User equipment, network node and methods therein for controlling distortion in a wireless communications network

Abstract

A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, is provided. The method is for controlling distortion when transmitting signals to a network node in a wireless communications network. The network node has indicated that it is applying a first status of Digital Post Distortion, DPoD, for restraining the distortion when receiving first signals transmitted by the UE. The UE transmits (501) first signals to the network node by applying a first configuration. The UE receives (502) an indication from the network node. The indication indicates a transition from the first status to a second status of applying the DPoD in the network node. The transition from the first status to the second status comprises any one out of a change from enabling to disabling DPoD, a change from disabling to enabling DPoD, or a change from a first level to a second level of applying DPoD. The UE initiates (503) in response to the indication, a change from applying the first configuration to applying a second configuration for transmitting signals to the network node. The second configuration is adapted to the second status of applying the DPoD. The UE transmits (504) second signals to the network node by applying the second configuration.

Description

[0001] USER EQUIPMENT, NETWORK NODE AND METHODS THEREIN FOR CONTROLLING DISTORTION IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Embodiments herein relate to a User Equipment (UE), a network node and methods therein. In some aspects they relate to controlling distortion when communicating signals between a UE and a network node in a wireless communications network.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] In a typical wireless communication network, wireless devices, also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and / or User Equipment (UE), communicate via a Wide Area Network or a Local Area Network such as a Wi-Fi network or a cellular network comprising a Radio Access Network (RAN) part and a Core Network (CN) part. The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cell areas, which may also be referred to as a beam or a beam group, with each service area or cell area being served by a radio network node such as a radio access node e.g., a Wi-Fi access point, a Base Station (BS) or a radio base station (RBS), which in some networks may also be denoted, for example, a Base Station (BS), a NodeB, eNodeB (eNB), orgNodeB (gNB) as denoted in Fifth Generation (5G) telecommunications. A service area or cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node communicates over an air interface operating on a radio frequency with the wireless devices within the range of the radio network node.

[0006] 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) is the standardization body for specifying the standards for the cellular system evolution, e.g., including 3G, 4G, 5G and the future evolutions. Specifications for Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3GPP. In 4G also called a Fourth Generation (4G) network, EPS is core network and E-UTRA is radio access network. In 5G, 5G Core (5GC) is core network, NR is radio access network. As a continued network evolution, the new release of 3GPP specifies a 5G network also referred to as 5G New Radio (NR) and 5GC.

[0007] Frequency bands for 5G NR are being separated into two different frequency ranges, Frequency Range 1 (FR1) and Frequency Range 2 (FR2). FR1 comprises sub-6GHz frequency bands. Some of these bands are bands traditionally used by legacy standards but have been extended to cover potential new spectrum offerings from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. FR2 comprises frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 52.6 GHz. Bands in this millimeter wave range have shorter range but higher available bandwidth than bands in the FR1.

[0008] Multi-antenna techniques may significantly increase the data rates and reliability of a wireless communication system. For a wireless connection between a single user, such as UE, and a base station (BS), the performance is in particular improved if both the transmitter and the receiver are equipped with multiple antennas, which results in a Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) communication channel. This may be referred to as Single-User (SU)-MIMO. In the scenario where MIMO techniques is used for the wireless connection between multiple users and the base station, MIMO enables the users to communicate with the base station simultaneously using the same time-frequency resources by spatially separating the users, which increases further the cell capacity. This may be referred to as Multi-User (MU)-MIMO. Note that MU-MIMO may benefit when each UE only has one antenna. The cell capacity can be increased linearly with respect to the number of antennas at the BS side. Due to that, more and more antennas are employed in BS. Such systems and / or related techniques are commonly referred to as massive MIMO.

[0009] UE Uplink power control

[0010] NR uplink power control is the process to set an appropriate UE transmit power for different uplink physical channels and signals, so that they are received with desired signal power level at base station. For uplink physical channels such as Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) and as Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), the desired received power level should be high enough to support proper decoding of the information bits carried by the physical channel. On the other hand, the UE transmit power should not be unnecessarily high since it wastes UE power and causes high interference to other uplink transmissions. The uplink power control algorithm should thus take into account the channel properties, including path loss as well as the noise and interference level at the receiver side. The uplink power control algorithm should also consider that the desired received power level varies with the target uplink data rate. If the target uplink data rate is higher, e.g., larger transmission bandwidth or higher Mission critical Service (MCS), then the received power level needs to be higher at the base station. Conversely, if the targetuplink data rate is lower, e.g., smaller transmission bandwidth or higher MCS, then the received power level should be correspondingly reduced at the base station.

[0011] There are currently e.g., two types of power control comprising:

[0012] - Open loop power control: The UE estimates the uplink path loss based on downlink measurements and sets the transmit power accordingly, i.e. , without receiving a power control command from the base station. This is used mainly for compensating for long term pathloss and in some cases MCS. In this approach, the UE transmit power is set based on parameters including normalized target received power (PO), Path loss compensation parameter (a), and MCS parameter (ATF), where the output power is increased for higher MCS.

[0013] - Closed loop power control: The UE sets the transmit power based on explicit power control command from the base station. The power control commands are generated by the base station based on measurements of earlier received uplink power levels. This is used mainly for power control following fast fading. In this approach, base station signals power-up or down to the UE in direct control information (DCI) messages carried by physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).

[0014] Digital post distortion (DPoD)

[0015] RF hardware impairments including power amplifier nonlinearity cause distortions which degrades the performance of wireless communication systems. Therefore, there has been extensive effort to either reduce hardware impairments, e.g. using more advanced RF hardware design, or develop methods to either mitigate hardware impairments, e.g. by linearizing transmitter using digital pre distortion (DPD) methods, or to compensate the impact of hardware impairments, e.g. by advanced receiver methods to compensate the impact of phase noise or PA nonlinearity. The advancements in nonlinear signal processing, e.g. machine learning methods, have provided an opportunity for signal detection in the presence of distortions due to RF hardware impairments. AI / ML-based digital post distortion (DPoD) can be applied at the receiver side to improve signal detection in the presence of distortions. For example, a machine learning receiver method, e.g., based on neural networks (NN), may be used to optimize the de-mapper to compensate the hardware impairments due to phase noise and power amplifier nonlinearity, respectively.

[0016] Figure 1 shows a receiver chain with an example of a single functionality, e.g., a soft de-mapper, with support of machine learning. In Figure 1,FFT means Fast Fourier Transform,

[0017] FD means Frequency domain, and

[0018] DFT means Discrete Fourier Transform.

[0019] Figure 2 illustrates one possible implementation of a neural network receiver. The structure in Figure 2 performs soft symbol-by-symbol de-mapping, taking the I and Q components of a complex baseband sample, context information and Signal-Noise Ratio (SNR) estimate as inputs and generates soft bits as the output. Such a de-mapper will help improve the performance of a system that is under the influence of RF impairments such as PA nonlinearity.

[0020] In Figure 2,

[0021] SNR means Signal to noise ratio, and

[0022] LLRbo means log-likelihood ratio.

[0023] A problem with current solutions is that a link between the UE and a gNB may be degraded and in worse case lost. This will be explained more in detail below.

[0024] SUMMARY

[0025] As part of developing embodiments herein, the inventors identified some problems that first will be described.

[0026] DPoD at a gNB side is able to allow extra distortion of UL transmitter at a UE side, which bring benefit for UE power consumption by enhancing UE power efficiency and UL coverage. In typical cases, enabling or disabling DPoD is determined by the gNB and the UE may be aware of the state of DPoD through receiving an indication or message signalled by the gNB.

[0027] Consequently, a simplified and general procedure for enabling or disabling DPoD, as described in two scenarios, one in Figure 3a and one Figure 3b, may be that a UE increases the output power with more distortion as depicted in Figure 3a. This may be performed by including in-band distortion Error Vector Magnitude (EVM) and / or out-band distortion, e.g., spurious emission, upon receiving such indication or message indicating enabled DPoD. By contrast, the UE may decrease the output power with less distortion as depicted in Figure 3b. This may be performed by including EVM and / or out-band distortion, e.g., spurious emission, upon receiving such indication or message indicating disabled DPoD.The problematic consequence of the above procedure is that, for a UE, the procedure may cause abrupt output power and distortion change. Especially, when DPoD is disabled at the gNB side, the UE isn’t allowed or expected to keep same distortion, which is typically very high, as the level when DPoD is enabled at gNB side. Therefore, the UE has to instantly reduce output power to keep distortion lower than the allowed threshold for no DPoD. During this situation, the UL connection or the link between the UE and the gNB may be degraded and in worse case lost.

[0028] Given that, it’s desirable to exploit the mechanism mitigating UL connection or link degradation or loss when the UE receives the indication or message indicating disabled DPoD at the gNB side.

[0029] An object of embodiments herein is to improve the performance of connections between a UE and a serving network node in a wireless communications network.

[0030] According to an aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method performed by a User Equipment, UE. The method is for controlling distortion when transmitting signals to a network node in a wireless communications network. The network node has indicated that it is applying a first status of Digital Post Distortion, DPoD, for restraining the distortion when receiving first signals transmitted by the UE. The UE transmits first signals to the network node by applying a first configuration. The UE receives an indication from the network node. The indication indicates a transition from the first status to a second status of applying the DPoD in the network node. The transition from the first status to the second status comprises any one out of a change from enabling to disabling DPoD, a change from disabling to enabling DPoD, or a change from a first level to a second level of applying DPoD. The UE initiates in response to the indication, a change from applying the first configuration to applying a second configuration for transmitting signals to the network node. The second configuration is adapted to the second status of applying the DPoD. The UE transmits second signals to the network node by applying the second configuration.

[0031] According to an aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method performed by a network node. The method is for controlling distortion when receiving signals from a User Equipment, UE, in a wireless communications network. The networknode transmits an indication to the UE. The indication indicates that the network node is applying a first status of Digital Post Distortion, DPoD, for restraining the distortion when receiving first signals transmitted by the UE. The network node receives first signals from the UE according to a first configuration. The network node transmits an indication to the UE. The indication indicates a transition from the first status to a second status of applying the DPoD in the network node. The transition from the first status to the second status comprises any one out of a change from enabling to disabling DPoD, a change from disabling to enabling DPoD, or a change from a first level to a second level of applying DPoD. The network node applies the second status of DPoD for restraining distortion when receiving second signals from the UE in a second configuration. The second configuration is adapted to the change to the second status of applying the DPoD.

[0032] According to another aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a User Equipment, UE. The UE is configured to control distortion when it transmits signals to a network node in a wireless communications network. The network node is adapted to have indicated that it applies a first status of Digital Post Distortion, DPoD, for restraining distortion when it receives first signals transmitted by the UE. The UE is further configured to:

[0033] - transmit first signals to the network node by applying a first configuration,

[0034] - receive an indication from the network node, adapted to indicate a transition from the first status to a second status of applying DPoD in the network node, wherein the transition from the first status to the second status is adapted to comprise any one out of:

[0035] - a change from enabled to disabled DPoD, or

[0036] - a change from disabled to enabled DPoD, or

[0037] - a change from a first level to a second level of the applied DPoD,

[0038] - initiate in response to the indication, a change from applying first configuration to applying a second configuration for transmitting signals to the network node, wherein the second configuration is arranged to be adapted to the second status of applying the DPoD,

[0039] - transmit second signals to the network node by applying the second configuration.

[0040] According to another aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a network node. The network node is configured to control distortion when receiving signals from a User Equipment, UE, in a wireless communications network, the network node is further configured to:- transmit an indication to the UE indicating that the network node is applying a first status of Digital Post Distortion, DPoD, for restraining distortion when it receives first signals transmitted by the UE,

[0041] - receive first signals from the UE according to a first configuration,

[0042] - transmit an indication to the UE, adapted to indicate a transition from the first status to a second status of applying DPoD in the network node, wherein the transition from the first status to the second status is adapted to comprise any one out of:

[0043] - a change from enabled to disabled DPoD, or

[0044] - a change from disabled to enabled DPoD, or

[0045] - a change from a first level to a second level of the applied DPoD,

[0046] - apply the second status of DPoD for restraining distortion when receiving second signals from the UE in a second configuration, wherein the second configuration is arranged to be adapted to the change to the second status of applying the DPoD.

[0047] Thanks to that the UE is informed about the network node changing transition from the first status to the second status of applying the DPoD in the network node, the UE is able to change from applying the first configuration to applying the second configuration for transmitting signals to the network node, which second configuration is well-suited to the second status of applying the DPoD. This enables the connection between the UE and the serving network node to be maintained and optimized for transmitting signals to the network node during the signal transition. Thereby the problem with a degraded link between the UE and the network node and in a worst case lost link is overcome.

[0048] Thus, the performance of a connection between a UE and a serving network node in a wireless communications network is improved.

[0049] Embodiments herein may provide one or more of the following advantages:

[0050] Embodiments herein enables the UE to maintain, optimize and / or, in case the connection is lost, reestablish the connection to the serving network node during the transition due to the disabling or enabling DPoD operation at the network node.

[0051] Embodiments herein also ensures that the UE fulfill the regulatory requirements during the transition from the disabling or enabling DPoD at the network node.

[0052] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGSExamples of embodiments herein are described in more detail with reference to attached drawings in which:

[0053] Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating an example embodiment herein. Figure 2 is a schematic illustration of a Neural Network.

[0054] Figure 3 a and b are sequence diagrams illustrating example embodiments of methods herein.

[0055] Figure 4 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a communications network.

[0056] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating an example embodiment of a method herein.

[0057] Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example embodiment of a method herein.

[0058] Figure 7 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example embodiment of a method herein.

[0059] Figure 8 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a User Equipment.

[0060] Figure 9 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of a network node. Figure 10 schematically illustrates embodiments of a communication system.

[0061] Figure 11 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a UE.

[0062] Figure 12 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a network node.

[0063] Figure 13 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a virtualization environment.

[0064] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0065] Example embodiments herein relate to controlling distortion when communicating signals between a UE and a network node in a wireless communications network.

[0066] Example embodiments herein provide a method in a UE. The method supports a DPoD procedure including conducting at least one adaptation operation for DPoD when changing the network node’s DPoD status (NW_DPoD_status), i.e., switching between enabling DPoD and disabling DPoD, based on rules presented in embodiments herein.

[0067] The method may let the UE applying the adaptation operation which may be trigged or initiated by one or more signals sent by the serving network node, e.g. a gNB. This means that signals sent explicitly or implicitly indicates enabling or disabling DPoD at the network node side. This relates in particular to the disabling case. In other words, if the disabling DPoD indication is received, then the UE performs the adaptation operationrelated to adapting a configuration of transmitting signals to the network node; otherwise, if no disabling DPoD indication is received, then the adaptation operation is not performed by the UE.

[0068] The adaptation operation executed by the UE, may include changing a UL transmission configuration and / or an initiating procedure.

[0069] To the end, the adaptation operation may be known by the serving network node in advance.

[0070] In some embodiments, the UE provides those configurations to the network node and the gNB is aware of the operation to be performed by the UE upon enabling or disabling DPoD.

[0071] In some embodiments, the network node provides those configurations to the UE. In some embodiments, those configurations are predefined.

[0072] The method may let the network node apply a scheduler decision restriction to manage the ambiguity in UE transmission power during the transition period after receiving the signals indicating the change of NW_DPoD_status. During this period, the network node may schedule UL transmission which may not be sensitive to UE's power management behavior, the UE according may change its power related behavior during the transition period.

[0073] Figure 4 is a schematic overview depicting a wireless communications network 100 wherein embodiments herein may be implemented. The communications network 100 comprises one or more RANs, and one or more CNs. Embodiments herein relate to control of distortion when signals are communicated between a UE 120 and a network node 110 in the wireless communications network 100. The communications network 100 may use 5G NR but may further use a number of other different technologies, such as, 6G, Wi-Fi, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, 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.

[0074] Network nodes, such as the network node 110, operate in the RAN in the wireless communications network 100. The network node 110 may be a transmission and reception point e.g. a radio access network node such as a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), an NR Node B (gNB), abase transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), an access controller, or any other network unit capable of communicating with UEs, such as a UE 120, within radio coverage of the network node 110. The network node 110 may be referred to as a serving base station and communicates with a UE 120 with Downlink (DL) transmissions to the UE 120 and Uplink (UL) transmissions from the UE 120.

[0075] One or more UEs operate in the communication network 100, such as e.g. the UE 120. Each UE 120 may e.g. be a 5G device, such as e.g. the UE 120, a remote UE, a wireless device, an NR device, a mobile station, a wireless terminal, an NB-loT device, an MTC device, an eMTC device, a CAT-M device, a WiFi device, an LTE device and a non-access point (non-AP) STA, a STA, that communicates via a network node 110 such as e.g. a base station, one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. a RAN, to one or more core network (CN) nodes, in one or more CNs. The UEs 120 may communicate with one or more CN nodes. It should be understood by the skilled in the art that “UE” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, client, mobile client, IMS client, wireless communication terminal, user equipment, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a car or any small base station communicating within a cell.

[0076] Methods according to embodiments herein are performed by the UE 120 and the network node 110. These nodes may be Distributed Nodes (DN)s and functionality, e.g. comprised in a cloud 170 as shown in Figure 4.

[0077] Throughout the description, the term “node” used herein may be a network node, e.g., network node 110 or a UE, e.g., UE 120. Examples of network nodes are, as already mentioned, NodeB, base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB, gNodeB, MeNB, SeNB, satellite access node (SAN), location measurement unit (LMU), integrated access backhaul (IAB) node, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), Central Unit (e.g. in a gNB), Distributed Unit (e.g. in a gNB), Baseband Unit, Centralized Baseband, C-RAN, access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, transmission reception point (TRP), RRU, RRH,nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node (e.g. MSC, MME etc), O&M, OSS, SON, positioning node (e.g. E-SMLC), etc.

[0078] The non-limiting term UE refers to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and / or with another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, device to device (D2D) UE, vehicular to vehicular (V2V), machine type UE, MTC UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, PDA, tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipment (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), etc.

[0079] The term radio access technology, or RAT, may refer to any RAT e.g. UTRA, E-UTRA, narrow band internet of things (NB-loT), WiFi, Bluetooth, next generation RAT, New Radio (NR), 4G, 5G, 6G, NR NTN, loT NTN, LTE NTN, etc. Any of the equipment denoted by the term node, network node or radio network node may be capable of supporting a single or multiple RATs.

[0080] The term signal or radio signal used herein can be any physical signal or physical channel. Examples of DL physical signals are reference signal (RS) such as cell specific RS (CRS), NR-loT RS (NRS), NPSS, NSSS, PSS, SSS, CSI-RS, DMRS signals in SS / PBCH block (SSB), discovery reference signal (DRS), CRS, PRS etc. RS may be periodic e.g. RS occasion carrying one or more RSs may occur with certain periodicity e.g. 20 ms, 40 ms etc. The RS may also be aperiodic. Each SSB carries NR-PSS, NR-SSS and NR-PBCH in 4 successive symbols. One or multiple SSBs are transmit in one SSB burst which is repeated with certain periodicity e.g. 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms and 160 ms. The UE is configured with information about SSB on cells of certain carrier frequency by one or more SS / PBCH block measurement timing configuration (SMTC) configurations. The SMTC configuration comprising parameters such as SMTC periodicity, SMTC occasion length in time or duration, SMTC time offset with regards to reference time (e.g. serving cell’s SFN) etc. Therefore, SMTC occasion may also occur with certain periodicity e.g. 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms and 160 ms. Examples of UL physical signals are reference signal such as SRS, DMRS etc.

[0081] The term carrier frequency used herein is also called as component carrier (CC), frequency layer, layer, carrier, frequency, serving carrier, frequency channel, radio channel, radio frequency channel, positioning frequency layer (PFL), measurement object (MO) etc. The carrier frequency belongs to certain frequency band, which may contain one or multiple carrier frequencies based on its passband (e.g. size of the band in frequency domain) and / or bandwidth of the carriers and / or the channel raster etc. The carrier frequency related information is transmitted to the UE by a network node using afrequency channel number or identifier via message e.g. RRC. Examples of the channel number or identifier, which may be pre-defined, are absolute radio frequency channel number (ARFCN), NR-ARFCN etc.

[0082] The term time resource used herein may correspond to any type of physical resource or radio resource expressed in terms of length of time. Examples of time resources are: symbol, time slot, subframe, radio frame, transmission time interval (TTI), interleaving time, slot, sub-slot, mini-slot, system frame number (SFN) cycle, hyper-SFN (H-SFN) cycle etc.

[0083] Herein, the term enabling DPoD is also called DPoD on or DPoD status on, and the term disabling DPoD is also called DPoD off or DPoD status off sometimes and somewhere.

[0084] Example embodiments herein provide the UE 120 with means to control the in-band and / or out-band distortion when the network node 110, enables and / or disables DPoD. This may be performed to avoid that the distortion exceeds regulation or requirements defined in 3GPP or some other regular specification. In some embodiments this is to control the residual distortion, e.g., EVM level for in-carrier and / or band and spurious emission for out-of -carrier and / or band, at the receiver. This may be to maintain the connection during the transition when the network node 110 enables or disables DPoD meanwhile avoiding interference to other UEs or network nodes 110.

[0085] Examples of embodiments herein relate to adaptation to a received indication about changed DPoD functionality network node. This may be expressed via the following embodiments:

[0086] In some embodiments, a method in a UE 120 with capability to receive network node 110 DPoD status info, comprises:

[0087] Transmitting in a first transmission configuration during a first network node 110 DPoD, e.g., enabling DPoD, receiving an indication from the network node 110 indicating a second network node 110 DPoD status, e.g., disabling DPoD, in response to the indication, adopting adaptation operation including changing to transmitting in a second transmission configuration during the second network node 110 DPoD status.

[0088] In some embodiments, changing to transmitting in a second transmission configuration comprises one or more of:- adapting UL transmission configuration, e.g., change the MCS, the UL Bandwidth (BW) and / or the Physical Resource Block (PRB) allocation,

[0089] - signaling a Scheduling Request (SR), Buffer Status Report (BSR), etc. with modified parameters, e.g., to obtain an adapted UL grant or configured grant, where the adaptation may comprise adapting the MCS,

[0090] - initiating a Random Access Channel (RACH) procedure, e.g., to adapt any one or more of UE traffic, 5G Quality of Signal Identifier (5QI) or Quality of Signal (QoS) description used for signaling reduced UL coverage,

[0091] - adapting a serving link by switching to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or serving UL component,

[0092] - an output power reduction scheme.

[0093] In some embodiments the method further comprises one or more of

[0094] - signaling a modified link quality measurement for another carrier, a neighbor cell, or Supplementary Uplink (SUL) component. This may be performed to induce the NW to switch the serving UL link accordingly.

[0095] - initiate RACH procedure.

[0096] - trigger a signaling on Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) and / or Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) indicating poor UL connection quality or limited UL coverage.

[0097] - offload particular or full UL payload to another cell.

[0098] - handover to another cell.

[0099] - signal a SR, BSR, etc. to the gNB with modified parameters.

[0100] In some embodiments a method in a network node 110, e.g., a gNB, applies the scheduler decision restriction to manage the ambiguity in UE transmission power during the transition period after it receives the signal indicating the change of the NW_DPoD_status. During this period, the gNB may schedule UL transmission which is not sensitive to the UE's 120 power management behavior. The UE 110 may accordingly change its power related behavior during the transition period.

[0101] A number of embodiments will now be described, some of which may be seen as alternatives, while some may be used in combination.A method according to embodiments herein will first be described as seen from the view of the UE 120 together with Figure 5, then as seen from the view of the network node 110 together with Figure 6

[0102] Figure 5 shows exemplary embodiments of a method performed by the UE 120. The method is for controlling distortion when transmitting signals to the network node 110 in the wireless communications network 100. The network node 110 has indicated that it is applying a first status of DPoD for restraining the distortion when receiving first signals transmitted by the UE 120.

[0103] The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order.

[0104] Action 501. The UE 120 transmits first signals to the network node 110 by applying a first configuration.

[0105] Action 502. The UE 120 receives an indication from the network node 110. The indication indicates a transition from the first status to a second status of applying the DPoD in the network node 110. The transition from the first status to the second status comprises any one out of a change from enabling to disabling DPoD, a change from disabling to enabling DPoD, or a change from a first level to a second level of applying DPoD.

[0106] Action 503. The UE 120 initiates a change in response to the indication. The change is from applying the first configuration to applying a second configuration for transmitting signals to the network node 110. The second configuration is adapted to the second status of applying the DPoD. This is an advantage since the transmitted signal properties will be aligned with, e.g., will match, the second DPoD status.

[0107] The change from applying the first configuration to applying a second configuration for transmitting signals to the network node 110 may comprise any one or more of:

[0108] an adapted UL transmission configuration,

[0109] a signalled Scheduling Request (SR), and / or a Buffer Status Report (BSR) with modified parameters,

[0110] an initiated RACH procedure signalling reduced UL coverage,an adapted serving link configured to switch to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or serving UL component,

[0111] an output power reduction scheme, e.g. by open loop power control or close loop power control.

[0112] Action 504. The UE 120 transmits second signals to the network node 110 by applying the second configuration.

[0113] Action 505. Optionally, the UE 120 signal a modified link quality measurement for another carrier, a neighbouring cell or Supplemental Uplink, SUL, a component to be used for any one or more out of: adapting the serving link by switching to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or serving UL component.

[0114] Figure 6 shows exemplary embodiments of a method performed by a network node 110. The method is for controlling distortion when receiving signals from a User Equipment, UE, 120 in a wireless communications network 100.

[0115] The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order.

[0116] Action 601. The network node 110 transmits an indication to the UE 120. The indication indicates that the network node 110 is applying a first status of Digital Post Distortion, DPoD, for restraining the distortion when receiving first signals transmitted by the UE 120.

[0117] Action 602. The network node 110 receives first signals from the UE 120 according to a first configuration.

[0118] Action 603. The network node 110 transmits an indication to the UE 120. The indication indicates a transition from the first status to a second status of applying the DPoD in the network node 110. The transition from the first status to the second status comprises any one out of a change from enabling to disabling DPoD, a change from disabling to enabling DPoD, or a change from a first level to a second level of applying DPoD.The network node 110 may need to make the transition from the first status to the second status of applying the DPoD in examples scenarios. The examples scenarios may e.g. be enabling, disabling or changing the entire or partial DPoD function blocks. Other examples may e.g. be changing one or more than one radio or digital function blocks which subsequently changes the DPoD performance or transferring from a first to s second power consumption mode or power consumption regime.

[0119] Action 604. The network node 110 applies the second status of DPoD for restraining distortion when it receives second signals from the UE 120 in a second configuration. The second configuration is adapted to the change to the second status of applying the DPoD. The second configuration may comprise any one or more of:

[0120] an adapted Uplink, UL, transmission configuration,

[0121] a signalled Scheduling Request, SR, and / or a Buffer Status Report, BSR, with modified parameters,

[0122] an initiated RACH procedure signalling reduced UL coverage,

[0123] an adapted serving link configured to be switched to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or a served UL component,

[0124] an output power reduction scheme,

[0125] Action 605. Optionally, the network node 110 receives a modified link quality measurement for another carrier, a neighbouring cell or SUL a component to be used for any one or more out of: adapting the serving link by switching to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or serving UL component. This may e.g., be performed when the regular and / or internal requirements to the current serving UL carrier and / or beam cannot be met. This allows for maintaining a functional link for the UE when the current cell or link will no longer be sufficient or suitable due to its DPoD status change.

[0126] In this way by using the methods above, the regular and / or internal requirements to the serving UL carrier and / or beam is met. This is e.g., performed in order to fulfil in band or out of band distortion requirements or limitation, e.g., EVM, Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) and / or spurious emission, while keeping output power equal to or higher than a threshold, P1. This is performed to conduct the UE 120 to be compatible with the change of the network node 110 -side DPoD behaviour from NW_DPoD_status1 to NW_DPoD_status2.’Embodiments herein such as the embodiments mentioned above will now be further described and exemplified. The text below is applicable to and may be combined with any suitable embodiment described above.

[0127] Example of embodiments on UE procedure upon receiving the indication indicating the change of network node 110-side DPoD

[0128] In some embodiments, the UE 120, which supports DPoD procedure, applies the adaptation operation. This adaptation operation, which may be trigged or initiated by the indication from the serving network node 110 serving the UE 120, may explicitly or implicitly indicate a change of the network node 110-side DPoD status from the first status (NW_DPoD_status1) to the second status (NW_DPoD_status2). This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0129] It’s worth noting that both the case of enabling and disabling DPoD is represented in embodiments herein. The embodiments are also applicable to the case of changing or updating DPoD settings.

[0130] The adaptation operation herein is an operation executed by the UE 120. This is e.g., performed in order to fulfil in band or out of band distortion requirements or limitation, e.g., EVM, Adjacent Channel Leakage Ratio (ACLR) and / or spurious emission, while keeping output power equal to or higher than a threshold, P1. This is performed to conduct the UE 120 to be compatible with the change of the network node 110 -side DPoD behavior from NW_DPoD_status1 to NW_DPoD_status2. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0131] The adaptation operation may be at least one or any combination of the embodiments below:

[0132] In some embodiments one or more transmission schemes are changed, e.g., from the first transmission configuration to the second transmission configuration. This may be performed by lowering MCS to a predefined MCS. In some examples, Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) may be the predefined MCS. The allocated resource blocks or subcarriers may need to be adapted to match the updated MCS, e.g. in the case of delay sensitive transmissions. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.In some embodiments the change of configurations such as e.g. transmission schemes may be performed by limiting the UL scheduling resource. In some examples, the UE 120 limits the overall resources, e.g., when the number of total Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs) is less than a threshold. In some examples the UE 120 skips scheduling on PRBs at bandwidth edge. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0133] In some embodiments the change of configurations such as of transmission schemes may be performed by reducing an output power with respect to a reduction scheme. The power reduction may be performed in one step or gradually in multiple steps. In a particular example, the UE 120 reduces the output power gradually, by reducing the output power from P0, e.g., in DPoD procedure, to P1 with multiple steps, wherein P0 is a power value greater than P1. Each step has the same or different required time period and in each step the output power reduction shall not be larger than Pdelta, wherein Pdelta is a predefined or configurable power offset threshold. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0134] In some embodiments the change of configurations such as of transmission schemes may be performed by other UL enhancements, e.g., transmission repetition. In some examples, the UE 120 may retransmit for predefined numbers during the transition time for disabling or enabling DPoD, or may continue retransmissions until an Acknowledgement (ACK) is transmitted by the network node 110 at the end of the transition indicating that the messages can be detected successfully. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0135] In some embodiments the change of configurations such as of transmission schemes may be performed by switching to another carrier frequency. In some examples, the new frequency has fewer UEs 120 or behave with better distortion characteristic or has stronger channel, e.g., due to lower path loss. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0136] In some embodiments a trigger may be used. The trigger triggers one or more procedure by sending at least a signal to the network node 110. This may be performed by Initiating a RACH procedure. In this case, the UE may initiate a RACH procedure to try to reconnect to the network node 110, which may be the serving network node 110 or another network node, e.g. a gNB. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0137] In some embodiments, the trigger may signal on PUCCH or PUSCH indicating poor UL connection quality or limited UL coverage. Once the network node 110 receives thesignal, the network node 110 may further update the schedule or configurations for the UE 120. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0138] In some embodiments, a particular Offload or full UL payload to another cell may be used. Once the network node 110 receives the signalling, the network node 110 may offload a particular Offload or a full UL payload to another cell for the UE 120. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0139] In some embodiments a handover to another cell may be performed. In some examples, the network node 110 may command the UE 120 to move to another cell. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0140] In some embodiments signalling a SR, BSR, etc. to the network node 110 with modified parameters may be performed. The content in the signal induce the network node 110 to provide an adapted UL grant or configured grant. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0141] In some embodiments signalling a modified link quality measurement for another carrier, a neighbouring cell, or SUL component may be used. The modified measurement report induces the network to switch the serving UL link accordingly. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0142] In some embodiments, the choice of adaptation operation may be determined by the serving network node 110 in advance. This is related to and may be combined with actions 501, 502, 601 and / or 602.

[0143] In some embodiments, the UE 120 provides the configurations to the network node 110 and the network node 110 is aware of or acknowledges the operation to be performed by the UE 120. In some examples, it is indicated by UE capability, UE Assistance Information (UAI) or other signalling provided by the UE 120. On top of that, the UE 120 may inform the network node 110 of being or not being capable of the adaptation operation. This is related to and may be combined with actions 501 , 502, 601 and / or 602.

[0144] In some embodiments, the network node 110 determines and provides the configurations to the UE 120. The configurations may be predefined in a specification. This is related to and may be combined with any action above.

[0145] In addition, in case that more than one operation is allowed for the UE 120 and known by the network node 110, then the UE 120 may inform the network node 110 of the adaptation operation to be conducted, or the network node 110 may determine whichadaptation operation that shall be applied. This is related to and may be combined with any action above.

[0146] Furthermore, the UE 120 may determine applying adaptation operation for the case of the change of NW_DPoD_status. Some UEs 120 may have advanced capability to deal with the possible disruption caused by the change of NW_DPoD_status without the adaptation operation. On the contrary, some UEs 120 may have to apply the adaptation operation deal with the possible disruption caused by the change of NW_DPoD_status. Such UE signalling, e.g., UE capability, UE-assistance information (UAI) or other signaling provided by the UE 120, may contain the message indicating applying or not applying the adaptation operation for the case of the change of NW_DPoD_status. For example, if the UE 120 indicates applying adaptation operation in signaling to the network node 110, then the network node 110 shall assume and be aware that the UE 120 will apply the adaptation operation to deal with the possible disruptions caused by the change of NW_DPoD_status. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0147] Conducting the above adaptation operations may further depend on extra conditions besides of receiving the indication indicating enabling and / or disabling DPoD by the network node 110, which may comprise one or more of the examples below:

[0148] - The UE 120 measures and determines the received DL power level, e.g., that Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) is lower than a power threshold within a predefined time period.

[0149] - The UE 120 determines that the UE 120 is at a cell edge with respect to measurement results or other approaches.

[0150] - The UE 120 encounters poor connection to the gNB, e.g., one or more than one out-of-sync. indication in Beam Failure Detection (BFD) and / or Radio Link Monitoring (RLM) within a predefined time period.

[0151] - The UE 120 receives a signaling by the network node 110 indicating poor UL connection quality or limited UL coverage. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0152] In some embodiments, the adaptative operation may also include suspending and / or disabling and / or skipping ongoing procedures. In some options, the UE 120 may resume or recover from suspending and / or disabling the ongoing procedures after completing the adaptative operation. In some options, the UE 120 may stop the ongoing procedures and expect the network node 110 to provide further signaling or command tomanage the suspended and / or disabled procedures. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0153] In some embodiments, the signaling sent by the serving network node 110 which initiates the adaptive operation may be identical with the indication message indicating the change of NW_DPoD_status. In some examples, the signaling may be identical with a message together with the indication indicating enabling or disabling DPoD, or a signaling prior to the indication indicating the change of NW_DPoD_status. In the latter case, the signaling triggers the adaption operation prior to the indication indicating the change of NW_DPoD_status, Optionally, the UE 120 shall or may initiate the adaptation operation from the signaling before receiving the indication indicating the change of NW_DPoD_status. By contrast, in another option, the UE 120 shall or may initiate the adaptation operation until receiving the indication indicating the change of NW_DPoD_status. This is related to and may be combined with any action above.

[0154] Example embodiments on network node 110 scheduler decision restriction to manage the ambiguity in UE transmission power during transition period

[0155] In some embodiments, when the network node 110 decides to change NW-side DPoD status from NW_DPoD_status1 to NW_DPoD_status2, the network node 110 may signal the starting time of the change. Correspondingly, a transition period may be defined to allow the UE 120 to adapt its power management behaviour to comply with NW_DPoD_status2 on the network side. In some examples, at the end of the transition period, the UE 120 is expected to act according to NW_DPoD_status2. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0156] The possible change of the DPoD status at the network-side may comprise any of the following examples:

[0157] - (A): NW_DPoD_status1 = DPoD is disabled or suspended by the network;

[0158] NW_DPoD_status2 = DPoD is enabled or resumed by the network.

[0159] - (B): NW_DPoD_status1 = DPoD is enabled or resumed by network;

[0160] NW_DPoD_status2 = DPoD is disabled or suspended by the network.

[0161] - (C): In some examples, the signal distortion level refers to EVM thresholds. For example, in NW_DPoD_status1 the network receiver is capable of handling EVM up to d1%; in NW_DPoD_status2 the network node 110, also referred to as NW receiver, is capable of handling EVM up to d2%. Here EVM thresholds d1% and d2% may be defined separately for different modulation orders. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.When the network signals to the UE 120 the DPoD status change at the network side at T1 , the UE 120 has At to change its behaviour to be compatible with NW_DPoD_status2. The minimum delay requirement may be that the UE 120 finishes the change to enable NW_DPoD_status2 by T1 + AT. The AT herein may include the time period from the time when the network sends the signal to the time when the UE 120 receives and processes it. In an alternative formulation, the UE 120 finishes the change to enable NW_DPoD_status2 by T1 + T2+AT, wherein, T2 represents a time period which is separated from AT. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0162] From T1 to T1 + AT, the UE 120 may be given time to change its power related behaviour, e.g., as in one or more of the operations described above. During this period, the network node 110 does not know exactly when the UE 120 finishes the change. Thus, during this period, the network node 110 may schedule the UL transmission which are not sensitive to the UE's 120 power management behaviour. This e.g., means that the network node 110 applies a scheduling decision restriction to handle the ambiguity in a UE power management behaviour. For example, during the transition period for (B) above, e.g., when DPoD deactivation is applied, the network node 110 may send scheduling commands, e.g., Downlink Control Information (DCI), to the UE 120 so that the UE 120 is scheduled with QPSK, a smaller number of PRBs, and PRBs located at inner regions of the band, so that the uplink transmission can be successful regardless of the exact power backoff applied by the UE 120. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0163] Alternatively, during this period, certain ongoing scheduling and other procedure being performed by the UE 120 may be any one or more of: suspended, disabled, skipped and stopped. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0164] The UE 120 may not be expected to transmit any one or more of: PUCCH, PUSCH and SRS or receive any one or more of: PDCCH, PDSCH, TRS, CSI-RS, SSB and SI. In other words, the UE 120 is restricted to measure or monitor any cell, including a serving cell or a neighbouring cell or be scheduled by the serving cell. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0165] The UE 120 may suspend the BFD or RLM procedure, e.g., suspending or evaluating whether the downlink radio link quality on the configured RLM-RS, and after transition, the UE 120 resumes or restart the BFD or RLM procedure. This is related to and may be combined with any action above.After time T1 + AT, the UE 120 may be expected to apply power related behaviour compatible with NW_DPoD_status2. Thus, the network node 110 may make scheduling decision for the UE's 120 uplink transmission without restriction. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0166] In some embodiments, as in case (A) above, e.g., when DPoD activation is applied, the UE 120 may be expected to use more aggressive power related behaviours which are defined under the assumption of the DPoD at the network-side. The more aggressive behaviours may include: apply a smaller power backoff for its PA when transmitting PUSCH; perform Power Headroom (PH) calculation and Power Headroom Report (PHR) defined for DPoD , e.g., using a higher Pcmax. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0167] In some embodiments, as in case (B) above, e.g., when DPoD deactivation is applied, the UE 120 may be expected to use the legacy behaviours which are defined without consideration of the DPoD at the network-side. The legacy behaviours may comprise: apply a larger power backoff for its PA when transmitting PUSCH; perform legacy Power Headroom (PH) calculation and Power Headroom Report (PHR), e.g., using a lower Pcmax. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0168] In some embodiments, such as after time T1 + AT, the network node 110 may reschedule the UE 120 as normal and / or resume the BFD or RLM procedure.

[0169] The transition period may be defined as a delay requirement for the UE 120. The delay requirement may be defined separately for each of possible changes as in the examples (A)-(C) above. For example:

[0170] - In a first delay requirement on the UE 120 for DPoD activation at the network-side, corresponding to example (A) above, may AT be defined as ATactivation.

[0171] - In a second delay requirement on the UE 120 for DPoD deactivation at the network-side, corresponding to example (B) above, may AT be defined as ATdeactivation.

[0172] - In a third delay requirement on the UE 120 for DPoD distortion handling range at the network-side, corresponding to example (C) above, may AT be defined as ATuPdate. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0173] The minimum delay requirements may be defined as the same for all UEs 120 in the specification. Alternatively, the minimum delay requirements may be reported as a UE capability or UE Assistance Information (UAI), so that different types of UEs 120 may be allowed to choose a different amount of delay to change its transmission power related behavior. For example, a more advanced UE 120 may report its capability such that theUE 120 needs a shorter delay for one or more of the DPoD status changes (A)-(C) above, while a reduced UE capability may result in that the UE needs a longer delay for one or more of the DPoD status changes (A)-(C) above. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0174] For AT configuration, the time unit for the transition period may be slot or symbol or jis or ms. Some examples of the transition period configured by RRC IE format are presented as follows:

[0175] - DPoD transition_activation ENUMERATED { n1, n2, n3, n4...}

[0176] - DPoD transition_deactivation ENUMERATED { n1, n2, n3, n4...}

[0177] - DPoD transition_update ENUMERATED { n1, n2, n3, n4...}

[0178] Where, n1, n2, n3, n4 are the numbers of slots

[0179] - DPoD transition_activation ENUMERATED { ms1, ms2, ms3, ms4...}

[0180] - DPoD transition_deactivation ENUMERATED { ms1, ms2, ms3, ms4...}

[0181] - DPoD transition_update ENUMERATED { ms1, ms2, ms3, ms4...}

[0182] Where, ms1, ms 2, ms 3, ms 4 are the numbers of ms.

[0183] In some embodiments, the UE 120 may be allowed to not meet the in-band or out-band distortion requirements in the delay AT, e.g. for 3GPP or any other regular specification to be met. In one example, the network node 110 may inform the UE 120 of the allowance to not meet the in-band or out-band distortion requirement in the delay. In some examples, the UE 120 may request the network node 110 to acknowledge the delay allowance for the UE 120. This is related to and may be combined with actions 502, 503, 504, 602, 603 and / or 604.

[0184] Figure 7 describes an example embodiment of the simplified procedure for enabling or disabling DPoD as stated in the above embodiments, where in the case of from enabling to disabling DPoD is presented as an example. However, the same updates on procedure may happen to the case of switching different DPoD.

[0185] In the procedure, the UE 120 may apply the embodiments after receiving the signaling indicating the change of NW_DPoD_status.

[0186] To perform the method actions above, the UE 120 is configured to control distortion when it transmits signals to the network node 110 in the wireless communications network 100. The network node 110 is adapted to have indicated that it applies a first status of DPoD for restraining distortion when it receives first signals transmitted by the UE 120.The UE 120 may comprise an arrangement depicted in Figure 8. The LIE120 may comprise an input and output interface 800 configured to communicate in the communications network 100. The input and output interface 800 may comprise a wireless receiver not shown, and a wireless transmitter not shown.

[0187] The UE 120 is further configured to transmit first signals to the network node 110 by applying a first configuration.

[0188] The UE 120 is further configured to receive an indication from the network node 110, adapted to indicate a transition from the first status to a second status of applying DPoD in the network node 110. The transition from the first status to the second status is adapted to comprise any one out of:

[0189] - A change from enabled to disabled DPoD, or

[0190] - A change from disabled to enabled DPoD, or

[0191] - A change from a first level to a second level of the applied DPoD,

[0192] The UE 120 is further configured to initiate in response to the indication, a change from applying first configuration to applying a second configuration for transmitting signals to the network node 110, wherein the second configuration is arranged to be adapted to the second status of applying the DPoD,

[0193] The UE 120 is further configured to transmit second signals to the network node 110 by applying the second configuration.

[0194] In some embodiments the change from applying the first configuration to applying the second configuration for transmitting signals to the network node 110 is adapted to comprise any one or more of:

[0195] - an adapted Uplink, UL, transmission configuration,

[0196] - a signalled Scheduling Request, SR, and / or a Buffer Status Report, BSR, with modified parameters,

[0197] - an initiated RACH procedure signalling reduced UL coverage,

[0198] - an adapted serving link configured to switch to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or serving UL component,

[0199] - an output power reduction scheme.

[0200] The UE 120 may further be configured to signal a modified link quality measurement for another carrier, a neighbouring cell or Supplemental Uplink (SUL), a component adapted to be used for any one or more out of: adapting the serving link by switching to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or serving UL component.To perform the method actions above, the network node 110 is configured to control distortion when receiving signals from the UE 120 in a wireless communications network 100.

[0201] The network node 110 may comprise an arrangement depicted in Figure 9. The network node 110 may comprise an input and output interface 900 configured to communicate in the communications network 100. The input and output interface 800 may comprise a wireless receiver not shown, and a wireless transmitter not shown.

[0202] The network node node 110 is further configured to transmit an indication to the UE 120 indicating that the network node 110 is applying a first status of Digital Post Distortion, DPoD, for restraining distortion when it receives first signals transmitted by the UE 120.

[0203] The network node node 110 is further configured to receive first signals from the UE 120 according to a first configuration.

[0204] The network node node 110 is further configured to transmit an indication to the UE 120, adapted to indicate a transition from the first status to a second status of applying DPoD in the network node 110. The transition from the first status to the second status is adapted to comprise any one out of:

[0205] - a change from enabled to disabled DPoD, or

[0206] - a change from disabled to enabled DPoD, or

[0207] - a change from a first level to a second level of the applied DPoD,

[0208] The network node node 110 is further configured to apply the second status of DPoD for restraining distortion when receiving second signals from the UE 120 in a second configuration. The second configuration is arranged to be adapted to the change to the second status of applying the DPoD.

[0209] In some embodiments the second configuration is adapted to comprise any one or more of:

[0210] an adapted Uplink, UL, transmission configuration,

[0211] a signalled Scheduling Request, SR, and / or a Buffer Status Report, BSR, with modified parameters,

[0212] an initiated RACH procedure signalling reduced UL coverage,

[0213] an adapted serving link configured to be switched to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or a served UL component,

[0214] an output power reduction scheme,

[0215] The network node 110 may further be configured to receive a modified link quality measurement for another carrier, a neighbouring cell or Supplemental Uplink, SUL, or acomponent to be used for any one or more out of: adapting the serving link to switch to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or serving UL component.

[0216] Embodiments herein may be implemented through a respective processor or one or more processors, such as the respective processor 810 of a processing circuitry in the UE 120 depicted in Figure 8 and processor 910 of a processing circuitry in the network node 110 depicted in Figure 9 together with respective computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the embodiments herein when being loaded into the respective UE 120 and network node 110. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the respective UE 120 and network node 110.

[0217] The UE 120 and network node 110 may further comprise a respective memory 820, and memory 920 comprising one or more memory units. The respective memory 820 and memory 920 comprises instructions executable by the processor in the respective UE 120 and network node 110. The respective memory 820 and memory 920 are arranged to be used to store e.g., media functions, indications, tags, information, data, configurations, communication data, and applications to perform the methods herein when being executed in the respective UE 120 and network node 110.

[0218] In some embodiments, a respective computer program 830 and computer program 930 comprises instructions, which when executed by the respective at least one processor 810 and processor 910, cause the at least one processor of respective UE 120 and network node 110 to perform the actions above.

[0219] In some embodiments, a respective carrier 840 and carrier 940 comprises the respective computer program 830 and computer program 930, wherein the respective carrier 840 and carrier 940 is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

[0220] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that units in the respective UE 120 and network node 110 described above may refer to a combination of analog and digital circuits, and / or one or more processors configured with software and / or firmware, e.g. stored in the respective UE 120 and network node 110, that when executed by therespective one or more processors such as the processors described above. One or more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in a single Application-Specific Integrated Circuitry ASIC, or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a System-on-a-Chip (SoC).

[0221] Figure 10 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0222] In the example, the communication system QQ100 includes a telecommunication 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, such as network nodes QQ110a and QQ110b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes QQ110), or any other similar 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network QQ102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication 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 nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network QQ102, including one or more network nodes QQ110 and / or core network nodes QQ108.

[0223] 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). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1, F1, W1, E1, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface.Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes QQ110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), 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.

[0224] 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.

[0225] 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 QQ110 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs QQ112 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network QQ102 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network QQ102.

[0226] In the depicted example, the core network QQ106 connects 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 more core network nodes (e.g., core network node QQ108) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the correspondingcomponents of the core network node QQ108. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (ALISF), 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).

[0227] 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 telecommunication network QQ102. The host QQ116 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0228] As a whole, the communication system QQ100 of Figure 10 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0229] In some examples, the telecommunication network QQ102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network QQ102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network QQ102. For example, the telecommunications network QQ102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs.In some examples, 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).

[0230] 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. 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 device, 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.

[0231] 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 / or QQ112d), 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 directconnection. 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.

[0232] Figure 11 shows a UE QQ200 in accordance with some embodiments. The UE QQ200 presents additional details of some embodiments of the UE QQ112 of Figure 10. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes such as e.g., network node 110 and / or other UEs such as e.g., UE 120. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage / playback device, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), an Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0233] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).The UE QQ200 includes processing circuitry QQ202 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ204 to an input / output interface QQ206, a power source QQ208, a memory QQ210, a communication interface QQ212, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 11. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0234] The processing circuitry QQ202 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 QQ210. The processing circuitry QQ202 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 QQ202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0235] In the example, the input / output interface QQ206 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE QQ200. 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.

[0236] In some embodiments, the power source QQ208 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source QQ208 mayfurther include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source QQ208 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE QQ200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source QQ208. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source QQ208 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE QQ200 to which power is supplied.

[0237] The memory QQ210 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 QQ210 includes one or more application programs QQ214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data QQ216. The memory QQ210 may store, for use by the UE QQ200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0238] The memory QQ210 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUlCC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory QQ210 may allow the UE QQ200 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory QQ210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0239] The processing circuitry QQ202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface QQ212. The communication interface QQ212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna QQ222. The communication interfaceQQ212 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter QQ218 and / or a receiver QQ220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter QQ218 and receiver QQ220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna QQ222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0240] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface QQ212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof.

[0241] Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0242] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface QQ212, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0243] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smartwatch, a fitness tracker, a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE QQ200 shown in Figure 11.

[0244] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another UE and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0245] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.Figure 12 shows a network node QQ300 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., 0-Rll, 0-Dll, O-CU).

[0246] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0247] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cel l / 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).

[0248] The network node QQ300 includes a processing circuitry QQ302, a memory QQ304, a communication interface QQ306, and a power source QQ308. The network node QQ300 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node QQ300 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node QQ300 may beconfigured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory QQ304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna QQ310 may be shared by different RATs). The network node QQ300 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node QQ300, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node QQ300.

[0249] The processing circuitry QQ302 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node QQ300 components, such as the memory QQ304, to provide network node QQ300 functionality.

[0250] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and the baseband processing circuitry QQ314 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 QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0251] The memory QQ304 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 QQ302. The memory QQ304 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 QQ302 and utilized bythe network node QQ300. The memory QQ304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry QQ302 and / or any data received via the communication interface QQ306. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 and memory QQ304 is integrated.

[0252] The communication interface QQ306 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data between a network node, access network, and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface QQ306 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) QQ316 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface QQ306 also includes radio front-end circuitry QQ318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna QQ310. Radio front-end circuitry QQ318 comprises filters QQ320 and amplifiers QQ322. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may be connected to an antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 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 QQ318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters QQ320 and / or amplifiers QQ322. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna QQ310. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna QQ310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry QQ318. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry QQ302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0253] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node QQ300 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry QQ318, instead, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna QQ310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 is part of the communication interface QQ306. In still other embodiments, the communication interface QQ306 includes one or more ports or terminals QQ316, the radio front-end circuitry QQ318, and the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface QQ306 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry QQ314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0254] The antenna QQ310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna QQ310 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry QQ318 and may be any type of antenna capable oftransmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna QQ310 is separate from the network node QQ300 and connectable to the network node QQ300 through an interface or port.

[0255] The antenna QQ310, communication interface QQ306, and / or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna QQ310, the communication interface QQ306, and / or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0256] The power source QQ308 provides power to the various components of network node QQ300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source QQ308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node QQ300 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 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 QQ308. As a further example, the power source QQ308 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.

[0257] Embodiments of the network node QQ300 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 QQ300 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node QQ300 and to allow output of information from the network node QQ300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node QQ300. In some embodiments providing a core network node, such as core network node 108 of Figure 10, some components, such as the radio front-end circuitry QQ318 and the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 may be omitted.Figure 13 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ400 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments QQ400 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment QQ400 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. Virtualization may facilitate distributed implementations of a network node, UE, core network node, or host.

[0258] Applications QQ402 (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.

[0259] Hardware QQ404 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 QQ406 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs QQ408a and QQ408b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs QQ408), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer QQ406 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs QQ408.

[0260] The VMs QQ408 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer QQ406. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance QQ402 may beimplemented on one or more of VMs QQ408, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0261] In the context of NFV, a VM QQ408 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs QQ408, and that part of hardware QQ404 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs QQ408 on top of the hardware QQ404 and corresponds to the application QQ402.

[0262] Hardware QQ404 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware QQ404 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware QQ404 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 QQ410, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications QQ402. In some embodiments, hardware QQ404 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 QQ412 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0263] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing theobtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0264] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0265] When using the word "comprise" or “comprising” it shall be interpreted as nonlimiting, i.e. meaning "consist at least of".

[0266] The embodiments herein are not limited to the preferred embodiments described above. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a User Equipment, UE, (120) for controlling distortion when transmitting signals to a network node (110) in a wireless communications network (100), wherein the network node (110) has indicated that it is applying a first status of Digital Post Distortion, DPoD, for restraining the distortion when receiving first signals transmitted by the UE (120), the method comprising:transmitting (501) first signals to the network node (110) by applying a first configuration,receiving (502) an indication from the network node (110), indicating a transition from the first status to a second status of applying the DPoD in the network node (110), wherein the transition from the first status to the second status comprises any one out of:- changing from enabling to disabling DPoD, or- changing from disabling to enabling DPoD, or- changing from a first level to a second level of applying DPoD,initiating (503) in response to the indication, a change from applying the first configuration to applying a second configuration for transmitting signals to the network node (110), wherein the second configuration is adapted to the second status of applying the DPoD,transmitting (504) second signals to the network node (110) by applying the second configuration.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein a change from applying the first configuration to applying a second configuration for transmitting signals to the network node (110) comprises any one or more of:adapting Uplink, UL, transmission configuration,signalling a Scheduling Request, SR, and / or Buffer Status Report, BSR, with modified parameters,initiating a RACH procedure signalling reduced UL coverage,adapting a serving link by switching to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or serving UL component,an output power reduction scheme.

3. The method according to any of the claims 1-2, further comprising:signalling (505) a modified link quality measurement for another carrier, a neighbouring cell or Supplemental Uplink, SUL, a component to be used for any one or more out of: adapting the serving link by switching to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or serving UL component.

4. A computer program (830) comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor (810), causes the processor (810) to perform actions according to any of the claims 1-3.

5. A carrier (840) comprising the computer program (830) of claim 4, wherein the carrier (840) is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

6. A method performed by a network node (110) for controlling distortion when receiving signals from a User Equipment, UE, (120) in a wireless communications network (100), the method comprising:transmitting (601) an indication to the UE (120) indicating that the network node (110) is applying a first status of Digital Post Distortion, DPoD, for restraining the distortion when receiving first signals transmitted by the UE (120), receiving (602) first signals from the UE (120) according to a first configuration,transmitting (603) an indication to the UE (120), indicating a transition from the first status to a second status of applying the DPoD in the network node (110), wherein the transition from the first status to the second status comprises any one out of:- changing from enabling to disabling DPoD, or- changing from disabling to enabling DPoD, or- changing from a first level to a second level of applying DPoD, applying the second status of DPoD for restraining distortion when receiving (604) second signals from the UE (120) in a second configuration, wherein the second configuration is adapted to the change to the second status of applying the DPoD.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein the second configuration comprises any one or more of:an adapted Uplink, UL, transmission configuration,a signalled Scheduling Request, SR, and / or a Buffer Status Report, BSR, with modified parameters,an initiated RACH procedure signalling reduced UL coverage,an adapted serving link configured to be switched to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or a served UL component,an output power reduction scheme,8. The method according to any of the claims 6-7, further comprising:receiving (605) a modified link quality measurement for another carrier, a neighbouring cell or Supplemental Uplink, SUL, a component to be used for any one or more out of: adapting the serving link by switching to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or serving UL component.

9. A computer program (930) comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor (910), causes the processor (910) to perform actions according to any of the claims 6-8.

10. A carrier (940) comprising the computer program (930) of claim 9, wherein the carrier (940) is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

11. A User Equipment, UE, (120) configured to control distortion when it transmits signals to a network node (110) in a wireless communications network (100), wherein the network node (110) is adapted to have indicated that it applies a first status of Digital Post Distortion, DPoD, for restraining distortion when it receives first signals transmitted by the UE (120), the UE further being configured to:transmit first signals to the network node (110) by applying a first configuration,receive an indication from the network node (110), adapted to indicate a transition from the first status to a second status of applying DPoD in the network node (110), wherein the transition from the first status to the second status is adapted to comprise any one out of:- a change from enabled to disabled DPoD, or- a change from disabled to enabled DPoD, or- a change from a first level to a second level of the applied DPoD, initiate in response to the indication, a change from applying first configuration to applying a second configuration for transmitting signals to the network node (110), wherein the second configuration is arranged to be adapted to the second status of applying the DPoD,transmit second signals to the network node (110) by applying the second configuration.

12. The UE (120) according to claim 11, wherein the change from applying the first configuration to applying the second configuration for transmitting signals to the network node (110) is adapted to comprise any one or more of:an adapted Uplink, UL, transmission configuration,a signalled Scheduling Request, SR, and / or a Buffer Status Report, BSR, with modified parameters,an initiated RACH procedure signalling reduced UL coverage,an adapted serving link configured to switch to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or serving UL component,an output power reduction scheme.

13. The UE (120) according to any of the claims 11-12, further being configured to: signal a modified link quality measurement for another carrier, a neighbouring cell or Supplemental Uplink, SUL, a component adapted to be used for any one or more out of: adapting the serving link by switching to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or serving UL component.

14. A network node (110) configured to control distortion when receiving signals from a User Equipment, UE, (120) in a wireless communications network (100), the network node (110) further being configured to:transmit an indication to the UE (120) indicating that the network node (110) is applying a first status of Digital Post Distortion, DPoD, for restraining distortion when it receives first signals transmitted by the UE (120),receive first signals from the UE (120) according to a first configuration, transmit an indication to the UE (120), adapted to indicate a transition from the first status to a second status of applying DPoD in the network node (110),wherein the transition from the first status to the second status is adapted to comprise any one out of:- a change from enabled to disabled DPoD, or- a change from disabled to enabled DPoD, or- a change from a first level to a second level of the applied DPoD, apply the second status of DPoD for restraining distortion when receiving second signals from the UE (120) in a second configuration, wherein the second configuration isarranged to be adapted to the change to the second status of applying the DPoD.

15. The network node (110) according to claim 14, wherein the second configuration is adapted to comprise any one or more of:an adapted Uplink, UL, transmission configuration,a signalled Scheduling Request, SR, and / or a Buffer Status Report, BSR, with modified parameters,an initiated RACH procedure signalling reduced UL coverage,an adapted serving link configured to be switched to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or a served UL component,an output power reduction scheme,16. The network node (110) according to any of the claims 14-15, further being configured to:receive a modified link quality measurement for another carrier, a neighbouring cell or Supplemental Uplink, SUL, or a component to be used for any one or more out of: adapting the serving link to switch to another carrier frequency, to another serving cell, or serving UL component.

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