:

[0030] Figure 1 illustrates an example according to prior art.

[0031] Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a wireless communications network.

[0032] Figure 3 is a flowchart depicting embodiments of a method in a first base station.

[0033] Figure 4 illustrates an example according to embodiments herein.

[0034] Figure 5 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of first base station. Figure 6 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments. Figure 7 shows a UE QQ200 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0035] Figure 8 shows a network node QQ300 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0036] Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ400 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized.

[0037] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] Embodiments herein relate to communication in wireless communication network.

[0039] According to examples of embodiments herein, is to use the already present Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) as a CTS. A subset of slots may be defined as ‘default uplink’ slots. Base stations with uplink traffic in these slots may schedule their terminals using the PDCCH comprising uplink grants. Base stations with downlink traffic, but no, or lower prioritized, uplink traffic, may use the slots for downlink transmission, if they do not hear a, e.g., sufficiently strong, PDCCH with uplink scheduling grants from another base station. In NR, the solution is simplified by the fact that there is typically a longer delay in between the PDCCH and the associated PLISCH, than between the PDCCH and associated PDSCH. This may mean that base stations can listen for uplink PDCCHs in one slot, and then send PDCCH for their own downlink in a later slot.

[0040] Embodiments herein relate to wireless communication networks in general. Figure 2 is a schematic overview depicting a wireless communication network 100. The wireless communication network 100 comprises one or more RANs and one or more CNs. The wireless communication network 100 may use a number of different technologies, such as Wi-Fi, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, 5G, New Radio (NR), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile communications / enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM / EDGE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), just to mention a few possible implementations. Embodiments herein relate to recent technology trends that are of particular interest in a 5G context, however, embodiments are also applicable in further development of the existing wireless communication systems such as e.g. WCDMA and LTE, or to future technologies such as 6G.

[0041] A number of network nodes operate in the wireless communication network 100 such as e.g. a first base station 101 and a second base station 102. These nodes provide radio coverage in a number of cells which may also be referred to as a beam or a beam group of beams.

[0042] The first base station 101 and the second base station 102 may be any of a NG- RAN node, a transmission and reception point e.g. a base station, a radio access network node such as a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), an access controller, a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), a gNB, a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point, a network controlled repeater or any other network unit capable of communicating with a wireless device within the service area served by the first base station 101 and / or the second base station 102 depending e.g. on the first radio access technology and terminology used. The first base station 101 and / or the second base station 102 may be referred to as a serving radio network node and communicates with a wireless device 121 with Downlink (DL) transmissions to the wireless device 121 and Uplink (UL) transmissions from the wireless device 121.

[0043] In the wireless communication network 100, one or more UEs operate, such as e.g. the UE 121. The UE 121 may also referred to as a wireless device, a device, an loT device, a mobile station, a non-access point (non-AP) STA, a STA, a user equipment and / or a wireless terminals, communicate via one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. RAN, to one or more core networks (CN). It should be understood by the skilled in the art that “wireless device” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, wireless communication terminal, user equipment, Machine Type Communication (MTC) device, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a small base station communicating within a cell.

[0044] Methods herein may be performed by the first base station 101. As an alternative, a Distributed Node (DN) and functionality, e.g. comprised in the cloud 190 as shown in Figure 2, may be used for performing or partly performing the methods herein.

[0045] According to examples of embodiments herein, slots, or time periods, may be configured as downlink, uplink, or ‘default uplink’. At least some slots are default uplink. In the default uplink slots, base stations with uplink traffic schedule terminals in the uplink. In the default uplink slots, base stations with downlink traffic may listen to e.g., PDCCH from other base stations to detect uplink scheduling grants, determine if there is uplink traffic in neighboring base stations, and determine if its own downlink transmission would interfere with the uplink in the neighboring base stations. If there is no uplink that would be interfered, the base station may transmit in the downlink.

[0046] Examples of embodiments herein may provide a method for protecting a wireless transmission in a time synchronized network, where the network comprises a plurality of base stations, such as the first base station 101 and the one or more second base stations 102. In some examples, the first base station 101 may be configured to communicate with UEs, such as the UE 121 , using dynamic TDD. The default configuration of a subset of slots is UL. Base stations may signal, such as send, their intent for delivering DL or UL traffic in a following timeslot. The first base station 101 may determine whether to transmit their intent is to transmit DL data in said following timeslot if at least one intent for UL traffic was overheard from one of the plurality of other base stations, such as the one or more second base stations 102.

[0047] The above-described problem is addressed in a number of embodiments, some of which may be seen as alternatives, while some may be used in combination.

[0048] A method according to embodiments will now be described from the view of the first base station 101 together with Figure 3. Figure 3 shows example embodiments of a method performed by in the first base station 101 for handling communication in the wireless communication network 100. The wireless communication network 100 comprises the first base station 101 and at least one second base station 102. The first base station 101 may be configured to communicate with a UE, such as the UE 121 , using dynamic TDD. The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order. Actions that are optional are presented in dashed boxes in Figure 3.

[0049] Action 301

[0050] The base station 101 configures a subset of slots as default UL slots. E.g., the first base station 101 may configure the subset of slots as default UL slots by applying a configuration indicating the subset of slots as default UL slots. The same subset of slots may be configured as default UL slots for that first base station 101 and the one or more second base stations 102. A default UL slot as used herein, may mean a slot that is configured for UL traffic, e.g., when dynamic TDD is used. As will be explained further below, a default UL slot may under certain conditions be used for DL traffic, such as DL data transmissions.

[0051] Action 302 The base station 101 monitors for an overheard intent for UL traffic. The intent is transmitted by a second base station 102. The intent for UL traffic is for UL traffic in a following default UL slot. An intent for UL traffic as used herein, may e.g., mean a message transmitted to a UE scheduling UL traffic to be transmitted from the UE to a base station, such as the second base station 102. An overheard intent may mean that the first base station 101 hears, such as detects, the intent transmitted by the second base station 102, even though the intent is intended for another recipient, such as a UE.

[0052] In some embodiments, the first base station 101 monitoring for the overheard intent to transmit UL data monitoring a PDCCH. In other words, the base station 101 monitors, or listens to, the PDCCH in order to detect any intent for UL traffic transmitted by the second base station 102.

[0053] In some embodiments, monitoring for the overheard intent for UL traffic comprises detecting an intent and differentiating between an UL grant and a DL assignment. The first base station 101 may perform the differentiation by any one or more of out of a CORSET configuration for UL grants and DL assignments, decoding the PDCCH from the second base station (102), and using DCI format 2_0 to listen for slot format combinations used.

[0054] In some embodiments, the intent for UL traffic is transmitted a predetermined time K2 before the transmission of the UL traffic. An intent for DL traffic is transmitted a predetermined time K0 before the transmission of the DL traffic. K2 is greater than K0. This means that the time between an intent for DL traffic and the transmission of DL traffic is shorter than the time between an intent for UL traffic and the transmission of UL traffic. For a base station, such as the first base station 101 , intending to transmit in the DL in the following default uplink slot, i.e. , a default UL slot occurring K2 after monitoring for the intent for UL traffic, the first base station 101 may ignore any intent for DL traffic detected.

[0055] In some embodiments, monitoring for the intent for UL traffic comprises monitoring for the intent for UL traffic the predetermined time K2 before the following default UL time slot.

[0056] In some embodiments, the intent for UL traffic comprises an UL grant. And intent for DL traffic may comprise a DL assignment.

[0057] In some embodiments, monitoring for the overheard intent for UL traffic comprises determining that no intent, either for UL traffic or for DL traffic, was detected.

[0058] Action 303

[0059] The base station 101 determines whether to schedule a DL data transmission from the first base station 101 in the following default UL slot based on the monitoring. This may mean that the first base station 101 determines whether to schedule the DL data transmission based on whether or not an intent for UL traffic is detected during the monitoring. In other words, the first base station determines whether to schedule a DL data transmission based on whether or not an intent for UL traffic is detected during the monitoring.

[0060] In some embodiments, determining whether to schedule the DL data transmission comprises any one out of deferring from scheduling the DL traffic in the following default UL slot when detecting an overheard intent for UL traffic, or scheduling DL traffic in the following default UL slot when no overheard intent for UL traffic is detected. This may mean that when, during the monitoring, the first base station 101 detects an intent for UL traffic, the first base station 101 defers from the scheduling the DL data transmission in the following default UL slot. Correspondingly, when, during the monitoring, the first base station 101 does not detect an intent for UL traffic, the first base station 101 schedules the DL data transmission in the following default UL slot.

[0061] In some embodiments, determining whether to schedule the DL data transmission comprises deferring from scheduling the DL traffic in the following default UL slot when detecting an overheard intent for UL traffic, which detected intent has a signal strength exceeding a threshold. This may mean that when the first base station 101 detects an intent for UL traffic during the monitoring, the first base station 101 checks the signal strength of the intent. And only when the signal strength exceeds the threshold, the first base station 101 defers from scheduling the DL data transmission. Thus, the first base station 101 may schedule the DL data transmission even though an intent for UL traffic is detected, as long as the signal strength of the detected intent does not exceed the threshold.

[0062] Action 304

[0063] In some embodiments, the first base station 101 schedules the DL data transmission in the following default UL slot by sending a DL assignment, e.g., to the UE the DL data transmission is intended for. The first base station 101 may e.g., schedule the DL data transmission when determined to schedule the data transmission, as explained above.

[0064] Embodiments herein such as the embodiments mentioned above will now be further described and exemplified. The text below is applicable to embodiments herein and may be combined with any suitable embodiment described above. According to examples of embodiments herein, the already present PDCCH in NR may be used as a CTS. A set of slots, or, in general, time intervals, may be defined as ‘default uplink’. Uplink traffic in these slots is scheduled by the base stations, such as the first base station 101 and / or the second base station 102, using the PDCCH in the same way as today, i.e. , sending uplink grants on the PDCCH to trigger transmissions from the UEs handled by the respective scheduler. Base stations with downlink traffic, such as the first base station 101 and / or the second base station 102, but no, or lower prioritized, uplink traffic, may use the slots, such as the default uplink slots, for downlink transmission under the condition that they do not hear a sufficiently strong PDCCH with uplink scheduling grants from another base station. A base station may, in this context, be interpreted as a scheduler controlling the transmission activity to / from one or more transmission points handled by that particular scheduler.

[0065] To simplify the implementation, the CTS, that is, the uplink grant on the PDCCH in this case, should be provided a certain amount of time prior to the actual PDSCH downlink transmission. This allows the base station detecting the CTS to do so prior to reversing the channel into the downlink direction. In NR (and LTE), uplink grants are transmitted from the base station a certain time, denoted K2, before the uplink transmission takes place from the UE. The time from a downlink assignment to the associated downlink data is denoted K0 and typically K2>K0, providing sufficient time for the neighboring base station to detect the presence / absence of an uplink grant.

[0066] Since base stations use PDCCHs for both uplink and downlink scheduling, as well as for some other reasons, there is a need for the neighboring base stations to determine whether a PDCCH is an uplink grant or a downlink assignment. This can be handled in multiple ways.

[0067] The preferred approach is to use different CORESETs for PDCCHs related to uplink and downlink transmissions. A CORESET is the frequency resource used for transmission of PDCCHs. Multiple CORESETs may be configured in the UE. In this case, it is sufficient for the neighboring base stations to know the CORESET and, at least parts of, the search space configuration to determine whether there is any transmission activity in the UL- related CORESET, but no need to determine the detailed scheduling message. Figure 4 shows an example of this. If transmitting on CORESET#2 while listening on CORESET#1 in the base station is problematic, the CORESETs could be located on different carriers, in case carrier aggregation is used, or, by the appropriate search space configuration, be separated in time by using different OFDM symbols. Another possibility would be to provide the neighboring base stations with information necessary to decode the PDCCHs, for example the Radio Network Temporary Identifiers (RNTI) of the UEs handled by one base station as well as the overall PDCCH configuration used. The neighboring base stations could, using this information, decode the PDCCH messages and determine whether there are any uplink transmissions, including when and in what frequency range.

[0068] A third possibility is for the neighboring base stations to listen to PDCCH transmissions with DCI format 2_0. This DCI format may be used to carry the slot format combination, i.e. whether a slot is reserved for UL, DL, or flexible. However, this approach has the drawback that a base station needs to determine the SFI in advance and may thus only be used to inform the neighboring base stations, not the other way around.

[0069] In prior art where RTS / CTS is used, prioritization between the different users is performed by the randomness of LBT and whoever gets access to the wireless medium first gets to occupy it using RTS / CTS. Whilst according to embodiments herein each base station collects a set of UL and DL grants and prioritizes based on direction, there is a bias towards either direction. Thus, there exists a risk that whichever direction is the most prioritized takes over and does not allow the other to ever access.

[0070] As such, the above schemes may be extended in multiple ways. For example, only some of the slots might be configured as ‘default UL’ and the remaining slots are either UL or DL and not subject to dynamic TDD. This may e.g., be useful to also protect random access transmissions or uplink configured grants. Both are examples of uplink transmissions not dynamically scheduled by the PDCCH and hence not protected by the CTS mechanism above. Another possibility may be to define different priority levels for the different slots such that only high-priority downlink transmission may occur in a ‘default UL’ slot but not low-priority transmissions. E.g., the plurality of base stations may ensure that the lower prioritized direction gets fair access to the medium by changing the default slot configuration for some timeslots, assigning different priority levels for some of the timeslots, and / or frequency isolating a part of the bandwidth. In some examples a base station, such as the first base station 101 , does not defer a lower priority transmission given that it can spatially isolate the one or more base stations, such as the second base station 102, that sent the higher priority grant.

[0071] The base stations may, upon detection of an uplink PDCCH in a neighboring cell, still decide to perform a downlink transmission. For example, beamforming may be used such that the downlink transmission does not interfere with the uplink reception in the other cell, i.e., isolation in the spatial domain. As stated above, the PDCCHs for uplink data in slot n and downlink data in slot n are typically sent in different slots, n-K2 and n-kO respectively. This simplifies listening to uplink PDCCHs in slot n-K2 before deciding to schedule downlink data using the downlink PDCCH in slot n-kO.

[0072] It is however still so that when listening to the uplink PDCCHs in slot n-K2, a base station may want to schedule downlink data for slot n-K2+K0, using the PDCCH in slot n- K2. It hence has to listen to uplink PDCCHs and send an own PDCCH in the same slot. The are different approaches to support this:

[0073] Downlink and uplink PDCCHs may be sent on different carriers.

[0074] Downlink and uplink PDCCHs may use different CORESETs on the same carrier, and hence be separated in time and frequency within the carrier. This approach may be complemented with techniques for suppressing self interference.

[0075] Self-interference cancellation may be used to remove the transmitted signal from the received signal.

[0076] To perform the method actions above, the first base station 101 is configured to handle communication the wireless communication network 100. The wireless communication network (100) comprises the first base station (101) and at least one second base station (102). The first base station 101 may comprise an arrangement depicted in Figure 5.

[0077] The first base station 101 may comprise an input and output interface 500 configured to communicate with each other. The input and output interface 500 may comprise a receiver, e.g. wired and / or wireless, (not shown) and a transmitter, e.g. wired and / or wireless, (not shown).

[0078] The embodiments herein may be implemented through a respective processor or one or more processors, such as at least one processor 510 of a processing circuitry in the first base station 101 depicted in Figure 5, together with computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the embodiments herein when being loaded into the first base station 101. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the first base station 101. The first base station 101 and / or processor 510 is configured to handle communication in the wireless communication network 100. The wireless communication network 100 comprises the first base station 101 and at least one second base station 102.

[0079] The first base station 101 and / or processor 510 is configured to configure a subset of slots as default UL slot.

[0080] The first base station 101 and / or processor 510 is configured to monitor for an overheard intent for UL traffic. The intent is transmitted by a second base station 102. The intent for UL traffic is adapted to be for UL traffic in a following default UL slot.

[0081] The first base station 101 and / or processor 510 is configured to determine whether to schedule a DL data transmission from the first base station 101 in the following default UL slot based on the monitoring.

[0082] In some embodiments, the first base station 101 and / or processor 510 may further be configured to monitor for an overheard intent to transmit UL data by monitoring a PDCCH.

[0083] In some embodiments, the first base station 101 and / or processor 510 may further be configured to monitor for an overheard intent for UL traffic by differentiating between an UL grant and a DL assignment by any one or more of out of:

[0084] - a CORSET configuration for UL grants and DL assignments,

[0085] - decoding the PDCCH from the second base station 102, and

[0086] - using DCI format 2_0 to listen for slot format combinations used.

[0087] In some embodiments, the first base station 101 and / or processor 510 may further be configured to determine whether to schedule the DL data transmission by any one out of:

[0088] - deferring from scheduling the DL traffic in the following default UL slot when detecting an overheard intent for UL traffic, or

[0089] - scheduling DL traffic in the following default UL slot when no overheard intent for UL traffic is detected.

[0090] In some embodiments, the first base station 101 and / or processor 510 may further be configured to determine whether to schedule the DL data transmission by deferring from scheduling the DL traffic in the following default UL slot when detecting an overheard intent for UL traffic, which detected intent has a signal strength exceeding a threshold.

[0091] In some embodiments, an intent for UL traffic is adapted to be transmitted a predetermined time K2 before the transmission of the UL traffic. An intent for DL traffic is adapted to be transmitted a predetermined time KO before the transmission of the DL traffic. K2 is adapted to be greater than KO.

[0092] In some embodiments, the first base station 101 and / or processor 510 may further be configured to monitor for the intent for UL traffic by monitoring for the intent for UL traffic the predetermined time K2 before the following default UL time slot.

[0093] In some embodiments, the intent for UL traffic comprises an UL grant.

[0094] The first base station 101 may further comprise a memory 520 comprising one or more memory units. The memory 520 comprises instructions executable by the processor 510 in the first base station 101. The memory 520 is arranged to be used to store e.g. information, indications, data, configurations, messages, intents for UL traffic, intents for DL traffic, and applications to perform the methods herein when being executed in the first base station 101.

[0095] In some embodiments, a computer program 530 comprises instructions, which when executed by the respective at least one processor 510, cause the at least one processor 510 of the first base station 101 to perform the actions above.

[0096] In some embodiments, a respective carrier 540 comprises the respective computer program 530, wherein the carrier 540 is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

[0097] Thus, embodiments herein may disclose the first base station 101 configured to handle communication in the wireless communication network 100. The first base station 101 comprises the processor 510 and the memory 520, said memory 520 comprising instructions executable by said processor 510 whereby said first base station 101 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0098] As will be readily understood by those familiar with communications design, that functions means or modules may be implemented using digital logic and / or one or more microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other digital hardware. In some embodiments, several or all of the various functions may be implemented together, such as in a single application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or in two or more separate devices with appropriate hardware and / or software interfaces between them. Several of the functions may be implemented on a processor shared with other functional components of a base station, for example.

[0099] Alternatively, several of the functional elements of the processing means discussed may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware, while others are provided with hardware for executing software, in association with the appropriate software or firmware. Thus, the term “processor” or “controller” as used herein does not exclusively refer to hardware capable of executing software and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, read-only memory (ROM) for storing software, random-access memory for storing software and / or program or application data, and nonvolatile memory. Other hardware, conventional and / or custom, may also be included. Designers of communications receivers will appreciate the cost, performance, and maintenance trade-offs inherent in these design choices.

[0100] Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and / or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unit to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0101] ADDITIONAL EXPLANATION

[0102] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0103] Figure 6 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0104] In the example, the communication system QQ100 includes a telecommunication network QQ102 that includes an access network QQ104, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network QQ106, which includes one or more core network nodes QQ108. The access network QQ104 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes QQ110a and QQ110b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes QQ110), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network QQ102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network QQ102 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network QQ102, including one or more network nodes QQ110 and / or core network nodes QQ108.

[0105] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (0-Rll), an open distributed unit (0-Dll), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O- CLI-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1 , F1 , W1, E1 , E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes QQ110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs QQ112a, QQ112b, QQ112c, and QQ112d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs QQ112) to the core network QQ106 over one or more wireless connections.

[0106] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system QQ100 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system QQ100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0107] The UEs QQ112 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes QQ110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes QQ110 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs QQ112 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network QQ102 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network QQ102.

[0108] In the depicted example, the core network QQ106 connects the network nodes QQ110 to one or more host computing systems, such as host QQ116. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network QQ106 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node QQ108) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node QQ108. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0109] The host QQ116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network QQ104 and / or the telecommunication network QQ102. The host QQ116 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server. As a whole, the communication system QQ100 of Figure 6 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0110] In some examples, the telecommunication network QQ102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network QQ102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network QQ102. For example, the telecommunications network QQ102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0111] In some examples, the UEs QQ112 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network QQ104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network QQ104. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi- RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0112] In the example, the hub QQ114 communicates with the access network QQ104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and / or QQ112d) and network nodes (e.g., network node QQ110b). In some examples, the hub QQ114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub QQ114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network QQ106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes QQ110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub QQ114. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR device, display, loudspeaker, or other media delivery device, the hub QQ114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub QQ114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub QQ114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0113] The hub QQ114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node QQ110b. The hub QQ114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub QQ114 and UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and / or QQ112d), and between the hub QQ114 and the core network QQ106. In other examples, the hub QQ114 is connected to the core network QQ106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub QQ114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network QQ104 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes QQ110 while still connected via the hub QQ114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node QQ110b. In other embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node QQ110b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0114] Figure 7 shows a UE QQ200 in accordance with some embodiments. The UE QQ200 presents additional details of some embodiments of the UE QQ112 of Figure 1. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage / playback device, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), an Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehiclemounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0115] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that 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).

[0116] The UE QQ200 includes processing circuitry QQ202 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ204 to an input / output interface QQ206, a power source QQ208, a memory QQ210, a communication interface QQ212, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 7. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0117] The processing circuitry QQ202 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 QQ210. The processing circuitry QQ202 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry QQ202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs). In the example, the input / output interface QQ206 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE QQ200. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0118] In some embodiments, the power source QQ208 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source QQ208 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source QQ208 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE QQ200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source QQ208. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source QQ208 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE QQ200 to which power is supplied.

[0119] The memory QQ210 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory QQ210 includes one or more application programs QQ214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data QQ216. The memory QQ210 may store, for use by the UE QQ200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems. The memory QQ210 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 QQ210 may allow the UE QQ200 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 QQ210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0120] The processing circuitry QQ202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface QQ212. The communication interface QQ212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna QQ222. The communication interface QQ212 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 QQ218 and / or a receiver QQ220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter QQ218 and receiver QQ220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna QQ222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0121] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface QQ212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0122] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface QQ212, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0123] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0124] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smartwatch, a fitness tracker, a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE QQ200 shown in Figure 7. As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0125] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0126] Figure 8 shows a network node QQ300 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O- RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0127] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi- cel l / 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).

[0128] The network node QQ300 includes a processing circuitry QQ302, a memory QQ304, a communication interface QQ306, and a power source QQ308. The network node QQ300 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node QQ300 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node QQ300 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory QQ304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna QQ310 may be shared by different RATs). The network node QQ300 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node QQ300, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node QQ300.

[0129] The processing circuitry QQ302 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node QQ300 components, such as the memory QQ304, to provide network node QQ300 functionality. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and the baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0130] The memory QQ304 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer- readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device- readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry QQ302. The memory QQ304 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry QQ302 and utilized by the network node QQ300. The memory QQ304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry QQ302 and / or any data received via the communication interface QQ306. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 and memory QQ304 is integrated.

[0131] The communication interface QQ306 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface QQ306 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) QQ316 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface QQ306 also includes radio front-end circuitry QQ318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna QQ310. Radio front-end circuitry QQ318 comprises filters QQ320 and amplifiers QQ322. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may be connected to an antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters QQ320 and / or amplifiers QQ322. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna QQ310. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna QQ310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry QQ318. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry QQ302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0132] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node QQ300 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry QQ318, instead, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna QQ310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 is part of the communication interface QQ306. In still other embodiments, the communication interface QQ306 includes one or more ports or terminals QQ316, the radio front-end circuitry QQ318, and the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface QQ306 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry QQ314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0133] The antenna QQ310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna QQ310 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry QQ318 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna QQ310 is separate from the network node QQ300 and connectable to the network node QQ300 through an interface or port.

[0134] The antenna QQ310, communication interface QQ306, and / or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna QQ310, the communication interface QQ306, and / or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0135] The power source QQ308 provides power to the various components of network node QQ300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source QQ308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node QQ300 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source QQ308. As a further example, the power source QQ308 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0136] Embodiments of the network node QQ300 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 8 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node QQ300 and to allow output of information from the network node QQ300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node QQ300. In some embodiments providing a core network node, such as core network node 108 of FIG. QQ1, some components, such as the radio front-end circuitry QQ318 and the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 may be omitted.

[0137] Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ400 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments QQ400 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment QQ400 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface. Virtualization may facilitate distributed implementations of a network node, UE, core network node, or host.

[0138] Applications QQ402 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0139] Hardware QQ404 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers QQ406 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs QQ408a and QQ408b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs QQ408), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer QQ406 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs QQ408.

[0140] The VMs QQ408 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer QQ406. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance QQ402 may be implemented on one or more of VMs QQ408, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0141] In the context of NFV, a VM QQ408 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs QQ408, and that part of hardware QQ404 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs QQ408 on top of the hardware QQ404 and corresponds to the application QQ402.

[0142] Hardware QQ404 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware QQ404 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware QQ404 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration QQ410, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications QQ402. In some embodiments, hardware QQ404 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system QQ412 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0143] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0144] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0145] When using the word "comprise" or “comprising” it shall be interpreted as nonlimiting, i.e. meaning "consist at least of". The embodiments herein are not limited to the preferred embodiments described above. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a first base station (101) for handling communication in a wireless communication network (100), wherein the wireless communication network (100) comprises the first base station (101) and at least one second base station (102), the method comprising: configuring (301) a subset of slots as default Uplink, UL, slot, monitoring (302) for an overheard intent for UL traffic, the intent transmitted by a second base station (102), which intent for UL traffic being for UL traffic in a following default UL slot, determining (303) whether to schedule a Downlink, DL, data transmission from the first base station (101) in the following default UL slot based on the monitoring.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein monitoring (302) for an overheard intent to transmit UL data comprises monitoring a Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH.

3. The method according to any of claims 1-2, wherein monitoring (302) for an overheard intent for UL traffic comprises differentiating between an UL grant and a DL assignment by any one or more of out of:- a CORSET configuration for UL grants and DL assignments,- decoding the PDCCH from the second base station (102), and- using DCI format 2_0 to listen for slot format combinations used.

4. The method according to any of claims 1-3, wherein determining (303) whether to schedule the DL data transmission comprises any one out of:- deferring from scheduling the DL data transmission in the following default UL slot when detecting an overheard intent for UL traffic, or- scheduling the DL transmission in the following default UL slot when no overheard intent for UL traffic is detected.

5. The method according to any of claims 1-4, wherein determining (303) whether to schedule the DL data transmission comprises deferring from scheduling the DLtraffic in the following default UL slot when detecting an overheard intent for UL traffic, which detected intent has a signal strength exceeding a threshold.

6. The method according to any of claims 1-5, wherein an intent for UL traffic is transmitted a predetermined time K2 before the transmission of the UL traffic, and wherein an intent for DL traffic is transmitted a predetermined time KO before the transmission of the DL traffic, where K2 is greater than KO.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein monitoring (302) for the intent for UL traffic comprises monitoring (302) for the intent for UL traffic the predetermined time K2 before the following default UL time slot.

8. The method according to any of claims 1-7, wherein the intent for UL traffic comprises an UL grant.

9. A computer program (530) comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor (510) in the first base station 101, causes the processor (510) to perform actions according to any of the claims 1-8.

10. A carrier (540) comprising the computer program (530) of claim 9, wherein the carrier (540) is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

11. A first base station (101) configured to handle communication in a wireless communication network (100), wherein the wireless communication network (100) comprises the first base station (101) and at least one second base station (102), the first base station 101 comprising: configure a subset of slots as default Uplink, UL, slot, monitor tor an overheard intent for UL traffic, the intent transmitted by a second base station (102), which intent for UL traffic is adapted to be for UL traffic in a following default UL slot, determine whether to schedule a Downlink, DL, data transmission from the first base station (101) in the following default UL slot based on the monitoring.

12. The first base station (101) according to claim 11 , wherein the first base station (101) is further configured to monitor for an overheard intent to transmit UL data by monitoring a Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH.

13. The first base station (101) according to any of claims 11-12, wherein the first base station (101) is further configured to monitor for an overheard intent for UL traffic by differentiating between an UL grant and a DL assignment by any one or more of out of:- a CORSET configuration for UL grants and DL assignments,- decoding the PDCCH from the second base station (102), and- using DCI format 2_0 to listen for slot format combinations used.

14. The first base station (101) according to any of claims 11-13, wherein the first base station (101) is further configured to determine whether to schedule the DL data transmission by any one out of:- deferring from scheduling the DL data transmission in the following default UL slot when detecting an overheard intent for UL traffic, or- scheduling DL data transmission in the following default UL slot when no overheard intent for UL traffic is detected.

15. The first base station (101) according to any of claims 11-14, wherein the first base station (101) is further configured to determine whether to schedule the DL data transmission by deferring from scheduling the DL traffic in the following default UL slot when detecting an overheard intent for UL traffic, which detected intent has a signal strength exceeding a threshold.

16. The first base station (101) according to any of claims 11-15, wherein an intent for UL traffic is adapted to be transmitted a predetermined time K2 before the transmission of the UL traffic, and wherein an intent for DL traffic is adapted to be transmitted a predetermined time K0 before the transmission of the DL traffic, where K2 is adapted to be greater than K0.

17. The first base station (101) according to claim 16, wherein the first base station (101) is further configured to monitor for the intent for UL traffic by monitoring for the intent for UL traffic the predetermined time K2 before the following default UL time slot.

18. The first base station (101) according to any of claims 11-17, wherein the intent for UL traffic comprises an UL grant.

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