On-demand SIB acquisition without request

Abstract

Methods and apparatuses for on-demand system information acquisition, and especially for acquiring on-demand system information, such as system information block type 1 (SIB1) opportunistically without a request. One aspect of the invention provides a method performed by a user equipment. The method comprises monitoring one or more time and / or frequency resources of a cell for signaling associated with an on-demand system information message.

Description

On-demand SIB acquisition without requestTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and in particular, to methods for acquiring on-demand System information Block (SIB) without a request.BACKGROUND

[0002] System Information (SI) consists of a Master Information Block (MIB) and a number of SIBs. Other System Information (OSI) encompasses all SIBs other than MIB and SIB typel (SIB1). Already as part of 3rdGeneration Partnership Project 3 GPP Release 15 (Rel- 15) New Radio (NR), the OSI System Information Blocks can either be periodically broadcast on Downlink Shared Channel (DL-SCH) or broadcast on-demand on DL-SCH, e.g., upon request from User Equipments (UEs) in RRC IDLE, RRC INACTIVE, or RRC CONNECTED mode (see 3GPP 38.300, section 7.3.1 and 3GPP 38.331, section 5.2.2.1).

[0003] Additionally, the 3GPP Release 19 (Rel-19) Work Item entitled “Enhancements of network energy savings for NR”, includes the following objective related to on-demand SIB1 transmission, as described in 3GPP Work Item Description: Enhancements of network energy savings for NR, 3GPP RP -234065, December 2023:2. Study procedures and signaling method(s) to support on-demand SIB1 for UEs in idle / inactive mode, including: [RAN 1 / 2 / 3]• Triggering method by uplink wake-up-signal using an existing signal / channel.• Wake-up-signal configuration provisioning to UENote: No modification of SSB will be discussed under this objective• Information exchange between gNBs at least for the configuration of wake-up signal, if necessary.• Checkpoint for normative work in RAN# 105

[0004] For a cell in NR, typically, a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) is transmitted periodically, and it may be used to aid UE’s initial cell search, acquire frame / slot timing, initial time / frequency synchronization, measurements, and as Quasi Co-Location (QCL) reference for channel s / signals, etc. When a base station (e.g., a next generation Node B (gNB)) is equipped with an antenna array, SSBs are grouped in a burst and each SSB is transmitted to a different direction / beam. The SSB comprises a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) which comprises the MIB. The MIB contains essential information for the reception of SIBl. MIB and SIBl constitute the Minimum System Information (Minimum SI) and must be read by aUE that intends to camp on or establish a connection with the cell. In legacy operation SIB1 must also be transmitted periodically towards all the available SSB directions. The SIB1 periodicity is 160ms and has a variable repetition periodicity within 160ms.

[0005] In order to increase the opportunities for gNB to transition towards deeper sleep modes, resulting in lower energy consumption, procedures are studied with the Rel-19 WI to support on-demand SIB1 transmission for UEs in idle / inactive mode.

[0006] In 3GPP meeting RAN1#116 in February 2024, the following terminology was adapted for discussion purposes:

[0007] Cell A: A cell that is periodically transmitting at least its own SIB1.

[0008] Network Energy Saving (NES) Cell: A cell that may transmit SIB 1 transmission in response to an uplink (UL) Wake-Up Signal (WUS) from a UE.

[0009] In this disclosure, this terminology is adapted such that Cell A can further be understood as a cell that provides coverage and assists the NES Cell.

[0010] In the RANl#116-bis meeting in April 2024, three scenarios / cases have been considered for further study.

[0011] In Case 1, the NES Cell indicates in MIB the required information / configuration for UL WUS that can be used by the UE to request the on-demand SIB1 transmission.

[0012] In Case 2, the information about UL WUS (e.g., the UL WUS configuration) is provided by an assisting cell, e.g., Cell A, and the UE can transmit the UL WUS towards the NES Cell, which may respond with the SIB1. The coverage region of Cell A overlaps fully or partially with the coverage region of the potential NES Cell.

[0013] In Case 3, the UL WUS configuration is provided by Cell A, the UE transmits the UL WUS towards the Cell A, which may respond with the SIB1 of the NES Cell.

[0014] Furthermore, RAN2 reached the following agreement during 3GPP RAN2#125- bis meeting in April 2024 (R2 -2403731):At least RAN 2 starts scenario la. Other scenarios are not excluded.

[0015] Observe that Scenario la that was agreed during the RAN2#125-bis meeting corresponds to Case 2 (Cell A SIB assisted intra-cell WUS. And WUS and SIB1 is sentto / from NES cell) that has been considered by RANI.

[0016] UEs that have acquired the UL WUS configuration can proceed with the transmission of UL WUS towards the SIB1 provider, e.g., the NES Cell or Cell A depending on the Case, and subsequently monitor the appropriate resources for the SIB1 acquisition.

[0017] The on-demand SIB approach already exists in the standard, but involves Other SI, i.e., SIBs not including SIB1, which combined with MIB constitute the Minimum Required System Information. If the on-demand SIB1 feature is standardized, it will follow similar procedure as the legacy on-demand SIB request / acquisition.

[0018] In all cases the request for system information is expected to be performed via random access, and a random access response (RAR) is expected (according to an agreement from the RAN WG2 Meeting #126) to be sent by the SIB provider to signal the upcoming SIB delivery.

[0019] There currently exist certain challenge(s). Based on the current approach of on- demand SIB1 acquisition, the UE will transmit the UL WUS to the SIB1 provider without any other coordination / interaction with the network. This simple approach can lead to more requests and transmissions of SIB1 than those that are actually needed.SUMMARY

[0020] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. The proposed solution presents several methods that the UE can use to check for imminent on-demand SIB1 transmissions. The UE tries to detect the presence of certain transmissions in certain time and / or frequency resources and if such transmission is detected and decoded successfully, and the decoded message indicates the resources where the SIB1 will be transmitted, the UE can proceed with the reception of the desired SIB. In another option the decoded message can be the desired SIB itself. In one aspect, the UE is provided assistance from Cell A for performing the steps more efficiently.

[0021] Aspects are provided by the appended independent claims, and embodiments thereof are provided by the appended dependent claims.

[0022] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). The application of the presented methods will reduce the number of requests for SIB transmissions by a UE, which will lead to energy savings for the UE, reduces UL interference, and reduces the time for obtaining SIB1 since SIB1 is perhaps already being transmitted and the UE does not have to wait for the occasions to transmit UL-WUS and then obtain SIB1 afterwards. Further, the gNB will be able to satisfy the same number of UEs requesting SIB with fewer SIB transmissions. The energy saving gains for the gNB is twofold. Firstly, the gNB will have to transmit SIB1 fewer times than legacy operation. Secondly, the gNB will be able to find more opportunities to transition into deeper sleep states than legacy operation. The teachings of certain embodiments may improve the power consumption.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0023] A more complete understanding of the present embodiments, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:FIGURE 1 illustrate an example timeline for SIB1 acquisition without SIB1 request.FIGURE 2 illustrate another example timeline for SIB1 acquisition without SIB1 request. FIGURE 3 illustrate an example timeline for SIB1 acquisition without SIB1 request.FIGURE 4 an example method performed by a user equipment. till acquire a SIB1 that is sent before the SIB1 associated with the decoded RAR.FIGURE 5 illustrates an example of single UE behaviour.FIGURE 6 illustrates an example of multiple UE behaviour.FIGURE 7 illustrates an embodiment of opportunistic UE behaviour.FIGURE 8 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments.FIGURE 9 shows a UE 1200 in accordance with some embodiments.FIGURE 10 shows a network node 1300 in accordance with some embodiments.FIGURE 11 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1400 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0024] 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.

[0025] Based on the current approach of on-demand SIB 1 acquisition, the UE will transmit the UL WUS to the SIB1 provider without any other coordination / interaction with the network. This simple approach can lead to more requests and transmissions of SIB1 than those that are actually needed. In particular, the UE cannot be aware of an imminent delivery of the on- demand SIB 1 due to a previous request by another UE. Hence, it must request a new delivery of the same SIB1, even though it could have acquired the SIB1 that is about to be sent. These unnecessary on-demand request transmissions not only cost UE / network transmission energy and introduce UL interference in the system, but also leads to extra delay for the UE waiting for SIB1, while SIB1 is already being / is about to be transmitted from the NW.

[0026] In one example scenario, the UE receives SSB from some cell that transmits SIB1 only on-demand. Further, the UE may have acquired / received an UL WUS configuration, e.g.,from an assisting cell, Cell A. The UL WUS configuration may comprise information on how the SIB1 of the NES Cell can be requested and / or received. When needed, the UE can request the SIB1, e.g., from the NES Cell. It shall be noted that according to the specifications, the SIB1 has a periodicity of 160ms, and within the 160ms the SIB1 may be transmitted with a 20ms periodicity. The UE of the present invention, when entering the NES cell can, while waiting for the UL WUS transmission occasion, attempt to decode SIB1 in case it is already being provided by the NES cell. However, as highlighted above, even though the UE knows that the SIB1 occasions are every 20ms, the UE does not know if the NW is actually transmitting the SIB1 on every occasion. The NW may for example have chosen to transmit the SIB1 in every other occasion or even more sparse. As such, in one aspect, in the configuration provided to the UE (e.g., via Cell A), the UE is made aware of exact occasions intended to be used by the NES cell when the NES cell transmits SIB1. For example, the on- demand SIB1 configuration could contain a parameter T, where:SFN mod T = 0And SFN is the system frame number (10ms frames) of the NES cell (known to the UE based on SSB decoding). Through this parameter, the UE knows where to decode a potential SIB1. For example, if T=8, the UE then knows that SIB1 would be transmitted in SFN0, SFN8, SFN16, etc.

[0027] In another scenario, the UE can request the SIB1 of the NES Cell from Cell A.

[0028] In one scenario, the UE can identify the time / frequency resources where a RAR to a SIB1 request, or the actual SIB1 transmission might be transmitted. This information may be encoded in the UL WUS configuration of the on-demand SIB1 configuration. The UE could in principle ignore this information and proceed with a SIB1 request when needed. However, by exploiting the information available, for example in UL WUS configuration (related to the WUS RAR response occasions), the UE can potentially avoid the transmission of a SIB1 request and opportunistically acquire SIB1 that has already been requested by some other UE.

[0029] In one embodiment, the UE starts to listen for RAR or SIB1 transmission before sending its own SIB1 request. An example of such case is shown in Figure 1, where an earlier SIB 1 request has been sent by some other UE. In the example, the UE implementing the present solution starts listening at point (a) or point (b). If the UE starts listening at point (a), the UE will first detect a RAR in the monitored time / frequency resources and can proceed with the SIB1 acquisition. If the UE starts listening at point (b), the UE may immediately acquire the desired SIBl. The scenario can correspond to either of Case 1, Case 2 and Case 3, with the appropriate mapping of time / frequency resources to the cell that serves the SIBL In Case 1 andCase 2, the RAR and SIB1 transmission time / frequency resources belong to the NES Cell. In Case 3, the RAR and SIB1 transmission time / frequency resources belong to Cell A.

[0030] In one embodiment the UE monitors only one type of occasions, e.g., only the resources for potential RAR transmissions or the resources for potential SIB1 transmissions. This could allow energy savings at the UE side as well.

[0031] In one embodiment the UE might decode a RAR of a prior SIB1 request but continue monitoring SIB 1 resources and eventually receive SIB 1 by some other previous SIB 1 request. An example of this scenario is given in Figure 2. In this example there are two UEs, that have submitted SIB1 requests before the UE implementing the present method starts listening, which happens after the first RAR but before second RAR. Since the UE receives the second RAR it can follow the instructions there and receive SIB1 during the second SIB1 transmission. However, it can continue to monitor the SIB1 resources as well and receive the SIB1 transmitted earlier. This scenario is feasible if the two initial UEs do not implement the present solution but transmit SIB1 request without sensing for any incoming SIB1 and if the information on the monitoring occasions (RAR or SIB1) in the UL WUS is encoded in terms of an offset with respect to some previous transmission and not in absolute values, e.g., via SFN etc. This scenario can occur under both Cases, and the mapping of monitoring resources depends on the case as explained above.

[0032] In one embodiment, a RAR window is configured for the UE. The UE may start a timer when it starts to monitor RAR reception occasion and SIB 1 transmission occasions before it requests (e.g., sends an UL WUS) for SIB1. Since the resource of RAR reception occasion and SIB1 transmission occasions are separated, the UE should monitor both resources before the timer exceeds the limitation of RAR window. Since the UE cannot decode a RAR after the end of the RAR window, the UE should stop monitoring the RAR resources in order to save energy. This may imply that there was no early SIB1 request, or that the UE has missed the RAR transmission. After the end of the RAR window, the UE could continue to monitor the SIB1 resource for a period (e.g., until the end of the timer). In one example, the RAR window follows the IE rar-WindowLength, e.g., of cell A. In another example, the RAR window is separately configured.

[0033] Figure 3 illustrates an example where a UE may monitor RAR resources and SIB1 resources before RAR window time expires, and then monitor only SIB1 resources after RAR window time expired.

[0034] The UE may proceed with monitoring the RAR and / or SIB1 time / frequency resources for a predetermined time, or until the first SIB 1 request window arrives or until anumber of consecutive empty RAR / SIB1 resources have been checked, or until some timer expires.

[0035] In one embodiment, if there are multiple UEs that may be interested in obtaining on-demand SIB1 for NES Cell, the NW can configure some or all the UEs to listen for a certain wait-before-request period P for RAR / SIB1 transmissions before requesting on-demand SIB1. The length of the period P can be determined by the NW, for example, as a function of the number of UEs that are interested in obtaining on-demand SIB1 for NES Cell, and the UE specific parameters (e.g., whether the UE is power and / or delay critical) known to the NW. Furthermore, if, for example, there is only one or very few UEs interested in obtaining on- demand SIB1 for NES Cell, the NW can set the wait-before-request period P to zero to indicate that the UEs should request on-demand SIB1 as soon as they see the need to do so. Through wait-before-request period parameter P, the NW can increase the probability that the same on- demand SIB1 transmission is detected by multiple interested UEs and reduce the latency of on- demand SIB1 acquisition in cases where there is only one or very few UEs that may be interested in obtaining on-demand SIB1 for NES Cell.

[0036] In one embodiment, the UEs that are capable of both sidelink / device-to-device and on-demand SIB1 can communicate with each other on how to synchronize their on-demand SIB1 requests (e.g., if, when and which UE(s) should request on-demand SIB1), with the objective, for example, to minimize the total number of on-demand SIB1 requests in a certain period, and hence their energy consumption. For example, if there is a group of UEs capable of sidelink / device-to-device and on-demand SIB1, only one UE from the group requests on- demand SIB1 and the other UEs can wait for the RAR / SIB1 transmissions associated with this request. In one example, the UEs can be organized such that the UE that requests on-demand SIB1 is predetermined in advance. The time (e.g., the time window) in which this UE will send on-demand SIB1 request can be also predetermined and known to all other UEs in the group, or the predetermined UE can decide itself when to transmit on-demand SIB1 and inform the other UEs from the group about its decision prior to the transmission of the on-demand SIB1 request. In another example, any UE can decide to transmit on-demand SIB1 request per its own need (i.e., the UE that transmits on-demand SIB1 request is not predetermined), and prior to the transmission of the on-demand SIB1 request, the UE informs the other UEs from the group about its decision.

[0037] In one embodiment, the network provides the configuration for the on-demand SIB 1 request (e.g., UL WUS) in Cell A or NES cell, but there is no acknowledgement that the SIB1 request is received, e.g., no RAR message. A UE interested in camping on the NES cell,waits for a duration of time, which is a specified constant value, or a value provided / configured (e.g., as part of the UL WUS configuration), before sending a SIB1 request. During this time the UE monitors for on-demand SIB 1 broadcast based on the scheduling information provided in the MIB of the NES cell, in case there has been a request made by another UE. If the UE does not detect a SIB1 transmission in the NES cell during that time, it can transmit an UL WUS to request SIB1. This would be beneficial in case multiple UEs happen to request SIB1 from the NES cell within somewhat a similar timeframe. Note that it is also possible that in a variant to this embodiment, SIB1 of the NES is provided by Cell A or the request is made towards Cell A, yet SIB1 is provided by the NES cell.

[0038] In another embodiment, the network provides the configuration for the on-demand SIB1 request (e.g., UL WUS) in Cell A or NES cell, and there is an acknowledgement, e.g., via RAR, that the SIB1 request is received. A UE interested in camping on the NES cell, waits for a duration of time, which is a specified constant value, or a value provided / configured (e.g., as part of the UL WUS configuration), before sending a SIB1 request. During this time the UE monitors for on-demand SIB1 broadcast based on the scheduling information provided in the MIB of the NES cell and / or an acknowledgement message that the request is received, in case there has been a request made by another UE. If the UE detects no SIB1 transmission or acknowledgment message in the NES cell during that time, it can transmit UL WUS to request SIB1. In the acknowledgment message, e.g., RAR message, the network may provide an offset value to indicate to the UE when it should expect the requested SIB1 transmission. In case this offset is not provided, the UE may assume that it may start monitoring after receiving the acknowledgement. In a variant of this embodiment, the acknowledgement message can also contain a value that indicates how long the UE may monitor for the requested SIB1 transmission once it starts monitoring. This would be beneficial in case multiple UEs happen to request SIB1 from the NES cell within somewhat a similar timeframe and the network would like to customize the time a particular UE should wait before requesting for SIB1. Note that it is also possible that in a variant to this embodiment, SIB1 of the NES is provided by Cell A or the request is made towards Cell A yet SIB1 is provided by the NES cell.

[0039] Figure 4 illustrates an example method 400 by a user equipment for on-demand system information acquisition. The method comprises monitoring 410 one or more time and / or frequency resources of a cell for signaling associated with an on-demand system information message. It will be appreciated that although this disclosure discusses the on-demand system information in terms of on-demand SIB1, the teachings could be extended to involve othertypes of on-demand system information, or a combination of system information, and not only SIB1.

[0040] The method 400 may be performed in relation to one of the cases (Case 1, Case 2, and Case 3) discussed above, and the cell set up discussed there may apply. In one example of method 400, the cell that user equipment monitors for the signaling associated with an on- demand system information message may be a cell for which system information is transmitted on demand, does not transmit system information periodically (and without interruption), or at least transmits system information sparse (this may for example correspond to the NES cell discussed above). In another example, the cell that user equipment monitors for the signaling associated with an on-demand system information message may be a cell that assists another (e.g., neighboring) cell with for example system information transmission (this may for example correspond to a Cell A assisting a NES cell as discussed above). Also, it will be appreciated that for all scenarios, the system information is relevant for the cell for which system information is transmitted on-demand. It will further be appreciated that all communication discussed in relation to method 400 may be performed with either of the cells discussed. The discussed cells may be operated by a same network node (e.g., base station or gNB) or different network nodes.

[0041] In some examples of method 400, the monitoring 410 may be performed without requesting for the on-demand system information message. Instead, the user equipment will, opportunistically, monitor for an imminent SIB 1 transmission or a transmission associated with the SIB1 transmission, such as a RAR. The RAR and SIB1 transmission may be performed in response to a SIB1 request requested by another user equipment in the cell. It will be appreciated that the user equipment has not requested the on-demand system information message it is monitoring for, and that this does not exclude that the user equipment has, or will, request for another on-demand system information message at some other point.

[0042] In some examples of method 400, the signaling associated with the on-demand system information message comprises the on-demand system information message. In some examples of method 400 the signaling associated with the on-demand system information message comprises a system information request acknowledgement message (e.g., a RAR response message). In some examples of method 400, the signaling associated with the on- demand system information message comprises both the on-demand system information message and the system information request acknowledgement message. The system information request acknowledgement message may for example have been transmitted in response to a system information request by another user equipment. It will be appreciated thatthe user equipment may monitor the on-demand system information message and the system information request acknowledgement message simultaneously or individually.

[0043] In some examples of method 400, the user equipment may detect 410 the signaling associated with the on-demand system information message. When the signaling comprises the on-demand system information message, the method may further comprise using the detected on-demand system information message to acquire the on-demand system information. For example, upon detection of the system information message (e.g., SIB1), the user equipment may start receiving the signal and / or may decode the system information from the system information message. When the signaling comprises the system information request acknowledgement message (e.g., RAR message), the method may further comprise using the system information request acknowledgement message to acquire the on-demand system information. The system information request acknowledgement message may for example comprise information about an upcoming on-demand system information message. For example, upon detection of a RAR, the UE decodes the information and follows the procedure for the SIB1 acquisition. In some cases, even after the system information request acknowledgement message (e.g., RAR message) has been detected detected, the user equipment may continue to monitor one or more time and / or frequency resources of the cell for an on-demand system information message (e.g., SIB1) not associated (e.g., associated with another system information request acknowledgement message) with the decoded system information request acknowledgement message. In this case, the UE continues to monitor resources of incoming SIB1, even after the detection of RAR, which may be beneficial if another SIB1 arrives before the SIB1 resources associated with the detected RAR. The user equipment will either detect an on-demand system information message during the monitoring or receive the system information message associated with the decoded system information request acknowledgement message.

[0044] In some examples of method 400, when the signaling associated with the on- demand system information message is not detected (from the monitoring), the user equipment may continue by requesting 430 the on-demand system information. The request may for example be via an UL WUS as discussed above and may follow legacy measures. The user equipment may request the on-demand system information if no signaling is detected from the monitoring 410 after a number of monitoring opportunities (e.g., windows / search spaces), or after a monitoring timer expires. The number of monitoring opportunities and / or the timer may be predefined or configured. In some case, the request may be requested 430 immediately, e.g., in the next relevant window. In another case, the request may be requested 430 after a delay,e.g., after a predetermined number of relevant windows / search spaces. For example, the number of relevant windows / search spaces where system information broadcast transmission is expected. In yet another case, for example if the request is supposed to be acknowledged, the request may be requested 430 after a delay indicated as part of the RAR message transmitted in response to a SIB1 request.

[0045] In some examples of method 400, the monitoring 410 is continued until the signaling associated with the on-demand system information message is detected 420, or for a number of monitoring opportunities, or until a monitoring timer expires. The number of monitoring opportunities may be a predetermined number of opportunities. The timer may be predetermined or configured. In some examples of method 400, the user equipment may turn on the timer once it starts monitoring 410.

[0046] In some examples of method 400, if the request is supposed to be acknowledged, the UE may monitor for the acknowledgement message (e.g., the RAR message), in response to a system information request, e.g., until a timer expires. The timer may be an existing one, e.g., that indicates the random access response window length, or may be a new field parameter introduced, e.g., for SIB1 request.

[0047] In some examples of method 400, the UE has obtained / acquired / received a configuration indicating the time and / or frequency resources. The time / frequency resources may be the time / frequency resources of e.g., UL WUS, RAR reception occasion, or SIB1 transmission occasion. It will be appreciated that in some example configuration obtained in relation to method 400 may be received by one of the cells involved (e.g., the NES cell and / or Cell A). In another example, configuration obtained in relation to method 400 may be preconfigured.

[0048] In some examples of method 400, the method may further comprise obtaining (e.g., receiving) a configuration, or an update of a configuration, of the one or more time and / or frequency resources. The configuration and / or the update of the configuration may for example have been transmitted by the NES Cell and / or Cell A. For example, the signaling in predefined time / frequency resources indicates an opportunity for system information acquisition without separate request. In one option the UE identifies resources where RAR corresponding to a SIB1 request sent by some other UE is transmitted. In another option the UE identifies resources corresponding to the transmission of the SIB1 itself.

[0049] In some examples of method 400, the method further comprises obtaining (e.g., receiving) a system information request configuration. For example, an UL WUSconfiguration. The system information request configuration may comprise information on how the system information can be requested and / or received.

[0050] In some examples of method 400, the method may further comprise obtaining (e.g., receiving) a configuration (e.g., IE rar-WindowLength) of a system information request acknowledgement (e.g., a RAR response) window. A RAR response window may be configured for UL WUS separately or UL WUS may follow the Information Element (IE) of rar-WindowLength, e.g., from Cell A.

[0051] In some examples of method 400, the user equipment may monitor for the system information request acknowledgement message during a system information request acknowledgement (e.g., a RAR response) window. The UE may for example monitor resources of WUS RAR reception occasion and SIB1 transmission occasions simultaneously. In one case, the user equipment may ignore the configured RAR response window and monitor both RAR and SIB1 during the monitoring. In another case, the user equipment will apply the configured RAR window and will, if the RAR response window has run out, only monitor resources related to SIB1.

[0052] In some examples of method 400, the method further comprises obtaining (e.g., receiving) configuration indicating whether the user equipment should monitor for signaling associated with an on-demand system information message or request the on-demand system information without monitoring. For example, the UE may be configured whether to listen for a certain period for RAR / SIBl transmissions before requesting on-demand SIB1 or request on- demand SIB1 without monitoring.

[0053] In some examples of method 400, the method further comprises obtaining an indication that the system information of a cell is transmitted on-demand. This may for example be received in an SSB.

[0054] [Here I will add some more explanations with reference to the added drawings]

[0055] Figure 8 shows an example of a communication system 1100 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0056] In the example, the communication system 1100 includes a telecommunication network 1102 that includes an access network 1104, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 1106, which includes one or more core network nodes 1108. The access network 1104 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 1110a and 1110b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 1110), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3 GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarilylimited 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 1102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 1102 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 1102, including one or more network nodes 1110 and / or core network nodes 1108.

[0057] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O- CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an Al, Fl, Wl, El, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes 1110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 1112a, 1112b, 1112c, and 1112d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 1112) to the core network 1106 over one or more wireless connections.

[0058] 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 1100 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 system1100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0059] The UEs 1112 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 1110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 1110 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 1112 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 1102 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 1102.

[0060] In the depicted example, the core network 1106 connects the network nodes 1110 to one or more host computing systems, such as host 1116. 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 1106 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 1108) 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 1108. 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).

[0061] The host 1116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 1104 and / or the telecommunication network 1102. The host 1116 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.

[0062] As a whole, the communication system 1100 of Figure 8enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standardsthat include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0063] In some examples, the telecommunication network 1102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 1102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 1102. For example, the telecommunications network 1102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0064] In some examples, the UEs 1112 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 1104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 1104. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN- DC).

[0065] In the example, the hub 1114 communicates with the access network 1104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 1112c and / or 1112d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 1110b). In some examples, the hub 1114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 1114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 1106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 1114 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 1110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 1114. As another example, the hub 1114 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in someembodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 1114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR device, display, loudspeaker, or other media delivery device, the hub 1114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 1114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 1114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0066] The hub 1114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 1110b. The hub 1114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 1114 and UEs (e.g., UE 1112c and / or 1112d), and between the hub 1114 and the core network 1106. In other examples, the hub 1114 is connected to the core network 1106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 1114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 1104 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 1110 while still connected via the hub 1114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 1114 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 1110b. In other embodiments, the hub 1114 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 1110b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0067] Figure 9 shows a UE 1200 in accordance with some embodiments. The UE 1200 presents additional details of some embodiments of the UE 1112 of Figure 1. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage / playback device, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), an Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0068] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3 GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), orvehicle- 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).

[0069] The UE 1200 includes processing circuitry 1202 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1204 to an input / output interface 1206, a power source 1208, a memory 1210, a communication interface 1212, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 9. 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.

[0070] The processing circuitry 1202 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 1210. The processing circuitry 1202 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 1202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0071] In the example, the input / output interface 1206 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 1200. 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 thelike. 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.

[0072] In some embodiments, the power source 1208 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 1208 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 1208 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 1200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 1208. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 1208 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 1200 to which power is supplied.

[0073] The memory 1210 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 1210 includes one or more application programs 1214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 1216. The memory 1210 may store, for use by the UE 1200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0074] The memory 1210 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD- DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICCcommonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 1210 may allow the UE 1200 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 1210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0075] The processing circuitry 1202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 1212. The communication interface 1212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 1222. The communication interface 1212 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 1218 and / or a receiver 1220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 1218 and receiver 1220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 1222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0076] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 1212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0077] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 1212, 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 issent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0078] 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.

[0079] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 1200 shown in Figure 9.

[0080] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3 GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0081] 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 speedinformation (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.

[0082] Figure 10 shows a network node 1300 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), 0-RAN nodes or components of an 0-RAN node (e.g, 0-RU, 0-DU, O-CU).

[0083] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g, in an 0-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0084] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g. Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0085] The network node 1300 includes a processing circuitry 1302, a memory 1304, a communication interface 1306, and a power source 1308. The network node 1300 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g, a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their ownrespective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 1300 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 1300 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 1304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1310 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1300 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1300, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 1300.

[0086] The processing circuitry 1302 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1300 components, such as the memory 1304, to provide network node 1300 functionality.

[0087] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1302 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1312 and baseband processing circuitry 1314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1312 and the baseband processing circuitry 1314 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1312 and baseband processing circuitry 1314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0088] The memory 1304 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer- readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computerexecutable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be usedby the processing circuitry 1302. The memory 1304 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 1302 and utilized by the network node 1300. The memory 1304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1302 and / or any data received via the communication interface 1306. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1302 and memory 1304 are integrated.

[0089] The communication interface 1306 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 1306 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 1316 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 1306 also includes radio front-end circuitry 1318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 1310. Radio front-end circuitry 1318 comprises filters 1320 and amplifiers 1322. The radio front-end circuitry 1318 may be connected to an antenna 1310 and processing circuitry 1302. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1310 and processing circuitry 1302. The radio front-end circuitry 1318 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 1318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1320 and / or amplifiers 1322. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 1310. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1318. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0090] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 1300 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1318, instead, the processing circuitry 1302 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1312 is part of the communication interface 1306. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1306 includes one or more ports or terminals 1316, the radio front-end circuitry 1318, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1312, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1306 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0091] The antenna 1310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1310 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 1318 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1310 is separate from the network node 1300 and connectable to the network node 1300 through an interface or port.

[0092] The antenna 1310, communication interface 1306, and / or the processing circuitry 1302 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 1310, the communication interface 1306, and / or the processing circuitry 1302 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0093] The power source 1308 provides power to the various components of network node 1300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1300 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1300 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 1308. As a further example, the power source 1308 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.

[0094] Embodiments of the network node 1300 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 10 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 1300 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1300 and to allow output of information from the network node 1300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1300. In some embodiments providing a core network node, such as core network node 108 of FIG. QQ1, some components, such as the radio front-end circuitry 1318 and the RF transceiver circuitry 1312 may be omitted.

[0095] Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1400 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context,virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 1400 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 1400 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface. Virtualization may facilitate distributed implementations of a network node, UE, core network node, or host.

[0096] Applications 1402 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0097] Hardware 1404 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 1406 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 1408a and 1408b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 1408), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1406 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 1408.

[0098] The VMs 1408 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1406. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1402 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1408, 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 volumeserver hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0099] In the context of NFV, a VM 1408 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 1408, and that part of hardware 1404 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 1408 on top of the hardware 1404 and corresponds to the application 1402.

[0100] Hardware 1404 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1404 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1404 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 1410, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1402. In some embodiments, hardware 1404 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 1412 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0101] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, andfunctionality 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.

[0102] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0103] [Here I will insert the original claims from the provisional for solid support at filing, but to be cleaned out later]

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a user equipment for on-demand system information acquisition, the method comprising: receiving information about a network energy saving, NES, cell; monitoring (410) transmissions from the NES cell for signaling associated with an on- demand system information message prior any requesting (430) for system information; and receiving system information without transmission of request (430) for system information if the signaling associated with the on-demand system information is received (420).

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising camping on or connecting to the NES capable cell.

3. The method of any one of claims 1-2, wherein the signaling associated with the on- demand system information message comprises system information and / or a system information request acknowledgement message.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein when the signaling comprises the system information request acknowledgement message, the method further comprises: proceeding with the reception based on the system information request acknowledgement message.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the system information request acknowledgement message comprises information about an upcoming on-demand system information message.

6. The method of any one of claims 3-5, wherein the user equipment monitors (410) for the system information request acknowledgement message during a system information request acknowledgement window.

7. The method of any one of claims 1-6, wherein the monitoring (410) is performed at most until a monitoring timer expires if no signaling associated with an on-demand system information message is received.

288. The method of claim 7, wherein the monitoring timer expires after a multiple of 10 ms, preferably after 160 ms.

9. The method of any one of claims 1-8, wherein when the signaling associated with the on- demand system information message is not detected during the monitoring, the method further comprises: requesting (430) on-demand system information.

10. The method of any one of claims 1-9, wherein the monitoring ( 10) is continued at most until the signaling associated with the on-demand system information message is detected.

11. The method of any one of claims 1-10, wherein the system information comprises a system information block type 1, SIB1.

12. The method of any one of claims 1-11, wherein the information about a network energy saving, NES, cell is received from a second cell.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the second cell has a coverage that at least partly overlaps with the NES cell.

14. The method of any one of claims 1-13, wherein the information about a network energy saving, NES, cell comprises information about occasions intended to be used by the NES cell for transmitting the on-demand system information.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the information about a network energy saving, NES, cell comprises information about occasions intended to be used by the NES cell for transmitting the on-demand system information comprises a number T indicating that the on-demand system information is sent every T subframe.

16. A user equipment (1112, 1200) for on-demand system information acquisition, comprising: processing circuitry (1202) configured to perform any of the steps of any of claims 1-15; and power supply circuitry (1208) configured to supply power to the processing circuitry (1202).

17. A user equipment, UE, (1112, 1200) for on-demand system information acquisition, theUE (1112, 1200) comprising: an antenna (1222) configured to send and receive wireless signals; radio front-end circuitry (1212) connected to the antenna (1222) and to processing circuitry (1202), and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna (1222) and the processing circuitry (1202); the processing circuitry (1202) being configured to perform any of the steps of any of claims 1-15; an input interface (1206) connected to the processing circuitry (1202) and configured to allow input of information into the UE (1112, 1200) to be processed by the processing circuitry (1202); an output interface (1206) connected to the processing circuitry (1202) and configured to output information from the UE (1112, 1200) that has been processed by the processing circuitry (1202); and a battery (1208) connected to the processing circuitry (1202) and configured to supply power to the UE (1112, 1200).

Images