Methods, communications devices, and infrastructure equipment

Abstract

A method of operating an Internet of Things, IoT, type communications device configured to communicate with a wireless communications network. The method comprises receiving, from an infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a first indication that the communications device is to indicate values of one or more parameters associated with the communications device to the infrastructure equipment, and responding, to the infrastructure equipment while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, with a second indication of the values of the one or more parameters. The values of these one or more parameters may be for use by the infrastructure equipment in performing interference management in respect of future communications between the communications device and the wireless communications network.

Description

[0001] METHODS, COMMUNICATIONS DEVICES, AND INFRASTRUCTURE EQUIPMENT

[0002] BACKGROUND Field of Disclosure

[0003] The present disclosure relates to communications devices, infrastructure equipment, and methods for the more efficient and effective operation of low power devices in a wireless communications network.

[0004] The present applications claims the Paris Convention priority from European patent application number EP24190654.4, filed on 24 July 2024, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

[0005] Description of Related Art

[0006] The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.

[0007] Previous generation mobile telecommunication systems, such as those based on the 3GPP defined UMTS and Long Term Evolution (LTE) architecture, are able to support a wider range of services than simple voice and messaging services offered by previous generations of mobile telecommunication systems. For example, with the improved radio interface and enhanced data rates provided by LTE systems, a user is able to enjoy high data rate applications such as mobile video streaming and mobile video conferencing that would previously only have been available via a fixed line data connection. The demand to deploy such networks is therefore strong and the coverage area of these networks, i.e. geographic locations where access to the networks is possible, is expected to continue to increase rapidly.

[0008] Current and future wireless communications networks are expected to routinely and efficiently support communications with an ever-increasing range of devices associated with a wider range of data traffic profiles and types than existing systems are optimised to support. For example, it is expected future wireless communications networks will be expected to efficiently support communications with devices including reduced complexity devices, machine type communication (MTC) devices, high resolution video displays, virtual reality headsets, extended Reality (XR) and so on. Some of these different types of devices may be deployed in very large numbers, for example low complexity devices for supporting the “The Internet of Things”, and may typically be associated with the transmissions of relatively small amounts of data with relatively high latency tolerance. Other types of device, for example supporting high-definition video streaming, may be associated with transmissions of relatively large amounts of data with relatively low latency tolerance. Other types of device, for example used for autonomous vehicle communications and for other critical applications, may be characterised by data that should be transmitted through the network with low latency and high reliability. A single device type might also be associated with different traffic profiles / characteristics depending on the application(s) it is running. For example, different considerations may apply for efficiently supporting data exchange with a smartphone when it is running a video streaming application (high downlink data) as compared to when it is running an Internet browsing application (sporadic uplink and downlink data) or being used for voice communications by an emergency responder in an emergency scenario (data subject to stringent reliability and latency requirements).

[0009] In view of this there is expected to be a desire for current wireless communications networks, for example those which may be referred to as 5G or new radio (NR) systems / new radio access technology (RAT) systems, or indeed future 6G wireless communications, as well as future iterations / releases of existing systems, to efficiently support connectivity for a wide range of devices associated with different applications and different characteristic data traffic profiles and requirements.

[0010] SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

[0011] The present disclosure can help address or mitigate at least some of the issues discussed above.

[0012] At least some embodiments of the present technique can provide a method of operating an Internet of Things, loT, type communications device configured to communicate with a wireless communications network. The method comprises receiving, from an infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a first indication that the communications device is to indicate values of one or more parameters associated with the communications device to the infrastructure equipment, and responding, to the infrastructure equipment while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, with a second indication of the values of the one or more parameters. The values of these one or more parameters may be for use by the infrastructure equipment in performing interference management in respect of future communications between the communications device and the wireless communications network.

[0013] Such embodiments of the present technique, which, in addition to methods of operating communications devices, relate to methods of operating infrastructure equipment, to communications devices and infrastructure equipment, to circuitry for communications devices and infrastructure equipment, to wireless communications systems, to computer programs, and to computer-readable storage mediums, can allow for the more efficient and effective operation of low power devices in wireless communications networks by specifying how such loT-type devices (e.g. 6G-I0T or outdoor Ambient loT user equipment) should indicate various pieces of information or perform measurements within wireless communications networks.

[0014] Respective aspects and features of the present disclosure are defined in the appended claims.

[0015] It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, but are not restrictive, of the present technology. The described embodiments, together with further advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

[0016] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] A more complete appreciation of the disclosure and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and wherein:

[0018] Figures 1A and IB schematically represent examples of communication systems in which tags are deployed within a coverage area of an infrastructure equipment (e.g. a gNB) of a wireless communications network and in which carrier wave emitters are controlled by the infrastructure equipment to transmit carrier wave signals and backscattered signals are detected;

[0019] Figure 2 schematically represents some aspects of a new radio access technology (RAT) wireless telecommunications system which may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of an example infrastructure equipment and communications device which may be configured to operate in accordance with certain embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0020] Figure 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example of backscattering circuitry;

[0021] Figure 5 is a schematic illustration representing an example in which a carrier wave signal transmitted by an external carrier wave emitter is backscattered;

[0022] Figure 6 schematically illustrates an example of an ambient Internet of Things (loT) device communicating with a network;

[0023] Figures 7A and 7B schematically illustrates examples of an ambient loT device communicating with a network;

[0024] Figure 8 illustrates how more cells may be visible to aerial communications devices than compared to those deployed at ground level;

[0025] Figure 9 shows a part schematic, part message flow diagram representation of an example wireless communications system comprising a communications device and an infrastructure equipment in accordance with embodiments of the present technique;

[0026] Figure 10 illustrates an example of how an loT type device may report interference measurements to the network in accordance with embodiments of the present technique; and

[0027] Figure 11 shows a flow diagram illustrating an example process of communications in a communications system in accordance with embodiments of the present technique.

[0028] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0029] Ambient Internet of Things (loT)

[0030] In Release 19 of 3GPP (Rel-19), 3GPP will study Ambient loT (A-IoT, AIoT) [1,2], where a communications device (such as a UE) is essentially a zero power communications device. In Ambient loT, it is considered that the communications device can harvest energy to power its communication with a base station (such as a gNB). For example, the energy can be harvested from solar or kinetic energy such as vibrations. Alternatively, the energy to power the communications device can come from incident radio frequency (RF) energy, either directly from a base station or from a carrier wave emitter (CWE). An example in which such communication devices are powered by radio frequency energy derived from radio signals transmitted as a carrier wave (CW) by a CWE is shown in Figures 1A and IB. Figures 1A and IB show a plurality of low-complexity communications devices 1, which can be deployed in accordance with an ambient loT scenario. These low-complexity communications devices 1 can be referred to as “tags” because of the simplicity of such devices. These tags 1 are powered as a result of radio frequency energy received from an incident CW 2 transmitted by the CWE 3.

[0031] In a first example illustrated by Figure 1A, a base station 4, or gNB 4 according to 3GPP 5G terminology, receives a backscattered signal 5 from the tags 1, the backscattered signal 5 being formed as a reflection of the carrier wave 2 transmitted by the CWE 3.

[0032] In a second example illustrated by Figure IB, a UE 7 receives a backscattered signal 5 from the tags 1. The UE 7 then transmits an indication of the received backscattered signals 5, which were received from the tags 1, to the gNB 4 via a wireless access interface 8 formed between the gNB 4 and the UE 7. Therefore, the gNB 4 may control the CWEs 3 to transmit the CWs 2, and the backscattered signals are detected by the detection station (i.e. the UE) 7, and the detection station transmits an indication of the detected backscattered signals to the gNB 4.

[0033] The station which controls the CWEs 3 may be regarded as a controller station. The station which detects the backscattered signals 5 may be regarded as detection station. The detection station may also be referred to as reader. Therefore, in the example of Figure 1A, both the controller station and the detection station are formed by the gNB 4. In contrast, in the example of Figure IB, the detection station 7 which is deployed in the form of the UE 7 is separate from the gNB 4 which acts as the controller station.

[0034] According to the arrangements of Figures 1A and IB, the tags 1 may modulate the reflected or backscattered signal 5 with information which is detected by the gNB 4 or a UE 7 acting as a detection station. As shown in Figures 1A and IB, gNB 4, which provides a cell represented by dashed line 12, controls CWE 3 to transmit CW 2.

[0035] In some examples, the CWE 3 is formed by a communications device (such as a UE) which operates with a wireless communications network of which the gNB 4 forms part. The gNB 4 has an interface 6 to the CWE 3. In some examples therefore the interface 6 may be a Uu interface, using 3GPP terminology. In some examples, the CWE is part of the gNB 4. In this case, the interface 6 can be an internal interface to the gNB 4. The CWE 3 can be a standalone device or can be part of another network node. In one example, the CWE is a UE, such as a legacy UE or smartphone. In this case, the UE can be controlled to send a suitable signal to act as a carrier wave signal. It is also possible for the AIoT device to transmit data in the uplink by backscattering another signal (for example the DL signal from the gNB 4).

[0036] In some examples, such as the example of Figure IB, the backscattered signal 5 may be received by a separate detection station (e.g. UE 7) which does not form part of the gNB 4. However since example embodiments can operate within or in association with wireless communications networks, an architecture of a typical 5G or New Radio (NR) wireless communications network will be now be described with reference to Figures 2 and 3. In some examples the CWE 3 may be incorporated within the detection station as a reader, in that the reader both emits the carrier wave signals and detects the backscattered signal from the one or more tags. The reader may then send the decoded information to the controller station.

[0037] New Radio Access Technology (5G)

[0038] An example configuration of a wireless communications network which uses some of the terminology proposed for and used in NR and 5G is shown in Figure 2. In Figure 2 a plurality of transmission and reception points (TRPs) 10 are connected to distributed control units (DUs) 41, 42 by a connection interface represented as a line 16. Each of the TRPs 10 is arranged to transmit and receive signals via a wireless access interface within a radio frequency bandwidth available to the wireless communications network. Thus, within a range for performing radio communications via the wireless access interface, each of the TRPs 10, forms a cell of the wireless communications network as represented by a circle 12. As such, wireless communications devices 14 which are within a radio communications range provided by the cells 12 can transmit and receive signals to and from the TRPs 10 via the wireless access interface. Each of the distributed units 41, 42 are connected to a central unit (CU) 40 (which may be referred to as a controlling node) via an interface 46. Each CU may be connected to a single DU, or a CU may be connected to multiple DUs as is the case for CU 40 in the example of Figure 2. The central unit 40 is then connected to the core network 20 which may contain all other functions required to transmit data for communicating to and from the wireless communications devices and the core network 20 may be connected to other networks 25.

[0039] The elements of the wireless access network shown in Figure 2 may operate in a similar way to corresponding elements of an LTE network. It will be appreciated that operational aspects of the telecommunications network represented in Figure 2, and of other networks discussed herein in accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, which are not specifically described (for example in relation to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be implemented in accordance with any known techniques, for example according to currently used approaches for implementing such operational aspects of wireless telecommunications systems, e.g. in accordance with the relevant standards.

[0040] The TRPs 10 of Figure 2 may in part have a corresponding functionality to a base station or eNodeB of an LTE network. Similarly, the communications devices 14 may have a functionality corresponding to the UE devices 4 known for operation with an LTE network. It will be appreciated therefore that operational aspects of a new RAT network (for example in relation to specific communication protocols and physical channels for communicating between different elements) may be different to those known from LTE or other known mobile telecommunications standards. However, it will also be appreciated that each of the core network component, base stations and communications devices of a new RAT network will be functionally similar to, respectively, the core network component, base stations and communications devices of an LTE wireless communications network.

[0041] In terms of broad top-level functionality, the core network 20 connected to the new RAT telecommunications system represented in Figure 2 may be broadly considered to correspond with an LTE core network, and the respective central units 40 and their associated distributed units / TRPs 10 may be broadly considered to provide functionality corresponding to LTE base stations. The term network infrastructure equipment / access node may be used to encompass these elements and more conventional base station type elements of wireless telecommunications systems. Depending on the application at hand the responsibility for scheduling transmissions which are scheduled on the radio interface between the respective distributed units and the communications devices may lie with the controlling node / central unit and / or the distributed units / TRPs. A communications device 14 is represented in Figure 2 within the coverage area of the first communication cell 12. This communications device 14 may thus exchange signalling with the first central unit 40 in the first communication cell 12 via one of the distributed units / TRPs 10 associated with the first communication cell 12.

[0042] It will further be appreciated that Figure 2 represents merely one example of a proposed architecture for a new RAT based telecommunications system in which approaches in accordance with the principles described herein may be adopted, and the functionality disclosed herein may also be applied in respect of wireless telecommunications systems having different architectures.

[0043] Thus, certain embodiments of the disclosure as discussed herein may be implemented in wireless telecommunication systems / networks according to various different architectures, such as the example architecture shown in Figure 2. It will thus be appreciated the specific wireless telecommunications architecture in any given implementation is not of primary significance to the principles described herein. In this regard, certain embodiments of the disclosure may be described generally in the context of communications between network infrastructure equipment / access nodes and a communications device, wherein the specific nature of the network infrastructure equipment / access node and the communications device will depend on the network infrastructure for the implementation at hand. For example, in some scenarios the network infrastructure equipment / access node may comprise a base station, such as an LTE-type base station 1 which is adapted to provide functionality in accordance with the principles described herein, and in other examples the network infrastructure equipment may comprise a control unit / controlling node 40 and / or a TRP 10 of the kind shown in Figure 2 which is adapted to provide functionality in accordance with the principles described herein.

[0044] A more detailed diagram of some of the components of the network shown in Figure 2 is provided by Figure 3. In Figure 3, a TRP 10 as shown in Figure 2 comprises, as a simplified representation, a wireless transmitter 30, a wireless receiver 32 and a controller or controlling processor 34 which may operate to control the transmitter 30 and the wireless receiver 32 to transmit and receive radio signals to one or more UEs 14 within a cell 12 formed by the TRP 10. As shown in Figure 3, an example UE 14 is shown to include a corresponding transmitter 49, a receiver 48 and a controller 44 which is configured to control the transmitter 49 and the receiver 48 to transmit signals representing uplink data to the wireless communications network via the wireless access interface formed by the TRP 10 and to receive downlink data as signals transmitted by the transmitter 30 and received by the receiver 48 in accordance with the conventional operation.

[0045] The transmitters 30, 49 and the receivers 32, 48 (as well as other transmitters, receivers and transceivers described in relation to examples and embodiments of the present disclosure) may include radio frequency filters and amplifiers as well as signal processing components and devices in order to transmit and receive radio signals in accordance for example with the 5G / NR standard. The controllers 34, 44 (as well as other controllers described in relation to examples and embodiments of the present disclosure) may be, for example, a microprocessor, a CPU, or a dedicated chipset, etc., configured to carry out instructions which are stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-volatile memory. The processing steps described herein may be carried out by, for example, a microprocessor in conjunction with a random access memory, operating according to instructions stored on a computer readable medium. The transmitters, the receivers and the controllers are schematically shown in Figure 3 as separate elements for ease of representation. However, it will be appreciated that the functionality of these elements can be provided in various different ways, for example using one or more suitably programmed programmable computer(s), or one or more suitably configured application-specific integrated circuit(s) / circuitry / chip(s) / chipset(s). As will be appreciated the infrastructure equipment / TRP / base station as well as the UE / communications device will in general comprise various other elements associated with its operating functionality.

[0046] As shown in Figure 3, the TRP 10 also includes a network interface 50 which connects to the DU 42 via a physical interface 16. The network interface 50 therefore provides a communication link for data and signalling traffic from the TRP 10 via the DU 42 and the CU 40 to the core network 20.

[0047] The interface 46 between the DU 42 and the CU 40 is known as the F 1 interface which can be a physical or a logical interface. The Fl interface 46 between CU and DU may operate in accordance with specifications 3GPP TS 38.470 and 3GPP TS 38.473, and may be formed from a fibre optic or other wired or wireless high bandwidth connection. In one example the connection 16 from the TRP 10 to the DU 42 is via fibre optic. The connection between a TRP 10 and the core network 20 can be generally referred to as a backhaul, which comprises the interface 16 from the network interface 50 of the TRP 10 to the DU 42 and the Fl interface 46 from the DU 42 to the CU 40.

[0048] Although reference is made to 5G networks, the discussions in this specification apply equally to 6G networks (and beyond) where there is expected to be significantly higher throughput, lower latency and higher reliability utilising sub-THz frequencies.

[0049] RF Incident Energy

[0050] As explained above with reference to the example shown in Figures 1A and IB, Ambient loT proposes to use energy received from a radio frequency carrier wave in order to power devices. An Ambient loT device could be powered by other ambient power sources, such as solar or thermal power. Harvesting energy based on the incident RF energy has several advantages and disadvantages.

[0051] An advantage is that the RF energy is always available. Therefore, the Ambient loT device can always be awake while being powered from this energy. Furthermore, a signal transmitted in the uplink from a tag can be backscattered using the incident radio frequency wave. A disadvantage is that the received power of the RF energy source is typically low. A receiver operating on such energy typically requires a power level of -30dBm to -20dBm for operation, which is not consistent with the low amounts of received power that are typically available directly from a base station. This required received power level sets a limit on the range (communication distance) supported by the AIoT system.

[0052] Another disadvantage is that the transmission power level of a device that is powered by an RF energy source is typically very low. Such devices may operate based on backscattering technology, for example. The backscattered signal is created at the same carrier frequency as the incident RF energy. It is thus hard for the source of the RF energy (e.g. a gNB) to differentiate between the transmitted RF signal and the backscattered signal.

[0053] Another disadvantage is that, so as to reduce the power consumption of a receiver that operates on incident RF energy, a low power waveform / signalling scheme that is amenable to being decoded and received by a low power consumption receiver is typically required. For example, an on-off keying (OOK) signalling scheme may be used for such lower power communications. There are then issues of multiplexing this new signalling scheme with the currently supported orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) and Discrete Fourier Transform-Spread-OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) waveforms.

[0054] Despite the above-listed disadvantages, it is considered that Ambient loT based on RF incident energy is feasible. Hence, 3GPP have started the study item on Ambient loT technology [1], which is revised in

[0055] [2], and have collected some initial design targets, requirements, topologies, deployment scenarios etc in

[0056] [3].

[0057] Backscattering Principle

[0058] A passive device can transmit in the uplink (UL) using the backscattering principle. The UL signal can be backscattered on RF incident energy that can be either ambient (some RF energy that is already being transmitted in the ether, such as a cellular radio signal or a TV signal) or transmitted as a carrier-wave by a CW emitter for the express purpose of being backscattered. In either case, backscattering is performed based on the backscattering principle which is further described below.

[0059] Different from the conventional wireless communications device which actively generates its own signal, backscattering devices rely on reflecting an incident signal to transmit data. The encoded data is modulated by varying the amplitude (ASK), phase (PSK), or frequency (FSK) of the backscattered signal. More specifically, backscattering modulation is achieved by alternating between distinct load impedances of the antenna, with each impedance state leading to a unique characteristic of the reflected signal [4] . Figure 4 illustrates a generic form of the backscattering circuitry including a matching network and an integrated circuit (IC).

[0060] There are two aspects of power that are relevant to the Ambient loT device:

[0061] • Absorbed power - this is the power that is energy harvested and can be used to drive the circuits within the tag; and

[0062] • Reflected power - this is the power that is reflected as a backscattered signal.

[0063] Given the antenna and load impedances denoted as Za= Ra+ j'Xaand Zn= Rn+ jXn, n = 1,2, respectively, the reflection coefficient corresponding to each state is expressed as: where * denotes the complex conjugate operation. It should be noted that Figure 4 shows the antenna impedance Zaas Zant. It should also be noted that it is possible for the load impedance to vary between more than two states, while in the present disclosure, binary state switching is considered for the sake of simplicity of explanation. Ideally, when the load impedance is set to the complex conjugate of the antenna impedance at a certain state, n = 1, Z, = Z„, = 0 holds and thus the received power is completely absorbed by the communications device, leading to a lower reflection state. Different reflection coefficients can be obtained with different values of load impedance. For example, a value of Znthat is much greater than Zawill lead to a reflection coefficient close to 1, leading to a higher reflection state. It should furthermore be noted that, in practice, the reflection coefficient |Fn| depends on the manufacturing process and may vary within the range of (0,1).

[0064] The absorbed power can be calculated as: where Pavan denotes the power delivered from the antenna when the load impedance perfectly matches with the antenna impedance. It should be noted that in the literature the expression: is defined as the power transmission coefficient [5], In fact, the power captured by the antenna will be split into two; one part is scattered back to the reader while another part is delivered to the tag. For the design of the reflection ratio, a trade-off needs to be considered to balance the need for both parts of the power.

[0065] Given PaVati- the average power absorbed by the device can be calculated as:

[0066] Pin = Pavail (Pl (l " 1 ^ |2) + p2(1 - |F2|2)) where pnin=,2 denotes the ratio of time duration for each impedance state; = p2holds if the probability of each impedance equals to the other (this also means the same probability of 0s and Is appeared in the encoded data if the backscattered signal uses a pure OOK waveform). Assuming that there are no antenna losses, the backscattered signal power is calculated as (considering ideal antenna):

[0067] CW Emitter

[0068] The carrier-wave emitter (or CW emitter / CWE) transmits a carrier wave signal (CWS) that can be used by the tag to backscatter a signal from. The tag may additionally harvest energy from the CWS or simply use the power from the CWS to power the circuitry in the tag (i.e. energy may not be stored by the tag but may be used for ongoing operations). Such a scenario is shown in Figure 5. Figure 5 shows a tag 1 with a backscattering module 60. The backscattered signal is backscattered on the CW signal by the backscattering circuit, which may have the structure shown in Figure 4. The tag 1 includes an energy harvesting module 62, which converts energy of the carrier wave signal into power to drive a microcontroller 64 and the backscattering module 60.

[0069] The tag can be powered by non-RF energy sources, such as via solar power. The tag can also and / or alternatively be powered by an RF energy source. The RF energy source may be the same signal as the CW emitter (the CW signal may both power the tag and provide a signal that can be backscattered from).

[0070] The CW emitter devices may take the following forms:

[0071] • Base station - the base station (e.g. gNodeB) acts as the CW emitter;

[0072] • Intermediate node - a reader may act as the CW emitter. The reader is a device that receives the backscattered signal, demodulates it and sends the result to the base station. The reader may also send signals (R2D - reader to device) to the tag; or

[0073] • Dedicated node - the CW emitter may be a dedicated node whose purpose is to provide a CW signal that can be backscattered from. The CW signal can also be used to power the tag, as discussed above.

[0074] The tag may receive sufficient power to decode downlink signalling, but not have sufficient power to transmit a backscattered signal in the UL (there is insufficient link budget in the uplink). In an example, the tag can decode the AIoT downlink based on ambient RF power, for example power that is received directly from the gNB. It should be noted that the signals that are sent from a base station or reader to the tag are considered to be downlink signals from the perspective of the tag. These signals can be actually transmitted in uplink spectrum. Those skilled in the art would understand, with respect to the context of what is being described, when the term “downlink” refers to the topological direction of travel of a signal and when it refers to specific types of spectrum.

[0075] A CW emitter may be capable of transmitting different types of signal. For example, a CW emitter may be capable of transmitting a CW signal, as discussed above, which allows a tag to backscatter or harvest energy. Such a CW signal can be a single tone or multi-tone signal. In addition, a CW emitter may be able to transmit a reference signal. Such a reference signal may be a multi-tone signal, e.g. in the form of a reference signal used in LTE or NR networks. Examples include a sounding reference signal (SRS) or a demodulation reference signal (DMRS). However, the CW emitter may be able to transmit other types of reference signals.

[0076] The protocol for Ambient loT operation can be based on a command / response type of protocol. The detection station (which might be the gNodeB) sends a downlink command signal with a command to the tag. For example, the downlink command signal could indicate to the tag that it should respond with its identity (such as an identity number). The downlink command signal could indicate some further aspect of how the tag should respond. For example, the downlink command signal may indicate an amount of frequency shift that should be applied to the response signal, or may indicate a time at which the response signal should be transmitted. Alternatively, the downlink command may be received from the application layer, such as a command to report sensor measurement results. Based on the downlink command signal, the tag responds with a backscattered signal, where the backscattered signal is backscattered on the carrier wave signal.

[0077] Figure 6 shows an example of an A-IoT network. There are three CWEs illustrated in the example network shown in Figure 6; each CWE is scheduled by the gNB for the CW transmission to the A-IoT device (named as ‘Tag’ in Figure 6). The tag may also receive a command from the gNB and respond accordingly, e.g., standby, data transmission and reflection in a manner known by the gNB.

[0078] In a general indoor scenario, A-IoT devices (also called tags) are deployed and attached to objects for various purposes, e.g., inventory, environment monitoring, etc. Tags are connected to a cellular network which is served by a single gNB or reader. Since the tags can only conduct backscattering communications, a bi-static topology is shown in order to enhance the communication range; this is realized by the deployment of multiple carrier wave emitters (CWEs) which transmit CWSs to the tag and enable backscattering at the tag.

[0079] Capability of CWEs

[0080] CWEs can receive, process, and transmit OFDM-based multi-tone signals, for example control signals sent by a gNodeB or other controlling node. The CW that the CWEs transmit may be, for example, in the form of an unmodulated single-tone signal (however other types of tone may be used), which can be generated by only transmitting through a single OFDM subcarrier or other ways compatible to the OFDM based signal generation process.

[0081] Capability of Tags

[0082] Depending on whether the tag can actively generate the signal or not, the tags are categorized into either active tags or (semi-) passive tags. Passive tags rely on backscattering communications. Active devices can actively generate a signal and transmit the signal at a desired frequency.

[0083] Passive tags cannot actively generate signals for transmission due to their low-complexity nature. They don’t support decoding OFDM-based multi-tone signals. They can decode signals that are sent on a R2D (reader to device, where the gNB can act as the reader) link when the R2D link uses a simple modulation scheme, such as OOK or FSK. This decoding could be done with a simple low power receiver, such as an envelope detector. For the D2R (device to reader) link, different backscattering modulation schemes may be applied, such as on-off keying (OOK), frequency shift keying (FSK), phase shift keying (PSK) and other schemes, given the incident CW signal.

[0084] Apart from the basic functionalities, e.g., data transmission, registration, and identification, etc., the tag is also able to be controlled, based on the command received from gNB on the R2D link, via its controller to achieve a certain reflection state, such as a high reflection state or a low / no reflection state. It should be noted that the tag can exploit the difference between impedance states to yield various reflection ratios (as described above with reference to Figure 4); for example, constant absorption / reflection, etc. (i.e. high reflection and low / no reflection states can be achieved by changing the reflection ratios).

[0085] Depending on the availability of energy storage, tags may be categorized into passive (without energy storage) and semi-passive (with energy storage) devices. An energy harvester is usually implemented to extend the life of the device and its type may include RF -based and other types of energy sources.

[0086] The tags have low accuracy clocks in order to reduce device complexity and to reduce tag power consumption. The tag is hence unable to accurately synchronise to the reader (e.g. gNB) and is unable to maintain accurate and consistent timing between synchronisation events (e.g. transmission of the SSB) as the tag’s clock would drift in the meantime. Topologies and Agreements for Ambient loT Device Design

[0087] Use cases, topologies and functionalities required for AIoT have been discussed in [3], For example, two possible topologies, named Topology 1 and Topology 2. have been discussed, as explained in more detail below.

[0088] Topology 1: Base Station (BS)-Ambient loT Device

[0089] An example of Topology 1 is shown in Figure 7A, which is a reproduction of Figure 4.2. 1.1-1 of [3], In Topology 1, an ambient loT device 74 directly and bi-directionally communicates with a base station 72. The communication between the base station 72 and the ambient loT device 74 includes AIoT data and / or signalling. Although not shown in Figure 7A, Topology 1 includes the possibility that the base station transmitting to the AIoT device is a different from the base station receiving from the AIoT device.

[0090] Topology 2: Intermediate Node - Ambient loT device

[0091] An example of Topology 2 is shown in Figure 7B, which is a reproduction of Figure 4.2.1. 1-2 of [3] . In Topology 2, the Ambient loT device 74 communicates bi-directionally with an intermediate node 76 between the AIoT device 74 and the base station 72. In Topology 2, the intermediate node 76 may be a relay, IAB node, UE, repeater, etc. which is capable of performing AIoT techniques. The intermediate node 76 transfers AIoT data and / or signalling between base station 72 and the AIoT device 74.

[0092] For further detail relating to AIoT, reference may be made to any of the cited documents [1] to [5], the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

[0093] 3GPP have agreed the following characteristics of A-IoT design as outlined in Table I below.

[0094] Table I A-IoT devices, currently in discussion as noted above, rely on the network to send a paging message first. That is, the first message in any communication involving an AIoT device is always transmitted by the network. There is no UL-initiated data transfer for device types under discussions within the current scope of AIoT. However, in the future, it is envisaged that A-IoT devices should be able to initiate UL data transfer (i.e. without first being paged by the network), and the protocol stack and procedures currently being discussed will become the baseline. At the same time, 4G MTC and Narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) devices will also migrate to future RATs, and so it is assumed that these devices will be migrated to 6G. In the context of the present disclosure, these MTC / NB-IoT devices as referred to herein as 6G-I0T devices or further enhancement of 4G loT devices.

[0095] If UL-initiated data transfer is to be supported, then UEs should be able to first and foremost detect the presence of a network, and whether such detected networks are in good coverage. This would then enable the UEs to initiate any uplink transmissions which can effectively reach the network. For this purpose, legacy RATs defined cell selection / reselection procedures, whereby UEs perform measurement based on reference signals and check for available networks or cells, and then select one of the networks / cells. These reference signals identify the cell ID.

[0096] One problem with loT devices (such as AIoT devices or 6G-I0T devices) is that these devices are power constrained as described above, and performing measurements requires supplying power to the loT device’s transmitter and receiver, which drains the loT device’s battery. So, 6G loT reference signals or any alternative mechanism should take this into account when the performance of measurements is required, or should somehow define procedures for detecting the network coverage which do not drain the loT device’s battery.

[0097] The present inventors have proposed that the following characteristics of Ambient loT design outlined in Table II below may be agreed in future generations of wireless telecommunications standards such as 6G:

[0098] Table II

[0099] At the filing date of the present disclosure, Rel-19, discussions regarding A-IoT and 6G loT devices and their protocols and behaviour are still very early, and so it is difficult to make any assumptions about RRC states and measurements for 6G-I0T and outdoor A-IoT devices. Since NB-IoT does not support AS security, it is assumed that no AS layer security will be present for such devices throughout the present disclosure and in arrangements of embodiments of the present technique. However, it is noted that NAS and / or application security will be present.

[0100] Technical Issue loT devices can be airborne and act as uncrewed (previously referred to as unmanned) aerial vehicle (UAV) devices. 3GPP worked on airborne UAV devices experiencing increased interference during Rel- 19 for RRC_CONNECTED mode, whereby measurement reports can be triggered based on the altitude of a UAV device exceeding a threshold. This, along with the general description of support for aerial UE communication, can be understood in more detail with reference to [6] .

[0101] Current UAV work in 3GPP has focussed on connected mode operations, but loT devices (such as A-IoT or 6G-I0T) device may not (or as specified thus far, do not) have an RRC CONNECTED state, instead having either a single RRC state or no RRC states at all. Furthermore, such loT devices may be configured with no (or very minimal) Radio Resource Management (RRM) measurements.

[0102] Normally, interference is high above certain heights for UAV devices due to the visibility of many cells above a certain altitude, due to the lack of ground-based or lower-altitude obstacles that would block the line-of-sight from more distant cells for non-U AV devices. An example of this is shown in Figure 8, where a UAV UE 83 may be have clear lines of sight with both its serving gNB 81 and a neighbouring gNB 82, and is thus able to receive signals 84, 85 and respond 86, 87 to such signals from both gNBs 81, 82. These signals 84, 85 may - for neighbouring gNBs that are not serving the UAV UE 83 - be reference signals or downlink signals meant for other UAV UEs for example, and thus will cause interference at the UAV UE 83. This issue was discussed in 3GPP for connected UAV devices (e.g., in [6]) and new events and combinations were specified, such as the triggering of measurements and reporting at specified altitudes. Here, different thresholds may exist for different altitudes, where different thresholds may also be specified depending on the current RRC state of the UAV device.

[0103] Because there are likely no RRC states (or at most, a single RRC state) for 6G-I0T or outdoor A-IoT devices, no state changes need to be defined for such loT UEs. Because of this, multiple thresholds that depend on the RRC state of the UE do not need to be defined, and so there may be a single threshold for the triggering of measurement reports and / or cell selection / reselection, thus meaning that UE measurements are provided to the network less frequently and without the UE being in the RRC CONNECTED state. This problem is further caused because very few RRM measurements (or in some cases, no RRM measurements at all) are configured for 6G-I0T or outdoor A-IoT devices, in view of the power constraints of such UEs. Hence, a technical problem to solve is how to define both a set of parameters that loT UEs can collect in view of the above-described constraints which it can provide to the network, as well as a mechanism on the network side to control its transmission power to the loT UE based on these parameters.

[0104] 6G loT UAV Interference Management

[0105] Figure 9 shows a part schematic, part message flow diagram representation of a wireless communications system comprising a communications device 91 (e.g., a tag 1) and an infrastructure equipment 92 (e.g., a base station 4 or a detection station / reader which may be connected to a base station or may incorporate base station functionality) in accordance with at least some embodiments of the present technique.

[0106] Here, the communications device 91 an loT-type device (e.g., an (outdoor) A-IoT, enhanced 4G-IoT, or 6G-I0T UE), which may comprise receiver circuitry 91.1, to receive downlink signals (e.g., from the infrastructure equipment 92 or other carrier wave emitters, base stations, or the like of the wireless communications system). The communications device 91 may be, or may be deployed in, an uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) where, when airborne, some of the issues described herein are more acute, but embodiments of the present technique can be applied equally to other types of loT UEs, such as those based on the ground. The communications device 91 may comprise transmitter circuitry (not shown in the example of Figure 9) as well as the receiver circuitry for transmitting uplink signals (e.g., to the infrastructure equipment 92 or other readers, base stations, or the like of the wireless communications system), or may comprise transceiver circuitry instead of the receiver circuitry 91.1 which capable of both receiving downlink signals and transmitting uplink signals. The communications device 91 may further comprise energy harvesting circuitry 91.2, configured to harvest energy from one or more ambient sources, such as incident carrier wave signals (which may be transmitted by carrier wave emitters not shown in the example of Figure 9). Other examples of such ambient sources includes solar / light, piezoelectric (i.e. kinetic / vibration), electromagnetic, electrostatic, heat / thermal, thermoelectric, magnetic, wind / water, acoustic, etc. The communications device 91 in at least some arrangements of embodiments of the present technique (such as those where it does not comprise a transmitter or means to transmit uplink signals in the manner of non-AIoT devices) may also comprise backscattering circuitry 91.3 configured to backscatter incident carrier wave signals (e.g. from carrier wave emitters not shown in the example of Figure 9).

[0107] Such backscattered signals may then be received by the infrastructure equipment 92 (if the infrastructure equipment 92 has a reader implemented within it) or a separate detection station connected to the infrastructure equipment 92 and configured to forward signals received via detected backscattered signals or as transmitted uplink signals from the communications devices / tags in range to the base stations. The infrastructure equipment 92 may comprise transceiver circuitry 92.1 configured to transmit downlink signals to and / or to receive uplink signals or backscattered signals from the communications device 91 or from detection stations.

[0108] The communications device 91 and the infrastructure equipment 92 may each comprise a controller (or controller circuitry) 91.4, 92.2. Each of the controllers 91.4, 92.2 may be, for example, a microprocessor, a CPU, or a dedicated chipset, etc.

[0109] As shown in the example of Figure 9, the controller 91.4 of the communications device 91 is configured in combination with the receiver circuitry 91.1 and the backscattering circuitry 91.3 of the communications device 91 to receive 93, from the infrastructure equipment 92 while the communications device 91 does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a first indication that the communications device 91 is to indicate values of one or more parameters associated with the communications device 91 to the infrastructure equipment 92, and to respond 94 (e.g. by transmitting a signal using the transmitter circuitry or transceiver circuitry of the communications device 91 or by backscattering incident carrier wave signals by the backscattering circuitry 91.3 of the communications device 91), to the infrastructure equipment 92 while the communications device 91 does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, with a second indication of the values of the one or more parameters. The values of these one or more parameters may be for use by the infrastructure equipment 92 in performing interference management in respect of future communications between the communications device 91 and the wireless communications network (e.g. the infrastructure equipment 92 and / or one or more other infrastructure equipment).

[0110] Essentially then, some embodiments of the present technique, as exemplified by the example wireless communications system of Figure 9, propose that an loT UE (such as an airborne A-IoT or 6G-I0T UAV) can perform measurements or collect and report certain parameters in what is effectively RRC IDLE mode (where such UEs are not connected to the network) and in a manner which requires very little power consumption at such UEs.

[0111] In order for the network to control its transmission power, some feedback is necessary from the target loT-type UE to which it is trying to transmit (e.g. a small data transmission (SDT)). An example of a message sequence to achieve this, according to some arrangements of embodiments of the present technique, is shown in Figure 10. A UE not in RRC connected mode would require UL and DL synchronisation, and so a RACH procedure may be required (if not performed recently) for the UE to get synchronised with the network. This RACH procedure may be triggered by the UE itself if it has data to transmit to the network, or the UE may be instructed (e.g. via a paging message) by the gNB to initiate the RACH procedure, for example if the gNB has data to transmit to the UE.

[0112] This is shown in the example of Figure 10, wherein in step 103, the UE 101 may transmit a RACH preamble to the gNB 102, and may then receive (in step 104) a RACH response. Following the RACH response 104 or as part the of RACH procedure for 2-step RACH, the UE 101 can transmit uplink data 105 to the gNB 102 (along with an indication of the ID of the UE 101). Furthermore, the gNB 102 is also able to transmit downlink data 106 to the UE 101 (along with an indication of the ID of the UE 101 to ensure the correct UE receives and decodes the downlink data). The gNB 102 may also be able, since the UE 101 is now synchronised with the network, to instruct the UE 101 to, if needed, perform measurements 107, and / or to report 108 interference or other parameters associated with the UE 101 (which may be determined by the UE 101 via the performance of the measurements 107 or may be detected in another manner by the UE 101). In other words, the first indication may indicate that the communications device is to perform one or more measurements in order to determine the values of the one or more parameters, and the communications device may be configured to perform, while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, the one or more measurements. Based on receipt of the measurements / parameters in step 108, the gNB 102 is then able to determine power control for any signals it later transmits to the UE 101. In other words, the infrastructure equipment may be configured to determine, based on the values of the one or more parameters indicated in the second indication, a transmission power for downlink signals to be transmitted by the infrastructure equipment to the communications device subsequent to receipt of the second indication.

[0113] In accordance with at least some arrangements of embodiments of the present technique, the one or more parameters (and measurement reporting) may comprise at least one of: an identifier of the communications device, location information of the communications device (which may comprise one or more of an altitude of the communications device, a velocity of the communications device, and a geographic position of the communications device), identifiers of one or more interfering cells of the wireless communications network from which the communications device detects interference, identifiers of one or more preferred cells of the wireless communications network with which the communications device determines it is to perform communications with, and measurements (such as a received signal strength indicator (RSSI)) performed by the communications device on signals received by the communications device from one or more cells of the wireless communications network, which may provide the network with a measure of the interference currently experienced by the communications device.

[0114] In accordance with embodiments of the present technique, interference reporting may in some arrangements be a standalone procedure after the RACH response 104 is received by the UE, as shown in the example of Figure 10. In other words, the communications device may be configured, before receiving the first indication, to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a preamble signal to initiate a random access, RACH, procedure to be performed by the communications device with the infrastructure equipment, wherein the RACH procedure is to be performed such that the communications device achieves synchronisation with the wireless communications network, wherein here, the first indication and the second indication may be communicated after completion of the RACH procedure. In accordance with embodiments of the present technique, interference reporting may in some other arrangements however be part of the data transmission and reception. For example, the network could decide to initiate interference measurements if a data transmission has been influenced by errors over the radio air interface. In other words, the communications device may be configured, before receiving the first indication, to transmit, to the infrastructure equipment while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a preamble signal to initiate a random access, RACH, procedure to be performed by the communications device with the infrastructure equipment, wherein the RACH procedure is to be performed such that the communications device achieves synchronisation with the wireless communications network, wherein here, the first indication and the second indication may be communicated as part of the RACH procedure.

[0115] The general challenge faced is to reduce the UE’s power consumption for performing measurements as much as possible, since it is an loT type device which may have a battery for which a very long life is required (or in the case of some A-IoT devices, may have no or very little battery storage at all and is instead reliant on power taken from ambient sources). In some arrangements of embodiments of the present technique, where an loT UE is able to and configured to perform measurements, the UE performs RS SI measurements at a time when its serving cell is not transmitting, so the UE can measure other interfering cells without having to consider any signals from its serving cell (i.e. non-interference) so that all received signals are effectively interference. The UE is blind to what those interference signals are, whether they are reference signals, transmissions intended for other UEs, or anything else. In other words, the first indication may indicate that the communications device is to perform the one or more measurements during one or more specified time periods during which the communications device does not receive any signals from the infrastructure equipment.

[0116] The specified time period(s) during which the serving gNB does not transmit and so during which the UE is to perform measurements could be indicated by the network to the UE. Thus, as noted above, any value of RSSI measurements is an indication of interference. As those skilled in the art would well understand, RSSI measurements are used to detect interference in unlicensed bands from hidden nodes. Here however, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, such RSSI measurements are used in the licensed spectrum and may be used to identify interference experienced by an loT UE due to the UE’s altitude, at which it will encounter more cells than a terrestrial UE.

[0117] In accordance with arrangements of embodiments of the present technique, as described above, the UE responds (e.g. in step 108 as shown in Figure 10) with a signal including one or more of its UE ID, height / altitude, interfering cell IDs, and preferred cell IDs, from which the UE receives the strongest signal. The UE may determine cell IDs and preferred cell ID based on reference signal received power / quality (RSRP / RSRQ) measurements (which it may or may not provide to the gNB as part of the measurement / parameter reporting.

[0118] Regarding preferred cells, only the UE can determine which cell is the best for its communications, as the channel conditions experienced with respect to different cells will depend on the UE’s position, velocity, and altitude, for example. The preferred cell ID(s) can also be based on the scheduled pathway of the UE (e.g. a flight path of an loT UAV) for future time instances, which means the preferred cell ID(s) indicated as part of the measurement / parameter reporting may also in some arrangements indicate the time information of when the cell ID is preferrable. In other words, when the one or more parameters comprises the identifiers of the one or more preferred cells, the one or more parameters may further comprise an indication of a time period during which each of the one or more preferred cells are preferred, where here, the time period during which each of the one or more preferred cells are preferred may be determined by the communications device based on a path along which the communications device is to move.

[0119] Alternatively, in some arrangements of embodiments of the present technique, the UE may perform reporting without having performed any RRM measurements. For example, UE may report its altitude based on altitude sensors implemented within the UE, and then the network may be able to determine the radio signal quality or distance of this UE based on uplink backscattered received signals. This means that such backscattered received signals include a composite distortion of the downlink direction, uplink direction and interferences. Hence by knowing already the original transmitted signal, the network can determine the two-way trip radio signal quality.

[0120] Figure 11 shows a flow diagram illustrating an example process of communications in a communications system in accordance with embodiments of the present technique. The process shown by Figure 11 is specifically a method of operating a communications device (e.g. an Internet of Things (loT) type communications device such as an outdoor A-IoT or 6G-I0T UE) which is configured to communicate with a wireless communications network.

[0121] The method begins in step SI. The method comprises, in step S2, receiving, from an infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a first indication that the communications device is to indicate values of one or more parameters associated with the communications device to the infrastructure equipment. In step S3, the process comprises responding, to the infrastructure equipment while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, with a second indication of the values of the one or more parameters. Here, the values of these one or more parameters may be for use by the infrastructure equipment in performing interference management in respect of future communications between the communications device and the wireless communications network. The process ends in step S4.

[0122] Those skilled in the art would appreciate that the method shown by Figure 11 may be adapted in accordance with embodiments of the present technique. For example, other intermediate steps may be included in such a method, or the steps may be performed in any logical order. Though embodiments of the present technique have been described largely by way of the example communications system shown in Figure 9, it would be clear to those skilled in the art that they could be equally applied to other systems to those described herein, provided that these are within the scope of the claims.

[0123] Those skilled in the art would further appreciate that such infrastructure equipment and / or communications devices as herein defined may be further defined in accordance with the various arrangements and embodiments discussed in the preceding paragraphs. It would be further appreciated by those skilled in the art that such infrastructure equipment and communications devices as herein defined and described may form part of communications systems other than those defined by the present disclosure, provided that these are within the scope of the claims. The following numbered paragraphs provide further example aspects and features of the present technique:

[0124] Paragraph 1. A method of operating an Internet of Things, loT, type communications device configured to communicate with a wireless communications network, the method comprising receiving, from an infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a first indication that the communications device is to indicate values of one or more parameters associated with the communications device to the infrastructure equipment, and responding, to the infrastructure equipment while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, with a second indication of the values of the one or more parameters, wherein the values of the one or more parameters are for use by the infrastructure equipment in performing interference management in respect of future communications between the communications device and the wireless communications network.

[0125] Paragraph 2. A method according to Paragraph 1, wherein the communications device is configured to operate as an uncrewed aerial vehicle, UAV.

[0126] Paragraph 3. A method according to Paragraph 1 or Paragraph 2, comprising, before receiving the first indication, transmitting, to the infrastructure equipment while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a preamble signal to initiate a random access, RACH, procedure to be performed by the communications device with the infrastructure equipment, wherein the RACH procedure is to be performed such that the communications device achieves synchronisation with the wireless communications network.

[0127] Paragraph 4. A method according to Paragraph 3, wherein the first indication and the second indication are communicated after completion of the RACH procedure.

[0128] Paragraph 5. A method according to Paragraph 3, wherein the first indication and the second indication are communicated as part of the RACH procedure.

[0129] Paragraph 6. A method according to any of Paragraphs 1 to 5, wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least one of: an identifier of the communications device, location information of the communications device, identifiers of one or more interfering cells of the wireless communications network from which the communications device detects interference, identifiers of one or more preferred cells of the wireless communications network with which the communications device determines it is to perform communications with, and measurements performed by the communications device on signals received by the communications device from one or more cells of the wireless communications network.

[0130] Paragraph 7. A method according to Paragraph 6, wherein the location information comprises one or more of an altitude of the communications device, a velocity of the communications device, and a geographic position of the communications device.

[0131] Paragraph 8. A method according to Paragraph 6, or Paragraph 7 wherein when the one or more parameters comprises the identifiers of the one or more preferred cells, the one or more parameters further comprises an indication of a time period during which each of the one or more preferred cells are preferred.

[0132] Paragraph 9. A method according to Paragraph 8, wherein the time period during which each of the one or more preferred cells are preferred is determined by the communications device based on a path along which the communications device is to move. Paragraph 10. A method according to any of Paragraphs 1 to 9, wherein the first indication indicates that the communications device is to perform one or more measurements in order to determine the values of the one or more parameters, and the method comprises performing, while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, the one or more measurements.

[0133] Paragraph 11. A method according to Paragraph 10, wherein the first indication indicates that the communications device is to perform the one or more measurements during one or more specified time periods during which the communications device does not receive any signals from the infrastructure equipment.

[0134] Paragraph 12. A method according to any of Paragraphs 1 to 11, wherein the communications device is an loT type communications device that is configured to operate in accordance with a 6G standard.

[0135] Paragraph 13. A method according to any of Paragraphs 1 to 11, wherein the communications device is an Ambient loT, A-IoT, type communications device that is deployed in an outdoor location.

[0136] Paragraph 14. A method according to any of Paragraphs 1 to 11, wherein the communications device is an enhanced loT type communications device that is configured to operate in accordance with a 4G standard.

[0137] Paragraph 15. A method according to any of Paragraphs 1 to 14, wherein the communications device is configured to harvest energy from one or more ambient sources and to backscatter incident carrier wave signals for receipt by the wireless communications network.

[0138] Paragraph 16. An Internet of Things, loT, type communications device comprising transceiver circuitry to receive signals from and / or to transmit signals to a wireless communications network, controller circuitry configured in combination with the transceiver circuitry to receive, from an infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a first indication that the communications device is to indicate values of one or more parameters associated with the communications device to the infrastructure equipment, and to respond, to the infrastructure equipment while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, with a second indication of the values of the one or more parameters, wherein the values of the one or more parameters are for use by the infrastructure equipment in performing interference management in respect of future communications between the communications device and the wireless communications network.

[0139] Paragraph 17. Circuitry for an Internet of Things, loT, type communications device comprising transceiver circuitry to receive signals from and / or to transmit signals to a wireless communications network, controller circuitry configured in combination with the transceiver circuitry to receive, from an infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a first indication that the communications device is to indicate values of one or more parameters associated with the communications device to the infrastructure equipment, and to respond, to the infrastructure equipment while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, with a second indication of the values of the one or more parameters, wherein the values of the one or more parameters are for use by the infrastructure equipment in performing interference management in respect of future communications between the communications device and the wireless communications network.

[0140] Paragraph 18. A method of operating an infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network and configured to communicate with an Internet of Things, loT, type communications device, the method comprising transmiting, to the communications device while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a first indication that the communications device is to indicate values of one or more parameters associated with the communications device to the infrastructure equipment, and receiving, from the communications device while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a second indication of the values of the one or more parameters, wherein the values of the one or more parameters are for use by the infrastructure equipment in performing interference management in respect of future communications between the wireless communications network and the communications device.

[0141] Paragraph 19. A method according to Paragraph 18, wherein the communications device operates as an uncrewed aerial vehicle, UAV.

[0142] Paragraph 20. A method according to Paragraph 18 or Paragraph 19, comprising, before receiving the first indication, receiving, from the communications device while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a preamble signal to initiate a random access, RACH, procedure to be performed by the communications device with the infrastructure equipment, wherein the RACH procedure is to be performed such that the communications device achieves synchronisation with the wireless communications network.

[0143] Paragraph 21. A method according to Paragraph 20, wherein the first indication and the second indication are communicated after completion of the RACH procedure.

[0144] Paragraph 22. A method according to Paragraph 20, wherein the first indication and the second indication are communicated as part of the RACH procedure.

[0145] Paragraph 23. A method according to any of Paragraphs 18 to 22, wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least one of: an identifier of the communications device, location information of the communications device, identifiers of one or more interfering cells of the wireless communications network from which the communications device detects interference, identifiers of one or more preferred cells of the wireless communications network with which the communications device determines it is to perform communications with, and measurements performed by the communications device on signals received by the communications device from one or more cells of the wireless communications network. Paragraph 24. A method according to Paragraph 23, wherein the location information comprises one or more of an altitude of the communications device, a velocity of the communications device, and a geographic position of the communications device.

[0146] Paragraph 25. A method according to Paragraph 23 or Paragraph 24, wherein when the one or more parameters comprises the identifiers of the one or more preferred cells, the one or more parameters further comprises an indication of a time period during which each of the one or more preferred cells are preferred.

[0147] Paragraph 26. A method according to any of Paragraphs 18 to 25, wherein the first indication indicates that the communications device is to perform one or more measurements in order to determine the values of the one or more parameters.

[0148] Paragraph 27. A method according to Paragraph 26, wherein the first indication indicates that the communications device is to perform the one or more measurements during one or more specified time periods during which the infrastructure equipment does not transmit any signals to the communications device.

[0149] Paragraph 28. A method according to any of Paragraphs 18 to 27, wherein the communications device is an loT type communications device that is configured to operate in accordance with a 6G standard. Paragraph 29. A method according to any of Paragraphs 18 to 27, wherein the communications device is an Ambient loT, A-IoT, type communications device that is deployed in an outdoor location.

[0150] Paragraph 30. A method according to any of Paragraphs 18 to 27, wherein the communications device is an enhanced loT type communications device that is configured to operate in accordance with a 4G standard.

[0151] Paragraph 31. A method according to any of Paragraphs 18 to 30, wherein the infrastructure equipment is configured to receive the second indication by detecting backscattered incident carrier wave signals from the communications device.

[0152] Paragraph 32. A method according to any of Paragraphs 18 to 31, comprising determining, based on the values of the one or more parameters indicated in the second indication, a transmission power for downlink signals to be transmitted by the infrastructure equipment to the communications device subsequent to receipt of the second indication.

[0153] Paragraph 33. An infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network, the infrastructure equipment comprising transceiver circuitry configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an Internet of Things, loT, type communications device, and controller circuitry configured in combination with the transceiver circuitry to transmit, to the communications device while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a first indication that the communications device is to indicate values of one or more parameters associated with the communications device to the infrastructure equipment, and to receive, from the communications device while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a second indication of the values of the one or more parameters, wherein the values of the one or more parameters are for use by the infrastructure equipment in performing interference management in respect of future communications between the wireless communications network and the communications device.

[0154] Paragraph 34. Circuitry for an infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network, the circuitry comprising transceiver circuitry configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an Internet of Things, loT, type communications device, and controller circuitry configured in combination with the transceiver circuitry to transmit, to the communications device while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a first indication that the communications device is to indicate values of one or more parameters associated with the communications device to the infrastructure equipment, and to receive, from the communications device while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a second indication of the values of the one or more parameters, wherein the values of the one or more parameters are for use by the infrastructure equipment in performing interference management in respect of future communications between the wireless communications network and the communications device.

[0155] Paragraph 35. A wireless communications system comprising a communications device according to Paragraph 16 and an infrastructure equipment according to Paragraph 33.

[0156] Paragraph 36. A computer program comprising instructions which, when loaded onto a computer, cause the computer to perform a method according to any of Paragraphs 1 to 15 or any of Paragraphs 18 to 32.

[0157] Paragraph 37. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program according to Paragraph 36.

[0158] It will be appreciated that the above description for clarity has described embodiments with reference to different functional units, circuitry and / or processors. However, it will be apparent that any suitable distribution of functionality between different functional units, circuitry and / or processors may be used without detracting from the embodiments.

[0159] Described embodiments may be implemented in any suitable form including hardware, software, firmware or any combination of these. Described embodiments may optionally be implemented at least partly as computer software running on one or more data processors and / or digital signal processors. The elements and components of any embodiment may be physically, functionally and logically implemented in any suitable way. Indeed, the functionality may be implemented in a single unit, in a plurality of units or as part of other functional units. As such, the disclosed embodiments may be implemented in a single unit or may be physically and functionally distributed between different units, circuitry and / or processors.

[0160] Although the present disclosure has been described in connection with some embodiments, it is not intended to be limited to the specific form set forth herein. Additionally, although a feature may appear to be described in connection with particular embodiments, one skilled in the art would recognise that various features of the described embodiments may be combined in any manner suitable to implement the technique.

[0161] References

[0162] [1] RP -234058, “New SID: Study on solutions for Ambient loT (Internet of Things) in NR”, Huawei, 3GPP TSG RAN Meeting #102, Edinburgh, December 2023.

[0163] [2] RP -240826, “Revised SID: Study on solutions for Ambient loT (Internet of Things) in NR”, CMCC, Huawei, T-Mobile USA, 3GPP TSG RAN Meeting #103, Maastricht, March 2024.

[0164] [3] TR 38.848, “Study on Ambient loT (Internet of Things) in RAN (V18.0.0)”, 3GPP, September 2023.

[0165] [4] “Sensing, Computing, and Communication for Energy Harvesting loTs: A Survey”, Dong Ma, Guohao Lan, Mahbub Hassan, Wen Hu, Sajal K. Das, [online, available at: https: / / arxiv.org / abs / 1905.03949], December 2019.

[0166] [5] “Ambient Backscatter Communications: A Contemporary Survey”, Van Huynh, Nguyen, Dinh Thai Hoang, Xiao Lu, Dusit Niyato, Ping Wang, and Dong In Kim, IEEE Communications Surveys & Tutorials 20, no. 4 (2018): 2889-2922.

[0167] [6] TS 38.300, “3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; NR; NR and NG-RAN Overall Description; Stage 2 (Release 18) (V18.2.0)”, 3GPP,

[0168] June 2024.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method of operating an Internet of Things, loT, type communications device configured to communicate with a wireless communications network, the method comprising receiving, from an infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a first indication that the communications device is to indicate values of one or more parameters associated with the communications device to the infrastructure equipment, and responding, to the infrastructure equipment while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, with a second indication of the values of the one or more parameters, wherein the values of the one or more parameters are for use by the infrastructure equipment in performing interference management in respect of future communications between the communications device and the wireless communications network.

2. A method according to Claim 1, wherein the communications device is configured to operate as an uncrewed aerial vehicle, UAV.

3. A method according to Claim 1, comprising, before receiving the first indication, transmitting, to the infrastructure equipment while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a preamble signal to initiate a random access, RACH, procedure to be performed by the communications device with the infrastructure equipment, wherein the RACH procedure is to be performed such that the communications device achieves synchronisation with the wireless communications network.

4. A method according to Claim 3, wherein the first indication and the second indication are communicated after completion of the RACH procedure.

5. A method according to Claim 3, wherein the first indication and the second indication are communicated as part of the RACH procedure.

6. A method according to Claim 1, wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least one of: an identifier of the communications device, location information of the communications device, identifiers of one or more interfering cells of the wireless communications network from which the communications device detects interference, identifiers of one or more preferred cells of the wireless communications network with which the communications device determines it is to perform communications with, and measurements performed by the communications device on signals received by the communications device from one or more cells of the wireless communications network.

7. A method according to Claim 6, wherein the location information comprises one or more of an altitude of the communications device, a velocity of the communications device, and a geographic position of the communications device.

8. A method according to Claim 6, wherein when the one or more parameters comprises the identifiers of the one or more preferred cells, the one or more parameters further comprises an indication of a time period during which each of the one or more preferred cells are preferred.

9. A method according to Claim 8, wherein the time period during which each of the one or more preferred cells are preferred is determined by the communications device based on a path along which the communications device is to move.

10. A method according to Claim 1, wherein the first indication indicates that the communications device is to perform one or more measurements in order to determine the values of the one or more parameters, and the method comprises performing, while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, the one or more measurements.

11. A method according to Claim 10, wherein the first indication indicates that the communications device is to perform the one or more measurements during one or more specified time periods during which the communications device does not receive any signals from the infrastructure equipment.

12. A method according to Claim 1, wherein the communications device is an loT type communications device that is configured to operate in accordance with a 6G standard.

13. A method according to Claim 1, wherein the communications device is an Ambient loT, A-IoT, type communications device that is deployed in an outdoor location.

14. A method according to Claim 1, wherein the communications device is an enhanced loT type communications device that is configured to operate in accordance with a 4G standard.

15. A method according to Claim 1, wherein the communications device is configured to harvest energy from one or more ambient sources and to backscatter incident carrier wave signals for receipt by the wireless communications network.

16. An Internet of Things, loT, type communications device comprising transceiver circuitry to receive signals from and / or to transmit signals to a wireless communications network, controller circuitry configured in combination with the transceiver circuitry to receive, from an infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a first indication that the communications device is to indicate values of one or more parameters associated with the communications device to the infrastructure equipment, and to respond, to the infrastructure equipment while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, with a second indication of the values of the one or more parameters, wherein the values of the one or more parameters are for use by the infrastructure equipment in performing interference management in respect of future communications between the communications device and the wireless communications network.

17. Circuitry for an Internet of Things, loT, type communications device comprising transceiver circuitry to receive signals from and / or to transmit signals to a wireless communications network, controller circuitry configured in combination with the transceiver circuitry to receive, from an infrastructure equipment of the wireless communications network while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a first indication that the communications device is to indicate values of one or more parameters associated with the communications device to the infrastructure equipment, andto respond, to the infrastructure equipment while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, with a second indication of the values of the one or more parameters, wherein the values of the one or more parameters are for use by the infrastructure equipment in performing interference management in respect of future communications between the communications device and the wireless communications network.

18. A method of operating an infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network and configured to communicate with an Internet of Things, loT, type communications device, the method comprising transmitting, to the communications device while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a first indication that the communications device is to indicate values of one or more parameters associated with the communications device to the infrastructure equipment, and receiving, from the communications device while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a second indication of the values of the one or more parameters, wherein the values of the one or more parameters are for use by the infrastructure equipment in performing interference management in respect of future communications between the wireless communications network and the communications device.

19. A method according to Claim 18, wherein the communications device operates as an uncrewed aerial vehicle, UAV.

20. A method according to Claim 18, comprising, before receiving the first indication, receiving, from the communications device while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a preamble signal to initiate a random access, RACH, procedure to be performed by the communications device with the infrastructure equipment, wherein the RACH procedure is to be performed such that the communications device achieves synchronisation with the wireless communications network.

21. A method according to Claim 20, wherein the first indication and the second indication are communicated after completion of the RACH procedure.

22. A method according to Claim 20, wherein the first indication and the second indication are communicated as part of the RACH procedure.

23. A method according to Claim 18, wherein the one or more parameters comprise at least one of: an identifier of the communications device, location information of the communications device, identifiers of one or more interfering cells of the wireless communications network from which the communications device detects interference, identifiers of one or more preferred cells of the wireless communications network with which the communications device determines it is to perform communications with, and measurements performed by the communications device on signals received by the communications device from one or more cells of the wireless communications network.

24. A method according to Claim 23, wherein the location information comprises one or more of an altitude of the communications device, a velocity of the communications device, and a geographic position of the communications device.

25. A method according to Claim 23, wherein when the one or more parameters comprises the identifiers of the one or more preferred cells, the one or more parameters further comprises an indication of a time period during which each of the one or more preferred cells are preferred.

26. A method according to Claim 18, wherein the first indication indicates that the communications device is to perform one or more measurements in order to determine the values of the one or more parameters.

27. A method according to Claim 26, wherein the first indication indicates that the communications device is to perform the one or more measurements during one or more specified time periods during which the infrastructure equipment does not transmit any signals to the communications device.

28. A method according to Claim 18, wherein the communications device is an loT type communications device that is configured to operate in accordance with a 6G standard.

29. A method according to Claim 18, wherein the communications device is an Ambient loT, A-IoT, type communications device that is deployed in an outdoor location.

30. A method according to Claim 18, wherein the communications device is an enhanced loT type communications device that is configured to operate in accordance with a 4G standard.

31. A method according to Claim 18, wherein the infrastructure equipment is configured to receive the second indication by detecting backscattered incident carrier wave signals from the communications device.

32. A method according to Claim 18, comprising determining, based on the values of the one or more parameters indicated in the second indication, a transmission power for downlink signals to be transmitted by the infrastructure equipment to the communications device subsequent to receipt of the second indication.

33. An infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network, the infrastructure equipment comprising transceiver circuitry configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an Internet of Things, loT, type communications device, and controller circuitry configured in combination with the transceiver circuitry to transmit, to the communications device while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a first indication that the communications device is to indicate values of one or more parameters associated with the communications device to the infrastructure equipment, and to receive, from the communications device while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a second indication of the values of the one or more parameters, wherein the values of the one or more parameters are for use by the infrastructure equipment in performing interference management in respect of future communications between the wireless communications network and the communications device.

34. Circuitry for an infrastructure equipment forming part of a wireless communications network, the circuitry comprising transceiver circuitry configured to transmit signals to and / or to receive signals from an Internet of Things, loT, type communications device, andcontroller circuitry configured in combination with the transceiver circuitry to transmit, to the communications device while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a first indication that the communications device is to indicate values of one or more parameters associated with the communications device to the infrastructure equipment, and to receive, from the communications device while the communications device does not have an active connection to the wireless communications network, a second indication of the values of the one or more parameters, wherein the values of the one or more parameters are for use by the infrastructure equipment in performing interference management in respect of future communications between the wireless communications network and the communications device.

35. A wireless communications system comprising a communications device according to Claim 16 and an infrastructure equipment according to Claim 33.

36. A computer program comprising instructions which, when loaded onto a computer, cause the computer to perform a method according to Claim 1 or Claim 18.

37. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing a computer program according to Claim 36.

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