Access points and methods performed therein for handling communication in a listen before talk access network

Abstract

Embodiments herein relate to, for example, a method performed by a first access point for handling communication in a listen before talk access network. The first access point (12) selects a primary channel, and a NPCA primary channel, taking information regarding a primary channel, and / or a NPCA primary channel of a second access point (13) into account.

Description

[0001] ACCESS POINTS AND METHODS PERFORMED THEREIN

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Embodiments herein relate to a first access point, a second access point and methods performed therein for communication. Furthermore, a computer program and a computer readable storage medium are also provided herein. In particular, embodiments herein relate to selecting channels in a communication network.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] In a typical communication network, user equipments (UE), also known as communication devices, wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and / or wireless devices, communicate via for example an access network (AN) such as a radio access network (RAN) with one or more core networks (CN). The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cell areas, with each service area or cell area being served by a radio network node such as an access node e.g. a Wi-Fi access point or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be called, for example, a NodeB, a gNodeB, or an eNodeB. The service area or cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node operates on radio frequencies to communicate over an air interface with the UEs within range of the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over a downlink (DL) to the UE and the UE communicates over an uplink (UL) to the radio network node.

[0006] It is widely understood within the IEEE 802.11 TGbn, TGbn for short, group that possibly larger mismatches between operating bandwidth capabilities of access point (AP) STAs and non-AP STAs will be seen in the future. This is not only because legacy STAs are not able to match the supported communication bandwidths of newer generations. Even for IEEE 802.11TGbe, TGbe for short, which supports up to 320 MHz channels on the AP side it is unlikely that any TGbe STAs would support more than 80 MHz due to the implementation constraints versus the low gains a single AP would see from such wide bandwidth. This can be understood since TGbn is working on two features to address this, i.e. , a non-primary channel access (NPCA) and a dynamic subband operation (DSO).

[0007] In TGbn it has been agreed to define a mode of operation wherein non-primary subchannels can be accessed in a basic service set (BSS), which corresponds to an areaof coverage, during the concurrent usage of the BSS’s primary subchannel by an overlapping BSS (OBSS). This mode of operation is termed as non-primary channel access (NPCA).

[0008] The main underlying motivation of NPCA is to avoid inefficiencies or limitations caused by the channel bonding mechanisms. An example illustration of NPCA is shown below in Fig. 1a, which is reproduced from https: / / mentor.ieee.org / 802.11 / dcn / 23 / 11-23-2005-01 -OObn-non-primary-channel-access-npca.pptx. As shown in Fig. 1a, a STA in a BSS can opportunistically use non-primary, denoted as secondary in the Fig. 1a, subchannels when the primary subchannel is determined to be busy due to OBSS transmissions.

[0009] In https: / / mentor.ieee.org / 802.11 / dcn / 24 / 11-24-1596-01-00bn-consideration-of-map-coordination-on-npca-channel.pptx, it is discussed an NPCA primary coordination in order to facilitate multi-AP coordinated transmissions, whenever channel access is gained through the NPCA primary channel. This is also discussed in https: / / mentor.ieee.Org / 802.11 / dcn / 24 / 11-24-1838-00-00bn-considerations-on-coordinated-npca.ppt.

[0010] SUMMARY

[0011] As a part of developing embodiments herein one or more of the following problems were identified. Multi-AP coordination has been a topic extensively studied throughout multiple IEEE 802.11 amendments, most notably during early TGbe times, but also currently in TGbn. Although the potential gains from multi-AP coordination are promising, so far it has been down-prioritized for other features instead. This is most likely due to the challenges of ensuring that operation is synchronized across the coordinating APs coupled with the fact that centralized single BSS operation, like orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA), has turned out to be more complicated than expected.

[0012] Since the IEEE 802.11n amendment, Wi-Fi networks can operate on channels wider than the legacy 20 MHz bandwidth, and channels selection may be performed by means of a channel bonding procedure, as exemplified in the following. An 80 MHz channel is obtained by aggregating four 20 MHz channels, which are classified into primary (P) and secondary (S) channels. Depending on the obtained width, one can find primary 20 MHz (P20), secondary 20 MHz (S20), primary 40 MHz (P40), secondary 40 MHz (S40), primary 80 MHz (P80), and so on. The P40 and P80 contain the P20 and the P40, respectively. A wide channel should be able to operate on one of its primary channels.Thus, for example, a STA that operates on a 40 MHz channel contends for the access on its P20. If its P20 is occupied by other transmissions the station defers its transmission. Otherwise, it acquires it and may either 1) transmit a 40 MHz frame if the secondary channel is idle during the PCF Interframe Space duration preceding the transmission start (we refer to this as PIFS-check, an energy detection done during the PIFS interval after the LBT on the P20 is successful), or 2) transmit a 20 MHz frame on its P20 if not. PCF stands for point coordination function.

[0013] Although not yet discussed nor standardized, a similar channel bonding procedure may be used also for NPCA operation over larger (than 20 MHz) NPCA channel bandwidths. For example, given the NPCA P20, a larger NPCA channel, say 40 MHz NPCA channel, may be obtained by bonding a neighboring 20 MHz channel with the NPCA P20. Similarly for 80 MHz NPCA channels, and so on.

[0014] Neighboring APs may choose the same P20 or different P20s. Because of this, the neighboring APs’ operation may change as described below. In the following “Same P20” means that the two neighboring APs have selected the same P20, while “Different P20” means that they have different P20s. Moreover, the following are assumed:

[0015] • “Transmission (Tx) overlaps”: At a device that wants to make a transmission, further called “intended transmitter”, a transmission from a OBSS STA is received on the P20 and possibly on one or more non-primary channels.

[0016] • “Tx does not overlap”: At the intended transmitter a transmission from a OBSS STA is received on one or more non-primary channels only.

[0017] Moreover, in the following it is assumed that whenever possible each STA aims to use the whole operating bandwidth, i.e. , it should perform clear channel assessment (CCA), also referred to as listen before talk (LBT), on its P20, and then PIFS-check on the remaining S20s, before starting its transmission.

[0018] • Same P20- Tx overlaps

[0019] This is what everyone usually has in mind when thinking about how Wi-Fi operates, i.e., its “normal” behavior. The intended transmitter hears the OBSSs frames and, if signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) allows, decodes them and extracts information such as which BSS the transmission belongs to and its duration. NPCA transmissions may be attempted by a STA in a BSS if the ongoing Tx in another BSS does not overlap with the NPCA primary channel of that BSS.

[0020] • Same P20 - Tx does not overlap

[0021] In this case, the first intended transmitter, such as an AP or STA, is performing a NPCA transmission since it is transmitting but not using either its own P20 or the otherBSS’s P20. In this case the second OBSS STAs, such as an AP or STA, would find the medium to be idle until it reaches the point in its backoff when it performs a “PIFS-check” and check all its intended transmission channels, where it would detect the first transmission. At this point the second OBSS STA may choose to use dynamic bandwidth adaptation (DBA) and make another channel access attempt on only the available contiguous idle channels or pause its operation and wait until the full bandwidth is again idle to resume its backoff. No information about the first transmission can be understood as the second STA is not operating where the first STA operates.

[0022] • Different P20 - Tx overlaps

[0023] The intended transmitter would find the channel to be busy. It would start to receive the frame and realize that this is an OBSS transmission not intended for itself. It could then choose to move to its own NPCA primary channel, to try and initiate its own transmission if this channel was found to be idle. Or if it is busy it would have to wait until either of the primary channels are available.

[0024] • Different P20 - Tx does not overlap

[0025] In this case the first intended transmitter is undertaking a transmission that does not occupy the full operating bandwidth as the other (second) APs primary channel is not used in the first BSS. Hence, the second OBSS STA would again perform its backoff as normal until the “PIFS-check” where it would have to pause and make another channel access attempt using DBA or pause its operation. Again, no information could be inferred by the first BSS STA from the OBSS transmissions as the OBSS STA is not operating where the first BSS STA operates.

[0026] Given these four different outcomes it is not apparent if it is better for the APs to use the same or different P20s - at least from a channel access perspective and assuming that a STA wants to access the entire bandwidth.

[0027] However, if we assume that each STA doesn’t always try to access the entire bandwidth by default, there may be benefits by having different primary channels as the channel contention may not have to be after the “PIFS-check”, as well by having different NPCA primary channels. Indeed, this may result in improved fairness within the group of coordinating APs. This is because if everyone had the same primary channel, whoever has the NPCA primary channel adjacent to the primary channel would more likely see its channel busy compared to an AP which has it further away, because of how channel bonding worksCoordination across BSSs is a promising performance improving aspect. However, coordination across BSSs comprises challenging requirements of synchronizing the operation across multiple devices and centralizing the channel access.

[0028] Additionally, if multiple BSSs are operating on the same channel they are likely to choose the same channel operating parameters, i.e. , they would probably select the same P20 and the same NPCA primary channel, and as such there is a high risk for spectrum inefficiencies or unnecessarily large delays.

[0029] Today, there is also an increase in the capability differences for APs and non-AP STAs in that APs typically support much higher bandwidth. It is expected that APs will support the largest bandwidth supported by the standard, e.g., 320 MHz, whereas non-AP STAs may only support, for example, 80 MHz. This means that only a part of the channel bandwidth of an AP would typically be used, for default / common choices of P20 and NPCA P20 at neighboring APs, and if more than one neighboring AP uses the same wideband channel the APs would contend for a small part of the wideband channel while the remaining part of the wideband channel would remain unused.

[0030] See for example Fig. 1b, it is assumed four APs that are all within range of each other and operate on the same maximum bandwidth, such as 160 MHz, when needed. Assume the four APs have all selected C1 as their P20 and C5 as their NPCA P20, which is not unlikely given that today there are recommended and preferred P20 configurations. Due to this, whenever a bandwidth mismatched transmission occurs, i.e., when one AP cannot transmit on the 160 MHz e.g. due to that the STA only supports 40 MHz, there will potentially be a wastage of spectrum. For example, as can be seen in Fig. 1b it may happen that BSS1 accesses with 40 MHz transmission, which includes C1, its P20 and C2, which forces the remaining three BSSs to compete on their, same, NPCA P20, i.e., C5. Only one of them can access the NPCA P20 C5 channel though, which here happens to be BSS2 which undertakes a 20 MHz transmission.

[0031] This example shows that if all APs select the same P20 (here C1) and the same NPCA P20 (here C5) this is a poor choice, and better mechanisms for selection should be designed, especially in cases where APs do not need to use their whole operating bandwidth. Indeed, Fig. 1b shows an example of inefficient spectrum usage when selection of P20 and NPCA P20 across neighbouring APs is not coordinated.

[0032] An object herein is to handle communications in an access network using resources in an efficient manner.

[0033] According to an aspect the object is achieved by providing a method performed by a first access point for handling communications in a listen before talk (LBT) accessnetwork. The first access point selects a primary channel and a NPCA primary channel, taking information regarding a primary channel, and / or a NPCA primary channel of a second access point into account.

[0034] According to another aspect the object is achieved by providing a method performed by a second access point for handling communication in an LBT access network. The second access point transmits a first indication to a first access point, wherein the first indication indicates at least one of: a primary channel used at the second access point; a NPCA primary channel used at the second access point, and / or a bandwidth associated with the used NPCA primary channel of the second access point.

[0035] It is furthermore provided herein a computer program comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods herein, as performed by the first access point and the second access point, respectively. It is additionally provided herein a computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the methods herein, as performed by the first access point and the second access point, respectively.

[0036] According to another aspect a first access point is herein provided to be configured to perform the methods herein.

[0037] Thus, according to an aspect the object is achieved by providing a first access point for handling communications in an LBT access network. The first access point is configured to select a primary channel and a NPCA primary channel, taking information regarding a primary channel, and / or a NPCA primary channel of a second access point into account.

[0038] According to another aspect the object is achieved by providing a second access point for handling communication in an LBT access network. The second access point is configured to transmit a first indication to a first access point, wherein the first indication indicates at least one of: a primary channel used at the second access point; a NPCA primary channel used at the second access point, and / or a bandwidth associated with the used NPCA primary channel of the second access point.

[0039] Embodiments herein may coordinate the primary channel and the NPCA primary channel (and also other channel operating parameters) of one or more nearby BSSs such that when a STA accesses a channel, there should still be good opportunities for other BSSs to access a channel by having placed either the primary channel or NPCA primary channel outside of the ongoing transmission. By doing this a situation is achieved thatreminds one of coordinated OFDMA operation, but where instead the channel access is decentralized, and no synchronization is needed between the BSSs.

[0040] The coordination may be based on knowledge of the respective primary channel and NPCA primary channel and may also take into account capabilities of the STAs associated with the APs involved in the coordination, as well as the requirements for these STAs in terms of e.g. data rate and latency. This will thus result in a handling of communications using resources in an efficient manner.

[0041] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0042] Embodiments will now be described in more detail in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which:

[0043] Fig. 1a shows an example illustration of nonprimary channel access;

[0044] Fig. 1b shows an example illustration of bandwidth usage according to prior art;

[0045] Fig. 2 shows a schematic overview depicting a communication network according to embodiments herein;

[0046] Fig. 3 shows a combined signaling scheme and flowchart according to some embodiments herein;

[0047] Fig. 4 is a schematic flowchart depicting a method performed by a first access point according to embodiments herein;

[0048] Fig. 5 is a schematic flowchart depicting a method performed by a second access point according to embodiments herein;

[0049] Fig. 6 is a schematic overview depicting an example of bandwidth usage according to some embodiments herein;

[0050] Fig. 7 is a block diagram depicting a first access point according to embodiments herein; Fig. 8 is a block diagram depicting a second access point according to embodiments herein;

[0051] Fig. 9 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0052] Fig. 10 shows a communication system QQ200 in accordance with some embodiments; Fig. 11 shows a UE QQ300 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0053] Fig. 12 is a block diagram of a network node QQ400 in accordance with various aspects described herein; and

[0054] Fig. 13 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ500 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualizedDETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0055] Embodiments herein relate to communication networks in general. Fig. 2 is a schematic overview depicting a communication network 1. The communication network 1 comprises one or more ANs and one or more CNs. The communication network 1 may use a number of different technologies, such as wired or wireless technology, Wi-Fi, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, NR, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile communications / Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM / EDGE), Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), just to mention a few possible implementations.

[0056] According to embodiments herein the communication network 1 comprises an LBT access network and operates in license-exempt bands, also referred to as unlicensed spectrum or unlicensed bands.

[0057] In the communication network 1, wireless devices e.g. a STA 10 such as a mobile station, a user equipment (UE), a non-access point (non-AP) STA, a wireless device and / or a wireless terminal, communicate via one or more AN, e.g. a RAN, to one or more CNs. It should be understood by those skilled in the art that “UE” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, wireless communication terminal, internet of things (loT) capable device, Machine Type Communication (MTC) device, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a base station communicating within a cell.

[0058] The communication network 1 comprises a first access point 12 providing radio coverage over a geographical area, e.g. a first service area or BSS, of a first radio access technology (RAT), such as Wi-Fi, 802.11, NR, 6G in license-exempt bands or similar. The first access point 12 may be a radio access network node or an access point such as a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), an access controller, a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNB, eNodeB), gNB, a base transceiver station, Access Point Base Station, base station router, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point or any other network unit capable of serving a UE within the service area served by the first access point 12 depending e.g. on the first radio access technology and terminology used.

[0059] The communication network 1 further comprises a second access point 13 providing radio coverage over a geographical area, e.g. a second service area or BSS, of a first radio access technology (RAT), such as Wi-Fi, 802.11, NR, 6G in licensed exempt bands or similar. The second access point 13 may be a radio access network node or anaccess point such as a wireless local area network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP ST A), an access controller, a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNB, eNodeB), gNB, a base transceiver station, Access Point Base Station, base station router, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point or any other network unit capable of serving a UE within the service area served by the second access point 13 depending e.g. on the first radio access technology and terminology used.

[0060] The respective access point may be a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or processing resources in a server farm or same node. Embodiments herein may be implemented as physical bare metal, virtual or cloud native such as Kubernetes environment in, e.g., hyper-cloud networks.

[0061] According to embodiments herein the first access point 12 selects a primary channel, and a NPCA primary channel, taking information regarding a primary channel, and / or a NPCA primary channel of the second access point 13 into account.

[0062] By employing embodiments herein, multiple benefits can be achieved.

[0063] Embodiments allow for coordination between BSSs without the need for continuous communication which reduces overhead compared to other coordination schemes. Moreover, embodiments herein have the possibility of decreasing spectrum wastage which would increase the efficiency of the communication network 1 and 2. Another benefit is by increasing the probabilities that each BSS will find a subchannel to be idle one can expect that services requiring low latency will benefit especially much.

[0064] Additionally, since this coordination scheme is decentralized it does not necessarily allow only the APs to participate, but also STAs, such as the STA 10, have opportunities to participate which may be beneficial especially for UL low latency sensitive services.

[0065] Fig. 3 shows a combined flowchart and signaling scheme according to embodiments herein.

[0066] Action 301. The first and second access points may exchange information regarding respective primary channel and NPCA primary channel.

[0067] Action 302. The first access point 12 selects the primary channel and the NPCA primary channel taking the information regarding the primary channel, and / or the NPCA primary channel of the second access point 13 into account.

[0068] Action 303. The first access point 12 may further signal or indicate the selected primary channel and NPCA primary channel to one or more access points and / or STAs.Example embodiments of the method performed by the first access point 12 for handling communication in an LBT access network will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 4. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below, but may be taken in any suitable order. Optional actions are marked with dashed boxes.

[0069] Action 401. The first access point 12 may indicate willingness and / or capability to exchange information regarding the selected primary channel, and / or selected NPCA primary channel.

[0070] Action 402. The first access point 12 may receive a first indication from the second access point 13, or another access point, wherein the first indication indicates at least one of: a primary channel used at the second access point 13, a NPCA primary channel used at the second access point 13, and / or a bandwidth associated with the used NPCA primary channel of the second access point 13.

[0071] Action 403. The first access point 12 may exchange information with the second access point 13 regarding the respective primary channel, station information related to respective access point, and / or the respective NPCA primary channel. As an example, the first access point may exchange control frames to reach an agreement, between the first and second access point, related to respective used primary channel, and / or NPCA primary channel. The information regarding the primary channel, and / or the NPCA primary channel may comprise a location, e.g., in time, frequency and / or slot / symbol etc., of the primary channel and / or the NPCA primary channel.

[0072] Action 404. The first access point 12 selects the primary channel, and the NPCA primary channel, taking information regarding the primary channel, and / or the NPCA primary channel of the second access point 13 into account. The selection may further take into account: the bandwidth associated with the NPCA primary channel of the second access point 13; information related to one or more stations associated to one or more of the respective access point; and / or a total operating bandwidth of the first and / or the second access point. For example, the first access point 12 may further take one or more STA capabilities, such as the maximum operation bandwidth, into account and / or one or more STA requirements, such as power saving parameters or data context such as access categories or latency budgets. Thus, the information related to the one or more stations may comprise one or more station capabilities and / or one or more station requirements. The first access point 12 may further select a bandwidth associated with the NPCA primary channel of the first access point 12. This may be based on any of the above mentioned parameters or information. Hence, anNPCA transmission in one BSS does not overlap a potential NPCA transmission in another BSS. The first access point 12 may select the primary channel, and the NPCA primary channel by dividing a total operating bandwidth of the first access point 12 and / or the second access point 13 for the primary channels and / or the NPCA primary channels for the first and / or the second access point based on fair usage, and / or a priority related to respective access point and / or one or more stations served by respective access point. For example, to achieve fair use, APs may have their primary channel in a separate 40 MHz part and split the NPCA P20 evenly into the remaining part, making sure to not overlap P20 of one AP with NPCA P20 of another BSS.

[0073] Action 405. The first access point 12 may transmit a second indication to the second access point 13, or another access point, wherein the second indication indicates at least one of: the selected primary channel, the selected NPCA primary channel, and / or a bandwidth associated with the selected NPCA primary channel.

[0074] Action 406. The first access point 12 may signal one or more NPCA operating parameters in a beacon, wherein the one or more NPCA operating parameters are related to the selected NPCA primary channel.

[0075] Example embodiments of the method performed by the second access point 13 for handling communication in an LBT access network will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 5. The actions do not have to be taken in the order stated below, but may be taken in any suitable order. Optional actions are marked with dashed boxes.

[0076] Action 501. The second access point 13 may indicate willingness and / or capability to exchange information regarding used primary channel, and / or used NPCA primary channel

[0077] Action 502. The second access point 13 may receive one or more NPCA operating parameters in the beacon from the first access point 12, wherein the one or more NPCA operating parameters are related to a selected NPCA primary channel at the first access point 12.

[0078] Action 503. The second access point 13 transmits the first indication to the first access point 12, wherein the first indication indicates at least one of: the primary channel used at the second access point 13, the NPCA primary channel used at the second access point 13, and / or the bandwidth associated with the used NPCA primary channel of the second access point 13. The first indication may further indicate the information related to one or more stations associated to the second access point;and / or a total operating bandwidth of the second access point. The information related to the one or more stations may comprise one or more station capabilities and / or one or more station requirements of the second access point. The first indication may comprise the location of the primary channel and / or the NPCA primary channel.

[0079] Embodiments herein share and coordinate the primary channel (P1) selection and the NPCA operation across multiple BSSs in order to facilitate efficient spectrum usage in multi-AP scenarios when non-full bandwidth transmissions occur. For example, selection of P20s and NPCA P20 is done before transmissions start.

[0080] The general idea is that APs operating on the same (or partially the same) channel coordinate their primary channel as well as the NPCA operating parameters with each other. This coordination of parameters should essentially be performed very seldom, once initially or updated whenever something in the system majorly changes.

[0081] The APs then coordinate both their primary channel selection as well as the NPCA primary channel selection in order to make sure that a) when an AP serves STAs on a smaller BW than its operating bandwidth, the likelihood that one AP completely prevents another AP to transmit is minimized or avoided, and / or when b) NPCA operation needs to be performed, the likelihood that one AP occupies another APs NPCA primary channel is minimized or avoided.

[0082] An example of operations herein can be seen in Fig. 6. Four BSSs are operating across the same 160 MHz channel with eight 20 MHz subchannels (C1-C8). The APs of each BSS has already initially shared their channel operating parameters and agreed to spread out their primary channels to C1, C3, C5 and C7 for BSS 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. Moreover, they may have agreed to use a narrower bandwidth (in this case 40 MHz) whenever possible. However, it may still happen that BSS1 accesses the channel with an 80 MHz Physical Layer Convergence Protocol Protocol Data Unit (PPDU) which in turn would force BSS2 to try and access the channel on its NPCA primary instead.

[0083] There may be a multitude of reasons to operate on parts of a total bandwidth. It could either be due to:

[0084] • a mismatch in operating bandwidth between the AP and STA, for example if an AP is operating with a 160 MHz bandwidth while the STA is only 20 MHz capable.

[0085] • power saving parameters indicating that a lower capability mode should be used• not requiring such a wide bandwidth for its transmission since the spectral efficiency decreases with smaller payloads.

[0086] • an agreement with another AP(s) to not occupy the full bandwidth of the channel. This could be done to facilitate that there always exists an empty channel for potential low latency traffic.

[0087] Primary 20 MHz Channel (P20) and NPCA Operation Parameter Sharing- In order to share their NPCA operating parameters with each other, the APs, such as the first and second access points, may

[0088] 1. signal in the beacon or some other broadcast frame, see action 406,

[0089] 2. perform a device to device 2- or 4-way message exchange, such as actions 402, 403, and / or 405, and / or

[0090] 3. group-east, being an example of action 405.

[0091] By signaling the NPCA operating parameters in the beacon the scheme becomes even less centralized as essentially no communication between the coordinating APs would take place. An AP that overhears another APs beacon would simply hear these parameters and may then choose to change its own NPCA operating parameters if it deems it beneficial. This may be an approach if one is worried about the complexity of coordinating across BSSs. However, limited optimization may be achieved and may be difficult in very dense scenarios.

[0092] In, for example, action 403, APs exchange control frames with each other to reach agreements. This allows for negotiation and thus one may create much more locally optimized clusters. Moreover, since the APs are communicating, any potential changes can be quicker. This may require some additional overhead and may not become so efficient to scale this up to a larger number of APs.

[0093] It should be noted that APs, such as the first and second access points, may be arranged into small local clusters where the APs within the group have coordinated their operation but only signal the parameters to other devices outside the group and do not take in input or coordinate with them. This may provide a more scalable solution for denser scenarios that still allows for some optimization.

[0094] There may be several layers to what could be shared between the APs and to what level the coordination is performed. The location of respective primary channel and NPCA primary channel may be exchanged to perform coordination between the APs. This information may allow another AP to choose an NPCA primary channel based on the collected information. Additionally, it may be beneficial to signal a“willingness” to participate in the coordination, see action 401 and 501. This may serve as a simple on / off flag, or it could be an indication of how much room an AP currently has in changing its operating channels based on what information it already has collected.

[0095] Additionally, another layer of coordination may be added by also including an operating bandwidth. Either an expected or maximum operating bandwidth. This would allow the AP, such as the first access point 12, to further make a choice of how far apart from the signaling APs primary channels and / or NPCA primary channel the AP should place its own primary channels.

[0096] One can also imagine that the parameter sharing from one AP to others may contain collected information also from other nearby APs to give a receiving AP more information. Furthermore, it may already contain some recommended NPCA primary channels for other APs to use. This could similarly also not only be based on the NPCA primary channel that the signaling AP is using, but also other information that this AP has collected from its other nearby APs.

[0097] The first and second access points sharing the operating bandwidth may have equal priority and (for certain periods of time) operate on a bandwidth that is smaller than their operating bandwidth. As such the first and second access points coordinate, during one or more periods, such that both get a fair chance of accessing the medium. This could mean that the APs try to spread out their primary channels evenly across the operating bandwidth such that when one primary channel at the first AP 12 becomes busy due to a non-full bandwidth transmission, there is equal probability that a primary channel is found idle at the second AP 13.

[0098] For example, suppose there are two APs sharing 160 MHz but they only use, e.g., 80 MHz for transmission. In this case they could each have a P20 and a NPCA P20 in each of the four 40 MHz parts of the bandwidth. Preferably split such that each AP has a P20 or NPCA P20 in each 80 MHz half.

[0099] If in another example there are 3 or 4 APs (each of them using 40 MHz only), they will split the operating bandwidth in 40 MHz parts. To achieve fair use, they would all have their primary channel in a separate 40 MHz part and split the NPCA P20 evenly into the remaining part, making sure to not overlap P20 of one AP with NPCA P20 of another BSS.

[0100] It should be noted that channel bonding for P20, e.g., bonding two 20 MHz channels to have a 40 MHz channel and so on, may be implemented in embodimentsherein. If channel bonding is used also for the NPCA P20, then larger NPCA channels may be obtained, and the selection of primary channels and NPCA channels may be done accordingly, and channel bonding for NPCA P20 may or may not be used.

[0101] According to some embodiments, the selection of the primary channel and the NPCA primary channel within the channel bandwidth is at least in part based on what bandwidth the associated STAs of that access point are supporting. Specifically, if the STAs are supporting a smaller bandwidth than the channel bandwidth supported by the AP, different primary channels and / or the NPCA primary channels are selected by at least two of the involved APs. As an example, if two APs, both supporting 160 MHz, are coordinating their transmission the following approach may be taken.

[0102] If all involved STAs are supporting 160 MHz then the same (or any other) primary channel and / or the NPCA primary channel may be selected, whereas if at least one STA associated with one of the APs is only supporting 80 MHz transmission, then the two APs may select different primary channel and / or the NPCA primary channel and in addition optionally only use non-overlapping 80 MHz channels such that the APs effectively will not contend with each other for channel access.

[0103] By further adding coordination of the NPCA P20 (beside coordination of the P20s), the first and second access point may consider STA capabilities of more than one AP or multiple STA capabilities from a single AP and therefore APs may find a channel available with higher probability compared to the case where no coordination is done.

[0104] For example, assume four APs share a 160 MHz channel and one of them (AP1) has an 80 MHz STA and two of them (AP2 and AP3), that the AP1 is coordinating with, have a 40 MHz STA each in the remaining 80 MHz. In this example AP4 could then choose to put its P20 outside of the 80 MHz of AP1 and its NPCA P20 outside one of the two 40 MHz parts. By doing so, AP4 has higher probability to find some free channel (either its P20 or its NPCA P20) compared to the case where all APs attempt to transmit on their needed bandwidth without coordinating their P20s and NPCA P20s.

[0105] According to some embodiments, the selection of the P20 within the channel bandwidth may at least in part be based on the requirements of at least some of the associated STAs. Specifically, if at least one STA has more strict delay requirements,the corresponding BSS should use a unique primary channel, i.e., a primary channel not used by any of the other BSSs among those APs involved in the coordination.

[0106] In addition, the bandwidth used by the other APs involved in the coordination may be selected such that the corresponding transmission do not overlap with the unique primary channel which is to be used by the STA with strict delay requirements.

[0107] According to some embodiments, all the involved APs are using the same primary channel, but different (disjoint) NPCA primary channels. In addition, the bandwidth used if the primary channel is found to be idle is limited such that the primary channel is not overlapped with any NPCA channel, and so none of the NPCA primary channels are used for a transmission based on that the primary channel was found idle.

[0108] The rationale for this feature is that all involved APs may contend for the primary channel which typically would be able to support relatively large bandwidth, for example, 80 MHz, but in an unpredictable way as several APs may contend for the channel. At the same time, by allocating different NPCA P20, and possibly different bandwidth, for the NPCA channel to the APs, and where the corresponding bandwidth may be limited to 20 MHz, the NPCA may allow for a much more predictable channel access allowing much less average delay for low data rate applications.

[0109] According to some embodiments, the coordinating APs, such as the first and second access points, agree to restrict the usage of a subchannel corresponding to a peer coordinating AP’s chosen NPCA primary channel and / or NPCA P20 based on the data type to be communicated. For example, the subchannel corresponding to a peer coordinating AP’s chosen NPCA primary channel and / or NPCA P20 may only be used for communicating data classified based on access categories video and voice.

[0110] The coordinating APs may simply signal their respective chosen NPCA primary channels to each other and agree to restrict the corresponding subchannel’s usage in their BSS based on certain data types which may or may not be explicitly agreed. A benefit would be that the likelihood for a peer coordinating BSS to find its chosen NPCA primary channel to be idle would be greater compared to the situation wherein that corresponding subchannel’s usage has no restrictions in the coordinating BSS. Another benefit of such coordination would be that the NPCA operation in coordinating BSSs could be made favorable / more effective for communicating latency sensitive data with greater priority than best effort or background data.Fig. 7 is a block diagram depicting the first access point 12 for handling communication in the listen before talk access network according to embodiments herein.

[0111] The first access point 12 may comprise processing circuitry 701, e.g. one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0112] The first access point 12 And / or the processing circuitry 701 is configured to select the primary channel, and the NPCA primary channel, taking information regarding the primary channel, and / or the NPCA primary channel of the second access point 13 into account. The selection may further take into account: the bandwidth associated with the NPCA primary channel of the second access point; information related to one or more stations associated to one or more of the respective access point; and / or a total operating bandwidth of the first and / or the second access point. The information related to the one or more stations may comprise one or more station capabilities and / or one or more station requirements.

[0113] The first access point 12 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may further be configured to select the bandwidth associated with the NPCA primary channel of the first access point 12.

[0114] The first access point 12 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to divide the total operating bandwidth of the first and / or the second access point for the primary channels and / or the NPCA primary channels for the first and / or the second access point based on fair usage, and / or a priority related to respective access point and / or one or more stations served by respective access point.

[0115] The first access point 12 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to receive the first indication from the second access point 13, or another access point, wherein the first indication indicates at least one of: a primary channel used at the second access point 13, the NPCA primary channel used at the second access point 13, and / or the bandwidth associated with the used NPCA primary channel of the second access point 13.

[0116] The first access point 12 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to transmit the second indication to the second access point 13, or another access point, wherein the second indication indicates at least one of: the selected primary channel, the selected NPCA primary channel, and / or the bandwidth associated with the selected NPCA primary channel.

[0117] The first access point 12 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to exchange the information with the second access point 13 regarding the respectiveprimary channel, station information related to respective access point, and / or the respective NPCA primary channel.

[0118] The first access point 12 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to exchange control frames to reach an agreement, between the first and second access point, related to respective used primary channel, and / or NPCA primary channel.

[0119] The information regarding the primary channel, and / or the NPCA primary channel may comprise the location of the primary channel and / or the NPCA primary channel.

[0120] The first access point 12 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to signal one or more NPCA operating parameters in a beacon, wherein the one or more NPCA operating parameters are related to the selected NPCA primary channel.

[0121] The first access point 12 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to indicate willingness and / or capability to exchange information regarding the selected primary channel, and / or selected NPCA primary channel.

[0122] The first access point 12 may comprise a memory 705. The memory 705 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, primary channel, NPCA primary channel, indications, STA information, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the first access point 12 may comprise a communication interface 706 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas.

[0123] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the first access point 12 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 707 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e. , software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the first access point 12. The computer program product 707 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 708, e g., a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 708, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the first access point 12. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose the first access point for handling communication of the UE in a communication network, wherein the first access point comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said first access point is operative to perform any of the methods herein.Fig. 8 is a block diagram depicting the second access point 13 for handling communication in the listen before talk access network according to embodiments herein.

[0124] The second access point 13 may comprise processing circuitry 801, e.g. one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0125] The second access point 13 and / or the processing circuitry 801 is configured to transmit the first indication to the first access point 12, wherein the first indication indicates at least one of: the primary channel used at the second access point 13, the NPCA primary channel used at the second access point 13, and / or the bandwidth associated with the used NPCA primary channel of the second access point 13.

[0126] The first indication may further indicate the information related to one or more stations associated to the second access point; and / or the total operating bandwidth of the second access point.

[0127] The information may be related to the one or more stations comprises one or more station capabilities and / or one or more station requirements of the second network node 13.

[0128] The second access point 13 and / or the processing circuitry 801 may be configured to receive one or more NPCA operating parameters in the beacon from the first access point 12, wherein the one or more NPCA operating parameters may be related to the selected NPCA primary channel at the first access point 12.

[0129] The first indication may comprise the location of the primary channel and / or the NPCA primary channel.

[0130] The second access point 13 and / or the processing circuitry 801 may be configured indicate willingness and / or capability to exchange information regarding used primary channel, and / or used NPCA primary channel.

[0131] The second access point 13 may comprise a memory 805. The memory 805 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, primary channel, NPCA primary channel, indications, STA information, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the second access point 13 may comprise a communication interface 806 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas.

[0132] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the second access point 13 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 807 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e. , software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor tocarry out the actions described herein, as performed by the second access point 13. The computer program product 807 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 808, e.g., a disc, a USB stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 808, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the second access point 13. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose the second access point 13 for handling communication of the UE in a communication network, wherein the second access point 13 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said second access point 13 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0133] As will be readily understood by those familiar with communications design, that functions means or modules may be implemented using digital logic and / or one or more microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other digital hardware. In some embodiments, several or all of the various functions may be implemented together, such as in a single application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or in two or more separate devices with appropriate hardware and / or software interfaces between them. Several of the functions may be implemented on a processor shared with other functional components of a radio network node, for example.

[0134] Alternatively, several of the functional elements of the processing means discussed may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware, while others are provided with hardware for executing software, in association with the appropriate software or firmware. Thus, the term “processor” or “controller” as used herein does not exclusively refer to hardware capable of executing software and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, read-only memory (ROM) for storing software, random-access memory for storing software and / or program or application data, and non-volatile memory. Other hardware, conventional and / or custom, may also be included. Designers of communications receivers will appreciate the cost, performance, and maintenance trade-offs inherent in these design choices.

[0135] 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 allof 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.

[0136] Figure 9 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0137] In the example, the communication system QQ100 includes a telecommunications network QQ102 that includes an access network QQ104, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network QQ106, which includes one or more core network nodes QQ108. The access network QQ104 includes one or more access network nodes or base stations of various types, access network nodes QQ110A and QQ110B are depicted (which may be collectively referred to as network nodes QQ110), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points (APs). Some embodiments of the access network QQ104 may include more than one access network technology. The network nodes QQ110 of access network QQ104 facilitate direct or indirect connection of wireless devices, also referred to as user equipments (UEs), such as by connecting UEs QQ112A, QQ112B, QQ112C, and QQ112D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs QQ112) to the core network QQ106 over one or more wireless connections.

[0138] Moreover, 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 telecommunications network QQ102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a network node in the telecommunications network QQ102 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 network nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any network node in the telecommunications network QQ102, including one or more access network nodes QQ110 and / or core network nodes QQ108.Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (0-Rll), an open distributed unit (0-Dll), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CLI-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). An ORAN network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1, F1, W1, E1, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN network node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies.

[0139] The network nodes QQ110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of one or more UEs QQ112 to the core network QQ106 over one or more wireless connections. 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 QQ100 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 QQ100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0140] The UEs QQ112 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 QQ110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes QQ108, QQ110 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly (e.g., via other devices of telecommunications network QQ102) with the UEs QQ112 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunications network QQ102 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in thetelecommunications network QQ102. More specifically, UEs QQ112 may send messages, data, and / or other signals to network nodes QQ108, QQ110 or other elements of the telecommunications network QQ102 by transmitting such signals to the relevant device directly without the signals passing through any intervening devices or by transmitting such signals to the relevant device indirectly through an intervening device (or multiple intervening devices) that then transmit the signal to the relevant device. Similarly, network nodes QQ108, QQ110 may send messages, data, and other signals to UEs QQ1122, other network nodes QQ108, QQ110, and other devices in telecommunications network QQ102 directly or indirectly. As one specific example, a core network node 108 may transmit a particular message to a UE QQ112 by transmitting the message to an access network node QQ110 that will then transmit the message to the intended UE QQ112. Similarly, a core network node 108 may receive a particular message from a UE QQ112 by receiving the message from an access network node QQ110 that itself received the message from the UE QQ112.

[0141] In the depicted example, the core network QQ106 connects elements of the access network QQ104 (e.g., one or more of the network nodes QQ110) to one or more host computing systems, such as host QQ116. 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 QQ106 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node QQ108) of various types, one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes QQ108. Network nodes QQ108 are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, access network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node QQ108. Example core network nodes provide 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).

[0142] The host QQ116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network QQ104 and / or the telecommunications network QQ102. The host QQ116 may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host QQ116 may host a variety of applications to provide one ormore 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.

[0143] As a whole, the communication system QQ100 of Figure 9 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system QQ100 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 (Wi-Max), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, Li-Fi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox. Moreover, the communication system QQ100 may be configured to support multiple different standards, protocols, or other rule sets, with individual components supporting all of the relevant rule sets or with different components or sub-systems within the communication system QQ100 supporting different standards, protocols, or rule sets.

[0144] As one example, in certain embodiments, access network QQ104 may contain some access network nodes QQ110 that support 3GPP radio access technologies (RAT), such as LTE or NR, while other access network nodes QQ110 support (or the same access network nodes QQ110 additionally support) non-3GPP RATs, such as Wi-Fi or a proprietary RAT. As another example, telecommunications network QQ102 may support multiple generations of related communication standards (e.g., 4G and 5G 3GPP communication standards) and, as a result, may include an access network 104 and / or a core network 106 that supports multiple different standard generations or may include multiple access networks 104 and / or multiple core networks 106 with individual networks 104, 106 supporting different standard generations.

[0145] Telecommunications network QQ102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunications network QQ102. For example, the telecommunications network QQ102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services tosome 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.

[0146] In some examples, one or more of the UEs QQ112 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 QQ104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network QQ104. 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).

[0147] In the example, the hub QQ114 communicates with the access network QQ104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE QQ112C and / or QQ112D) and network nodes (e.g., network node QQ110B). In some examples, the hub QQ114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub QQ114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network QQ106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub QQ114 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 QQ110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub QQ114.

[0148] As another example, the hub QQ114 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 QQ114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub QQ114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub QQ114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub QQ114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0149] The hub QQ114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node QQ110B. The hub QQ114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub QQ114 and UEs (e.g., UE QQ112C and / orQQ112D), and between the hub QQ114 and the core network QQ106. In other examples, the hub QQ114 is connected to the core network QQ106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub QQ114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network QQ104 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes QQ110 while still connected via the hub QQ114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub QQ114 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 QQ110B. In other embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node QQ110B, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0150] Figure 10 is another example of a communication system QQ200 according to some embodiments. As used herein, the communication system QQ200 includes multiple access points (APs) QQ210 (with four exemplary APs QQ210A, QQ210B, QQ210C, and QQ210D being depicted) and multiple wireless devices, referred to in the context of communication system QQ200 as stations (STAs) QQ212 (referred to individually as STA QQ212A, STA QQ212B, STA QQ212C, STA QQ212D, and STA QQ212E). STA QQ212A is served by AP QQ210A in a first basic service set (BSS) QQ220A. STA QQ210B and STA QQ210C are served by AP QQ210B in a second BSS, BSS QQ220B. STA QQ212D is served by AP QQ210C in a third BSS, BSS QQ220C. STA QQ212E is served by AP QQ210D in a fourth BSS, BSS QQ220D. Stations QQ212 may be non-AP STAs and correspond to various kinds of wireless devices, for example, user terminals, such as mobile or stationary computing devices like smartphones, laptop computers, desktop computers, tablet computers, gaming devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs) for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), or the like. Further, stations QQ212 could, for example, correspond to other kinds of equipment like smart home devices, printers, multimedia devices, data storage devices, or the like.

[0151] Each of STAs QQ212 may connect through a radio link to one of APs QQ210. For example, depending on location or channel conditions experienced by a given STA QQ212, the STA may select an appropriate AP and BSS for establishing the radio link. The radio link may be based on one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) carriers from a frequency spectrum that is shared on the basis of a contentionbased mechanism, e.g., an unlicensed or license exempt band like 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band, the 5 GHz band, the 6 GHz band, or the 60 GHz band.Each AP QQ210 may provide data connectivity to STAs QQ212 connected to a particular AP QQ210. As illustrated, APs QQ210 may be connected to a data network QQ230. In this way, APs QQ210 may also provide data connectivity between STAs QQ212 and other entities, e.g., to one or more servers, service providers, data sources, data sinks, user terminals, or the like. Accordingly, the radio link established between a given STA QQ212 and its serving AP QQ210 may be used for providing various kinds of services to STA QQ212, e.g., a voice service, a multimedia service, or other data service. Such services may be based on applications that are executed on STA QQ212 and / or on a device linked to STA QQ212. By way of example, Figure 10 illustrates an application service platform QQ232 provided in data network QQ230. The application(s) executed on STA QQ212 and / or on one or more other devices linked to STA QQ212 may use the radio link for data communication with one or more other STA QQ212 and / or the application service platform QQ232, thereby enabling utilization of the corresponding service(s) at STA QQ212.

[0152] Figure 11 shows a wireless device QQ300, which may be configured to operate in communication system QQ100 of Figure 9 or in communication system QQ200 of Figure 10. The wireless device QQ300 may be alternatively referred to as a UE QQ300, like a UE QQ112 within the context of communication system QQ100, or as a station (STA) QQ300 or as a non-access-point station (non-AP STA) QQ300, like a STA QQ212 within the context of the communication system QQ200, in accordance with respective embodiments. As used herein, a wireless device refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other wireless devices. Examples of a wireless device 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 device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptopmounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, and wireless terminal. Other examples include any type of UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0153] A wireless device QQ300 may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I),or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, wireless device QQ300 may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, wireless device QQ300 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, wireless device QQ300 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).

[0154] In particular embodiments, wireless device QQ300 includes processing circuitry QQ302 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ304 to an input / output interface QQ306, a power source QQ308, a memory QQ310, a communication interface QQ312, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain embodiments of wireless device QQ300 may include all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 11. The level of integration between the components may vary from one embodiment of wireless device QQ300 to another. In general, in a particular embodiment of wireless device QQ300, processing circuitry QQ302, input / output interface QQ306, power source QQ308, memory QQ310, and communication interface QQ312 may, in whole or in part, represent or include physical components common to or shared by one or more of the other elements of wireless device QQ300. Further, certain embodiments of wireless devices QQ300 may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0155] The processing circuitry QQ302 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 QQ310. The processing circuitry QQ302 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 QQ302 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0156] In the example, the input / output interface QQ306 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 outputdevice, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into wireless device QQ300. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0157] In some embodiments, the power source QQ308 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 to supply power to circuitry or to charge an associated battery. The power source QQ308 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source QQ308 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of wireless device QQ300 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power source QQ308 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to make accessible power suitable for the respective components of the wireless device QQ300 to which power is supplied.

[0158] The memory QQ310 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 QQ310 includes one or more programs QQ314, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data QQ316. The memory QQ310 may store, for use by wireless device QQ300, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0159] The memory QQ310 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- DI MM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (IIICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a IISIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The IIICC may for example be an embedded IIICC (elllCC), integrated IIICC (illlCC) or a removable IIICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory QQ310 may allow wireless device QQ300 to access instructions, 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 QQ310, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0160] The processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network via or using the communication interface QQ312. The communication interface QQ312 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna QQ322. The communication interface QQ312 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 wireless device or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter QQ318 and / or a receiver QQ320 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter QQ318 and receiver QQ320 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna QQ322) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0161] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface QQ312 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), 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.

[0162] Communications may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband 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.In particular embodiments, wireless device QQ300 may provide an output of data captured via a sensor, through its communication interface QQ312, via a wireless connection to a network node, and / or in any appropriate manner. Data captured by sensors of a wireless device QQ300 can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another wireless device QQ300. In particular embodiments, such 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).

[0163] As another example, wireless device QQ300 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, wireless device QQ300 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.

[0164] Wireless device QQ300, 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, 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. In particular embodiments, wireless device QQ300 represents an loT device that 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 example embodiment of wireless device QQ300 shown in Figure 11.As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, wireless device QQ300 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 wireless device and / or a network node. Wireless device QQ300 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, wireless device QQ300 may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, wireless device QQ300 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.

[0165] In practice, any number of wireless devices QQ300 may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first wireless device QQ300 might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second wireless device QQ300 that is a remote controller operating the drone. When a user makes changes from the remote controller, the first wireless device QQ300 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 wireless device QQ300 can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, wireless device QQ300 might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0166] Figure 12 shows a network node QQ400 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 telecommunications network. In accordance with respective embodiments, network node QQ400 may be configured to operate in communication system QQ100 of Figure 9, like network nodes QQ108 or QQ110, or in communication system QQ200 of Figure 10, like an AP QQ210 or a station QQ212. 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)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., 0-Rll, 0-Dll, O-CU).

[0167] Network nodes QQ400 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. Network node QQ400 may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. Network nodes QQ400 may alsoinclude 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).

[0168] Other examples of network nodes QQ400 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).

[0169] In particular embodiments, network node QQ400 includes a processing circuitry QQ402, a memory QQ404, a communication interface QQ406, and a power source QQ408. In general, in a particular embodiment of network node QQ400, processing circuitry QQ402, memory QQ404, communication interface QQ406, and power source QQ408 may, in whole or in part, represent or include physical components common to or shared by one or more of the other elements of network node QQ400.

[0170] The network node QQ400 may be composed of multiple distinct network entities (e.g., a NodeB entity and a RNC entity, or a BTS entity and a BSC entity, etc.), which may each have or utilize their own respective physical components. In certain scenarios in which the network node QQ400 comprises multiple such entities (e.g., BTS and BSC), one or more of the separate entities 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 QQ400 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memories QQ404 or portions of memory QQ404 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna QQ410 may be shared by different RATs). The network node QQ400 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node QQ400, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), 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 QQ400.

[0171] The processing circuitry QQ402 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 components, such as the memory QQ404, to provide network node QQ400 functionality.

[0172] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ402 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ402 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ412 and baseband processing circuitry QQ414. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry QQ412 and the baseband processing circuitry QQ414 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 QQ412 and baseband processing circuitry QQ414 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0173] The memory QQ404 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 computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry QQ402. The memory QQ404 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 QQ402 and utilized by the network node QQ400. The memory QQ404 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry QQ402 and / or any data received via the communication interface QQ406. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ402 and memory QQ404 is integrated.

[0174] The communication interface QQ406 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data with UEs, other network nodes, and / or any other network equipment. In the illustrated embodiment, communication interface QQ406 comprisesport(s) / terminal(s) QQ416 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. In particular embodiments, network node QQ300 may be capable of wireless communication and communication interface QQ406 may also include radio front-end circuitry QQ418 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, an antenna QQ410. Particular embodiments of radio front-end circuitry QQ418 include filter(s) QQ420 and amplifier(s) QQ422. The radio front-end circuitry QQ418 may be connected to an antenna QQ410 and processing circuitry QQ402. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ410 and processing circuitry QQ402. The radio front-end circuitry QQ418 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 QQ418 may convert the digital data into a radio signal(s) having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters QQ420 and / or amplifiers QQ422. The radio signal(s) may then be transmitted via the antenna QQ410. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna QQ410 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry QQ418. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry QQ402. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0175] In certain alternative embodiments, network node QQ400 may be capable of wireless communication but does not include separate radio front-end circuitry QQ418, instead, the processing circuitry QQ402 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna QQ410. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry QQ412 is part of the communication interface QQ406. In still other embodiments, the communication interface QQ406 includes one or more ports or terminals QQ416, the radio front-end circuitry QQ418, and the RF transceiver circuitry QQ412, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface QQ406 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry QQ414, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0176] The antenna QQ410 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna QQ410 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry QQ418 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna QQ410 is separate from the network node QQ400 and connectable to the network node QQ400 through one or more interfaces or ports.

[0177] The antenna QQ410, communication interface QQ406, and / or the processing circuitry QQ402 may be configured to perform some or all of the receiving operationsand / or obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node QQ400. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna QQ410, the communication interface QQ406, and / or the processing circuitry QQ402 may be configured to perform some or all of the transmitting or sending operations described herein as being performed by the network node QQ400. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0178] The power source QQ408 provides power to the various components of network node QQ400 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source QQ408 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node QQ400 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node QQ400 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 QQ408. As a further example, the power source QQ408 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.

[0179] Embodiments of the network node QQ400 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 12 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 QQ400 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node QQ400 and to allow output of information from the network node QQ400. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node QQ400.

[0180] Figure 13 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ500 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 describedherein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments QQ500 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as an access network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which a 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 QQ500 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface.

[0181] Applications QQ502 (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.

[0182] Hardware QQ504 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 QQ506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VM QQ508A and VM QQ508B (which may be collectively referred to as VMs QQ508), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer QQ506 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to one or more of the VMs QQ508.

[0183] The VMs QQ508 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by virtualization layer QQ506. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance QQ502 may be implemented on one or more of VMs QQ508, and the implementations may be made in different ways.

[0184] 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.

[0185] In the context of NFV, each of the VMs QQ508 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, nonvirtualized machine. Each of the VMs QQ508, and that part of hardware QQ504 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by thatVM 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 of the VMs QQ508 on top of the hardware QQ504 and corresponds to an application QQ502.

[0186] Hardware QQ504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware QQ504 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware QQ504 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 QQ510, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications QQ502. In some embodiments, hardware QQ504 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 QQ512 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0187] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned betweenthe 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.

[0188] It will be appreciated that the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings represent non-limiting examples of the methods and apparatus taught herein. As such, the apparatus and techniques taught herein are not limited by the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Instead, the embodiments herein are limited only by the following claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a first access point (12) for handling communication in a listen before talk access network; the method comprisingselecting (404) a primary channel, and a non-primary channel access, NPCA, primary channel, taking information regarding a primary channel, and / or a NPCA primary channel of a second access point (13) into account.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the selection is further taking into account: a bandwidth associated with the NPCA primary channel of the second access point; information related to one or more stations associated to one or more of the respective access point; and / or a total operating bandwidth of the first and / or the second access point.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the information related to the one or more stations comprises one or more station capabilities and / or one or more station requirements.

4. The method according to any of the claims 1-3, wherein selecting (404) the primary channel, and the NPCA primary channel further comprises selecting a bandwidth associated with the NPCA primary channel of the first access point (12).

5. The method according to any of the claims 1-4, wherein selecting (404) comprises dividing a total operating bandwidth of the first and / or the second access point for the primary channels and / or the NPCA primary channels for the first and / or the second access point based on fair usage, and / or a priority related to respective access point and / or one or more stations served by respective access point.

6. The method according to any of the claims 1-5, further comprising receiving (402) a first indication from the second access point (13), or another access point, wherein the first indication indicates at least one of: a primary channel used at the second access point (13), a NPCA primary channel used at the second access point (13), and / or a bandwidthassociated with the used NPCA primary channel of the second access point (13).

7. The method according to any of the claims 1-6, further comprising transmitting (405) a second indication to the second access point (13), or another access point, wherein the second indication indicates at least one of: the selected primary channel, the selected NPCA primary channel, and / or a bandwidth associated with the selected NPCA primary channel.

8. The method according to any of the claims 1-7, further comprising exchanging (403) information with the second access point (13) regarding the respective primary channel, station information related to respective access point, and / or the respective NPCA primary channel.

9. The method according to claim 8, wherein exchanging (403) information comprises exchanging control frames to reach an agreement, between the first and second access point, related to respective used primary channel, and / or NPCA primary channel.

10. The method according to any of the claims 8-9, wherein the information regarding the primary channel, and / or the NPCA primary channel comprises a location of the primary channel and / or the NPCA primary channel.

11. The method according to any of the claims 1-10, further comprising signaling (406) one or more NPCA operating parameters in a beacon, wherein the one or more NPCA operating parameters are related to the selected NPCA primary channel.

12. The method according to any of the claims 1-11, further comprising indicating (401) willingness and / or capability to exchange information regarding the selected primary channel, and / or selected NPCA primary channel.

13. A method performed by a second access point (13) for handling communication in a listen before talk access network; the method comprisingtransmitting (503) a first indication to a first access point (12), wherein the first indication indicates at least one of: a primary channel used at the second access point (13), a non-primary channel access, NPCA, primary channel used at the second access point (13), and / or a bandwidth associated with the used NPCA primary channel of the second access point (13).

14. The method according to claim 11, wherein the first indication further indicates information related to one or more stations associated to the second access point; and / or a total operating bandwidth of the second access point.

15. The method according to claim 14, wherein the information related to the one or more stations comprises one or more station capabilities and / or one or more station requirements of the second network node (13).

16. The method according to any of the claims 13-15, further comprising receiving (502) one or more NPCA operating parameters in a beacon from the first access point (12), wherein the one or more NPCA operating parameters are related to a selected NPCA primary channel at the first access point (12).

17. The method according to any of the claims 13-16, wherein the first indication comprises a location of the primary channel and / or the NPCA primary channel.

18. The method according to any of the claims 13-17, further comprising indicating (501) willingness and / or capability to exchange information regarding used primary channel, and / or used NPCA primary channel.

19. A computer program comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1-18, as performed by the first access point (12) and the second access point (13), respectively.

20. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program comprising instructions which, when executed on at least oneprocessor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1-18, as performed by the first access point (12) and the second access point (13), respectively.

21. A first access point (12) for handling communication in a listen before talk access network; wherein the first access point (12) is configured to:select a primary channel, and a non-primary channel access, NPCA, primary channel, taking information regarding a primary channel, and / or a NPCA primary channel of a second access point (13) into account.

22. The first access point (12) according to claim 21, wherein the first access point (12) is configured to perform the method according to any of the claims 2-12.

23. A second access point (13) for handling communication in a listen before talk access network, wherein the second access point (13) is configured to:transmit a first indication to a first access point (12), wherein the first indication indicates at least one of: a primary channel used at the second access point (13), a non-primary channel access, NPCA, primary channel used at the second access point (13), and / or a bandwidth associated with the used NPCA primary channel of the second access point (13).

24. The second access point (13) according to claim 23, wherein the second access point (13) is configured to perform the method according to any of the claims 14-18.

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