Joint processing of inter-TRP phase offset reports for cjt

Abstract

A method in a network node for joint processing of phase offset report(s) is provided. The method comprising one or more of the following: Receiving a plurality of phase offset measurement reports from a plurality of user equipments (UEs), Jointly processing the received measurement reports; and based on the joint processing of the measurement reports, determine a Downlink (DL) / Uplink (UL) phase offset between two or more transmission reception points (TRPs).

Description

JOINT PROCESSING OF INTER-TRP PHASE OFFSET REPORTS FOR CJT RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefit of International Patent Application No. PCT / CN2024 / 106665, filed July 22, 2024, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure relates to a wireless (e.g., cellular) communications system and, more particularly, to joint processing of inter-transmission-reception point (TRP) phase offset reports for coherent joint transmission (CJT) in a wireless communications system. BACKGROUND

[0003] The next generation mobile wireless communication system (sixth generation, 6G) will support a diverse set of use cases and a diverse set of deployment scenarios. The later includes deployment at both low frequencies (100s of MHz), and very high frequencies (mm waves in the tens of GHz). CSI framework in NR

[0004] In NR (New Radio), a UE can be configured with one or multiple Channel State Information (CSI) report configurations for Downlink (DL) Channel State Information (CSI) feedback by the User Equipment (UE). A CSI report may contain one or more of: ^ Channel rank indicator (RI) ^ Antenna precoding matrix indicator (PMI) ^ Channel quality indicator (CQI) ^ DL reference signal received power (RSRP) or signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) ^ CSI reference signal (CSI-RS) resource indicator (CRI)

[0005] Each CSI report configuration is associated with a BandWidth Part (BWP) and contains all necessary information required for a CSI report, including ^ a CSI resource configuration for channel measurement ^ reporting type, i.e., aperiodic CSI (on PUSCH), periodic CSI (on Physical Uplink Control Channe (PUCCH) or semi-persistent CSI (on PUCCH, and Downlink Control Information (DCI) activated on Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)). ^ report quantity specifying what to be reported, such as RI, PMI, CQI, RSRP, etc.

[0006] A UE can be configured with one or multiple CSI resource configurations for channel measurement. Each CSI resource configuration for channel measurement can contain one or more Non Zero Power (NZP) CSI-Reference Signal (RS) resource sets. For each NZP CSI-RS resource set, it can further contain one or more NZP CSI-RS resources. A NZP CSI-RS resource can be periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic.

[0007] Periodic CSI starts after it has been configured by Radio Resource Control (RRC) and is reported on PUCCH, the associated NZP CSI-RS resource(s) are also periodic.

[0008] For aperiodic CSI, it is reported on PUSCH and is activated by a CSI request bit field in DCI. The associated NZP CSI-RS resource(s) can be either periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic. The linkage between a code point of the CSI request field and a CSI report configuration is via an aperiodic CSI trigger state. A UE is configured by higher layer a list of aperiodic CSI trigger states, where each of the trigger states contains an associated CSI report configuration. The CSI request field is used to indicate one of the aperiodic CSI trigger states and thus, one CSI report configuration.

[0009] If there are more than one NZP CSI-RS resource set and / or more than one CSI- Interference Measurement (IM) resource set are associated with a CSI report configuration, only one NZP CSI-RS resource set is selected in the aperiodic CSI trigger state. Thus, each aperiodic CSI report is based on a single NZP CSI-RS resource set.

[0010] CQI and PMI can be reported per subband or wideband. In case of wideband CQI or PMI, the CQI or PMI is for the whole bandwidth configured for CSI report. In case of subband CQI or PMI, the CQI or PMI is reported for each subband. The subband size in NR can be from 4 RBs to 32 RBs, depending on the size of the BWP as shown in the table below.

[0011] Table 5.2.1.4-2: Configurable subband sizes

[0012] Bandwidth part

[0013] Subband size (PRBs) (PRBs)

[0014] 24 – 72

[0015] 4, 8

[0016] 73 – 144

[0017] 8, 16

[0018] 145 – 275

[0019] 16, 32 Table 1. Coherent Joint transmission of PDSCH over Multiple TRPs

[0020] In NR Rel-18, two codebooks are introduced on CSI feedback for supporting downlink coherent joint transmission (CJT) from multiple TRPs . The first codebook is called “enhanced type II codebook for CJT”, which is an extension of Rel-16 enhanced type II codebook to multiple TRPs, and the second codebook is called “further enhanced type II codebook for CJT”, which is an extension of Rel-17 further enhanced type II port selection codebook to multiple TRPs. Further details of the two codebooks for CJT can be found in sections 5.2.2.2.8 and 5.2.2.2.9 of 3GPP TS38.214 v18.2.0

[0021] In CJT, each MIMO layer is transmitted from multiple TRPs used for CJT. An example with two layers and two TRPs is shown in Figure 1, where data symbols of the two layers are transmitted from two TRPs by applying a precoding matrix ^^^^at TRP1 and ^^^^at TRP2. The two precoders, ^^^^and ^^^^, can be either reported by the UE based on one of the two codebooks for CJT, or determined at the gNB based on uplink reference signals in a TDD system assuming channel reciprocity between DL and UL, also referred to as reciprocity basedand ^^^^are determined such that for each layer, the signals received from the two TRPs are phase aligned at the UE and thus, are coherently combined.

[0022] There are a number of challenges in supporting CJT. Firstly, propagation delays between different TRPs and a UE can be large. These large delay offsets can result in a highly frequency selective composite channel between the UE and the multiple TRPs, i.e., the channel amplitude and phase vary rapidly across frequency. In existing NR CSI feedback, a precoding matrix per subband is reported. The subband size can vary between 2 RBs to 32RBs depending on the total number of RBs ina BWP as specified in 3GPP TS38.214. Table 2 shows phase variation within a subband for different subband sizes with one microsecond (1us) delay offset between two TRPs. It can be seen that even with 2RB subband size, the phase variation exceeds 130 degrees. For constructive combining of two signals, their phase offset should be less than 90 degrees. Therefore, with R18 CJT CSI feedback per subband, signals from multiple TRPs may not be coherently combined with a large delay offset.

[0023] 15kHZ SCS subband subband phase size in size change RBs (MHz) (deg) 2 0.36 1 130 4 0.72 1 259 8 1.44 1 51816 2.88 1 1037 32 5.76 1 2074 Table 2: Example showing phase variation over a subband for a 1us delay offset.

[0024] Secondly, due to transmitter frequency errors, there will be transmit frequency offsets between the multiple TRPs. In 3GPP RAN4, the maximum transmit frequency error for a base station is specified in TS38.104 and is copied below. For the most stringent + / -0.05ppm requirement, there will be some residual frequency errors. These frequency errors means that the received signal phases from different TRPs at the UE can change over time. This implies that a CSI feedback for CJT can be out of date quickly due to the time varying phase offsets between TRPs.Table 3: 3GPP minimum requirement on transmit frequency error.

[0025] For reciprocity based CJT, there is generally an unknown phase offset between DL and UL at each TRP. This phase offset is unharmful for single TRP transmission, but is an issue for CJT because the difference is generally not the same for different TRPs and as a result, coherent combining at the UE may not be achieved when the precoders are derived based on the UL channel estimations.

[0026] To resolve the above issues, additional feedback of time delay, frequency, and phase offsets between TRPs by a UE will be introduced in Rel-19.

[0027] Delay offset and frequency offset pre-compensation for CJT over Multiple TRPs

[0028] Figure 2 shows an example of transmission of a signal ^^^^^^ from two TRPs. ^^^^^^ is multiplied by two co-phasing / pre-compensation coefficientsand ^^ଶat the two TRPs before being transmitted to the UE. The effective propagation channels from the two TRPs to the UE, including transmitter and receiver circuitries and antenna patterns associated with the two TRPs, are denoted by ℎ^and ℎଶ, respectively.and ^^ଶare the transmit frequencies and ^^^and ^^ଶare the random initial phases at the two TRPs. ^^ is the propagation delay (including possible timing offsets) difference between the two TRPs.

[0029] For reciprocity based CJT, there is generally an unknown phase offset between DL and UL at each TRP. This phase offset is unharmful for single TRP transmission, but is an issuefor CJT because the difference is generally not the same for different TRPs and as a result, coherent combining at the UE may not be achieved when the precoders are derived based on the UL channel estimations.

[0030] To resolve the above issues, additional feedback of time delay, frequency, and phase 5 offsets between TRPs by a UE will be introduced in Rel-19.

[0031] Delay offset and frequency offset pre-compensation for CJT over Multiple TRPs

[0032] Figure 2 shows an example of transmission of a signal ^^^^^^ from two TRPs. ^^^^^^ is multiplied by two co-phasing / pre-compensation coefficientsand ^^ଶat the two TRPs being transmitted to the UE. The effective propagation channels from the two TRPs to the UE, 10 including transmitter and receiver circuitries and antenna patterns associated with the two TRPs, are denoted and ℎଶ, respectively.and ^^ଶare the transmit frequencies and ^^^and ^^ଶthe random initial phases at the two TRPs. ^^ is the propagation delay (including possible timing offsets) difference between the two TRPs.

[0033] The composite signal at the UE can be expressed as15

[0035] For narrow-band signal and when the delay ^^ is small, the signal envelope doesn’t change much, i.e., ^^^^^ െ ^^^ ^ ^^^^^^. Thus, (Eq.1) can be revised as20

[0040] To coherently combine the signals from the two TRPs, the following co-phasing / pre- compensation coefficients may be used

[0041] ^^ ି^^∠^^ ൌ ^^ భାఝభ^ (Eq. 4a)25

[0044] where ∠^^^^ denotes the angle of a complex variable ^^. The resulted composite signal, when the above co-phasing / pre-compensation coefficients in Eq.4a-4b are applied, is then 30

[0047] Alternatively, the co-phasing / pre-compensation coefficients can be as follows

[0048] ^^^ ൌ 1 (Eq. 6a)

[0050] The resulted composite signal, when the above co-phasing / pre-compensation coefficients in Eq.6a-6b are applied, is then

[0052] Note that the above applies also in case of multiple antenna ports are deployed in each of the TRPs. In that case, additional precoding or beamforming is applied to ^^^^^^, where ^^^^^^ is data associated with a MIMO layer of PDSCH or DM-RS.

[0053] For a given MIMO layer, the signal received from TRP1 would becomeis a ^^^by M channel matrix, ^^^is a ^^^by 1 precoding associated with the corresponding MIMO layer,is the number of antenna ports deployed TRPs and M is the number of receive antennas at the UE. Similarly, for the given MIMO layer, the signal received from TRP2 would become ^^ଶ^^ଶ^^ଶ^^^^^^^^^^ଶగ^మ^௧ିఛ^ାఝమ^, where ^^ଶis a ^^ଶby M channel matrix, ^^ଶis a ^^ଶby 1 precoding vector associated with the corresponding MIMO layer, ^^ଶis the number of antenna ports deployed at TRP2.

[0054] CJT from multiple TRPs is possible for the case of multiple PDSCH layers. For R PDSCH layers, each TRP will use a corresponding N1 x R precoding matrix wherein each column in the precoding matrix corresponds to one of the R MIMO layers. In the case of R PDSCH layers, the transmitted data ^^^^^^ will consists of R different symbols (i.e., one symbol corresponding to each of the R PDSCH layers).

[0055] For CJT, it is envisioned that precoding matrices / vectors and the co-phasing / pre- compensation coefficientsare reported by the UE to the

[0056] In order to derive the co-phasing / pre-compensation coefficientsand ^^ଶ, one more of the following need to be reported from the UE to the network: ^ transmit frequency associated with a TRP, ^ transmit frequency offset between two TRPs, ^ delay associated with a TRP, ^ delay offset between two TRPs. ^ Calibration phase associated with a TRP ^ Calibration phase offset between two TRPs

[0057] Inter-TRP delay, frequency and phase offset measurement and reporting in 3GPP Rel-19

[0058] In NR Rel-18, coherent joint downlink transmission from multiple TRPs is supported by extending the Rel-16 enhanced type II codebook and Rel-17 further enhanced type II port selection codebook across multiple TRPs. Here, the goal is to improve system performance, such as spectral efficiency, coverage, and reliability.

[0059] Rel-18 considers the idealistic assumption of perfect synchronization and backhauling between the cooperative TRPs. However, this may not be achievable in practice. For instance, the cooperative TRPs may not be perfectly synchronized in time, and such timing misalignment, together with the propagation delay offsets between the different TRPs, may result in a large frequency selective composite channel, i.e., the channel amplitude and / or phase vary rapidly across frequency. In addition, although the same nominal transmit frequency may be considered for the cooperative TRPs, due to local oscillator stability, there may be some actual transmit frequency drifts, i.e., carrier frequency offsets, for different TRPs. Moreover, the presence of carrier frequency offsets between TRPs will results in phase drifts in the channels between such TRPs and a UE. In such cases, compensating for the time / frequency / phase offsets is needed. With this motivation, in Rel-19 the following objective has been defined in RP-234007, “New WID: NR MIMO Phase 5,” Dec.2023:

[0060] Specify UE reporting enhancement for CJT deployments under non-ideal synchronization and backhaul, targeting FR1, both FDD and TDD

[0061] Inter-TRP time misalignment and frequency / phase offset measurement and reporting, assuming legacy CSI-RS design, with stand-alone aperiodic reporting on PUSCH

[0062] Chairman notes of RAN1#116bis, 2024-04 and Chairman notes of RAN1#117, 2024- 05 are also incorporated here by reference.

[0063] In Rel-19, inter-TRP phase offset (PO) report will be introduced in 3GPP specifications, which is of interest in TDD systems; In reciprocity-based DL transmission, the receive and transmit circuitries at each TRP is typically calibrated such that, for instance, the same TX-RX phase difference is maintained across all receive and transmit circuitries associated to different physical antennas. The absolute TX-RX phase difference within each TRP is unknown after TRP calibration. However, this absolute TX-RX phase difference within each TRP is not needed for, e.g., single TRP transmission as long as all antennas have been calibrated to the same value of TX-RX phase difference. The unknown absolute TX-RX phase difference will generally be different at each TRP after calibration and is thus a problem for reciprocity based CJT because coherent transmission is not possible without knowing the phase differences between each TRP and a reference TRP. This necessitates the phase offset reporting in reciprocity based CJT. Thus, UE needs to report the calibration phase offset among the TRPs so that it can be pre-compensated at the network side.

[0064] One possible approach for phase offset feedback is illustrated below:

[0065] Step 1: UE transmits SRS with P SRS ports in one or more SRS resources.

[0066] Step 2: gNB estimates the UL channel at each TRP for each SRS port: ^^^,^^^^^^ ൌ^^^^^^^^^^^ோ௫,^ ^ ^^^^்௫,^ா^^^^^^^^, ^^ ൌ 1, ... , ^^; ^^ ൌ 1, ...^^்ோ^ .

[0067] Step 3: gNB sends a precoded CSI-RS with one or more CSI-RS ports, each CSI-RS port is precoded by a precoder associated to one of the SRS port: e.g., CSI-RS port p is precoded by ^^∗^,^^^^^^, i.e., the conjugate of ^^^,^^^^^^, at the ith TRP.

[0068] Step 4: For each CSI-RS port, UE receives the CSI-RS using the antenna used to transmit the corresponding SRS port.

[0069] Step 5: For each CSI-RS port, UE estimates the DL channel: ℎ ∗^,^^^^^^ ൌ ^^ ^,^^^^^^ ∙^^^^^^൫^^^^ ^ ^^^^ ൯^^ ^^^^ ൌ |^ |ଶ்௫,^ ோ௫,^ா ^ ^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^^^்௫,^െ^^ோ௫,^^ ^ ^^^^^ோ௫,^ா െ ^^்௫,^ா^^ ൌ^^்௫,^ா

[0070] Step 6: UE computes and reports a phase difference of the estimated channel for each

[0071] When there is no timing error between TRPs, the above steps can be used. In this case, a single wideband phase offset feedback for each TRP is enough. However, when there are timing errors between TRPs, since the effects of timing error on UL and DL channel estimations are non- reciprocal, the effect of timing error will show up in the DL channel estimation in Step 5 above as a phase rotation across different subcarriers, PRBs, or subbands. For the kth subcarrier, the estimated DL channel based on the pth CSI-RS port from TRP#i is given byWhere ∆^^ௌ^ௌis the subcarrier spacing and ∆^^^is the timing error at TRP#i.

[0072] In 3GPP, UE reporting the phase offset per subband is being discussed [3]. Reporting phase offset per subband could be useful to address the effect of phase offset variation across different subcarriers, PRBs, or subbands. However, in case of large number of subbands, the overhead for reporting subband phase offset (PO) on all the subbands may not be feasible as the overall overhead for subband reporting will be high. SUMMARY

[0073] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to gNB implementation aspects of joint processing of inter-TRP PO repots. At a high-level, a proposed scheme is based on the following steps:^ The gNB receiving a plurality of wideband and / or subband inter-TRP PO measurement reports from a plurality of UEs, and ^ The gNB jointly processing the received PO measurement reports to improve the PO estimation / pre-compensation accuracy.

[0074] Here, depending on, e.g., the received measurement values and / or whether the reports are on overlapping or non-overlapping subbands, different joint processing schemes are applied by the gNB to improve the inter-TRP PO estimates.

[0075] According to one aspect, a method in a network node for joint processing of phase offset report(s) is provided. The method comprising one or more of the following: Receiving a plurality of phase offset measurement reports from a plurality of user equipments (UEs), Jointly processing the received measurement reports; and based on the joint processing of the measurement reports, determine a Downlink (DL) / Uplink (UL) phase offset between two or more transmission reception points (TRPs).

[0076] In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting to the plurality of UEs configurations for measurement and report of phase offsets for a number of TRPs.

[0077] In some embodiments, for each one of the plurality of UEs, the phase offset reports are one or a combination of: a) Wideband phase offset report; b) Phase offset report on a subset of subbands.

[0078] In some embodiments, the method further includes obtaining measurements of the channel quality between each UE and different TRPs. In some embodiments, measurements of the channel quality are in terms of one or more of L1-RSRP, L1-SINR, RSRQ, SINR. In some embodiments, the measurements of the channel quality are based on the received UL RSs, such as SRSs. In some embodiments, the measurements of the channel quality being based on UE’s measurement reports, such as , L1-RSRP, L1-SINR, on the received DL RSs, such as CSI-RSs.

[0079] In some embodiments, the plurality of phase offset measurement reports from a plurality of UEs are with respect to a common reference TRP.

[0080] In some embodiments, based on one or more applicable type(s) of the configured NZP CSI-RS resources / resource sets, either single-port or multi-port CSI-RS(s) for CSI are used.

[0081] In some embodiments, the plurality of phase offset measurement reports from the plurality of UEs are received with the same or different number of quantization levels.

[0082] In some embodiments, the joint processing of the received measurement reports comprises one or a combination of: Outlier rejection methods; Averaging of different results; Combination and linearization of different results.

[0083] In some embodiments, the joint processing of the received results depending on one or a combination of: A considered number of TRPs for CJT; The reported phase offset measurements; One or more channel measurement results (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.); A network nodes information about the UEs reporting the measurements (e.g., UE’s speed, position, etc.); A level of overlap between the reported subbands.

[0084] In some embodiments, the phase offset measurement reports of different TRPs and / or subbands are received inside or outside of a given time interval and the joint processing is on the measurement reports received in a time window.

[0085] In some embodiments, the joint processing of the received phase offset measurement reports including one or a combination of : Combination of the results received for non- overlapping subbands; Averaging of different measurements results on the same subband; Outlier rejection of the unreliable measurement result.

[0086] In some embodiments, the method further comprises one or more of: ^ If different UEs report on overlapping subbands, averaging of their associated reported values; ^ If the difference between a reported measurement value associated with a subband and one, more or average of the measurements reported for that subband exceeds a threshold, rejecting the reported measurement value; ^ If the difference between a reported measurement value associated with a subband and the reported / obtained wideband measurement exceeds a threshold, rejecting that reported measurement value; ^ If channel measurement (e.g., RSRP, etc.) associated with a subband is below a threshold, rejecting the corresponding phase offset measurement; ^ If the difference between a reported measurement value associated with a subband and the reported measurements of the adjacent subband(s) exceeds a threshold, rejecting that reported measurement value; ^ If the reported measurements are on nonoverlapping subbands, performing a linearization of the reported measurements; ^ For a subband, if receiving measurement results with different number of quantization bits, ignoring the results with a quantization bits below a threshold; ^ If the difference between the phase offset measured at a given time instance for a TRP and / or subband exceeds the previously reported phase offset corresponding to that TRP and / or subband by a threshold, rejecting the phase offset at the given time instance.

[0087] In some embodiments, the method further comprises providing user data and forwarding the user data to a host via the transmission to the network node.

[0088] In some embodiments, a network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the above methods and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry is provided.

[0089] In some embodiments, a host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, a method implemented in a host configured to operate in a communication system, a communication system are provided. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0090] The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.

[0091] Figure 1 illustrates an example of CJT over two TRPs.;

[0092] Figure 2 illustrates an example of a transmission of a signal s(t) from two TRPs.

[0093] Figure 3 is a flow chart that illustrates a process performed by a network node in accordance with some embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0094] Figure 4 illustrates an example of a multi-TRP setup with different propagation delays;

[0095] Figure 5 illustrates an example of combining reported phase offsets from two UEs for better timing offset estimation for a TRP.

[0096] Figure 6 illustrates an example of a setup with the network performing linearization of the reports received from different UEs;

[0097] Figure 7 shows an example of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0098] Figure 8 shows a User Equipment device (UE) in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0099] Figure 9 shows a network node in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0100] Figure 10 is a block diagram of a host, which may be an embodiment of the host of Figure 7, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure described herein;

[0101] Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in which functions implemented by some embodiments of the present disclosure may be virtualized; and

[0102] Figure 12 shows a communication diagram of a host communicating via a network node with a UE over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0103] The embodiments set forth below represent information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best mode of practicing the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure.

[0104] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0105] There currently exist certain challenge(s). With PO report, the network node (NW) may receive wideband or, possibly, subband PO measurement reports from UEs. However, as mentioned above, it may not be feasible for the UE to report subband PO values on all the subbands as the reporting overhead will be high. Hence, in practice, the UE will be configured to report subband PO on only a small subset of subbands. However, the network needs to estimate the subband PO on all subbands in order to pre-compensate the PO for enabling CJT in reciprocity- based TDD systems.

[0106] Hence, how to accurately estimate the PO at the network node for pre-compensation of PO to enable CJT in reciprocity-based TDD systems is an open problem.

[0107] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. gNB implementation methods for joint processing of different inter-TRP PO reports, enabling CJT in reciprocity-based TDD systems are proposed. With the proposed schemes, depending on the wideband and / or subband phase offset reports received from different UEs, the received measurements are jointly processed by the gNB via, e.g., linearization, averaging, outlier rejection, etc. such that, e.g., the quantization errors, the measurement errors and / or the resolution issues are minimized. This, in turn, results in accurate CJT in reciprocity- based TDD systems.

[0108] Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to gNB implementation aspects of joint processing of inter-TRP PO repots. At a high-level, a proposed scheme is based on the following steps:^ The gNB receiving a plurality of wideband and / or subband inter-TRP PO measurement reports from a plurality of UEs, and ^ The gNB jointly processing the received PO measurement reports to improve the PO estimation / pre-compensation accuracy.

[0109] Here, depending on, e.g., the received measurement values and / or whether the reports are on overlapping or non-overlapping subbands, different joint processing schemes are applied by the gNB to improve the inter-TRP PO estimates.

[0110] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). Some of the proposed scheme may improve the accuracy of the inter-TRP PO measurement / pre-compensation and, thereby, results in a more accurately determined DL / UL phase offset difference across TRPs, which in turn leads to more efficient CJT in reciprocity-based TDD systems. Such a setup is of particular interest to limit the feedback overhead when large bandwidths and / or a large number of TRPs is considered. Now, a more detailed description of embodiments of the present disclosure will be provided.

[0111] As an example, consider the communication setup of Figure 3 with 4 TRPs and a number of UEs connected to the TRPs. As explained in Section 2.1.4, in practice the TRPs may be imperfectly synchronized where there may be time, frequency and / or phase offsets between the cooperative TRPs. This affects the efficiency of CJT and needs to be pre-compensated at the network-side, based on the feedbacks received from the UEs. For this reason, in Rel-19, an objective has been defined to specify UE reporting enhancement for CJT deployments under non- ideal synchronization and backhaul with a stand-alone aperiodic reporting on PUSCH which contains information about the inter-TRP delay, frequency and / or phase offset measurements.

[0112] Among these reports, the delay offset and the frequency offset are UE-specific, due to, e.g., UE-specific propagation delay and Doppler shift, and with the Rel-19 delay / frequency offset report the intention is to pre-compensate the delay / frequency offset in a per-UE basis. As opposed, the phase offset, due to TX-RX phase calibration in reciprocity-based TDD systems is not UE specific. Thus, the measurement accuracy will be improved by collecting measurements from multiple UEs and joint processing of the received measurement reports. This is a motivation for proposing in the present disclosure gNB-implementation schemes for joint processing of inter- TRP phase offset reports. Please note that such a setup is of interest because in practice each UE may be configured to measure and report the phase offset for a subset of subbands (to limit the report overhead). Moreover, due to, e.g., quantization errors, UE measurement errors, resolution issues, etc., the reported measurements may be varying levels of accuracy. Also, as specified in Rel-19, each UE may report “invalid” for the phase offset, e.g., due to reasons which may be upto UE implementation and not known to the NW. Then, as explained in the following, if there are multiple measurements from multiple UEs and jointly process them, such issues could be overcome and the phase offset pre-compensation accuracy could be improved.

[0113] In Step (100) of Figure 4, the network node receives a plurality of phase offset measurement reports from a plurality of UEs. Note that, prior to Step (100), each UE has received measurement and report configurations from the NW to measure and report the phase offset for a number of TRPs (wideband and / or on a subset of subbands). Some embodiments of the disclosure focus on the gNB aspects of joint processing of the received reports.

[0114] In one embodiment, for each UE, the phase offset reports contain one or a combination of: a) Wideband phase offset report; b)Phase offset report on a subset of subbands,

[0115] In another embodiment, along with phase offset reports, the network node may obtain information about the quality of the channel between each UE and the TRPs, in terms of, e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, L1-RSRP, L1-SINR, etc. Here, the information about the channels’ quality may be obtained based on the received UL RSs, e.g., SRSs, and / or the UE’s report about channel measurement on the received DL RSs. Also, regarding the applicable type(s) of the configured NZP CSI-RS resources / resource sets, single-port or multi-port CSI-RS(s) for CSI may be used to receive measurement reports from the UE about the quality of the channel between the UE and the TRPs.

[0116] In one embodiment, the phase offset reports from different UEs are on fully non- overlapping subbands. For instance, one UE may send the measurements for the odd subbands, while another UE sends measurement reports on even subbands. In another embodiment, the phase offset reports are on partially overlapping subbands, i.e., some subbands are overlapping and some not. In yet another embodiment, the phase offset reports from different UEs may be on fully overlapping subbands, e.g., two UEs send measurement reports on the same subbands.

[0117] Note that, as specified in Rel-19, each UE measures the phase offset with respect to a reference TRP, which is selected by the UE and indicated to the NW. The cases where the same reference TRP is selected by the UEs are considered in detail. Finally, the plurality of phase offset measurement reports from the plurality of UEs may be received with the same or different numbers of quantization levels, i.e., resolutions or number of bits to quantize the measured phase offset values, based on the NW configurations.

[0118] In Step (110) of Figure 4. the NW, e.g., the gNB, jointly processes the measurement reports received in Step (100). In Step (120) of Figure 4, based on the joint processing of the measurement reports, the NW determines a Downlink (DL) / Uplink (UL) phase offset between twoor more transmission reception points (TRPs). Here, joint processing of the received measurement reports may include one or a combination of following methods: a) Outlier rejection methods, b) Averaging of different results, c) Combination and linearization of different results, d) …

[0119] Note that the phase offset measurement reports of different TRPs and / or subbands may be received in similar or different time instances, and the network may perform the joint processing on the measurements received in a time window. Moreover, the method considered for joint processing of the received results may depend on one or a combination of a) The considered number of TRPs for CJT, b) The reported phase offset measurements (e.g., the values etc.), c) The other channel measurement results (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.) d) The network nodes information about the UEs reporting the measurements (e.g., UE’s speed, position, etc.), e) The level of overlap between the reported subbands, f) …

[0120] In one embodiment, the UEs with poor RSRP may be weighted less (due to possible larger measurements errors), or the UEs with high speeds may be weighted less, due to more channel aging, etc. Here, the network may also dynamically adapt how many UEs that report the phase offset (i.e., for how many UEs the network triggers the phase offset report). For example, if the network has one stationary UE with very good link budget to all the required TRPs, then it may be enough to use PO report from that UE. However, if no UE has these perfect conditions, multiple PO reports across multiple UEs might be triggered by the network.

[0121] Particularly, depending on if the phase offset reports are on overlapping or non- overlapping subbands, the joint processing of the received phase offset measurement reports may include one or a combination of : a) Combination of the results received for non-overlapping subbands, b) Averaging of different measurements results on the same subband, c) Outlier rejection of the unreliable measurement result, d) …

[0122] In the following, a number of non-limiting examples of possible joint processing schemes that may be applied by the gNB are provided.

[0123] In one example, if different UEs report on overlapping subbands, e.g., UE1 and UE2 in Figure 3 report on even subbands, the network node may perform averaging of their associated reported values or parameters derived / estimated based on the reported values from different UEs, such as phase slopes or timing offsets. An example is shown in Figure 5 where phase offsets reported by two UEs are averaged at each subband for timing offset estimation. illustrates an example of combining reported phase offsets from two UEs for better timing offset estimation for a TRP. PO reported by UE#1 and UE#2 are shown with ‘star’ and ‘double circles’ marker points respectively. Alternatively, a timing offset is estimated based phase offsets reported by each UE, the timing offset estimates associated to different UEs may be averaged to achieve better timing offset estimation for a TRP.

[0124] In another example, if the difference between a particular reported PO value associated with a subband and one, more or average of the POs reported from a plularity of UEs for that subband exceeds a threshold, e.g., the relative difference of the particular PO reported on a subband and the average of the PO reports from the plurality of UEs on that subband exceeds a certain percentage X%, then the network node may reject the reported PO value. Let us denote the POreported for the ^^௧^subband by the ^^௧^UE by PO^,^. LetതPതതOത^,^௩^ denote the averaged PO for the^^௧^subband across POs reported by the plurality of UEs. In this example, the gNB only includes PO^,^for determining the final estimated PO for the ^^௧^subband if ฬฬ ^ ^^%. In otherwords, the gNB rejects PO^,^as an outlier and does not include PO^,^for determining the final estimated PO for the ^^௧^subband

[0125] In one example, if the difference between a reported PO value associated with a subband from a UE and the reported / obtained wideband PO value by the UE exceeds a threshold ^^, then the network may reject the reported PO value. Let us denote the PO reported for the ^^௧^subband by the ^^௧^UE by PO^,^. Let ^^^^௪^ௗ^^^^ௗ,^denote the wideband PO reported by the ^^௧^UE. In this example, the gNB only includes PO^,^for determining the final estimated PO for the ^^௧^subband if ฬ^^^,ೕି^^^^^^್ೌ^^,ೕ^ை^^^^್ೌ^^,ೕ ฬ ^ ^^%. In other words, the gNB rejects PO^,^ as an outlier anddoes not include PO^,^for determining the final estimated PO for the ^^௧^subband if

[0126] In one example, if channel measurement such as e.g., L1-RSRP, L1-SINR, etc.reported by a UE ^^ is below a threshold, e.g., L1 െ SINR^ ^ ^^ dB where SINR^ is the L1-SINR(where L1-SINR measurement is as defined in 3GPP TS 38.215) reported by the ^^௧^UE fromcommunication with a TRP and ^^ is a threshold value, e.g., Z=-10 dB, the network node may reject the corresponding phase offset measurement(s) reported by the ^^௧^UE as outliers and does not use these reported phase offset measurement(s) for determining the final estimated PO. That is because with a low channel quality, the estimated phase offsets may be unreliable.

[0127] In one example, the channel quality measurements are obtained using SRSs transmitted by the UEs where the network can have channel quality measurements per subband and use that to reject PO reports by the UEs at the subband level. For instance, if the UL channel measurement such as UL-RSRP, UL-SINR, etc. associated with subband ^^ and UE ^^ is below athreshold, e.g., UL െ RSRP^,^ ^ ^^ where UL െ RSRP^,^ is the UL-RSRP associated with subband ^^and UE ^^ in communication with a TRP and ^^ is a threshold value, e.g., ^^ ൌ-10 dB, the networknode may reject the corresponding PO measurement reported by the ^^௧^UE on the ^^௧^subband as an outlier.

[0128] In another example, if the reported measurements are on nonoverlapping subbands, e.g., one UE reports on even subbands and the other UE reports on odd subbands, the network node performs linearization of them. Figure 6 shows an example in the cases with two UEs where UE#1 reports the PO for the odd subbands and UE#2 reports the PO for the even subbands. Then, the network determines a linear line that fits the reported measurements from both UEs.

[0129] In another example, if the difference between the phase offset measured at a time instance for a TRP and / or subband exceeds the previously reported phase offsets corresponding tothat TRP and / or subband by a threshold, e.g., |PO^^^^^ െ PO^^^^ െ 1^| ^ ^^ with PO^^^^^ being thephase offset value for the i-th subband at time ^^, the network node may reject that measurement.

[0130] Note that, in all presented examples, the thresholds may be fixed or changing over time depending on the channel conditions, quality-of-service requirements, the previous measurement results, etc. Moreover, the network node may consider the absolute or the percentage of the differences to make decision about its processing scheme. Also, the network may consider a combination of different methods to decide whether a reported PO should be rejected or not.

[0131] Upon joint processing of the received measurements, the NW performs PO estimation and pre-compensation. The determined PO pre-compensations are used by the TRPs to perform DL CJT to the UEs.

[0132] In this way, with the proposed scheme, the network node may improve the accuracy of the phase offset measurements and properly compensate for it which, in turn, results in an efficient CJT. Moreover, the proposed scheme may help the network to reduce the phase offset report overhead, because not all UEs need to report measurements on all subbands. This addressesone of the topics of interest in Rel-19 MIMO as well as in 6G. Particularly, the gain of the proposed scheme is increased as the number of TRPs and / or the UEs increases.

[0133] Figure 7 shows an example of a communication system 700 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

[0134] In the example, the communication system 700 includes a telecommunication network 702 that includes an access network 704, such as a Radio Access Network (RAN), and a core network 706, which includes one or more core network nodes 708. The access network 704 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 710A and 710B (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 710), or any other similar Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP Access Points (APs). Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network 702 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 702 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network 702, including one or more network nodes 710 and / or core network nodes 708.

[0135] Examples of an ORAN network node include an Open Radio Unit (O-RU), an Open Distributed Unit (O-DU), an Open Central Unit (O-CU), including an O-CU Control Plane (O- CU-CP) or an O-CU User Plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non- real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1, F1, W1, E1, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes 710 facilitate direct orindirect connection of User Equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 712A, 712B, 712C, and 712D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 712) to the core network 706 over one or more wireless connections.

[0136] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 700 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 700 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0137] The UEs 712 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 710 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 710 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 712 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 702 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 702.

[0138] Note that the functionality of the network node or gNB described above (e.g., with respect to Figures 9-14) may be implemented in any one of the network nodes 710, and the functionality of the UE described above (e.g., with respect to Figures 9-14) may be implemented in any one of the UEs 712. In this regard, the network node 710 may be a multi-TRP network node (e.g., a gNB having multiple TRPs).

[0139] In the depicted example, the core network 706 connects the network nodes 710 to one or more hosts, such as host 716. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 706 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 708) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 708. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF),Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-Concealing Function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0140] The host 716 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 704 and / or the telecommunication network 702, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 716 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0141] As a whole, the communication system 700 of Figure 7 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 700 may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable Second, Third, Fourth, or Fifth Generation (2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G) standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., Sixth Generation (6G)); Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any Low Power Wide Area Network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0142] In some examples, the telecommunication network 702 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunication network 702 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 702. For example, the telecommunication network 702 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / massive Internet of Things (IoT) services to yet further UEs.

[0143] In some examples, the UEs 712 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 704 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or externalevent, or in response to requests from the access network 704. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-Radio Access Technology (RAT) or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of WiFi, New Radio (NR), and LTE, i.e. being configured for Multi-Radio Dual Connectivity (MR-DC), such as Evolved UMTS Terrestrial RAN (E-UTRAN) NR - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0144] In the example, a hub 714 communicates with the access network 704 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 712C and / or 712D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 710B). In some examples, the hub 714 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 714 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 706 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 714 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 710, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 714. As another example, the hub 714 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 714 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a Virtual Reality (VR) headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 714 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 714 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 714 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy IoT devices.

[0145] The hub 714 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 710B. The hub 714 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 714 and UEs (e.g., UE 712C and / or 712D), and between the hub 714 and the core network 706. In other examples, the hub 714 is connected to the core network 706 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 714 may be configured to connect to a Machine-to-Machine (M2M) service provider over the access network 704 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 710 while still connected via the hub 714 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 714 may be a dedicated hub – that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 710B. In other embodiments, the hub 714 may be a non-dedicated hub – that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and the network node 710B, but which isadditionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0146] Figure 8 shows a UE 800 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), wireless camera, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, Laptop Embedded Equipment (LEE), Laptop Mounted Equipment (LME), smart device, wireless Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3GPP, including a Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) UE, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0147] A UE may support Device-to-Device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), Vehicle-to-Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle-to-Infrastructure (V2I), or Vehicle- to-Everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0148] The UE 800 includes processing circuitry 802 that is operatively coupled via a bus 804 to an input / output interface 806, a power source 808, memory 810, a communication interface 812, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 8. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0149] The processing circuitry 802 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 810. The processing circuitry 802 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), etc.);programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 802 may include multiple Central Processing Units (CPUs).

[0150] In the example, the input / output interface 806 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 800. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0151] In some embodiments, the power source 808 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 808 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 808 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 800 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 808. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 808 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 800 to which power is supplied.

[0152] The memory 810 may be or be configured to include memory such as Random Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), Programmable ROM (PROM), Erasable PROM (EPROM), Electrically EPROM (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 810 includes one or more application programs 814, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 816. The memory 810 may store, for use by the UE 800, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0153] The memory 810 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, High Density Digital Versatile Disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, Holographic Digital Data Storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini Dual In-line Memory Module (DIMM), Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a tamper resistant module in the form of a Universal Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) including one or more Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs), such as a Universal SIM (USIM) and / or Internet Protocol Multimedia Services Identity Module (ISIM), other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as a ‘SIM card.’ The memory 810 may allow the UE 800 to access instructions, application programs, and the like stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system, may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 810, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0154] The processing circuitry 802 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 812. The communication interface 812 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 822. The communication interface 812 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 818 and / or a receiver 820 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 818 and receiver 820 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., the antenna 822) and may share circuit components, software, or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0155] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 812 may include cellular communication, WiFi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short- range communications such as Bluetooth, NFC, location-based communication such as the use of the Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, NR, UMTS, WiMax,Ethernet, Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol (TCP / IP), Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Quick User Datagram Protocol Internet Connection (QUIC), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0156] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 812, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0157] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0158] A UE, when in the form of an IoT device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application, and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an IoT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a television, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or VR, a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an IoT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the IoT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 800 shown in Figure 8.

[0159] As yet another specific example, in an IoT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements and transmits the results of suchmonitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship, an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0160] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0161] Figure 9 shows a network node 900 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, APs (e.g., radio APs), Base Stations (BSs) (e.g., radio BSs, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs), NR Node Bs (gNBs)), and O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0162] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node), and / or Remote Radio Units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such RRUs may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a Distributed Antenna System (DAS).

[0163] Other examples of network nodes include multiple Transmission Point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, Multi-Standard Radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as Radio Network Controllers (RNCs) or BS Controllers (BSCs), Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, Multi-Cell / Multicast Coordination Entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes,Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0164] The network node 900 includes processing circuitry 902, memory 904, a communication interface 906, and a power source 908. The network node 900 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and an RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 900 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 900 may be configured to support multiple RATs. In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 904 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 910 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 900 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 900, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, Long Range Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN), Radio Frequency Identification (RFID), or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within the network node 900.

[0165] The processing circuitry 902 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, CPU, DSP, ASIC, FPGA, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 900 components, such as the memory 904, to provide network node 900 functionality.

[0166] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 902 includes a System on a Chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 902 includes one or more of Radio Frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 912 and baseband processing circuitry 914. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 912 and the baseband processing circuitry 914 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of the RF transceiver circuitry 912 and the baseband processing circuitry 914 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0167] The memory 904 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, RAM, ROM, mass storage media (for example, a harddisk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD), or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable, and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 902. The memory 904 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 902 and utilized by the network node 900. The memory 904 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 902 and / or any data received via the communication interface 906. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 902 and the memory 904 are integrated.

[0168] The communication interface 906 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 906 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 916 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 906 also includes radio front-end circuitry 918 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 910. The radio front-end circuitry 918 comprises filters 920 and amplifiers 922. The radio front-end circuitry 918 may be connected to the antenna 910 and the processing circuitry 902. The radio front-end circuitry 918 may be configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna 910 and the processing circuitry 902. The radio front-end circuitry 918 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 918 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of the filters 920 and / or the amplifiers 922. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 910. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 910 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 918. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 902. In other embodiments, the communication interface 906 may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0169] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 900 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 918; instead, the processing circuitry 902 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 910. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 912 is part of the communication interface 906. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 906 includes the one or more ports or terminals 916, the radio front-end circuitry 918, and the RF transceiver circuitry 912 as part of a radio unit (notshown), and the communication interface 906 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 914, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0170] The antenna 910 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 910 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 918 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 910 is separate from the network node 900 and connectable to the network node 900 through an interface or port.

[0171] The antenna 910, the communication interface 906, and / or the processing circuitry 902 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node 900. Any information, data, and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node, and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 910, the communication interface 906, and / or the processing circuitry 902 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node 900. Any information, data, and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node, and / or any other network equipment.

[0172] The power source 908 provides power to the various components of the network node 900 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 908 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 900 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 900 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid or an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 908. As a further example, the power source 908 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0173] Embodiments of the network node 900 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 9 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 900 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 900 and to allow output of information from the network node 900. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 900.

[0174] Figure 10 is a block diagram of a host 1000, which may be an embodiment of the host 716 of Figure 7, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 1000 may be or comprise various combinations of hardware and / or software including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 1000 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0175] The host 1000 includes processing circuitry 1002 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1004 to an input / output interface 1006, a network interface 1008, a power source 1010, and memory 1012. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as Figures 8 and 9, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the host 1000.

[0176] The memory 1012 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 1014 and data 1016, which may include user data, e.g. data generated by a UE for the host 1000 or data generated by the host 1000 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 1000 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 1014 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG), VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., Free Lossless Audio Codec (FLAC), Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, and heads-up display systems). The host application programs 1014 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 1000 may select and / or indicate a different host for Over-The-Top (OTT) services for a UE. The host application programs 1014 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH or MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0177] Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1100 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices, and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates toan implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more Virtual Machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1100 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 1100 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface.

[0178] Applications 1102 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 1100 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0179] Hardware 1104 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 1106 (also referred to as hypervisors or VM Monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1108A and 1108B (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1108), and / or perform any of the functions, features, and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1106 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1108.

[0180] The VMs 1108 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking, or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1106. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1102 may be implemented on one or more of the VMs 1108, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as Network Function Virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers and customer premise equipment.

[0181] In the context of NFV, a VM 1108 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 1108, and that part of the hardware 1104 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs 1108, formsseparate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1108 on top of the hardware 1104 and corresponds to the application 1102.

[0182] The hardware 1104 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. The hardware 1104 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, the hardware 1104 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g., such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 1110, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of the applications 1102. In some embodiments, the hardware 1104 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a RAN or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1112 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0183] Figure 12 shows a communication diagram of a host 1202 communicating via a network node 1204 with a UE 1206 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as the UE 712A of Figure 7 and / or the UE 800 of Figure 8), the network node (such as the network node 710A of Figure 7 and / or the network node 900 of Figure 9), and the host (such as the host 716 of Figure 7 and / or the host 1000 of Figure 10) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 12.

[0184] Like the host 1000, embodiments of the host 1202 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 1202 also includes software, which is stored in or is accessible by the host 1202 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 1206 connecting via an OTT connection 1250 extending between the UE 1206 and the host 1202. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 1250.

[0185] The network node 1204 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 1202 and the UE 1206. The connection 1260 may be direct or pass through a core network (like the core network 706 of Figure 7) and / or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0186] The UE 1206 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by the UE 1206 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the UE 1206 with the support of the host 1202. In the host 1202, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 1250 terminating at the UE 1206 and the host 1202. In providing the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1250 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 1250.

[0187] The OTT connection 1250 may extend via the connection 1260 between the host 1202 and the network node 1204 and via a wireless connection 1270 between the network node 1204 and the UE 1206 to provide the connection between the host 1202 and the UE 1206. The connection 1260 and the wireless connection 1270, over which the OTT connection 1250 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 1202 and the UE 1206 via the network node 1204, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.

[0188] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 1250, in step 1208, the host 1202 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 1206. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 1206 that shares data with the host 1202 without explicit human interaction. In step 1210, the host 1202 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 1206. The host 1202 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 1206. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 1206 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 1206. The transmission may pass via the network node 1204 in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 1212, the network node 1204 transmits to the UE 1206 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 1202 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1214, the UE 1206 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 1206 associated with the host application executed by the host 1202.

[0189] In some examples, the UE 1206 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 1202. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 1202. Accordingly, in step 1216, the UE 1206 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input / output interface of the UE 1206. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 1206 initiates, in step 1218, transmission of the user data towards the host 1202 via the network node 1204. In step 1220, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 1204 receives user data from the UE 1206 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 1202. In step 1222, the host 1202 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 1206.

[0190] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1206 using the OTT connection 1250, in which the wireless connection 1270 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve, e.g., data rate, latency, and / or power consumption and thereby provide benefits such as, e.g., reduced user waiting time, related restriction on file size, improved content resolution, better responsiveness, and / or extended battery lifetime.

[0191] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 1202. As another example, the host 1202 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 1202 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 1202 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 1202 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR, or AR which it can broadcast, multicast, or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 1202 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing, and / or transmitting data.

[0192] In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1250 between the host 1202 and the UE 1206 in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and / or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1250 may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 1202 and / or the UE 1206. In someembodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 1250 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or by supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 1250 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 1204. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency, and the like by the host 1202. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 1250 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.

[0193] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions, and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining, or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box or nested within multiple boxes, in practice computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0194] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hardwired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0195] Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein.

Claims

CLAIMS 1. A method in a network node for joint processing of phase offset report(s), the method comprising one or more of the following: a. Receiving (100) a plurality of phase offset measurement reports from a plurality of user equipments (UEs); b. Jointly processing (110) the received measurement reports; and c. Based on the joint processing of the measurement reports, determining (120) a Downlink (DL) / Uplink (UL) phase offset between two or more transmission reception points (TRPs).

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising transmitting to the plurality of UEs configurations for measurement and report of phase offsets for a number of TRPs.

3. The method of claim 1, where, for each one of the plurality of UEs, the phase offset reports are one or a combination of: a) Wideband phase offset report, b) Phase offset report on a subset of subbands, 4. The method of claim 1, further comprising obtaining measurements of the channel quality between each UE and different TRPs.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein measurements of the channel quality being in terms of one or more of L1-RSRP, L1-SINR, RSRQ, SINR.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the measurements of the channel quality being based on the received UL RSs, such as SRSs.

7. The method of claim 7, wherein the measurements of the channel quality being based on UE’s measurement reports, such as , L1-RSRP, L1-SINR, on the received DL RSs, such as CSI- RSs.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of phase offset measurement reports from a plurality of UEs are with respect to a common reference TRP.

9. The method of claim 3, case b, wherein the phase offset reports from different UEs are on a) fully non-overlapping subbands (e.g., one UE sends the measurements for the odd subbands, and another UE sends measurement reports on even subbands), b) Partially overlapping subbands (some subbands are overlapping and some not), c) Fully overlapping subbands (e.g., two UEs send measurement reports on the same subbands).

10. The method of any of the above claims, wherein based on one or more applicable type(s) of the configured NZP CSI-RS resources / resource sets, either single-port or multi-port CSI- RS(s) for CSI are used.

11. The method of any of the above claims, wherein the plurality of phase offset measurement reports from the plurality of UEs are received with the same or different number of quantization levels.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the joint processing of the received measurement reports comprises one or a combination of: a) Outlier rejection methods; b) Averaging of different results; c) Combination and linearization of different results.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the joint processing of the received results depending on one or a combination of: a) A considered number of TRPs for CJT; b) The reported phase offset measurements; c) One or more channel measurement results (e.g., RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, etc.); d) A network nodes information about the UEs reporting the measurements (e.g., UE’s speed, position, etc.); e) A level of overlap between the reported subbands.

14. The method of any of the above claims, wherein the phase offset measurement reports of different TRPs and / or subbands are received inside or outside of a given time interval and thejoint processing is on the measurement reports received in a time window.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the joint processing of the received phase offset measurement reports including one or a combination of a) Combination of the results received for non-overlapping subbands; b) Averaging of different measurements results on the same subband; c) Outlier rejection of the unreliable measurement result.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising one or more of: a) If different UEs report on overlapping subbands, averaging of their associated reported values; b) If the difference between a reported measurement value associated with a subband and one, more or average of the measurements reported for that subbad exceeds a threshold, rejecting the reported measurement value; c) If the difference between a reported measurement value associated with a subband and the reported / obtained wideband measurement exceeds a threshold, rejecting that reported measurement value; d) If channel measurement (e.g., RSRP, etc.) associated with a subband is below a threshold, rejecting the corresponding phase offset measurement; e) If the difference between a reported measurement value associated with a subband and the reported measurements of the adjacent subband(s) exceeds a threshold, rejecting that reported measurement value; f) If the reported measurements are on nonoverlapping subbands, performing a linearization of the reported measurements; g) For a subband, if receiving measurement results with different number of quantization bits, ignoring the results with a quantization bits below a threshold; h) If the difference between the phase offset measured at a given time instance for a TRP and / or subband exceeds the previously reported phase offset corresponding to that TRP and / or subband by a threshold, rejecting the phase offset at the given time instance; 17. The method of any of the previous claims, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host via the transmission to the network node.

18. A network node (900) comprising: processing circuitry (902) configured to perform any of the steps of any of the above claims; and power supply circuitry (908) configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

19. A host (1000) configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry (1002) configured to provide user data; and a network interface (1008) configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a network node in a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of claims 1 to 17, to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

20. The host of the previous claim, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application that provides the user data; and the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to receive the transmission of user data from the host.

21. A method implemented in a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data for the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the network node performs any of the operations of any of the claims 1-17 to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

22. The method of the previous claim, further comprising, at the network node, transmitting the user data provided by the host for the UE.

23. The method of any of the previous 2 claims, wherein the user data is provided at the host by executing a host application that interacts with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.

24. A communication system configured to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the communication system comprising: a host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data for a user equipment (UE), the user data being associated with the over-the-top service; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data toward a cellular network node for transmission to the UE, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the claims 1-17 to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.

25. The communication system of the previous claim, further comprising: the network node; and / or the UE.

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