Predictive and coordinated detection and mitigation of radar in mobile networks

Abstract

Methods and systems are described for scheduling measurements in a network to detect a radar service Methods can include receiving, by a non-real time control application, rApp, one or more preparation data from the network, and selecting one or more cells in the network for scheduling measurements to detect the radar service based at least in part on the one or more preparation data.

Description

PREDICTIVE AND COORDINATED DETECTION AND MITIGATION OF RADAR INMOBILE NETWORKSCROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED INFORMATION

[0001] This application claims the benefit of United States of America priority application No. 63 / 692,516 filed on September 09, 2024, titled “Predictive and Coordinated Detection and Mitigation of Radar in Mobile Networks.”TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] The present disclosure generally relates to systems and methods for scheduling measurements in a time division duplex (TDD) network to detect radar.BACKGROUND

[0003] The limited spectrum available for mobile networks in the USA has led to a continuous search for opportunities, including migration of services or spectrum sharing.

[0004] Migrating a service such as radar from a spectrum band can be costly and coordination between such a service and a mobile network can be cumbersome depending on the requirements. Some services, such as airborne radar, pose a challenge since the serviced area changes quickly over time and may affect entire cities.

[0005] One example of spectrum sharing is the Citizens Broadband Radio Service (CBRS) band, where a spectrum access system (SAS) is responsible for access. While this concept works, it requires detailed updated knowledge of the radar system’s location and does not use the mobile network (NW) to improve the accuracy of the propagation model or reduce impact towards the radar system.

[0006] Other opportunities explored include the following:1. Radar detection using a mobile network - International Application No.PCT / IB2021 / 057968 (Publication No. WO2022 / 064298A1)2. Method and apparatus for the scheduling of measurement opportunities for the presence of structured interference - International Application No. PCT7IB2023 / 050470 (Publication No. WO2023139518A1)3. Detection of generic on-off pulsed radar signal - International Application No. PCT / IB2022 / 058113 (Publication No. WO2023031786A1)4. Radar metadata in fronthaul management plane signaling - International Application No. PCT7IB2020 / 055201 (Publication No. WO2021 / 245441A1)5. Waveform detection interface and O-RAN AAL profile - International Application No. PCT7IB2022 / 058024 (Publication No. W02023 / 037202A1)

[0007] Accordingly, it is believed that no one prior to the inventors has made or used the invention described herein.SUMMARY

[0008] One embodiment under the present disclosure includes a method performed by a network node of a network for scheduling measurements in the network to detect a radar service, the network comprising one or more network nodes. The method comprises receiving, by a non-real time control application, rApp, one or more preparation data from the network, the network node comprising the rApp, and selecting one or more cells in the network for scheduling measurements to detect the radar service based at least in part on the one or more preparation data.

[0009] In some embodiments, the one or more preparation data comprises topology and configuration information of the one or more network nodes.

[0010] In other embodiments, the topology and configuration information is obtained from a network manager of the network.

[0011] In yet other embodiments, the topology and configuration information includes one or more of number of the cells and sector-carriers deployed, geographical location, radio characteristics such as subcarrier spacing, frequency range, bandwidth, time division duplexing, TDD, pattern, cell coverage pattern, and physical characteristics such as physical location, number of antennas, and advanced antenna system, AAS, beam configuration.

[0012] In some embodiments, the one or more preparation data comprises notifications from the network manager of cell status comprising active cell status and inactive cell status, and sleep status.

[0013] In other embodiments, sleep status is a function of traffic or number of connected users, and wherein a selected cell that is in a sleep mode is partially awoken to enable detection of the radar service.

[0014] In yet other embodiments, if the selected cell does not transmit downlink, DL, traffic, the selected cell is placed in a low energy state during DL slots of scheduled measurement slots.

[0015] In some embodiments, the one or more preparation data comprises performance data for the one or more network nodes from the network manager.

[0016] In other embodiments, the performance data includes one or more of cell traffic load from the physical resource block, PRB, utilization, average number of connected users, active users, and average throughput per cell capacity.

[0017] In yet other embodiments, the one or more preparation data may comprise incumbent information from a spectrum management server.

[0018] In some embodiments, the incumbent information includes one or more of incumbent location, incumbent type, radar characteristics, incumbent frequency range, and incumbent measurement threshold.

[0019] In other embodiments, the selecting one or more cells in the network is made as a function of cell traffic load.

[0020] In yet other embodiments, if the one or more preparation data does not comprise incumbent information, cell traffic load is calculated from the performance data.

[0021] In some embodiments, the selecting one or more cells in the network is made as a function of a prediction of a future coverage area for the radar service.

[0022] Other embodiments include detecting whether the radar service is fixed or not fixed as a function of increasing the density of the one or more measurements and / or the density of the one or more cells selected for scheduling measurements around the radar service, where the prediction is made if the radar service is not fixed.

[0023] In yet other embodiments, the density of the one or more measurements is increased based on time, frequency, and / or space.

[0024] Another embodiment under the present disclosure includes a method performed by a network node of a network for scheduling one or more measurements in the network to detect a radar service. The method comprises distributing the one or more measurements over one or more network nodes in the network, pausing the scheduling of one or more user equipments, UEs, in the uplink and / or downlink, detecting whether the radar service is fixed or not fixed as a function of increasing the density of the one or more measurements and the one or more network nodes around the radar service, and predicting, if the radar service is not fixed, an area covered by the radar service.

[0025] In some embodiments, the one or more measurements comprise cell traffic load and / or average radio resource control, RRC, connected UEs.

[0026] In other embodiments, each network node of the one or more network nodes is selected as a function of the cell traffic load and / or the average RRC connected UEs on the network node if the network node is in an enabled mode, the state of the network node if the network node is in a sleep mode, and the likelihood of detection within a region of the coverage area of the network node.

[0027] In yet other embodiments, each network node of the one or more network nodes selected based on its state enters service as detection only.

[0028] Yet another embodiment under the present disclosure includes a network node for scheduling measurements in a network to detect radar, the network node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the preceding embodiments, and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

[0029] This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an indication of the scope of the claimed subject matter.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0030] For a more complete understanding of the present disclosure, reference is now made to the following descriptions taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0031] Fig. 1 illustrates an example of a network architecture configured under the present disclosure;

[0032] Fig. 2 illustrates a flow-chart of a method embodiment under the present disclosure;

[0033] Fig. 3 illustrates a flow-chart of a method embodiment under the present disclosure;

[0034] Fig. 4 shows a schematic of a communication system embodiment under the present disclosure;

[0035] Fig. 5 shows a schematic of a user equipment embodiment under the present disclosure;

[0036] Fig. 6 shows a schematic of a network node embodiment under the present disclosure; and

[0037] Fig. 7 shows a schematic of a virtualization environment embodiment under the present disclosure.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0038] Before describing various embodiments of the present disclosure in detail, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not limited to the parameters of the particularly exemplified systems, methods, apparatus, products, processes, and / or kits, which may, of course, vary. Thus, while certain embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail, with reference to specific configurations, parameters, components, elements, etc., the descriptions are illustrative and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the claimed embodiments. In addition, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing the embodiments and is not necessarily intended to limit the scope of the claimed embodiments.

[0039] Leveraging a mobile NW allows for the use of new hardware (HW) capable of beamforming in both uplink (UL) and downlink (DL), as well as features available in the NW to reduce the impact towards the radar system, such as beam nulling, physical resource block (PRB) muting, and dynamic cell shaping.

[0040] Further allowing the mobile NWs more freedom to satisfy a requirement set for radar systems could secure the same level of radar system performance while maximizing the resource availability from the mobile NW point of view.

[0041] This mindset has fomented algorithms for radar detection using the mobile network’s infrastructure. Considering that many of the bands in this context are standardized as time division duplex (TDD), there is a need for solutions that allow the execution of radar detection during symbols not allocated for uplink reception (UL Rx).

[0042] There currently exist certain challenges. Radar detection in a mobile NW does not consider processing with an optimal distribution over the entire available infrastructure. Additionally, radar detection in a mobile NW does not consider prediction based on previous measurements, to maximize future detection likelihood with increased resolution in different dimensions. Radar mitigation techniques in a mobile NW do not consider prediction of coverage of a mobile radar system, to reduce the time for recovery of service (when the radar service migrates from an area). Radar mitigation techniques in a mobile NW do not consider prediction of coverage of a mobile radar system, to initiate earlier the process of migrating traffic, such as when the radar service migrates towards an area.

[0043] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. It has been proposed in existing patents that the scheduling of measurements on radio units in a TDD (time division duplex) mobile network to detect radar, can be distributed over multiple radio units to maximize the likelihood of detection of a radar system operating in the same spectrum but without synchronization to the TDD pattern. During the scheduling of measurement occasions (SLOTS or symbols), it has been proposed to pause the scheduling of users in the uplink (UL) (to minimize false detections) and / or downlink (DL) (to allow the radio unit reconfiguration from Tx to Rx (transmission to reception)).

[0044] One embodiment proposed hereunder is to enhance such strategy by: Considering additional known measurements such as “cell traffic load” and “average RRC (Radio Resource Control) connected UEs” for enabled radio units (such as base stations, network nodes, etc.), to prioritize those with reduced traffic and reduced number of connected UEs and therefore minimize the negative impact on NW performance.Considering the state of the cell / radio units to allow those that are in sleep mode due to low traffic, to enter service as Rx only and execute radar detection continuously, therefore minimizing the need to run detection on those radios units that are operating withtraffic, therefore improving the detection performance of the associated radar sensing, therefore avoiding traffic performance degradation.Considering the radio unit coverage to prioritize those that have higher likelihood of detection within a region. This implies that the rAPP (software application designed to run on the Non-Real Time RAN Intelligent Controller) shall have knowledge of the radio characteristics, configuration and physical location, which together with a propagation model can produce a coverage radiation pattern, which may not be the same as that of the mobile NW operationally serving traffic (e.g. the same Ma-MIMO (Massive - Multiple Input Multiple Output) radios can evaluate radar detection with different beams compared to those used for providing NR coverage / service).Considering what areas have overlapping coverage from other bands not impacted by radar activity and transitioning the radios / cells serving the band impacted by radar to alternative resources on another cell before prioritizing radar detection on those radios (this can also serve as an early mitigation technique by configuring the other cell as an S-cell (Secondary cell)).Increasing the density of measurements (time, frequency, space) and measurement points (radio units) around a detected radar system, to determine if the system is fixed or not, and in the latter case, predict the future area covered; this can be used to ensure that the mitigation techniques are only applied when / where needed.

[0045] It has also been proposed in existing patents that the mitigation technique selected can be optimized for each radio unit depending on the interference measurements (either from the mobile NW towards the radar system or from the radar system to the mobile NW) and / or output of the propagation model (for known attributes of a radar system such as location). These mitigation techniques operate over all the dimensions available (power, time, frequency, space) and may include Tx power reduction, Tx power off, PRB (Physical Resource Block) muting, beam nulling, EIRP (Effective Isotropic Radiated Power) restriction, etc. In the worst case, the cell is powered down before redirecting all the connected UEs to other cells. Later 3GPP specifications will include DCI (Downlink Control Information) triggered handover to a preconfigured cell, but that will not apply to ready deployed UEs in e.g., the AMBIT band. Also, it may not be fast enough to cover all UEs due to DTX (Discontinuous Transmission) cycles.

[0046] Certain embodiments propose to enhance such strategy by predicting the area covered by the non-fixed radar (e.g., maritime or airborne) to take the corresponding mitigation actions in advance, therefore minimizing the number of dropped connections (for incoming) and maximize the spectrum utilization (for outgoing).

[0047] Certain embodiments proposed hereunder include the following steps:Consider data traffic, radio unit characteristic / configuration, and the number of serviced UEs on a NW level, to optimize the distribution of radar detection processing between all the radio units.Predict areas where radar will operate to increase the accuracy and samples of the radar detection which shall in turn improve the reaction time to either start or stop a mitigation action.

[0048] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. The teachings of certain embodiments may improve the data rate, latency, and / or power consumption. Other benefits are to maximize the data traffic and improve the user experience over the entire mobile network while maintaining the requirements towards the radar system, which implies securing the radar detection performance. In this context it is assumed radar systems have higher priority over services provided by the mobile NW.

[0049] 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.

[0050] Fig. 1 shows one possible system embodiment of a network architecture configured under the present disclosure. A network (100) may comprise a variety of radio units (108) such as base stations and network nodes. An rApp (102) may perform various methods described herein, or other network components may perform described methods. The rApp (102) may be coupled to a Spectrum Management Server (106) and a Network Manager (104), as well as other network components. Methods described herein include methods, such as methods (200, 300), performed by a network or network node, including a network node such as rApp (102), for scheduling measurements in a network to detect radar.

[0051] Fig. 2 illustrates an embodiment according to method (200), which may include receiving (202), by an rApp, one or more preparation data from the network; and selecting(204) one or more cells in the network for scheduling measurements to detect the radar service based at least in part on the one or more preparation data.

[0052] For receiving (202) preparation data, the rApp may perform several variations of steps. For example, the rApp can read and store the Topology & Configuration of the whole radio nodes from the Network Manager, with information such as:Number of Cells and Sector-carriers deployed;Geographical location;Radio characteristics like Subcarrier spacing, frequency range, bandwidth, TDD pattern, Cell coverage, number of antennas, etc.

[0053] At another step, the rApp may get the notification of cell status and sleep status from the Network Manager, such as: Cell status (Active, Inactive); and Sleep status.

[0054] At another step, the rApp can read and store performance data for the whole nodes from the Network Manager periodically. This may include, for example: Cell Traffic Load from the PRB utilization; Average number of connected users; Active users; Average throughput per cell capacity.

[0055] At another optional preparation step, the rApp may have connection with Spectrum Management Service and receive incumbent information which may include, for example: Incumbent location; Incumbent type, radar characteristics; Incumbent frequency range; Incumbent measurement threshold.

[0056] After preparation, rApp may make the selection (204) of cells based on various factors, some examples are given below.

[0057] Selection of cells to measure by considering cell traffic load. If it may not be guaranteed to receive incumbent information from the spectrum management server, network shall monitor incumbent radar interferences by selecting cells to measure the radar interferences considering cell traffic load. Since the interference measurement in radio unit requires muting of DL or UL slots and symbols in scheduling, rApp calculates the cell traffic load from the performance data and only lists up the less loaded cells to start measurement in order not to impact user experience in the cell(s).

[0058] Selection of cells to measure by considering cell sleep status. The rApp finds the cells which are in the sleep mode due to lower traffic or lower number of users and wakes up the cell partially to make detection-enabled cell. This cell still doesn’t transmit DL traffic butpossibly detects UL interference. The cell may optionally be placed into a much lower energy state during DL slots during the scheduled measurement slots.

[0059] Selection of cells to measure by considering radio characteristics. The rApp selects the cells that have relatively higher possibility of radar detection considering cell coverage pattern, number of antennas, TDD pattern, sector-carrier physical location, and choice of AAS beam configuration.

[0060] Selection of cells by prediction of future area covered. Increasing the density of measurements (time, frequency, space) and / or measurement points (radio units) around a detected radar system, to determine (206) if the system is fixed or not, and in the latter case, predict (208) the future area covered; this can be used to ensure that the mitigation techniques are only applied when / where needed.

[0061] Another possible method embodiment under the present disclosure is shown in Fig. 3. Method (300) may include distributing (302) the one or more measurements over one or more network nodes (108) in the network. The one or more measurements may comprise cell traffic load and / or average radio resource control, RRC, connected UEs. In addition, each network node of the one or more network nodes may be selected as a function of: the cell traffic load and / or the average RRC connected UEs on the network node if the network node is in an enabled mode, the state of the network node if the network node is in a sleep mode, and the likelihood of detection within a region of the coverage area of the network node. Further, each network node selected based on its state enters service as detection only.

[0062] The method (300) may also include pausing (304) the scheduling of one or more user equipments, UEs, (4112) in the uplink and / or downlink, detecting (306) whether the radar service is fixed or not fixed as a function of increasing the density of the one or more measurements and / or the one or more network nodes around the radar service; and predicting (308), if the radar service is not fixed, an area covered by the radar service.

[0063] All the embodiments described herein could be implemented in a Virtual RIC (RAN Intelligent Controller). With help of O-RAN architecture, all the embodiments listed in this document could be implemented in an rAPP.

[0064] Fig. 4 shows an example of a communication system 4100 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0065] In the example, the communication system 4100 includes a telecommunication network 4102 that includes an access network 4104, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 4106, which includes one or more core network nodes 4108. The access network 4104 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 4110a and 4110b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 4110), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network 4102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network 4102 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 4102, including one or more network nodes 4110 and / or core network nodes 4108.

[0066] 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 4110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 4112a, 4112b, 4112c, and4112d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 4112) to the core network 4106 over one or more wireless connections.

[0067] 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 4100 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 4100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0068] The UEs 4112 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 4110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 4110 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 4112 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 4102 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 4102.

[0069] In the depicted example, the core network 4106 connects the network nodes 4110 to one or more host computing systems, such as host 4116. 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 4106 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 4108) 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 4108. 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).

[0070] The host 4116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 4104 and / or the telecommunication network 4102. The host 4116 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.

[0071] As a whole, the communication system 4100 of Fig. 4 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0072] In some examples, the telecommunication network 4102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 4102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 4102. For example, the telecommunications network 4102 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)ZMassive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0073] In some examples, the UEs 4112 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 4104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 4104. Additionally, a UE maybe 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).

[0074] In the example, the hub 4114 communicates with the access network 4104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 4112c and / or 4112d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 4110b). In some examples, the hub 4114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 4114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 4106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 4114 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 4110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 4114. As another example, the hub 4114 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 4114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR device, display, loudspeaker, or other media delivery device, the hub 4114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 4114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 4114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0075] The hub 4114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 4110b. The hub 4114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 4114 and UEs (e.g., UE 4112c and / or 4112d), and between the hub 4114 and the core network 4106. In other examples, the hub 4114 is connected to the core network 4106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 4114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 4104 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 4110 while still connected via the hub 4114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 4114 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 4110b. In otherembodiments, the hub 4114 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 4110b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0076] Fig. 5 shows a UE 4200 in accordance with some embodiments. The UE 4200 presents additional details of some embodiments of the UE 4112 of Fig. 4. 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.

[0077] 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), 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).

[0078] The UE 4200 includes processing circuitry 4202 that is operatively coupled via a bus 4204 to an input / output interface 4206, a power source 4208, a memory 4210, a communication interface 4212, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Fig. 5. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multipleinstances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0079] The processing circuitry 4202 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 4210. The processing circuitry 4202 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 4202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0080] In the example, the input / output interface 4206 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 4200. 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 presencesensitive 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.

[0081] In some embodiments, the power source 4208 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 4208 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 4208 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 4200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 4208. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the powerfrom the power source 4208 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 4200 to which power is supplied.

[0082] The memory 4210 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 4210 includes one or more application programs 4214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 4216. The memory 4210 may store, for use by the UE 4200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0083] The memory 4210 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 UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 4210 may allow the UE 4200 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 4210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0084] The processing circuitry 4202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 4212. The communication interface 4212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 4222. The communication interface 4212 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 networknode in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 4218 and / or a receiver 4220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 4218 and receiver 4220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 4222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0085] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 4212 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.

[0086] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 4212, 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).

[0087] 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.

[0088] 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 4200 shown in Fig. 5.

[0089] 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 3 GPP 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.

[0090] 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.

[0091] Fig. 6 shows a network node 4300 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, O-DU, O-CU).

[0092] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0093] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSRBSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or 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).

[0094] The network node 4300 includes a processing circuitry 4302, a memory 4304, a communication interface 4306, and a power source 4308. The network node 4300 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 4300 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 multipleNodeBs. 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 4300 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 4304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 4310 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 4300 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 4300, 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 4300.

[0095] The processing circuitry 4302 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 4300 components, such as the memory 4304, to provide network node 4300 functionality.

[0096] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 4302 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 4302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 4312 and baseband processing circuitry 4314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 4312 and the baseband processing circuitry 4314 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 4312 and baseband processing circuitry 4314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0097] The memory 4304 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), readonly memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 4302. The memory 4304 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 4302 and utilized by the network node 4300. The memory 4304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 4302 and / or any data received via the communication interface 4306. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 4302 and memory 4304 is integrated.

[0098] The communication interface 4306 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 4306 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 4316 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 4306 also includes radio front-end circuitry 4318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 4310. Radio front-end circuitry 4318 comprises filters 4320 and amplifiers 4322. The radio front-end circuitry 4318 may be connected to an antenna 4310 and processing circuitry 4302. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 4310 and processing circuitry 4302. The radio front-end circuitry 4318 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 4318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 4320 and / or amplifiers 4322. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 4310. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 4310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 4318. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 4302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0099] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 4300 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 4318, instead, the processing circuitry 4302 includes radio frontend circuitry and is connected to the antenna 4310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 4312 is part of the communication interface 4306. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 4306 includes one or more ports or terminals 4316, the radio front-end circuitry 4318, and the RF transceiver circuitry 4312, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 4306 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 4314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown). 1[000100] The antenna 4310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 4310 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 4318 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 4310 is separate from the network node 4300 and connectable to the network node 4300 through an interface or port.[000101] The antenna 4310, communication interface 4306, and / or the processing circuitry 4302 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 4310, the communication interface 4306, and / or the processing circuitry 4302 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.[000102] The power source 4308 provides power to the various components of network node 4300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 4308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 4300 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 4300 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 4308. As a further example, the power source 4308 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.[000103] Embodiments of the network node 4300 may include additional components beyond those shown in Fig. 6 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 4300 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 4300 and to allow output of information from the network node 4300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 4300. Insome embodiments providing a core network node, such as core network node 4108 of Fig. 4, some components, such as the radio front-end circuitry 4318 and the RF transceiver circuitry 4312 may be omitted.[000104] Fig. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 4400 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 4400 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 4400 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.[000105] Applications 4402 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 4400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.[000106] Hardware 4404 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 4406 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 4408a and 4408b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 4408), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein.The virtualization layer 4406 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 4408.[000107] The VMs 4408 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 4406. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 4402 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 4408, 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.[000108] In the context of NFV, a VM 4408 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 4408, and that part of hardware 4404 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 4408 on top of the hardware 4404 and corresponds to the application 4402.[000109] Hardware 4404 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 4404 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 4404 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 4410, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 4402. In some embodiments, hardware 4404 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 4412 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.[000110] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments maycomprise 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.[000111] 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.[000112] Additional Embodiments - Group A Embodiments[000113] 1. A method performed by a user equipment for assisting a network node in scheduling measurements in a TDD network to detect radar, the method comprising: providing one or more preparation data for use by the network node.[000114] 2. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the preparation data comprise one or more of: the Topology & Configuration of the whole radio nodes; Number of Cells and Sector-carriers deployed; Geographical location; Radio characteristics like Subcarrier spacing, frequency range, bandwidth, TDD pattern, Cell coverage, number of antennas, etc.; Cell status (Active, Inactive); Sleep status; Cell Traffic Load from the PRB utilization; Average number of connected users; Active users; Average throughput per cell capacity; Incumbent location; Incumbent type; radar characteristics; Incumbent frequency range; Incumbent measurement threshold.[000115] Additional Embodiments - Group B Embodiments[000116] 3. A method performed by a network or network node for scheduling measurements in a TDD network to detect radar, the method comprising: receiving, by an rApp, one or more preparation data from the network; and selecting one or more cells in the network based at least in part on the one or more preparation data.[000117] 4. The method of embodiment 3, wherein the one or more preparation data comprise Topology & Configuration of the whole radio nodes from the Network Manager, with information such as: Number of Cells and Sector-carriers deployed; Geographical location; Radio characteristics like Subcarrier spacing, frequency range, bandwidth, TDD pattern, Cell coverage, number of antennas, etc.[000118] 5. The method of embodiment 3 or 4, wherein the one or more preparation data comprise notification of cell status and sleep status from the Network Manager, such as: Cell status (Active, Inactive); and Sleep status.[000119] 6. The method of any of embodiments 3 to 5, wherein the one or more preparation data comprise performance data for the whole nodes from the Network Manager, which may include e.g. : Cell Traffic Load from the PRB utilization; Average number of connected users; Active users; Average throughput per cell capacity.[000120] 7. The method of any of embodiments 3 to 6, wherein the one or more preparation data comprise incumbent information from the Spectrum Management Service, whichmay include e.g.: Incumbent location; Incumbent type, radar characteristics; Incumbent frequency range; Incumbent measurement threshold.[000121] 8. The method of any of embodiments 3 to 7, wherein the selecting one or more cells in the network comprises selection of cells to measure by considering cell traffic load.[000122] 9. The method of embodiment 8, wherein if it may not be guaranteed to receive incumbent information from the spectrum management server, network shall monitor incumbent radar interferences by selecting cells to measure the radar interferences considering cell traffic load, and since the interference measurement in radio unit requires muting of DL or UL slots and symbols in scheduling, rApp calculates the cell traffic load from the performance data and only lists up the less loaded cells to start measurement in order not to impact user experience in the cell(s).[000123] 10. The method of any of embodiments 3 to 7, wherein the selecting one or more cells in the network comprises a selection of cells to measure by considering cell sleep status.[000124] 11. The method of embodiment 10, wherein rApp finds the cells which are in the sleep mode due to lower traffic or lower number of users and wakes up the cell partially to make detection-enabled cell.[000125] 12. The method of embodiment 11, wherein this cell still doesn’t transmit DL traffic but possibly detects UL interference, the cell may optionally be placed into a much lower energy state during DL slots during the scheduled measurement slots.[000126] 13. The method of any of embodiments 3 to 7, wherein the selecting one or more cells in the network comprises a selection of cells to measure by considering radio characteristics.[000127] 14. The method of embodiment 13, wherein rApp selects the cells that have relatively higher possibility of radar detection considering cell coverage pattern, number of antennas, TDD pattern, sector-carrier physical location, and choice of AAS beam configuration.[000128] 15. The method of any of embodiments 3 to 7, wherein the selecting one or more cells in the network comprises a selection of cells by prediction of future area covered.[000129] 16. The method of embodiment 15, wherein the rApp uses increasing the density of measurements (time, frequency, space) and / or measurement points (radio units)around a detected radar system, to determine if the system is fixed or not, and in the latter case, predict the future area covered; this can be used to ensure that the mitigation techniques are only applied when / where needed.[000130] 17. A method performed by a network node for scheduling measurements in a TDD network to detect radar, the method comprising: distributing one or more scheduled measurements over one or more network nodes in the TDD network; pause the scheduling of one or more user equipments, UEs, in the uplink and / or downlink; consider one or more measurements, such as cell traffic load and / or average RRC connected UEs for enabled network nodes to prioritize those with reduced traffic and reduced number of connected UEs and therefore minimize the negative impact on NW performance; consider a state of the one or more network nodes to allow those that are in sleep mode due to low traffic, to enter service as detection only, therefore minimizing the negative impact on NW performance; consider a coverage area of the one or more network nodes to prioritize those that have higher likelihood of detection within a region; increase a density of the one or more measurements (e.g., time, frequency, space) and measurement points (e.g., the one or more network nodes) around a detected radar system, to determine if the system is fixed or not, and in the latter case, predict the future area covered;[000131 ] Additional Embodiments - Group C Embodiments[000132] 18. A user equipment for assisting a network node in scheduling measurements in a TDD network to detect radar, comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; and power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.[000133] 19. A network node for scheduling measurements in a TDD network to detect radar, the network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments; power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.[000134] 20. A user equipment, UE, for assisting a network node in scheduling measurements in a TDD network to detect radar, the UE comprising: an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals; radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry; the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; an input interface connected to the processing circuitry andconfigured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry; an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method (200) performed by a network node (102, 4110) of a network (100, 4102) for scheduling measurements in the network to detect a radar service, the network comprising one or more network nodes (108), the method comprising: receiving (202), by a non-real time control application, rApp, one or more preparation data from the network, the network node comprising the rApp; and selecting (204) one or more cells in the network (4102) for scheduling measurements to detect the radar service based at least in part on the one or more preparation data.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more preparation data comprises topology and configuration information of the one or more network nodes.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the topology and configuration information is obtained from a network manager (104) of the network.

4. The method of claim 2 or 3, wherein the topology and configuration information includes one or more of:Number of the cells and sector-carriers deployed;Geographical location;Radio characteristics such as subcarrier spacing, frequency range, bandwidth, time division duplexing, TDD, pattern, cell coverage pattern; andPhysical characteristics such as physical location, number of antennas, and advanced antenna system, AAS, beam configuration.

5. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the one or more preparation data comprises notifications from the network manager of: cell status comprising active cell status and inactive cell status; andsleep status.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein sleep status is a function of traffic or number of connected users, and wherein a selected cell that is in a sleep mode is partially awoken to enable detection of the radar service.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein if the selected cell does not transmit downlink, DL, traffic, the selected cell is placed in a low energy state during DL slots of scheduled measurement slots.

8. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the one or more preparation data comprises performance data for the one or more network nodes from the network manager.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the performance data includes one or more of:Cell traffic load from the physical resource block, PRB, utilization; Average number of connected users;Active users; andAverage throughput per cell capacity.

10. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the one or more preparation data may comprise incumbent information from a spectrum management server (106).

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the incumbent information includes one or more of:Incumbent location;Incumbent type;Radar characteristics;Incumbent frequency range; andIncumbent measurement threshold.

12. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the selecting one or more cells in the network is made as a function of cell traffic load.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein if the one or more preparation data does not comprise incumbent information, cell traffic load is calculated from the performance data.

14. The method of any of the preceding claims, wherein the selecting one or more cells in the network is made as a function of a prediction (208) of a future coverage area for the radar service.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising detecting (206) whether the radar service is fixed or not fixed as a function of increasing the density of the one or more measurements and / or the density of the one or more cells selected for scheduling measurements around the radar service, wherein the prediction is made if the radar service is not fixed.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the density of the one or more measurements is increased based on time, frequency, and / or space.

17. A method (300) performed by a network node (102, 4110) of a network (100, 4102) for scheduling one or more measurements in the network to detect a radar service, the method comprising: distributing (302) the one or more measurements over one or more network nodes (108) in the network; pausing (304) the scheduling of one or more user equipments, UEs, (4112) in the uplink and / or downlink; detecting (306) whether the radar service is fixed or not fixed as a function of increasing the density of the one or more measurements and the one or more network nodes around the radar service; and predicting (308), if the radar service is not fixed, an area covered by the radar service.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the one or more measurements comprise cell traffic load and / or average radio resource control, RRC, connected UEs.

19. The method of claims 17 or 18, wherein each network node of the one or more networknodes is selected as a function of: the cell traffic load and / or the average RRC connected UEs on the network node if the network node is in an enabled mode; the state of the network node if the network node is in a sleep mode; and the likelihood of detection within a region of the coverage area of the network node.

20. The method of any of claims 17 to 19, wherein each network node of the one or more network nodes selected based on its state enters service as detection only.

21. A network node (4110, 4300, 102) for scheduling measurements in a network (4102, 100) to detect radar, the network node comprising: processing circuitry (4302) configured to perform any of the preceding claims; and power supply circuitry (4308) configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.

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