Interactions between UE trajectory and CCO function

Abstract

Systems and methods are disclosed that relate to User Equipment (UE) trajectory prediction in a cellular communications system supporting Coverage and Capacity Optimizations (CCOs). In one embodiment, a method performed by a first Radio Access Network (RAN) node comprises sending, to a second RAN node, a cell or Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) beam based UE trajectory prediction for a UE. The method further comprises receiving, from the second RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements. In this manner, improved feedback for UE trajectory prediction is obtained.

Description

[0001] INTERACTIONS BETWEEN UE TRAJECTORY AND CCO FUNCTION

[0002] RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0003] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 665,637, filed June 28, 2024, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

[0004] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0005] The present disclosure relates to a cellular communications system and, more specifically, User Equipment (UE) trajectory prediction for a User Equipment (UE) in a cellular communications system supporting Coverage and Capacity Optimization (CCOs).

[0006] BACKGROUND

[0007] The current 5thGeneration (5G) Radio Access Network (RAN) (i.e., the Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) architecture is depicted in Figure 1 and described in of 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) Technical Specification (TS) 38.401 V18.0.0 as shown in the following excerpt from Clause 6.1.1 of 3GPP TS 38.401 vl8.0.0.

[0008] ***** START EXCERPT FROM 3GPP TS 38.401 *****

[0009] The NG-RAN consists of a set of gNBs connected to the 5GC through the NG interface.

[0010] NOTE: As specified in TS 38.300 [2], NG-RAN could also consists of a set of ng-eNBs, an ng-eNB may consist of an ng-eNB-CU and one or more ng-eNB-DU(s). An ng-eNB-CU and an ng-eNB-DU is connected via W1 interface. The general principle described in this clause also applies to ng-eNB and W 1 interface, if not explicitly specified otherwise.

[0011] An gNB can support FDD mode, TDD mode or dual mode operation. gNBs can be interconnected through the Xn interface.

[0012] A gNB may consist of a gNB-CU and one or more gNB-DU(s). A gNB-CU and a gNB-DU is connected via Fl interface.

[0013] One gNB-DU is connected to only one gNB-CU.

[0014] NOTE: In case of network sharing with multiple cell ID broadcast, each Cell Identity associated with a subset of PLMNs corresponds to a gNB-DU and the gNB-CU it is connected to, i.e. the corresponding gNB- DUs share the same physical layer cell resources.

[0015] NOTE: For resiliency, a gNB-DU may be connected to multiple gNB-CUs by appropriate implementation.

[0016] NG, Xn and Fl are logical interfaces.

[0017] For NG-RAN, the NG and Xn-C interfaces for a gNB consisting of a gNB-CU and gNB-DUs, terminate in the gNB- CU. For EN-DC, the Sl-U and X2-C interfaces for a gNB consisting of a gNB-CU and gNB-DUs, terminate in the gNB-CU. The gNB-CU and connected gNB-DUs are only visible to other gNBs and the 5GC as a gNB. A possible deployment scenario is described in Annex A. ***** END EXCERPT FROM 3GPP TS 38.401 *****

[0018] The overall architecture for separation of gNodeB (gNB) Central Unit (CU) Control Plane (CP) (gNB-CU-CP) and gNB-CU-User Plane (UP) is depicted in Figure 2. As described in Clause 6.1.2 of 3GPP TS 38.401, a gNB may consist of a gNB-CU-CP, multiple gNB-CU-UPs, and multiple gNB -Distributed Units (Dus). The gNB-CU-CP is connected to the gNB-DU through the Fl-C interface. The gNB-CU-UP is connected to the gNB-DU through the Fl-U interface. The gNB-CU-UP is connected to the gNB-CU-CP through the El interface. One gNB-DU is connected to only one gNB-CU-CP. One gNB-CU-UP is connected to only one gNB-CU-CP.

[0019] It needs to be mentioned that the architecture shown in Figure 2 is what 3GPP has defined for 5G. Other standardization groups, such as the Open RAN (0-RAN) Alliance, have further extended the architecture above and have for example split the gNB-DU into two further nodes connected by a fronthaul interface. The lower node of the split gNB-DU would contain the physical layer (PHY) protocol and the Radio Frequency (RF) parts, the upper node of the split gNB-DU would host the Radio Link Control (RLC) and Medium Access Control (MAC). In 0-RAN the upper node is called 0-RAN DU (0-DU), while the lower node is called 0-RAN Radio Unit (O- RU).

[0020] As detailed in RP -234054 agreed at 3GPP RAN Plenary meeting #102, it has been agreed that new Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) based use cases will be studied as part of a 3GPP Release (Rel-) 19 Study Item (SI). Among the objectives of the SI, the study will focus on AI / ML based Coverage and Capacity Optimization (CCO), as stated in RP -234054 as follows:

[0021] The aim of this study item is to further investigate new AI / ML based use cases and identify enhancements to support AI / ML functionality, and further discussions on the Rel-18 leftovers.

[0022] The detailed objectives of the SI are listed as follows:

[0023] Study two new AI / ML based use cases, i.e., Network Slicing and CCO, with existing NG- RAN interfaces and architecture (including non-split architecture and split architecture).

[0024] - Rel-18 leftovers as candidates for normative work, based on the Rel-18 principles, as follows:

[0025] - Mobility optimization for NR-DC

[0026] - Split architecture support for Rel-18 use cases based on the conclusions from Rel-18 WI

[0027] - Energy Saving enhancements, e.g., Energy Cost Prediction

[0028] - Continuous MDT collection targeting the same UE across RRC states

[0029] - Multi-hop UE trajectory across gNBs Note: RAN3 should take the Rel-18 discussions into account.

[0030] Some elements have been proposed to be part of the study, as indicated in various contributions to the same RAN Plenary meeting:

[0031] • Ericsson contribution RP -233675 mentions that in previous work done for CCO, User Equipment (UE) performance was not considered. Specifically, RP-233675 states the following: “However, the work carried out for CCO does not take into account the UE performance, which is one of the most important factors CCO tries to optimize” and that “one essential piece of information needed to optimize the process of cell shaping is feedback on UE performance after cell shaping actions are taken.”

[0032] • Huawei contribution RP-233677 mentions that with the current CCO solution “the coverage and capacity problem cannot be predicted and avoided in advance.” It also says the following (emphasis added):

[0033] AI / ML could be used to predict cell capacity and coverage issues in the NG-RAN node and to inference corresponding recommended adjustment; such predicted CCO information are then exchanged among NG-RAN nodes along with predicted timing information on when the recommended capacity and coverage adjustments should be performed. The proposed inferencebased CCO optimization framework is expected to have standard impacts due to the need of additional information exchange over network interfaces, e.g. the predicted CCO configuration, as well as the reason and timing information to promptly adopt the new recommended CCO configuration.

[0034] • ZTE contribution RP -233622 states the following: “AI / ML algorithms have the capacity to analyze UE distributions, resource allocation patterns, and the current CCO configuration. Leveraging the analysis, the most appropriate CCO configurations can be predicted and generated, thereby optimizing the performance of network and user experience.” The contribution proposes to study “Predicted CCO information and Feedback information”, as described below:

[0035] • Predicted CCO information: It can be generated by the NG-RAN node through the analysis of historical data, UE distributions, and other relevant factors using AI / ML algorithms. By leveraging these advanced algorithms, the NG-RAN node can forecast and generate optimal CCO information for future scenarios. The predicted CCO information can then be shared proactively among neighbouring NG-RAN nodes. This collaborative sharing mechanism serves to address potential coverage issues or cell edge capacity concerns for UEs within the network, enhancing the overall efficiency and performance of the NG-RAN. • Feedback information: UE performance feedback, and related KPIs of network is the essential of feedback information to evaluate whether the predicted CCO information bring benefits to the network optimization.

[0036] • Qualcomm contribution RP-233022 points at the fact that “Coverage and capacity adaptation can be performed via existing SON procedures but is done reactively.” The same document suggests that “Proactive coverage adaptation (via AI / ML techniques) can help in performing better CCO and NES (Network Energy Saving) e.g., by proactively deciding how to change cell / beam patterns and cell / beam activation states, predicting coverage, capacity and NES”, and makes the following proposal: “Proposal 4: RAN3 should study and specify signaling enhancement to support AI / ML based Coverage and Capacity Adaption (including CCO and cell / beam (de)activation) for both split and nonsplit gNB architecture.”

[0037] The following method has been proposed according to which two network nodes can exchange information about predicted modification in coverage and / or capacity for one or more cells and / or Reference Signal (RS) beams:

[0038] A first network node determines a predicted modification in coverage and / or capacity, during a subsequent period, of one or more cells and / or reference signal (RS) beams.

[0039] The first network node sends a first message to a second network node including an indication of the predicted modification in coverage and / or capacity.

[0040] The second network node can reply to the first network node with a corresponding modification in coverage and / or capacity of cells and / or RS beams served by the second network node based on the predicted modification indicated by the first message, possibly indicating that such corresponding modification is a predicted modification.

[0041] The first network node can further send a piece of information to the second network node, to indicate whether or not the predicted modification indicated in the first message has been or will be applied during the subsequent time period, optionally indicating a start time for application of the predicted modification and a suggested configuration of cells and / or RS beams served by the second network node.

[0042] Methods have also been proposed according to which two network nodes can exchange a list of CCO related measurements associated to one or more network nodes, wherein CCO related measurements comprise:

[0043] - Per beam / cell RS measurement associated to one or more user devices in the coverage area of the second network node, such as Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR), Channel Quality Indicator (CQI), etc.

[0044] - Per beam / cell RS measurement associated to one or more user devices in the coverage area of a neighbor node of the second network node, such as RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, CQI, etc.

[0045] - Location information associated to per beam / cell RS measurements for one or more user devices in the coverage area of the second network node, such as RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, CQI, etc.

[0046] - Location information associated to per beam / cell RS measurement for one or more user devices in the coverage area of a neighbor node of the second network node, such as RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, CQI, etc.

[0047] - Uplink interference measurement associated cell / RS beams of the second network node

[0048] - Uplink interference measurement associated cell / RS beams of a neighbor node of the second network node

[0049] A CCO self-optimization function assisted by AI / ML algorithms and models has also been proposed where an AI / ML inference function predicts certain CCO issues (e.g., a coverage issue, or a capacity issue), corresponding cells and / or Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) beams affected by the predicted CCO issue, and other parameters associated to the CCO issues (e.g., a reference time in the future when the CCO issue is predicted to occur, the percentage of users impacted, etc.). The solution enables the validation of CCO issue predictions of a model and the evaluation of the actions performed in reaction to a predicted CCO issue, such that an ideal time at which actions need to be conducted can be learnt.

[0050] A CCO self-optimization function assisted by AIML algorithms and models has also been proposed where an AI / ML inference function predicts certain coverage modifications, e.g., it predicts certain cell coverage states, or certain SSB beam coverage states, to apply to certain cells and / or SSB beams to avoid / alleviate a predicted CCO issue (e.g., a coverage issue, or a capacity issue) if / when the predicted coverage modification(s) is(are) adopted.

[0051] 3GPP TS 38.423 vl8.0.0 describes the collection and prediction of UE trajectory information as follows. The UE trajectory is collected for a UE that is handed over from NG-RAN nodei to NG-RAN node2 for which a corresponding DataCollectionlD was provided in the handover request and the DataCollection procedure corresponding to the DataCollectionlD had specified UE trajectory collection as a configuration parameter.

[0052] If the UE Trajectory Collection Configuration Information Element (IE) is present in the DATA COLLECTION REQUEST message, the NG-RAN node2 shall take it into account for the configuration of UE trajectory collection and reporting. NG-RAN node2 shall report the UE trajectory only once. NG-RAN node2 shall terminate the collection when at least one of the following conditions is fulfilled:

[0053] - the time since UE was successfully handed over to NG-RAN node2 is equal to the value of the Collection Time Duration for UE Trajectory IE;

[0054] - the number of visited cells within NG-RAN node2 is equal to the value of the Number of Visited Cells IE, if included;

[0055] UE moves to RRC INACTIVE or RRC IDLE state;

[0056] - UE is handed over to a cell belonging to an NG-RAN node different from NG-RAN node2.

[0057] The result of the UE trajectory collection is reported at the next available DATA COLLECTION UPDATE message.

[0058] UE Trajectory Collection Configuration: This IE contains configurations for UE trajectory collection after successful handover and is illustrated in Figure 3.

[0059] Once a UE (for which Measured UE trajectory was requested) has reached one of the defined exit criteria, the measured UE trajectory is reported back to the source node. The Measured UE Trajectory IE contains the list of NG-RAN cells where the UE connected after being handed over to the target NG-RAN node, as illustrated in Figure 4. The maxnoofCellTrajectory IE is illustrated in Figure 5.

[0060] Measured Trajectory Cell Information: The Measured Trajectory Cell Information contains the cell IDs of the NG-RAN cells where a UE connected after being handed over to the target NG- RAN node, as illustrated in Figure 6.

[0061] The handover request message (which may also carry the request for Measured UE trajectory) may also contain the UE trajectory prediction from the source node. If the Cell Based UE Trajectory Prediction IE is contained in the HANDOVER REQUEST message, the target NG- RAN node shall, if supported, consider the content of this list as a prediction by the source NG- RAN node of the cells that the UE will be connected to, and may use it for, e.g., mobility decisions.

[0062] Cell Based UE Trajectory Prediction: The Cell Based UE Trajectory Prediction IE contains the list of NG-RAN cells where the UE is predicted to connect, as illustrated in Figure 7. The maxnoofCellsTrajectoryPredict IE is shown in Figure 8.

[0063] Predicted Trajectory Cell Information: The Predicted Trajectory Cell Information IE contains the cell IDs of the predicted NG-RAN cells for cell based UE trajectory prediction, as illustrated in Figure 9. SUMMARY

[0064] Systems and methods are disclosed that relate to User Equipment (UE) trajectory prediction in a cellular communications system supporting Coverage and Capacity Optimizations (CCOs). In one embodiment, a method performed by a first Radio Access Network (RAN) node comprises sending, to a second RAN node, a cell or Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) beam based UE trajectory prediction for a UE. The method further comprises receiving, from the second RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements. In this manner, improved feedback for UE trajectory prediction is obtained.

[0065] In one embodiment, the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication. In one embodiment, the explicit indication is for the received UE trajectory measurements.

[0066] In one embodiment, the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication per cell or SSB beam.

[0067] In one embodiment, the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication per cell or SSB beam for cells or SSB beams included in the received UE trajectory measurements.

[0068] In one embodiment, the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication per cell or SSB beam for all cells or SSB beams included in the received UE trajectory measurements regardless of whether the respective coverage was altered or not.

[0069] In one embodiment, the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises, for at least one cell or SSB beam included in the received UE trajectory measurements, a corresponding coverage state of the at least one cell or SSB beam.

[0070] In one embodiment, the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises information that indicates one or more cells or SSB beams affected by the one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

[0071] In one embodiment, the received UE trajectory measurements comprise a list of cells or SSB beams visited by the UE. In one embodiment, the received UE trajectory measurements further comprise information that indicates a period of time that the UE stayed in each cell or SSB beam in the list. In one embodiment, the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises, for at least one cell or SSB beam in the list of cells or SSB beams visited by the UE, a sequence of coverage states of the cell or SSB beam during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements. In another embodiment, the list of cells or SSB beams visited by the UE contains at least one cell or SSB beam repeated two or more times within the list. In one embodiment, the information further comprises information that indicates, for each repetition of the at least one cell or SSB beam in the list, a coverage state of the at least one cell or SSB beam. In another embodiment, the information comprises, for at least one cell or SSB beam in the list, a list of coverage states and, for each coverage state in the list of coverage states, an indication of a time at which the coverage state was activated for the at least one cell or SSB beam.

[0072] In one embodiment, the one or more CCO-related events comprise any one or more of: one or more CCO events between the first RAN node and the second RAN node, one or more CCO events between the second RAN node and a third RAN node that is a neighbor RAN node of the second RAN node but not the first RAN node, or one or more CCO vents between the second RAN node and a third RAN node that is a neighbor RAN node of both the first and second RAN nodes.

[0073] In one embodiment, the method further comprises sending, to the second RAN node, information that indicates that the first RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during a period of time between when the first RAN node made the UE trajectory predictions and when the first RAN node sends the UE trajectory prediction to the second RAN node.

[0074] In one embodiment, the one or more CCO-related events comprise one or more events related to an actual CCO issue or a predicted CCO issue.

[0075] Corresponding embodiments of a first RAN node are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a first RAN node is adapted to send, to a second RAN node, a cell or SSB beam based UE trajectory prediction for a UE and receive, from the second RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

[0076] In one embodiment, a first RAN node comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry associated with the communication interface. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the first RAN node to send, to a second RAN node, a cell or SSB beam based UE trajectory prediction for a UE and receive, from the second RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

[0077] Embodiments of a method performed by a second RAN node are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a method performed by a second RAN node comprises receiving, from a first RAN node, a cell or SSB beam based UE trajectory prediction for a UE and sending, to the first RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, cell or S SB-based UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

[0078] Corresponding embodiments of a second RAN node are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a second RAN node is adapted to receive, from a first RAN node, a cell or SSB beam based UE trajectory prediction for a UE and send, to the first RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, cell or S SB-based UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

[0079] In one embodiment, a second RAN node comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry associated with the communication interface. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the second RAN node to receive, from a first RAN node, a cell or SSB beam based UE trajectory prediction for a UE and send, to the first RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, cell or S SB-based UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0080] The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

[0081] Figure 1 illustrates the current 5thGeneration (5G) Radio Access Network (RAN) (i.e., the Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN)) architecture.

[0082] Figure 2 illustrates the overall architecture for separation of gNodeB (gNB) Central Unit (CU) Control Plane (CP) (gNB-CU-CP) and gNB-CU-User Plane (UP).

[0083] Figure 3 illustrates the User Equipment (UE) Trajectory Collection Configuration Information Element (IE) containing configurations for UE trajectory collection after successful handover.

[0084] Figure 4 illustrates the Measured UE Trajectory IE containing a list of NG-RAN cells where the UE connected after being handed over to a target NG-RAN node.

[0085] Figure 5 illustrates the maxnoofCellTrajectory IE.

[0086] Figure 6 illustrates the Measured Trajectory Cell Information containing the cell IDs of the NG-RAN cells where a UE connected after being handed over to the target NG-RAN node.

[0087] Figure 7 illustrates the Cell Based UE Trajectory Prediction IE containing the list of NG- RAN cells where the UE is predicted to connect.

[0088] Figure 8 illustrates the maxnoofCellsTrajectoryPredict IE.

[0089] Figure 9 illustrates the Predicted Trajectory Cell Information containing the cell IDs of the predicted NG-RAN cells for cell based UE trajectory prediction.

[0090] Figure 10 illustrates the problem of a discrepancy in measured UE trajectory after a CCO action between the source and target RAN nodes in this first scenario.

[0091] Figure 11 illustrates the operation of a first Radio Access Network (RAN) node (e.g., a source RAN node) and a second RAN node (i.e., a target RAN node) for UE trajectory prediction and UE trajectory feedback in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0092] Figure 12 illustrates an extension to the measured UE trajectory information, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0093] Figure 13 illustrates an exemplary embodiment in which an indication is attached to the measured trajectory information.

[0094] Figure 14 illustrates an exemplary embodiment in which the coverage state of a cell is indicated explicitly in the measured UE trajectory.

[0095] Figure 15 illustrates an exemplary embodiment in which a list of cells of the second RAN node affected by a CCO issue is included in the Measured UE Trajectory IE. Figure 16 illustrates an exemplary embodiment showing how information about cells / SSB beams affected by CCO coverage state changes as well as timing information for the activation of such CCO coverage states can be implemented.

[0096] Figure 17 illustrates another exemplary embodiment showing how information about cells / SSB beams affected by CCO coverage state changes as well as timing information for the activation of such CCO coverage states can be implemented.

[0097] Figure 18 illustrates an example embodiment of the Measured Trajectory Cell Information IE that is extended to include a Coverage State identifier in the form of a hash value.

[0098] Figure 19 illustrates one example of a more detailed version of Figure 11.

[0099] Figure 20 illustrates an enhanced Predicted Trajectory Cell Information that includes a Coverage State identifier, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0100] Figure 21 illustrates an enhanced Cell Based UE Trajectory Prediction IE, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0101] Figure 22 illustrates an enhanced Predicted Trajectory Cell Information IE, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0102] Figures 23, 24, and 25 depict scenarios where a CCO issue may be detected between the target RAN node and a third neighbor RAN node.

[0103] Figure 26 shows an example of a communication system in which embodiments of the present disclosure described above may be implemented.

[0104] Figure 27 shows a UE in accordance with some embodiments.

[0105] Figure 28 shows a network node in accordance with some embodiments.

[0106] Figure 29 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized.

[0107] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0108] The embodiments set forth below represent information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best mode of practicing the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure.

[0109] 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. There currently exist certain challenge(s). 3GPP Release 19 discussions of the Coverage and Capacity Optimization (CCO) optimization function consider an Artificial Intelligence (AI) / Machine Learning (ML) (also denoted herein as “AIML”) assisted CCO function where an AIML inference function either predicts a CCO issue (imminent or in the future) or certain coverage modifications corresponding to a predicted issue, i.e., the function predicts certain cell coverage states or certain Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) beam coverage states to apply to certain cells and / or SSB beams, in order to avoid / alleviate a detected or predicted coverage issue or a capacity issue. Adoption of an inferred / recommended / derived cell / SSB beam coverage state or a reaction to an inferred CCO issue may lead to a change in the coverage experienced by the User Equipments (UEs) in the affected cells / SSB beams. In earlier releases, non-ALassisted CCO has also been discussed which detects an ongoing CCO issue and reacts to it by altering the cell / SSB beam coverage states. The underlying difference between the legacy CCO and AI / ML assisted CCO is that the legacy CCO detects and resolves ongoing CCO issues with heuristic or procedural methods while, with AI / ML assisted CCO, ongoing CCO issues may be resolved using AI / ML tools and future CCO issues may be detected / predicted and resolved using AI / ML tools before the issue occurs.

[0110] On the other hand, measured UE trajectory is a component of the Data Collection Reporting procedure discussed by RAN3 in Release 17 and 18. This Information Element (IE) informs the neighbor (source) Radio Access Network (RAN) node of the list of cells that the UE has connected to on the target RAN node after a handover from the neighbor (source) cell. Cell-based UE trajectory predictions may also be derived by the source RAN node and be communicated to the target RAN node at the time of a handover preparation to indicate to the target RAN node a list of potential cells that the UE may connect to in the future. This information may be used by the target RAN node to preempt resource requirements both in the domain of mobility and capacity.

[0111] The known / assumed coverage of the cells included in the predicted UE trajectory at the time of generation of the prediction at the source RAN node may not be the same as the actual coverage state of the cell / SSB beams of the target RAN node when the measured UE trajectory is recorded. The above discrepancy may arise due to CCO actions between the source and target nodes. The target RAN node may not communicate to the source RAN node changes in the CCO coverage states especially if such changes affect cells / SSB beams that are part of the predicted UE trajectory, but that are not neighboring the cells of the source node.

[0112] Moreover, even if the source RAN node is aware of CCO state changes for cells / SSB beams of the target RAN node, the source RAN node may not know the timing of such changes. With that, the source RAN node would not be able to conclude whether the mobility actions reported in the measured UE trajectory happened between cells with CCO states equal to those assumed by the source RAN node at the time of the prediction, or if such mobility actions occurred between cells with different CCO coverage states. In case the measured UE trajectory reports mobility actions for the UE between cells with CCO states different from those assumed at the source RAN node at the time the predicted UE trajectory was derived, it may not be appropriate to use the measured UE trajectory as feedback for the predicted UE trajectory, as the CCO state condition for prediction and measured trajectory are different and likewise the predicted UE trajectory should not be used at the target for any capacity / coverage planning.

[0113] The above issue not only manifests when there are modifications in coverage to resolve a CCO issue between the source and target RAN nodes, but also when the target RAN node may be involved in modification in coverage to resolve CCO issues between itself and other of its neighbor nodes of which a source RAN node may or may not know.

[0114] Outside the scope of interaction between CCO and trajectory prediction, other network functions that affect the network coverage experienced by the UEs also interact with the trajectory prediction / feedback mechanism in the same way as described above, i.e., the source and target RAN nodes are potentially unaware of the correlation between a UE trajectory prediction derived by a source RAN node and the corresponding radio network coverage state of the target RAN node at the source for which the UE trajectory prediction was derived and likewise the source RAN node being potentially unaware of the existing network coverage state at the target RAN node which provides the measured UE trajectory as a feedback. Example functions include energy savings, and other radio-network optimization functions.

[0115] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. Embodiments of the proposed solution(s) enhance reporting of measured UE trajectory (part of the Data Collection Reporting procedure) and UE trajectory prediction (part of the handover request message) with an indication corresponding to the cell or SSB beam (denoted herein as “cell / SSB”) coverage state, such that a measurement or prediction may be mapped to or be considered valid only for a certain coverage state at the source and / or the target RAN nodes.

[0116] In the present disclosure, the exemplary embodiments are provided based on the interaction between the CCO function and the UE trajectory prediction / feedback mechanism; however, the problem and the solution(s) disclosed herein are valid for other use cases and functions that may lead to a change in the network coverage state experienced by the UEs.

[0117] Embodiments of the proposed solution(s) make it possible to: correlate a received UE trajectory prediction with an assumed cell / SSB beam coverage state or an assumed node-level coverage state at the target node, and correlate a measured UE trajectory with a certain cell / SSB beam coverage state or a certain node-level coverage state at the target node.

[0118] The lack of such information can affect the reliability and / or accuracy of the provided indication and any actions that may be performed based on it.

[0119] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). Embodiments of the proposed solutions may provide the following advantages:

[0120] - Better correlation between predicted UE traj ectory and measured UE traj ectory at the target node, allowing for better planning / optimization;

[0121] - Better feedback to the source node to perform UE trajectory prediction;

[0122] - Allow the source / target node to consider essential interactions between other functions and trajectory prediction functions thereby avoiding sub-optimal performance as a consequence of interaction between procedures.

[0123] The detailed description of the embodiments is provided herein based on the use- case / interaction between the CCO function and UE trajectory predict! on / feedback under the following assumptions. However, note that the solutions described herein may also be applied when the conditions below are disjoint, i.e., not simultaneously active:

[0124] - The two RAN nodes (i.e., the source RAN node and the target RAN node) involved in a handover procedure have established a reporting procedure (e.g., a DATA COLLECTION REPORTING procedure) where the reporting of measured UE trajectory is configured.

[0125] - The source RAN node (first node), as part of a Handover preparation (e.g., in the Handover Request XnAP message), provides a predicted UE trajectory to the target RAN node (second node), which has been derived by an AI / ML model based on the information available at the source RAN node.

[0126] There may be other neighbor RAN nodes to the first RAN node or the second RAN node which may be a neighbor of just the first RAN node, just the second RAN node, or both the first and second RAN nodes. Such nodes are not part of the Handover preparation procedure, but the neighbor RAN nodes may trigger legacy-based or AI / ML based CCO actions that may affect the first RAN node’s cell / SSB coverage or the second RAN node’s cell / SSB-beam coverage Scenario 1 :

[0127] As a first scenario, consider a first RAN node (i.e., a source RAN node) initiating a handover of a UE to a second RAN node (i.e., a target RAN node). Figure 10 illustrates the problem of a discrepancy in measured UE trajectory after a CCO action between the source and target RAN nodes in this first scenario. As illustrated in Figure 10, the first RAN node performs a UE trajectory prediction (step 1000), whose outcome is sent to the second RAN node as part of the UE predicted trajectory IE in the Handover Request message (step 1002). The second RAN node, upon receiving the UE, is expected to report the measured UE trajectory for the period (or until exit conditions) during which reporting has been configured for.

[0128] In the period during which measured UE trajectory is collected by the second RAN node, there may be detection or prediction of CCO issues between the second RAN node and the first RAN node that may necessitate a change in the cell / SSB beam coverage states (step 1004). As a consequence of the altered cell / SSB beam coverage states, the measured UE trajectory reported from the second RAN node to the first RAN node (step 1006) may be impacted. In the illustrated example, since the UE trajectory feedback in step 1006 does not match the cell trajectory prediction provided in step 1002, the first RAN node assumes that the trajectory prediction was not correct (step 1008), which may not be correct.

[0129] Figure 11 illustrates the operation of a first RAN node (e.g., a source RAN node) and a second RAN node (i.e., a target RAN node) for UE trajectory prediction and UE trajectory feedback in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. As illustrated in Figure 11, the first RAN node performs a UE trajectory prediction (step 1100), whose outcome is sent to the second RAN node as part of the UE predicted trajectory IE in the Handover Request message (step 1102). The second RAN node, upon receiving the UE, is expected to report the measured UE trajectory for the period (or until exit conditions) during which reporting has been configured for. In the period during which measured UE trajectory is collected by the second RAN node, there may be detection or prediction of CCO issues between the second RAN node and the first RAN node that may necessitate a change in the cell / SSB beam coverage states (step 1104). As a consequence of the altered cell / SSB beam coverage states, the measured UE trajectory reported from the second RAN node to the first RAN node (step 1106) may be impacted.

[0130] The second RAN node, when reporting the measured UE trajectory to the first RAN node in step 1106, may include information that indicates, directly (e.g., an explicit indication) or indirectly (e.g., per cell or SSB beam coverage state at the time of recording UE trajectory at the second RAN node), that the second RAN node was affected by CCO-related events during the UE trajectory measurement duration, which resulted in altered cell / beam SSB coverage states with respect to the CCO coverage states in place at the time when the predicted UE trajectory was received. The first RAN node may take the received indication into account when performing action(s) based on the UE trajectory measurement (e.g., consider the indication when determining whether the UE trajectory prediction was correct) (step 1108). Note that the UE trajectory prediction is preferably a cell-based UE trajectory prediction (e.g., a list of cells corresponding to the UE trajectory prediction), and the measured UE trajectory is preferably cell-based measured UE trajectory (e.g., a list of cells corresponding to UE trajectory measurements). However, the UE trajectory prediction and UE trajectory measurements may be SSB beam based in the sense that they are derived based on SSBs; however, in this case, only cell info may be communicated in the UE trajectory prediction and UE trajectory measurements of steps 1102 and 1106. As such, the UE trajectory prediction and UE trajectory measurements are sometimes referred to herein as “cell or SSB beam based” UE trajectory predictions and UE trajectory measurements.

[0131] In one embodiment, the information provided in step 1106 that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by CCO-related events during the UE trajectory measurement duration, which resulted in altered cell / beam SSB coverage states with respect to the CCO coverage states in place at the time when the predicted UE trajectory was received is an explicit indication. For example, this indication may be a Boolean value that indicates either True or False depending on if a cell / SSB beam coverage state (e.g., a cell coverage state or SSB beam coverage state of an SSB beam of that cell) was altered.

[0132] In a first option, the second RAN node reports (e.g., in step 1106) an indication that is unique for the reported measured UE trajectory, corresponding to a previously received predicted UE trajectory, indicating that the measured UE trajectory is “polluted”, i.e., the coverage of at least one cell or one SSB beam included in the measured UE trajectory has been altered after the request (implicit or explicit) to provide the measured UE trajectory was received or after the reception of the last predicted UE trajectory from the source RAN node and for the same UE for which the measured UE trajectory is derived.

[0133] In a second option, the second RAN node reports (e.g., in step 1106) a per-cell and / or per- SSB beam indication, for the cells / SSB beams included in the measured UE trajectory, and indicating that there has been a modification of coverage for the cells / SSB beams to which the indication pertains to.

[0134] In a third option, the second RAN node reports (e.g., in step 1106) an indication that is per cell and / or SSB beam, and for all cells / SSB beams it indicates whether the respective coverage was altered or not.

[0135] In a fourth option, the second RAN node reports (e.g., in step 1106), together with the indication that the UE has visited a certain cell or SSB beam, the corresponding coverage state. In a fifth option, the second RAN node reports (e.g., in step 1106), together with the measured UE trajectory, a list of cells and / or SSB beams of the second RAN node affected by a CCO issue during the time the UE trajectory was measured.

[0136] In a sixth option, the second RAN node reports (e.g., in step 1106) a measured UE trajectory wherein within the list of entries representing the cells / SSB beams visited by the UE, at least one entry contains for a certain cell / SSB identity a sequence of coverage states (and optionally a time of stay) of the cell / SSB beam while the UE trajectory measurement collection was performed. For example, cell A is included in the list of visited cells, and for cell A, the measured UE trajectory contains two entries: a first entry where cell A is reported when its coverage state was “X” and a second entry where cell A is reported when its coverage state was “Y”.

[0137] In a seventh option, the second RAN node reports (e.g., in step 1106) a measured UE trajectory wherein the list of entries representing the cells / SSB beams visited by the UE contains repetitions. In this option, a cell / SSB beam for which the corresponding coverage state has been modified is reported in the list two (or more) times: a first time, indicating that the cell / SSB beam was traversed by the UE when the coverage state of the cell / SSB beam was “XI”, and a second time when the coverage state of the same cell / SSB beam was “X2”.

[0138] In an eighth option, the second RAN node reports (e.g., in step 1106) a measured UE trajectory, where, for each cell reported as part of such trajectory, a list of one or more CCO coverage states is also reported. Such CCO coverage states have been adopted for the cell or for any SSB beams forming the cell, before the UE entered the cell, or while the UE stayed in the cell. For each CCO coverage state, an indication of the time at which the CCO coverage state was activated is reported. This indication may be expressed in a number of ways, for example:

[0139] - The time between when the UE completed the HO to any cell of the second RAN node till the time when the CCO coverage state was activated

[0140] - An absolute time stamp, e.g. in UTC

[0141] - The time between reception of the request for a measured UE trajectory till the time when the CCO state was activated

[0142] - The time between reception of the last predicted UE trajectory for the UE for which the measured UE trajectory is derived and the time when the CCO state was activated Although the CCO action and the handover event occurred between the same two RAN nodes in the example of Figure 11, the CCO issue predict! on / detection and remediation are disjoint from the UE handover procedure. Furthermore, the time at which the measured UE trajectory is sent to the first RAN node is dependent on one or more of the exit criteria specified for measured UE trajectory collection. Therefore, based on when the cell / beam SSB shapes are modified as a consequence of the CCO action, the second RAN node may mark all the ongoing UE trajectory measurements as impacted by at least one CCO action. This information may then be communicated to the source RAN node as an extension to the measured UE trajectory information as shown in Figure 12 (emphasis shown via bold, underlined text). This information is available per cell that the UE visited, and it may be reset whenever a UE visits a new cell during a UE trajectory measurement.

[0143] Another alternative example of implementation where one indication is attached to the measured trajectory information is shown in Figure 13 (emphasis shown via bold, underlined text). One indication (e.g., a Coverage State Consistency IE), indicates whether the coverage of any of the cells included in the measured UE trajectory has been subject to modification or not from the time when the predicted UE trajectory was received, until the time of collecting or sending the corresponding measured UE trajectory.

[0144] Another alternative example of implementation where the coverage state of a cell is indicated explicitly in the measured UE trajectory is shown in Figure 14 (emphasis shown via bold, underlined text). When receiving this information, assuming that the source RAN node holds the information of the coverage state of the target node’s cell at the time when the predicted UE trajectory was derived, the source RAN node can deduce if the coverage state of the cell visited by the UE was modified.

[0145] Another alternative example of implementation can be the one shown in Figure 15 (emphasis shown via bold, underlined text) where a list of cells (and / or SSB beams) of the second RAN node affected by a CCO issue is included in the Measured UE Trajectory IE.

[0146] Another example of how information about cells / SSB beams affected by CCO coverage state changes as well as timing information for the activation of such CCO coverage states can be implemented is shown in Figure 16.

[0147] A further example of how information about cells / SSB beams affected by CCO coverage state changes as well as timing information for the activation of such CCO coverage states is shown in Figure 17.

[0148] The timing-related enhanced described above may be used together with other embodiments described above or below.

[0149] In another embodiment of the solution described above, the RAN node reporting the measured UE trajectory to a neighbor may include (e.g., in step 1106) a unique identifier, such as a hash value, along with the measured UE trajectory. This hash value may serve as the indicator. The hash value may be generated by a function that takes as inputs the different cell / SSB beam coverage states, i.e., the indices that may correspond to the different shapes, or other inputs that may be used to derive a unique value to indicate the current status of cell / SSB beam coverage states on the reporting RAN node at the time of recording of the UE trajectory at a cell in node 2.

[0150] Figure 18 illustrates an example embodiment of the Measured Trajectory Cell Information IE that is extended to include a Coverage State identifier in the form of a hash value.

[0151] The rationale with the indication of a hash value corresponding to the cell / SSB beam states on the reporting node at the time of recording is that the receiving RAN node, over a period of time, may learn certain coverage states for which predictions are accurate and certain coverage states for which the predictions are not accurate. A receiving RAN node may also compare a hash value (for a previous cell) with a hash value at a later cell to understand if the coverage state of the neighbor RAN node has changed in the period when the UE was connected to a certain cell in the target RAN node.

[0152] As a further extension, the hashing function may be a two-way hashing function, which may allow the receiving RAN node to understand the underlying cell / SSB beam coverage states by means of a lookup table that may be indexed by the hashing function.

[0153] Figure 19 illustrates one example of a more detailed version of Figure 11. Steps 1900 to 1908 roughly correspond to steps 1100 to 1108 (or example modified versions thereof) of Figure 11. Steps 1900 to 1904 are the same as steps 1100 to 1104 described above. In step 1906, the second RAN node sends the UE trajectory feedback together with information that indicates the corresponding cell or SSB beam coverage state at the time of recording the UE trajectory at the second RAN node, in accordance with one example embodiment. The first RAN node can then correlate the UE trajectory prediction from step 1902 and the UE measured trajectory received in step 1906 with change of cell or SSB beam coverage state (step 1908).

[0154] As an analogous extension to the measured UE trajectory, the predicted UE trajectory message may also be enhanced with similar IES as before, which indicates to the target RAN node, the corresponding cell / SSB beam coverage state at the target RAN node for which the UE trajectory prediction was derived.

[0155] For example, Figure 20 illustrates an enhanced Predicted Trajectory Cell Information that includes a Coverage State identifier, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0156] It is generally expected that the predicted UE trajectory will assume a single cell / SSB beam coverage state for each cell in the predicted trajectory, and it may therefore even be indicated only once per UE trajectory prediction by translating the set of predicted coverage states into a unique identifier, e.g., a hash function as shown in Figure 21 in an enhanced Cell Based UE Trajectory Prediction IE. Other embodiments of the solution above may include the source node signaling the actual Cell coverage state at the target for which a prediction was derived for instead of the Coverage state identifier. An example of an enhanced Predicted Trajectory Cell Information IE is illustrated in Figure 22.

[0157] Other scenarios:

[0158] The same problems as described in the first scenario also manifests in other scenarios where a third RAN node is involved, and wherein the third RAN node can be a neighbor of only the source RAN node, only the target RAN node, or both the source and target RAN nodes.

[0159] Figures 23, 24, and 25 depict the scenarios where a CCO issue may be detected between the target RAN node and a third neighbor RAN node. The detection of the CCO issue may happen before or after a handover is executed from a different RAN node, and as a result of the action, the measured UE trajectory may be impacted, which may affect the interpretation of the received feedback at the source node which computed the original predicted UE trajectory. Similar solutions as described in the earlier scenario also applies in this case.

[0160] In particular, Figure 23 illustrates a procedure that is similar to that of Figure 11 described above but where the CCO issue prediction or detection and remediate is between the second RAN node (i.e., the target RAN node) and a neighbor RAN node of the target RAN node (step 2304). Otherwise, steps 2300, 2302, 2306, and 2308 correspond to steps 1100, 1102, 1106, and 1108 of Figure 11 described above.

[0161] Figure 24 illustrates an embodiment in which there is a discrepancy between measured UE trajectory and UE trajectory prediction after a CCO action between the source node and a third node which triggers further CCO actions at a target node. As illustrated in Figure 24, the first RAN node performs a UE trajectory prediction (step 2400). A CCO issue is predicted or detected between the first RAN node and a third RAN node that is a neighbor of both the first and second RAN nodes, and CCO action in remediation to this CCO issue is performed (steps 2402 and 2404). The UE trajectory prediction derived in step 2400 is sent to the second RAN node as part of the UE predicted trajectory IE in the Handover Request message (step 2406). The second RAN node, upon receiving the UE, is expected to report the measured UE trajectory for the period (or until exit conditions) during which reporting has been configured for. The second RAN node measures and reports the measured UE trajectory to the first RAN node (step 2406). In addition, the second RAN node sends, to the first RAN node, in step 2406 information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by CCO-related events (e.g., the CCO action of step 2404). This indication may be a direct or indirect indication, as described above. The first RAN node may then perform an appropriate action(s) (step 2408). Figure 25 illustrates another example embodiment in which there is a discrepancy in between measured UE trajectory and UE trajectory prediction after a CCO action between the target node and a third node. As illustrated, a CCO issue is predicted or detected between a third RAN node, which is a neighbor of both the first and second RAN nodes, and the second RAN node (i.e., the target RAN node), and remediation action(s) is performed (step 2500). The UE trajectory prediction derived in step 2502 is sent to the second RAN node as part of the UE predicted trajectory IE in the Handover Request message (step 2504). The second RAN node, upon receiving the UE, is expected to report the measured UE trajectory for the period (or until exit conditions) during which reporting has been configured for. The second RAN node measures and reports the measured UE trajectory to the first RAN node (step 2506). In addition, the second RAN node sends, to the first RAN node, in step 2506 information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by CCO-related events (e.g., the CCO action of step 2500). This indication may be a direct or indirect indication, as described above. The first RAN node may then perform an appropriate action(s) (step 2508).

[0162] UE Trajectory with predicted CCO state: The proposed solution can apply to a scenario where a measured UE trajectory reported by a target node to a source node is expected to change, e.g., within a certain time known by the target, or with a certain degree of probability. In a first step, the source RAN node sends to the target RAN node a predicted UE trajectory. The target RAN node collects the requested measured UE trajectory as per legacy solution. At some point in time, e.g., at a time which precedes the reception of the predicted UE trajectory by the target RAN node, or during the collection of UE trajectory to be reported, the target RAN node (e.g., the gNB- CU or a gNB-DU) determines a predicted CCO issue and corresponding affected cells and / or beams. To address the predicted CCO issue the second RAN node determines that a coverage modification will be applied to one or more cells and / or beams of the second RAN node. Upon reception of the predicted UE trajectory, if the coverage modification will be applied to one or more of the cells / beams included in the measured UE trajectory or the predicted UE trajectory, the target RAN node informs the source RAN node that the reported measured UE trajectory is affected by a potential error / inaccuracy, due to an upcoming coverage modification (optionally indicating which cells / beams will be impacted by the coverage modification). The target RAN node can also optionally inform the source RAN node of a certain probability according to which the UE trajectory is likely to change / be different compared to the one provided in the prediction, once the planned / future coverage modification will be taken into effect. The target RAN node can also optionally provide to the source RAN node timing information related to the validity (or lack of validity) of the provided measured UE trajectory. E.g., a time in the future starting from which the measured UE trajectory will no longer be valid.

[0163] A similar situation arises when the target RAN node receives the indication of a predicted CCO issue affecting cells / beams of a third RAN node (where the third RAN node can be the source RAN node or another RAN node), and the target RAN node determines that a coverage modification will be applied to one or more cells and / or beams of the second RAN node in response to a coverage modification that will be applied to one or more cells / beams of the third RAN node.

[0164] UE Trajectory and CCO resolution: The proposed solution can apply to a scenario where a UE trajectory reported by a target node to a source node is affected by a change in coverage for one or more cell / beams during the collection of the measured UE trajectory. Reporting from target RAN node to source RAN node of the information as described in the case of predicted CCO issue applies to this case as well.

[0165] Exit conditions for reporting UE Trajectory: In one embodiment, the target RAN node stops collecting UE trajectory measurement when a coverage modification is applied (or alternatively, when the target RAN node determines to apply such modification). This means, that initiating a coverage modification (or planning a coverage modification) is an exit condition for collection of UE trajectory at the target RAN node, and the target RAN node sends the requested UE trajectory.

[0166] In one embodiment, upon initiating (or planning to initiate) a coverage modification for at least one cell / beam included in the received predicted UE trajectory, the target RAN node refrains from sending the measured UE trajectory to the source RAN node, and instead, it notifies the source RAN node that UE trajectory is not provided due to a change in coverage for one or more of the cells / beams comprised in the received predicted UE trajectory, or the target RAN only sends measured UE trajectory collected up to the affected cell / beam to the source node together with an indication or further information about an exit condition has been triggered.

[0167] In one embodiment, upon initiating (or planning to initiate) a coverage modification for at least one cell / beam served by the target RAN node - i.e., regardless of whether such cell / beam is included or not included in the received predicted UE trajectory, the target RAN node refrains from sending to measured UE trajectory to the source RAN node, and instead, it notifies the source RAN node that UE trajectory is not provided due to a change in coverage for one or more of the cells / beams comprised in the received predicted UE trajectory.

[0168] Interactions between trajectory prediction and other procedures

[0169] As mentioned in the earlier sections, CCO is one among the many functions in the RAN that may lead to a change in the perceived radio coverage by the set of UEs being served. Other such functions may include Energy savings for e.g., where a cell may be turned off or on depending on the existing conditions. From the point of view of a trajectory prediction function at a source gNB, the prediction function correlates a known UE trajectory and its associated properties to a known network coverage state at the target node. Considering only the trajectory prediction problem, when the target node’s coverage state changes, the source node without explicit knowledge of this change within the prediction function may not be able to alter its prediction. The underlying cause which led to the change in coverage experienced by the UEs may also be communicated separately as part of the above-described messages or may already be part of existing procedures / messages such as the Data Collection Reporting or other procedures on the XN interface which may then be fed to the trajectory prediction function.

[0170] In the specific case of interaction between the energy saving function, by which cells are activated / deactivated, and the reporting of measured UE trajectories, the second RAN node may report to the first RAN node, together with the measured UE trajectory, an indication of whether any cell or SSB beams were activated or deactivated along the trajectory of the UE, either before the UE reached the coverage of such newly activated cells or beams or while the UE was within the coverage of such cells or beams. Such indication may be in part represented by means of the CCO state for a cell or for an SSB beam, namely value zero of a CCO state implies that the cell or SSB beam has been inactivated. However, the indication may also be explicit, and it could indicate that a cell / SSB beam has been activated or inactivated. Alternatively, the indication could concern only Cell / SSB beam activation, given that the indication of an inactivation is already provided by the CCO state.

[0171] Another aspect of this interaction is in the context of the Measured UE trajectory and the existing network coverage state at the time of collection of the feedback information. The node sending the feedback may send additional information together with the feedback, such that this information may be used to either infer a change in the network state, or other indications which may make it possible to infer further details on the change in the network coverage change at the target node.

[0172] Therefore, the concepts describing the solution for interaction between CCO and trajectory prediction functions (in the earlier sections) may also be extended to other use-cases that interact with the trajectory prediction function where the interacting function leads to a change in the network coverage experienced by the UEs. The IES above, called as ‘Coverage State Identifier’, ‘Coverage State Consistency’, etc., may be extended to indicate a certain absolute network coverage state. Whenever the coverage state of the network is modified, as a consequence of CCO actions, ES actions, or other. Each new network coverage state may be identified by a different Coverage State Identifier, or as a change in the Coverage State Consistency, and is signaled as part of the Measured UE trajectory to the source RAN node. This feedback information may be used by the source RAN node for future predictions corresponding to that coverage state.

[0173] UE trajectory prediction when detailed cell / SSB beam shapes of non-adjacent target node cells are not known at the source: Models performing UE trajectory prediction are either trained and executed at the gNB or trained at the 0AM and execute at the gNB. Considering models trained and executed in the gNB, in the context of CCO coordination, two neighbor nodes are expected to coordinate their cell / SSB beam shapes for cells that are adjacent / neighboring one another. However, UE trajectory prediction spans a set of cells in the target node that the UE is expected to connect to and the duration of stay in each of the cells. The predicted trajectory and the expected time of stay is therefore dependent on the cell / SSB beam shapes of cells in the neighbor node that may not necessarily be neighboring the cells in the source node. The above indicates to an issue where the cell / SSB beam shape of a cell in the neighbor node (which are non- adjacent to cells of the source node) may not be known to the source gNB in the first place to perform the prediction of UE trajectory accurately.

[0174] The methods described in the present disclosure apply to the above problem as a means to obtain either a direct or indirect indication of the cell / SSB beam shapes at cells in the neighbor nodes that are not adjacent to cells in the source node. We describe below the workflow of how such a solution may work.

[0175] As an initial step, when there is insufficient data at the source gNB to perform an accurate trajectory prediction taking into account the cell / SSB beam shapes at the neighbor node, for UEs that are handed over to the neighbor node, the source gNB may request for Measured UE trajectory (by the handover request containing the Data Collection ID pointing at a previously sent Data Collection Request with Ninth Bit "Measured UE Trajectory" set to 1) while not performing / providing a UE trajectory prediction as part of the handover request message or by performing / providing a UE trajectory prediction which does not fully account for the existing cell / SSB beam shapes at the non-adjacent cells in the target node, and sufficiently indicating this as an extension to the handover request message / UE trajectory prediction. When some exit condition for reporting of Measured UE trajectory is triggered, the target node signals the Measured UE trajectory, together with one or more of the enhancements described above in the present disclosure which indicates either directly or indirectly an indication of the existing cell / SSB beam shape at the cells in the target node during the UE’s stay. The information contained in the Measured UE trajectory may be used by the source gNB to train / tune / validate models such that the cell / SSB beam shapes at the non-adjacent cells in the target node are also taken into account when performing a trajectory prediction.

[0176] In steady-state, i.e., when such models are available at the source node and when both UE trajectory prediction and Measured UE trajectory are exchanged, the source node upon receiving an indication that the cell / SSB beam of a certain cell in the target node (especially of non-adjacent cells) has changed (either via an explicit indication of the newly adopted shape, or an indication of the change in shape, or an unique identifier corresponding to the shape), may take this information into account when performing a future UE trajectory prediction for another UE and predict a trajectory that may be tailored to the latest information received about the cell / SSB beam shapes at the target.

[0177] Similar extensions may also be applied to the case where the training is performed at the 0AM and execution at the RAN. In this case, the received information about cell / SSB beam shapes from the neighbor node shall in the initial / startup step shall be sent to the 0AM.

[0178] Figure 26 shows an example of a communication system 2600 in which embodiments of the present disclosure described above may be implemented. The UE in the embodiments described above may be any UE 2612 of Figure 26. The source and target RAN nodes described above may be different network nodes 2610 of Figure 26.

[0179] In the example, the communication system 2600 includes a telecommunication network 2602 that includes an access network 2604, such as a Radio Access Network (RAN), and a core network 2606, which includes one or more core network nodes 2608. The access network 2604 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 2610A and 2610B (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 2610), or any other similar Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP Access Points (APs). 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 2602 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 2602 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the 0-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 2602, including one or more network nodes 2610 and / or core network nodes 2608. Examples of an ORAN network node include an Open Radio Unit (O-RU), an Open Distributed Unit (O-DU), an Open Central Unit (O-CU), including an O-CU Control Plane (O- CU-CP) or an O-CU User Plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non- real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an Al, Fl, Wl, El, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node 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 0-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes 2610 facilitate direct or indirect connection of User Equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 2612A, 2612B, 2612C, and 2612D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 2612) to the core network 2606 over one or more wireless connections.

[0180] 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 2600 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 2600 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0181] The UEs 2612 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 2610 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 2610 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 2612 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 2602 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 2602. In the depicted example, the core network 2606 connects the network nodes 2610 to one or more hosts, such as host 2616. 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 2606 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 2608) 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 2608. 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).

[0182] The host 2616 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 2604 and / or the telecommunication network 2602, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 2616 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.

[0183] As a whole, the communication system 2600 of Figure 26 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 2600 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 Second, Third, Fourth, or Fifth Generation (2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G) standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., Sixth Generation (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. In some examples, the telecommunication network 2602 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunication network 2602 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 2602. For example, the telecommunication network 2602 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 Internet of Things (loT) services to yet further UEs.

[0184] In some examples, the UEs 2612 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 2604 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 2604. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi -Radio Access Technology (RAT) or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of WiFi, New Radio (NR), and LTE, i.e. being configured for Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC), such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial RAN (E-UTRAN) NR - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0185] In the example, a hub 2614 communicates with the access network 2604 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 2612C and / or 2612D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 2610B). In some examples, the hub 2614 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 2614 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 2606 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 2614 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 2610, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 2614. As another example, the hub 2614 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 2614 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a Virtual Reality (VR) headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 2614 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 2614 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 2614 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices. The hub 2614 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 2610B. The hub 2614 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 2614 and UEs (e.g., UE 2612C and / or 2612D), and between the hub 2614 and the core network 2606. In other examples, the hub 2614 is connected to the core network 2606 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 2614 may be configured to connect to a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) service provider over the access network 2604 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 2610 while still connected via the hub 2614 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 2614 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 2610B. In other embodiments, the hub 2614 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and the network node 2610B, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0186] Figure 27 shows a UE 2700 in accordance with some embodiments. 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 Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), wireless camera, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, Laptop Embedded Equipment (LEE), Laptop Mounted Equipment (LME), smart device, wireless Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3GPP, including a Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UE, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0187] 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). The UE 2700 includes processing circuitry 2702 that is operatively coupled via a bus 2704 to an input / output interface 2706, a power source 2708, memory 2710, a communication interface 2712, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 27. 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.

[0188] The processing circuitry 2702 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 2710. The processing circuitry 2702 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 2702 may include multiple Central Processing Units (CPUs).

[0189] In the example, the input / output interface 2706 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 2700. 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.

[0190] In some embodiments, the power source 2708 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 2708 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 2708 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 2700 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 2708. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 2708 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 2700 to which power is supplied.

[0191] The memory 2710 may be or be configured to include memory such as Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Programmable ROM (PROM), Erasable PROM (EPROM), Electrically EPROM (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 2710 includes one or more application programs 2714, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 2716. The memory 2710 may store, for use by the UE 2700, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0192] The memory 2710 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 RAM (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a tamper resistant module in the form of a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) including one or more Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs), such as a Universal SIM (USIM) and / or Internet Protocol Multimedia Services Identity Module (ISIM), other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as a ‘SIM card.’ The memory 2710 may allow the UE 2700 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 2710, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0193] The processing circuitry 2702 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 2712. The communication interface 2712 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 2722. The communication interface 2712 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 2718 and / or a receiver 2720 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 2718 and receiver 2720 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., the antenna 2722) and may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0194] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 2712 may include cellular communication, WiFi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, NFC, 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 according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, NR, UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP), Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Quick User Datagram Protocol Internet Connection (QUIC), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0195] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 2712, 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).

[0196] 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.

[0197] A UE, when in the form of an 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 television, 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 head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or VR, 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 2700 shown in Figure 27.

[0198] 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 3 GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship, an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0199] 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.

[0200] Figure 28 shows a network node 2800 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, APs (e.g., radio APs), Base Stations (BSs) (e.g., radio BSs, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), NR Node Bs (gNBs)), and 0-RAN nodes or components of an 0-RAN node (e.g., 0-RU, 0-DU, O-CU).

[0201] 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 0-RAN access node), and / or Remote Radio Units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such RRUs 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).

[0202] Other examples of network nodes include multiple Transmission Point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, Multi -Standard Radio (MSR) equipment such as MSRBSs, network controllers such as Radio Network Controllers (RNCs) or BS 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).

[0203] The network node 2800 includes processing circuitry 2802, memory 2804, a communication interface 2806, and a power source 2808. The network node 2800 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and an 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 2800 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 2800 may be configured to support multiple RATs. In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 2804 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 2810 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 2800 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 2800, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, Long Range Wide Area Network (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 network node 2800.

[0204] The processing circuitry 2802 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, CPU, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, 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 2800 components, such as the memory 2804, to provide network node 2800 functionality.

[0205] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 2802 includes a System on a Chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 2802 includes one or more of Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 2812 and baseband processing circuitry 2814. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 2812 and the baseband processing circuitry 2814 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 the RF transceiver circuitry 2812 and the baseband processing circuitry 2814 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0206] The memory 2804 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, RAM, 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 2802. The memory 2804 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 2802 and utilized by the network node 2800. The memory 2804 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 2802 and / or any data received via the communication interface 2806. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 2802 and the memory 2804 are integrated.

[0207] The communication interface 2806 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 2806 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 2816 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 2806 also includes radio front-end circuitry 2818 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 2810. The radio front-end circuitry 2818 comprises filters 2820 and amplifiers 2822. The radio front-end circuitry 2818 may be connected to the antenna 2810 and the processing circuitry 2802. The radio front-end circuitry 2818 may be configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna 2810 and the processing circuitry 2802. The radio front-end circuitry 2818 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 2818 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of the filters 2820 and / or the amplifiers 2822. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 2810. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 2810 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 2818. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 2802. In other embodiments, the communication interface 2806 may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0208] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 2800 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 2818; instead, the processing circuitry 2802 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 2810. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 2812 is part of the communication interface 2806. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 2806 includes the one or more ports or terminals 2816, the radio front-end circuitry 2818, and the RF transceiver circuitry 2812 as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 2806 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 2814, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0209] The antenna 2810 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 2810 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 2818 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 2810 is separate from the network node 2800 and connectable to the network node 2800 through an interface or port.

[0210] The antenna 2810, the communication interface 2806, and / or the processing circuitry 2802 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node 2800. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node, and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 2810, the communication interface 2806, and / or the processing circuitry 2802 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node 2800. Any information, data, and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node, and / or any other network equipment.

[0211] The power source 2808 provides power to the various components of the network node 2800 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 2808 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 2800 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 2800 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid or an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 2808. As a further example, the power source 2808 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.

[0212] Embodiments of the network node 2800 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 28 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 2800 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 2800 and to allow output of information from the network node 2800. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 2800. In some embodiments providing a core network node, such as core network node 108 of FIG. 26, some components, such as the radio front-end circuitry 2818 and the RF transceiver circuitry 2812 may be omitted.

[0213] Figure 29 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 2900 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 virtualization environments 2900 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, a UE, a core network node, or a 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 2900 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface. Virtualization may facilitate distributed implementations of a network node, a UE, a core network node, or a host.

[0214] Applications 2902 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 2900 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Hardware 2904 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, an input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 2906 (also referred to as hypervisors or Virtual Machine Monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 2908A and 2908B (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 2908), and / or perform any of the functions, features, and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 2906 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 2908.

[0215] The VMs 2908 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking, or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 2906. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 2902 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 2908, 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.

[0216] In the context of NFV, a VM 2908 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 2908, and that part of the hardware 2904 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 2908 on top of the hardware 2904 and corresponds to the application 2902.

[0217] The hardware 2904 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. The hardware 2904 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, the hardware 2904 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 2910, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of the applications 2902. In some embodiments, the hardware 2904 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 2912 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0218] 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.

[0219] 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.

[0220] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein. EMBODIMENTS

[0221] Embodiment 1 : A method performed by a first Radio Access Network, RAN, node, the method comprising: sending (1102), to a second RAN node, a cell or Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, beam based User Equipment, UE, trajectory prediction for a UE; and receiving (1106), from the second RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more Coverage and Capacity Optimization, CCO, -related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

[0222] Embodiment 2: The method of embodiment 1, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication.

[0223] Embodiment 3: The method of embodiment 2, wherein the explicit indication is for the received UE trajectory measurements.

[0224] Embodiment 4: The method of embodiment 1, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication per cell or SSB beam.

[0225] Embodiment 5: The method of embodiment 1, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication per cell or SSB beam for cells or SSB beams included in the received UE trajectory measurements.

[0226] Embodiment 6: The method of embodiment 1, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication per cell or SSB beam for all cells or SSB beams included in the received UE trajectory measurements regardless of whether the respective coverage was altered or not.

[0227] Embodiment 7: The method of embodiment 1, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises, for at least one cell or SSB beam included in the received UE trajectory measurements, a corresponding coverage state of the at least one cell or SSB beam. Embodiment 8: The method of embodiment 1, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises information that indicates one or more cells or SSB beams affected by the one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

[0228] Embodiment 9: The method of embodiment 1, wherein the received UE trajectory measurements comprises a list of cells or SSB beams visited by the UE.

[0229] Embodiment 10: The method of embodiment 9, wherein the received UE trajectory measurements further comprise a time (e.g., start time, end time, or time window) that the UE stayed in each cell or SSB beam in the list.

[0230] Embodiment 11: The method of embodiment 9 or 10, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises, for at least one cell or SSB beam in the list of cells or SSB beams visited by the UE, a sequence of coverage states (and optionally a time of stay) of the cell or SSB beam during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

[0231] Embodiment 12: The method of embodiment 9 or 10, wherein the list of cells or SSB beams visited by the UE contains at least one cell or SSB beam repeated two or more times within the list.

[0232] Embodiment 13: The method of embodiment 12, wherein the information further comprises information that indicates, for each repetition of the at least one cell or SSB beam in the list, a coverage state of the at least one cell or SSB beam.

[0233] Embodiment 14: The method of embodiment 9 or 10, wherein the information comprises, for at least one cell or SSB beam in the list, a list of coverage states and, for each coverage state in the list of coverage states, an indication of a time at which the coverage state was activated for the at least one cell or SSB beam.

[0234] Embodiment 15: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 14, wherein the one or more CCO-related events comprise any one or more of: one or more CCO events between the first RAN node and the second RAN node, one or more CCO events between the second RAN node and a third RAN node that is a neighbor RAN node of the second RAN node but not the first RAN node, or one or more CCO vents between the second RAN node and a third RAN node that is a neighbor RAN node of both the first and second RAN nodes. Embodiment 16: The method of any of embodiments 1 to 15, further comprising sending (1102), to the second RAN node, information that indicates that the first RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during a period of time between when the first RAN node made the UE trajectory predictions and when the first RAN node sends the UE trajectory prediction to the second RAN node.

[0235] Embodiment 17: A first Radio Access Network, RAN, node adapted to perform the method of any of embodiments 1 to 16.

[0236] Embodiment 18: A method performed by a second Radio Access Network, RAN, node, the method comprising: receiving (1102), from a first RAN node, a cell or Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, beam based User Equipment, UE, trajectory prediction for a UE; and sending (1106), to the first RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, cell or S SB-based UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more Coverage and Capacity Optimization, CCO, -related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

[0237] Embodiment 19: The method of embodiment 18, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication.

[0238] Embodiment 20: The method of embodiment 19, wherein the explicit indication is for the UE trajectory measurements.

[0239] Embodiment 21 : The method of embodiment 18, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication per cell or SSB beam.

[0240] Embodiment 22: The method of embodiment 18, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication per cell or SSB beam for cells or SSB beams included in the received UE trajectory measurements.

[0241] Embodiment 23: The method of embodiment 18, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication per cell or SSB beam for cells or SSB beams included in the received UE trajectory measurements regardless of whether the respective coverage was altered or not. Embodiment 24: The method of embodiment 18, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises, for at least one cell or SSB beam included in the received UE trajectory measurements, a corresponding coverage state of the at least one cell or SSB beam.

[0242] Embodiment 25: The method of embodiment 18, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises information that indicates one or more cells or SSB beams affected by the one or more CCO- related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

[0243] Embodiment 26: The method of embodiment 18, wherein the UE trajectory measurements comprises a list of cells or SSB beams visited by the UE.

[0244] Embodiment 27: The method of embodiment 26, wherein the UE trajectory measurements further comprise a time (e.g., start time, end time, or time window) that the UE stayed in each cell or SSB beam in the list.

[0245] Embodiment 28: The method of embodiment 26 or 27, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises, for at least one cell or SSB beam in the list of cells or SSB beams visited by the UE, a sequence of coverage states (and optionally a time of stay) of the cell or SSB beam during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

[0246] Embodiment 29: The method of embodiment 26 or 27, wherein the list of cells or SSB beams visited by the UE contains at least one cell or SSB beam repeated two or more times within the list.

[0247] Embodiment 30: The method of embodiment 29, wherein the information further comprises information that indicates, for each repetition of the at least one cell or SSB beam in the list, a coverage state of the at least one cell or SSB beam.

[0248] Embodiment 31 : The method of embodiment 26 or 27, wherein the information comprises, for at least one cell or SSB beam in the list, a list of coverage states and, for each coverage state in the list of coverage states, an indication of a time at which the coverage state was activated for the at least one cell or SSB beam.

[0249] Embodiment 32: The method of any of embodiments 18 to 31, wherein the one or more CCO-related events comprise any one or more of: one or more CCO events between the first RAN node and the second RAN node, one or more CCO events between the second RAN node and a third RAN node that is a neighbor RAN node of the second RAN node but not the first RAN node, or one or more CCO vents between the second RAN node and a third RAN node that is a neighbor RAN node of both the first and second RAN nodes. Embodiment 33 : The method of any of embodiments 18 to 32, further comprising receiving

[0250] (1102), from the first RAN node, information that indicates that the first RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during a period of time between when the first RAN node made the UE trajectory predictions and when the first RAN node sends the UE trajectory prediction to the second RAN node. Embodiment 34: A second Radio Access Network, RAN, node adapted to perform the method of any of embodiments 18 to 33.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a first Radio Access Network, RAN, node, the method comprising: sending (1102), to a second RAN node, a cell or Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, beam based User Equipment, UE, trajectory prediction for a UE; and receiving (1106), from the second RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more Coverage and Capacity Optimization, CCO, -related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the explicit indication is for the received UE trajectory measurements.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication per cell or SSB beam.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication per cell or SSB beam for cells or SSB beams included in the received UE trajectory measurements.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication per cell or SSB beam for all cells or SSB beams included in the received UE trajectory measurements regardless of whether the respective coverage was altered or not.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the secondRAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises, for at least one cell or SSB beam included in the received UE trajectory measurements, a corresponding coverage state of the at least one cell or SSB beam.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises information that indicates one or more cells or SSB beams affected by the one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the received UE trajectory measurements comprise a list of cells or SSB beams visited by the UE.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the received UE trajectory measurements further comprise information that indicates a period of time that the UE stayed in each cell or SSB beam in the list.

11. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises, for at least one cell or SSB beam in the list of cells or SSB beams visited by the UE, a sequence of coverage states of the cell or SSB beam during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

12. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein the list of cells or SSB beams visited by the UE contains at least one cell or SSB beam repeated two or more times within the list.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the information further comprises information that indicates, for each repetition of the at least one cell or SSB beam in the list, a coverage state of the at least one cell or SSB beam.

14. The method of claim 9 or 10, wherein the information comprises, for at least one cell or SSB beam in the list, a list of coverage states and, for each coverage state in the list of coverage states, an indication of a time at which the coverage state was activated for the at least one cell or SSB beam.

15. The method of any of claims 1 to 14, wherein the one or more CCO-related events comprise any one or more of: one or more CCO events between the first RAN node and the second RAN node, one or more CCO events between the second RAN node and a third RAN node that is a neighbor RAN node of the second RAN node but not the first RAN node, or one or more CCO vents between the second RAN node and a third RAN node that is a neighbor RAN node of both the first and second RAN nodes.

16. The method of any of claims 1 to 15, further comprising sending (1102), to the second RAN node, information that indicates that the first RAN node was affected by one or more CCO- related events during a period of time between when the first RAN node made the UE trajectory predictions and when the first RAN node sends the UE trajectory prediction to the second RAN node.

17. The method of any of claims 1 to 16, wherein the one or more CCO-related events comprise one or more events related to an actual CCO issue or a predicted CCO issue.

18. A first Radio Access Network, RAN, node adapted to: send (1102), to a second RAN node, a cell or Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, beam based User Equipment, UE, trajectory prediction for a UE; and receive (1106), from the second RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more Coverage and Capacity Optimization, CCO, -related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

19. The RAN node of claim 18, further adapted to perform the method of any of claims 2 to 17.

20. A first Radio Access Network, RAN, node comprising: a communication interface (2806); and processing circuitry (2802) associated with the communication interface (2806), the processing circuitry (2802) configured to cause the first RAN node to: send (1102), to a second RAN node, a cell or Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, beam based User Equipment, UE, trajectory prediction for a UE; andreceive (1106), from the second RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more Coverage and Capacity Optimization, CCO, -related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

21. The RAN node of claim 20, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the first RAN node to perform the method of any of claims 2 to 17.

22. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising software instructions executable by processing circuitry of a first Radio Access Network, RAN, node, whereby the first RAN node is caused to: send (1102), to a second RAN node, a cell or Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, beam based User Equipment, UE, trajectory prediction for a UE; and receive (1106), from the second RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more Coverage and Capacity Optimization, CCO, -related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

23. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any one of claims 1 to 17.

24. A carrier containing the computer program of claim 23, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer readable storage medium.

25. A method performed by a second Radio Access Network, RAN, node, the method comprising: receiving (1102), from a first RAN node, a cell or Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, beam based User Equipment, UE, trajectory prediction for a UE; and sending (1106), to the first RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, cell or SSB-based UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more Coverage and Capacity Optimization, CCO,- related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectorymeasurements.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the explicit indication is for the UE trajectory measurements.

28. The method of claim 25, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication per cell or SSB beam.

29. The method of claim 25, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication per cell or SSB beam for cells or SSB beams included in the received UE trajectory measurements.

30. The method of claim 25, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises an explicit indication per cell or SSB beam for cells or SSB beams included in the received UE trajectory measurements regardless of whether the respective coverage was altered or not.

31. The method of claim 25, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises, for at least one cell or SSB beam included in the received UE trajectory measurements, a corresponding coverage state of the at least one cell or SSB beam.

32. The method of claim 25, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises information that indicates one or morecells or SSB beams affected by the one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

33. The method of claim 25, wherein the UE trajectory measurements comprises a list of cells or SSB beams visited by the UE.

34. The method of claim 33, wherein the UE trajectory measurements further comprise information that indicates a period of time that the UE stayed in each cell or SSB beam in the list.

35. The method of claim 33 or 34, wherein the information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more CCO-related events during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements comprises, for at least one cell or SSB beam in the list of cells or SSB beams visited by the UE, a sequence of coverage states of the cell or SSB beam during the period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

36. The method of claim 33 or 34, wherein the list of cells or SSB beams visited by the UE contains at least one cell or SSB beam repeated two or more times within the list.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the information further comprises information that indicates, for each repetition of the at least one cell or SSB beam in the list, a coverage state of the at least one cell or SSB beam.

38. The method of claim 33 or 34, wherein the information comprises, for at least one cell or SSB beam in the list, a list of coverage states and, for each coverage state in the list of coverage states, an indication of a time at which the coverage state was activated for the at least one cell or SSB beam.

39. The method of any of claims 25 to 38, wherein the one or more CCO-related events comprise any one or more of: one or more CCO events between the first RAN node and the second RAN node, one or more CCO events between the second RAN node and a third RAN node that is a neighbor RAN node of the second RAN node but not the first RAN node, or one or more CCO vents between the second RAN node and a third RAN node that is a neighbor RAN node of both the first and second RAN nodes.

40. The method of any of claims 25 to 39, further comprising receiving (1102), from the first RAN node, information that indicates that the first RAN node was affected by one or more CCO- related events during a period of time between when the first RAN node made the UE trajectory predictions and when the first RAN node sends the UE trajectory prediction to the second RAN node.

41. The method of any of claims 25 to 40, wherein the second RAN node stops collecting UE trajectory measurements for the UE when a coverage modification is applied or when the second RAN node determines to apply a coverage modification.

42. The method of any of claims 25 to 41, wherein the one or more CCO-related events comprise one or more events related to an actual CCO issue or a predicted CCO issue.

43. A second Radio Access Network, RAN, node adapted to: receive (1102), from a first RAN node, a cell or Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, beam based User Equipment, UE, trajectory prediction for a UE; and send (1106), to the first RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, cell or S SB-based UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more Coverage and Capacity Optimization, CCO,- related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

44. The second RAN node of claim 42, further adapted to perform the method of any of claims 26 to 42.

45. A second Radio Access Network, RAN, node comprising: a communication interface (2806); and processing circuitry (2802) associated with the communication interface (2806), the processing circuitry (2802) configured to cause the second RAN node to: receive (1102), from a first RAN node, a cell or Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, beam based User Equipment, UE, trajectory prediction for a UE; and send (1106), to the first RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, cell or S SB-based UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information thatindicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more Coverage and Capacity Optimization, CCO, -related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

46. The second RAN node of claim 44, wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the second RAN node to perform the method of any of claims 26 to 42.

47. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising software instructions executable by processing circuitry of a second Radio Access Network, RAN, node, whereby the second RAN node is caused to: receive (1102), from a first RAN node, a cell or Synchronization Signal Block, SSB, beam based User Equipment, UE, trajectory prediction for a UE; and send (1106), to the first RAN node as feedback to the UE trajectory prediction for the UE, cell or S SB-based UE trajectory measurements for the UE and information that indicates that the second RAN node was affected by one or more Coverage and Capacity Optimization, CCO,- related events during a period of time during which the second RAN node made the UE trajectory measurements.

48. A computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any one of claims 25 to 42.

49. A carrier containing the computer program of claim 47, wherein the carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer readable storage medium.

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