Low power wake up signal

Abstract

Embodiments herein relate to a method performed by a UE (10) for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The UE (10) performs a selection procedure of a frequency for communication, which selection procedure is based on support of a LP-WUS feature of the frequency.

Description

[0001] USER EQUIPMENT, NETWORK NODE, AND METHODS PERFORMED THEREIN

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Embodiments herein relate to a user equipment (UE), a network node and methods performed therein regarding wireless communication. Furthermore, a computer program product and a computer readable storage medium are also provided herein. In particular, embodiments herein relate to handling communication, such as performing cell selection, in a wireless communication network.

[0004] BACKGROUND

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

[0006] A Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation (3G) telecommunication network, which evolved from the second generation (2G) Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) is essentially a RAN using wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and / or High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for communication with user equipment. In a forum known as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), telecommunications suppliers propose and agree upon standards for present and future generation networks and investigate e.g. enhanced data rate and radio capacity. In some RANs, e.g. as in UMTS, several radio network nodes may be connected, e.g., by landlines or microwave, to a controller node, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), which supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural radio network nodes connected thereto. The RNCs are typically connected to one or more core networks.

[0007] Specifications for the Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3GPP and coming 3GPP releases, such as New Radio (NR) and 6G, are worked on. The EPS comprises the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also known as the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network, and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), also known asSystem Architecture Evolution (SAE) core network. E-UTRAN / LTE is a 3GPP radio access technology wherein the radio network nodes are directly connected to the EPC core network. As such, the RAN of an EPS has an architecture comprising radio network nodes connected directly to one or more core networks.

[0008] With the emerging 5G technologies such as NR, the use of very many transmit- and receive-antenna elements may be of great interest as it makes it possible to utilize beamforming, such as transmit-side and receive-side beamforming. Transmit-side beamforming means that the transmitter can amplify the transmitted signals in a selected direction or directions, while suppressing the transmitted signals in other directions. Similarly, on the receive-side, a receiver can amplify signals from a selected direction or directions, while suppressing unwanted signals from other directions. NR is connected to the 5G Core Network (5GC) which comprises a number of Network Functions (NF) such as Session Management Function (SMF), Access Management Function (AMF), Authentication Service Function (AUSF), Policy Control Function (PCF), Unified Data Manager (UDM), Network Repository Function (NRF), Network Exposure Function (NEF), just to mention some. In the 5GC, NFs can discover other NFs by using a discovery service provided by the NRF.

[0009] 5G networks are being designed while considering the vertical use cases and mobile telephony in mind. In addition to availability, latency, and reliability, UE energy efficiency is essential to 5G. Currently, depending on how often each user uses their gadget, 5G devices may need to be recharged every day or every week. 5G devices need hundreds of milliwatts when they are connected to the radio and tens of milliwatts when they are in IDLE or INACTIVE state.

[0010] A Low power radio or receiver (LR), sometimes also referred to as wake-up radio (WUR), is about enabling a low power (LP) receiver in UEs, which, in case of the detection of a wake-up signal (WUS), wakes up the main radio or receiver (MR), such as a baseband, a radio frequency (RF), and / or less power efficient receiver, to detect an incoming message, typically paging, e.g., physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) in paging occasions (PO), scheduling the paging message on physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). The main benefit of employing LR is lowering energy consumption and prolonging device battery life, or at a fixed energy consumption reducing the downlink latency, shorter discontinuous reception (DRX) and / or duty-cycles and more frequent checks for incoming transmissions.

[0011] Low Power Wake Up Signal (LP-WUS) in NR improves the UE power saving when the UE is in RRCJDLE or RRCJNACTIVE and the UE monitors Paging. With LP-WUS the UE has a separate receiver WUR, with a LR that monitors the LP-WUS. When LP-WUS is detected and a subgroup information in LP-WUS indicates that the UE should wake-up, then the UE receives the Paging PDCCH and / or PDSCH during the following Paging Occasion (PO) in the DRX cycle using the MR. Typically, the UE is not paged during every PO, i.e. the MR may remain in sleep modemultiple and / or many DRX cycles and may save power. The LR consumes much less power compared to the MR, such as a factor 10 to 100.

[0012] The WUR may be on-off keying (OOK)-based receiver that uses Low Power Synchronization Signal (LP-SS) for synchronization and serving cell measurements. Alternatively, the WUR may be orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM)-based, which uses primary synchronization signal (PSS) and / or secondary synchronization signal (SSS) for synchronization and serving cell measurements.

[0013] Due to its signal characteristics LP-WUS may not provide full cell coverage, i.e. , near the cell border there is no LP-WUS coverage. Thus, an entry condition, such as MR reference signal received power (RSRP) and / or reference signal received quality (RSRQ) threshold and optionally an LR RSRP and / or RSRQ threshold, and exit condition, i.e., LR threshold, may be used to determine when the UE is allowed to use LP-WUS in RRCJDLE or RRCJNACTIVE. When the UE is above the entry threshold or thresholds, and the LR performs serving cell measurements using LP-synchronization signal (SS) or synchronization signal block (SSB) and the LR uses LP-WUS to monitor paging, then the MR is not required to perform serving cell measurements or paging monitoring.

[0014] When the UE is above an intra-frequency measurement threshold, then the UE is not required to measure intra-frequency neighbor cells. But the UE still has to perform inter-frequency measurements for higher priority frequencies every 60 seconds. When the UE detects a suitable cell on a higher priority frequency, then the UE will reselect that higher priority frequency and cell.

[0015] When the UE is below the intra-frequency measurements threshold, then the UE may have to measure intra-frequency neighbor cell, in most cases, every DRX cycle. When the UE finds an intra-frequency neighbor cell that is stronger than the current serving cell, then the UE will re-select to that intra-frequency neighbor cell. In most cases the frequency provides full cell coverage, i.e. when the UE moves around, that UE typically only performs intra-frequency cell reselection.

[0016] The UE shall be able to measure one intra-frequency and seven NR, frequency division duplex (FDD), and / or time division duplex (TDD) inter-frequencies see TS 38.133 v18.7.0:

[0017] 4.2.2.1 UE measurement capability

[0018] For idle mode cell re-selection purposes, and for UE supporting idlelnactiveNR-MeasReport-r16, idlelnactiveEUTRA-MeasReport-r16 or idlelnactiveNR-MeasReport-r17, for NR CA and MR-DC measurement purpose, the UE shall be capable of monitoring at least:

[0019] Intra-frequency carrier, and

[0020] Depending on UE capability, 7 NR inter-frequency carriers, and

[0021] Depending on UE capability, 7 FDD E-UTRA inter-RAT carriers, and Depending on UE capability, 7 TDD E-UTRA inter-RAT carriers.When the UE is below the inter-frequency measurement threshold, then the UE will measure for inter-frequency neighbor, typically, every DRX cycle. The inter-frequency measurement threshold is typically configured at the cell border, when the UE did not find a stronger intra-frequency neighbor cell, See Fig. 1.

[0022] In case absolute priorities are configured in system information block 4 (SIB4), then the UE will try to measure and reselect to a higher priority frequency every 60 sec:

[0023] SIB4 ::= SEQUENCE {

[0024] interFreqCarrierFreqList InterFreqCarrierFreqList,

[0025] InterFreqCarrierFreqlnfo ::= SEQUENCE {

[0026] dl-CarrierFreq ARFCN-ValueNR,

[0027] CellReselectionPriority CellReselectionPriority OPTIONAL, - Need R CellReselectionSubPriority CellReselectionSubPriority OPTIONAL, - Need R

[0028] CellReselectionPriority ::= INTEGER (0..7)

[0029] CellReselectionSubPriority ::= ENUMERATED {oDot2, oDot4, oDot6, oDot8}

[0030] In case the UE is inside the higher priority frequency coverage, all the UEs will eventually reselect to the higher priority frequency.

[0031] The UE measures on the frequencies indicated in system information and for which a priority is provided, in the bands that the UE supports, see TS 38.304 v.18.4.0.

[0032] The UE shall only perform cell reselection evaluation for NR frequencies and inter-RAT frequencies that are given in system information and for which the UE has a priority provided.

[0033] In case only frequencies with the same priority are configured, then the UE reselects another cell on a different frequency when that cell is stronger and / or higher ranked than the serving cell, which is similar as for intra-frequency cell reselection.

[0034] When the UE is interested to receive a multicast and / or broadcast service(MBS) session in Idle / lnactive, then the UE may consider the frequency on which this session is provided as the highest priority frequency, as long as the UE is interested to receive the session.

[0035] The UE may learn on which frequency an MBS session is provided from SIB21, such as through frequency selection area identity (FSAI) mapping, and information provided in user service description (USD), such as MBS session Temporary Mobile Group Identity (TMGI) to FSAI mapping.In the RRCRelease message, the UE may receive a deprioritisationReq, i.e., the UE is requested to consider the current frequency, or RAT, to be de-prioritized, i.e., to be the lower priority frequency, with the T325 timer running, with a duration of 5- 30 min.

[0036] In the RRCRelease, the UE may be redirected to an NR frequency, i.e. , if the UE finds a suitable cell on that frequency, the UE will select that frequency after being released.

[0037] In the RRCRelease ,the UE may also be provided with dedicated priorities for frequencies, which override the priorities provided in System Information for some time:

[0038] RRCRelease ::= SEQUENCE {

[0039] RRCRelease-IEs ::= SEQUENCE {

[0040] redirectedCarrierlnfo RedirectedCarrierlnfo OPTIONAL, - Need N cellReselectionPriorities CellReselectionPriorities OPTIONAL, - Need R

[0041] RedirectedCarrierlnfo ::= CHOICE {

[0042] nr CarrierlnfoNR,

[0043] CarrierlnfoNR ::= SEQUENCE {

[0044] carrierFreq ARFCN-ValueNR,

[0045] ssbSubcarrierSpacing SubcarrierSpacing,

[0046] smtc SSB-MTC OPTIONAL, - Need S

[0047] CellReselectionPriorities ::= SEQUENCE {

[0048] freqPriorityListNR FreqPriorityListNR OPTIONAL, - Need M

[0049] t320 ENUMERATED {min5, min10, min20, min30, min60, min120, min180} OPTIONAL, - Need R

[0050] FreqPriorityListNR ::= SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxFreq)) OF FreqPriorityNR

[0051] FreqPriorityNR ::= SEQUENCE {

[0052] carrierFreq ARFCN-ValueNR,

[0053] CellReselectionPriority CellReselectionPriority,

[0054] CellReselectionSubPriority CellReselectionSubPriority OPTIONAL - Need R

[0055] }

[0056] CellReselectionPriority ::= INTEGER (0..7)

[0057] CellReselectionSubPriority ::= ENUMERATED {oDot2, oDot4, oDot6, oDot8}

[0058]

[0059]

[0060] 38.304 v.18.4.0:

[0061]

[0062] SUMMARY

[0063] As part of developing embodiments herein one or more issues have been identified. A UE supporting LP-WUS, that is, a UE which implements MR and LR but the MR and LR support different frequencies, or frequency bands, i.e., the LR is not supported on all supported MR bands, follows the existing cell selection and / or reselection rules and priorities. The UE may end up camping in a cell or frequency which does not support LR, therefore resulting in that UE not being able to use LP-WUS and the LR even if the UE supports those LP-WUS features.

[0064] Furthermore, in case LP-WUS UEs may only camp on the Low band frequencies where the UEs support LP-WUS, then LP-WUS UEs may cause congestion, e.g., during random access channel (RACH) access, on those frequencies, especially when a penetration rate of LP-WUS is high. The Mid and High band capacity may be under-used in such a case.

[0065] An object of embodiments herein is to support and / or handle communication in a wireless communication network in an efficient manner.

[0066] According to an aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a UE for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The UE performs a selection procedure of a frequency for communication. The selection procedure is based on support of a LP-WUS-feature of the frequency, such as the UE selects a frequency that supports using MR and / or LR.According to another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a method performed by a network node for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The network node configures the UE with an indication indicating one or more frequencies supporting a LP-WUS-feature, such as indicates a frequency that supports using MR and / or LR.

[0067] It is furthermore provided herein a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the methods herein, as performed by the UE and the network node, respectively. It is additionally provided herein a computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the methods herein, as performed by the UE and the network node, respectively.

[0068] Furthermore, according to another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a UE, and a network node configured to perform the methods herein.

[0069] Thus, according to an aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a UE for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The UE is configured to perform a selection procedure of a frequency for communication, which selection procedure is based on support of an LP-WUS-feature of the frequency.

[0070] According to another aspect the object is achieved, according to some embodiments herein, by providing a network node for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The network node is configured to configure the UE with an indication indicating one or more frequencies supporting an LP-WUS-feature, such as indicates a frequency that supports using MR and / or LR.

[0071] With embodiments herein one or more frequencies supporting LP-WUS may be indicated to the UE and in some embodiments a frequency priority list and / or rule may be configured for the UE supporting LP-WUS. Such a list or rule may be conditional on which frequencies the UE supports with both LR and MR and the network (NW) has deployed LP-WUS. In one example, the UE may use this list and / or rule when the UE intends to use the LP-WUS feature. In another example, if the most prioritized frequency in a list and / or a configuration is not supported by both LR and MR of the UE, the UE may disregard this frequency and choose the next frequency in the list, or if the list or set is not ordered, the UE may disregard the frequencies with highest priorities if it does not support LR and LP-WUS on the particular frequencies.

[0072] Example embodiments herein enable power saving (PS) for UEs. The NW may indicate on which one or more frequencies LP-WUS is deployed, and the UE, such as an LP-WUS UE, may consider that one or more frequencies to have a highest priority while the UE is using LP-WUS to monitor Paging. When one or more LP-WUS frequencies are congested, then the network nodemay decide to remove the indication that the one or more frequencies support LP-WUS in a system information, or the network node may decide to stop redirecting LP-WUS UEs in the RRCRelease to that one or more frequencies, or indicate in the RRCRelease that the UE shall stop prioritizing the congested one or more frequencies indicated in the system information.

[0073] Embodiments herein enable that the UE may camp on a frequency which is supported by both MR and LR. Thus, embodiments herein support communication in a wireless communication network in an efficient manner.

[0074] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0075] Embodiments will now be described in more detail in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which:

[0076] Fig. 1 shows an architecture according to prior art;

[0077] Fig. 2 shows an overview depicting a wireless communication network according to embodiments herein;

[0078] Fig. 3 is a combined flowchart and signaling scheme according to some embodiments herein;

[0079] Fig. 4 shows a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a UE according to embodiments herein;

[0080] Fig. 5 shows a flowchart illustrating a method performed by a network node according to embodiments herein;

[0081] Fig. 6 shows a block diagram depicting embodiments of a UE according to embodiments herein;

[0082] Fig. 7 shows a block diagram depicting embodiments of a network node according to embodiments herein;

[0083] Fig. 8 shows an example of a communication system 15100 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0084] Fig. 9 shows a communication system 15200 in accordance with some embodiments; Fig. 10 shows a UE 15300 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0085] Fig. 11 is a block diagram of a network node 15400 in accordance with various aspects described herein; and

[0086] Fig. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 15500 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized.

[0087] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0088] Embodiments herein relate to communication networks in general. Fig. 2 is a schematic overview depicting a wireless communication network 1. The wireless communication network 1 comprises one or more RANs and one or more CNs. The wireless communication network 1 may use one or a number of different technologies. Embodiments herein relate to recent technology trends that are of particular interest in a New Radio (NR) context, however, embodiments are alsoapplicable in further development of existing wireless communications systems such as e.g. LTE or Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), and upcoming such as 6G.

[0089] In the wireless communication network 1 , a UE 10 exemplified herein as a wireless device such as a mobile station, a non-access point (non-AP) station (STA), a STA and / or a wireless terminal, is comprised communicating via e.g. one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. RAN, to one or more CN. It should be understood by the skilled in the art that “UE” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, wireless communications terminal, user equipment, narrowband internet of things (NB-loT) device, Machine Type Communication (MTC) device, LTE- Machine Type Communication (LTE-M), Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, vehicle, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a small base station capable of communicating using radio communication with a radio network node within an area served by the radio network node.

[0090] The wireless communication network 1 comprises a network node 12, providing radio coverage over a geographical area, a first service area 11 or first cell, of a first radio access technology (RAT), such as 6G, NR, LTE, or similar. The network node 12 may be a transmission and reception point such as an access node, an access controller, a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a gNodeB (gNB), an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), a NodeB, a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point, a scheduler, or any other network unit or node capable of communicating with a UE, such as the UE 10, within the area served by the network node 12 depending e.g. on the first RAT and terminology used. The network node 12 may be referred to as a serving network node wherein the service area may be referred to as a serving cell, and the serving network node communicates with the UE 10 in form of DL transmissions to the UE 10 and UL transmissions from the UE 10. It should be noted that a service area may be denoted as cell, beam, beam group or similar to define an area of radio coverage.

[0091] The respective node may be a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or processing resources in a server farm or same node. Embodiments herein may be implemented as physical bare metal, virtual or cloud native such as Kubernetes environment in, e.g., hyper-cloud networks.

[0092] The UE 10 performs a selection procedure of a frequency for communication, which selection procedure is based on support of a LP-WUS-feature, such as support of using MR and / or LR, of that frequency. Thus, the UE 10 may select a frequency that supports using MR and / or LR, such as a frequency where the network node 12 transmits a LP-WUS. Hence, the UE 10 may use the frequency that enables power saving for UEs.Fig.3 is a combined flow chart and signaling scheme according to some embodiments herein. The order of the actions may be performed in any suitable manner.

[0093] Action 300. The UE 10 may signal a support indication indicating which frequency bands and / or frequencies the UE 10 supports LP-WUS, e.g. in Low band only.

[0094] Action 301. The network node 12 configures the UE 10 with an indication indicating one or more frequencies supporting a LP-WUS-feature, such as support of using MR and / or LR. The UE 10 may be configured with a first set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection and / or reselection for UEs not supporting a LP-WUS-feature, and a second set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection and / or reselection for UEs supporting a LP-WUS-feature.

[0095] Action 302. The UE 10 performs the selection procedure of a frequency for communication, which selection procedure is based on support of a LP-WUS-feature, such as support of using MR and / or LR, of the frequency. The selection procedure may be a cell reselection procedure. The selection procedure may use the first set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection and / or reselection for UEs not supporting a LP-WUS-feature, and the second set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection and / or reselection for UEs supporting a LP-WUS-feature. Thus, when the UE 10 comprises an LR and an MR it may use the second set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection and / or reselection.

[0096] The method actions performed by the UE 10 for handling communication in the wireless communication network, according to embodiments herein, will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig. 4. Optional features are indicated with dashed boxes and the order of the actions may be performed in any suitable manner.

[0097] Action 401. The UE 10 may signal, to the network node 12, the support indicationindicating for which one or more frequency bands and / or frequencies the UE supports the LP-WUS feature. For example, for which frequency bands and / or frequencies the UE 10 supports LP-WUS, e.g. in Low band only. The network node 12 may collect this information from all the UEs that support LP-WUS and use this information to decide on which frequencies to support LP-WUS. The UE 10 may only signal that the UE 10 supports the LP-WUS feature when the UE 10 intends to use LP-WUS to monitor paging.

[0098] Action 402. The UE 10 may receive the indication, such as configuration data, from the network node 12. The indication may indicate the one or more frequencies supporting the LP-WUS-feature, such as support of using MR and / or LR. The indication may be used to configure the UE 10 to perform the methods herein.

[0099] Action 403. The UE 10 performs the selection procedure of the frequency for communication, which selection procedure is based on support of a LP-WUS-feature, such as support of using MR and / or LR, of the frequency. The selection procedure may be a cell reselection procedure. Theselection procedure may use the first set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection, or reselection, for UEs not supporting the LP-WUS-feature, and the second set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection, or reselection, for UEs supporting a LP-WUS-feature, or vice versa. Thus, theone or more parameters in the first set and / or second set may comprise a frequency priority. The first set of parameters may be intended to be applied by UEs that are adapted to apply a power saving feature, and the second set of parameters may be intended for other UEs.

[0100] The method actions performed by the network node 12 for handling communication in the wireless communication network, according to embodiments herein, will now be described with reference to a flowchart depicted in Fig.5. Optional features are indicated with dashed boxes and the order of the actions may be performed in any suitable manner.

[0101] Action 501. The network node 12 may receive the support indication, from the UE 10, indicating for which one or more frequency bands and / or frequencies the UE 10 supports the LP-WUS, e.g. in Low band only. The network node 12 may collect the support indication from, one or more, or all, of the UEs that support the LP-WUS feature.

[0102] Action 502. The network node 12 may use collected support indication to decide on which one or more frequencies to support the LP-WUS feature.

[0103] Action 503. The network node 12 configures the UE 10 with the indication indicating one or more frequencies supporting the LP-WUS-feature, such as support of using MR and / or LR. The UE 10 may be configured with the first set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection, or reselection, for UEs not supporting a LP-WUS-feature, and the second set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection, or reselection, for UEs supporting the LP-WUS-feature. The network node 12 may transmit a list of frequencies supporting the LP-WUS-feature. The one or more parameters in the first set and / or second set may comprise the frequency priority. The first set of parameters may be intended to be applied by UEs that are adapted to apply a power saving feature, and the second set of parameters may be intended for other UEs.

[0104] According to some embodiments herein, the network node 12 provides:

[0105] - the first set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection or reselection for UEs not supporting a LP-WUS-feature, and

[0106] - the second set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection or reselection for UEs supporting a LP-WUS-feature.

[0107] The UE 10 may apply the first set of parameters or the second set of parameters based on whether the UE 10 supports the LP-WUS-feature or not.

[0108] In some embodiments, there is only the first set of parameters, i.e. a list of frequencies in system information, e.g. SIB4, which is used by both legacy and LP-WUS UEs. But the LP-WUSUE is allowed to disregard a frequency in the list, when the UE 10 does not support LP-WUS on that frequency and the UE 10 uses LP-WUS to monitor paging. In these embodiments, the network node 12 may send an indication in dedicated signaling, e.g. RRCRelease, e.g. a bit and / or a flag, which tells whether the UE 10 is allowed to disregard as described herein.

[0109] In some embodiments, there is the first and second set of parameters, e.g., a legacy interfrequency list and a LP-WUS inter-frequency list. LP-WUS is deployed on the frequencies in the LP-WUS inter-frequency list. When the UE 10 supports LP-WUS and uses LP-WUS to monitor paging, then the LP-WUS UE may use the LP-WUS frequency list for frequency and / or cell reselection.

[0110] The parameters in the first and second sets may comprise frequency priorities, such as the CellReselectionPriorities, e.g. the following which is an excerpt from 3GPP TS 38.331 v18.3.0:

[0111] ""

[0112]

[0113] The first set of parameters being intended to be applied by UEs that may apply a power saving feature, such as an LP-WUS feature. The second set of parameters being intended for other UEs.

[0114] The UE 10 may apply the first set of parameters only if the UE 10 supports LP-WUS only on some of the frequencies indicated as available for frequency selection during cell selection or in some examples during cell selection or reselection. For example, the system shows F1 , F2 and F3 but the UE 10 supports LP-WUS only on some of those frequencies, e.g. F1 and F2, and in this case the UE 10 may apply the first set of parameters. However, if the UE 10 supports LP-WUS on all of F1 , F2 and F3, then the UE 10 may apply the second set of parameters, or if the UE 10 supports LP-WUS but not on any of F1, F2 or F3, then the UE 10 may apply the second set of parameters.The network node 12 may set the first set of parameters to prioritize the frequencies in reversed order compared to the second set of parameters. E.g. the first set may have F1 > F2 > F3 while the second set has F3 > F2 > F1. Thus, the load may be more directed and controlled towards frequencies based on support of LP-WUS feature.

[0115] In some embodiments, the UE 10 does not follow the configured absolute priorities of the frequencies or cells, such as CellReselectionPriority, but considers the priorities of a set of frequencies or a list of frequencies in a priority order to be conditional depending on which frequencies the UE 10 supports the power saving feature, e.g. LP-WUS. For example, if subset of the frequencies included in the first set or list of parameters are also included in the second set of parameters, the network node 12 may provide only one set or list and the UE 10 chooses the parameter or parameters according to on which frequencies the UE 10 supports LP-WUS. In this case, if the order of the priority of the frequencies is, for example, F1 > F2 > F3, but the UE 10 supports LP-WUS only on frequencies F2 and F3, the UE may skip or avoid the first frequency F1 and applies frequency F2 if that is available, and F3 thereafter. In an example realization, this may be achieved by using a new offset value when the UE 10 calculates which frequency it selects. The offset may deprioritize the priority value of a particular frequency e.g., instead of a frequency, similar offset may be applied when UE 10 chooses the cell during cell reselection in the calculation of the selection criterion. For example, if the UE 10 does not support LP-WUS on some frequency, the UE 10 may apply a e.g., large negative offset to the frequency priority in the calculation or evaluation so that the particular frequency is deprioritized when the UE 10 selects the frequency to use.

[0116] In an example embodiment, an inter-frequency list may be introduced in system information, e.g., SIB4, which may be only used by UEs that support and use LP-WUS, without absolute priorities assigned. The UE 10 may select randomly a frequency from the list that the UE 10 supports and tries to find a suitable cell on the frequency. If the UE 10 does not find a suitable cell on the selected frequency, then the UE 10 may select another frequency randomly from the list and / or the like. As long as the UE 10 uses LP-WUS to monitor Paging, the UE 10 may consider the selected frequency supporting LP-WUS as the highest priority frequency. When the UE 10 no longer monitors LP-WUS, the UE 10 may consider the frequency to have the lowest priority for Txxx minutes. During this time, such as Txxx minutes, the UE 10 may likely find a higher priority frequency and may re-select from the LP-WUS frequency.

[0117] In an example embodiment, the list of LP-WUS frequencies may not be provided in system information, e.g., SIB4, but indicated via higher layer signalling such as service announcement and USD with MBS broadcast.

[0118] The UE 10 that indicated to support LP-WUS in UE capability, being an example of the support indication, may be redirected to an LP-WUS frequency in RRCRelease, and may be indicated that the UE 10 may consider this frequency of the highest priority as long as the UE 10 ismonitoring LP-WUS for Paging on that frequency. In case the LP-WUS frequency or frequencies are congested, the network node 12 may decide not to provide the redirection information.

[0119] The network node 12 may indicate in the RRCRelease to the UE 10 supporting LP-WUS that the UE 10 is not allowed to use the LP-WUS frequency information provided in broadcast system information, e.g., SIB4, until the UE 10 returns to connected or for some time, e.g., when the LP-WUS frequency is congested.

[0120] The UE 10 may signal in which frequency bands and / or frequencies the UE 10 supports LP-WUS, e.g. in Low band only. The network node 12 may collect this information from all the UEs that support LP-WUS and use this collected information to decide on which one or more frequencies to support LP-WUS.

[0121] The UE 10 may only signal to support LP-WUS, when the UE 10 intends to use LP-WUS to monitor Paging.

[0122] When the UE 10 is camped on a frequency where LP-WUS is supported, but the UE 10 is e.g., stationary outside LP-WUS coverage, then the UE 10 may not consider the LP-WUS frequency to have the highest priority.

[0123] When the LP-WUS frequency is congested, the network node 12 may configure frequencies that are not congested with a higher absolute priority in the system information, or configure a higher absolute priority for those frequencies in the RRCRelease for UEs that do not support LP-WUS or redirect UEs that do not support LP-WUS to a frequency that is not congested.

[0124] Fig.6 is a block diagram depicting the UE 10 for handling communication in the wireless communication network 1 according to embodiments herein.

[0125] The UE 10 may comprise processing circuitry 601 , e.g. one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.

[0126] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 601 may be configured to signal the support indication indicating for which one or more frequency bands and / or frequencies the UE 10 supports the LP-WUS feature, for example, for which bands and / or frequencies the UE 10 supports LP-WUS, e.g. in Low band only. The network node 12 may collect this information from all the UEs that support LP-WUS and use this information to decide on which frequencies to support LP-WUS. The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 601 may be configured to signal that the UE 10 supports the LP-WUS feature, only when the UE 10 intends to use LP-WUS to monitor Paging.

[0127] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 601 may be configured to receive the indication, such as configuration data, from the network node 12. The indication may indicate the one or more frequencies supporting a LP-WUS-feature, such as support of using MR and / or LR. The indication may be used to configure the UE 10 to perform the methods herein.

[0128] The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 601 is configured to perform the selection procedure of a frequency for communication. The selection procedure is based on support of a LP-WUS-feature of the frequency, such as support of using MR and / or LR. The selection procedure may be a cell reselection procedure. The UE 10 and / or the processing circuitry 601 may be configured to perform the selection procedure by using the first set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection, or reselection, for UEs not supporting the LP-WUS-feature, and / or by using the second set of parameters for performing a cell and / or frequency selection, or reselection, for UEs supporting the LP-WUS-feature, or vice versa. Thus, the selection procedure may use the first set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection and / or reselection for UEs not supporting a LP-WUS-feature, and the second set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection or reselection for UEs supporting a LP-WUS-feature. The one or more parameters in the first set and / or second set may comprise a frequency priority.

[0129] The first set of parameters may be intended to be applied by UEs that are adapted to apply the power saving feature, and the second set of parameters is intended for other UEs.

[0130] The UE 10 may comprise a memory 605. The memory 605 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, support information, indications, PO, WO, WUS, resource information, configuration, SI, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. Furthermore, the UE 10 may comprise a communication interface 606 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas. The UE 10 may comprise a WUR and a MR.

[0131] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the UE 10 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 607 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e. , software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the UE 10. The computer program product 607 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 608, e.g., a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 608, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the UE 10. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose the UE 10 for handling communication in a communication network, wherein the UE 10 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said UE 10 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0132] Fig.7 is a block diagram depicting the network node 12 for handling communication in the wireless communication network 1 according to embodiments herein.

[0133] The network node 12 may comprise processing circuitry 701 , e.g. one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.The network node 12 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to receive the support indication indicating for which one or more frequency bands and / or frequencies the UE 10 supports the LP-WUS feature, e.g. in Low band only. The network node 12 may collect the support indication from, one or more, all, the UEs that support the LP-WUS feature.

[0134] The network node 12 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to use collected support indication or indications to decide on which one or more frequencies to support the LP-WUS feature.

[0135] The network node 12 and / or the processing circuitry 701 is configured to configure the UE 10 with the indication indicating one or more frequencies supporting a LP-WUS-feature, such as support of using MR and / or LR. The UE 10 may be configured with the first set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection, or reselection, for UEs not supporting the LP-WUS-feature, and the second set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection, or reselection, for UEs supporting the LP-WUS-feature. The one or more parameters in the first set and / or second set may comprise the frequency priority. The network node 12 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to transmit a list of frequencies supporting the LP-WUS-feature. Alternatively, the first set of parameters may be intended to be applied by UEs that are adapted to apply a power saving feature, and the second set of parameters may be intended for other UEs.

[0136] The network node 12 and / or the processing circuitry 701 may be configured to transmit a paging indication, such as a paging message, in one or more POs.

[0137] The network node 12 may comprise a memory 705. The memory 705 comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as data packets, support information, list of frequencies, indications, PO, WO, WUS, resource information, configuration, SI, events and applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar.

[0138] Furthermore, the network node 12 may comprise a communication interface 706 such as comprising a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver and / or one or more antennas.

[0139] The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the network node 12 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 707 or a computer program, comprising instructions, i.e. , software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the network node 12. The computer program product 707 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 708, e.g., a disc, a universal serial bus (USB) stick or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 708, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the network node 12. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a transitory or a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. Thus, embodiments herein may disclose thenetwork node 12 for handling communication in a communication network, wherein the network node 12 comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said network node 12 is operative to perform any of the methods herein.

[0140] In some embodiments a more general term “network node” is used and it can correspond to any type of radio-network node or any network node, which communicates with a UE and / or with another network node.

[0141] In some embodiments the non-limiting term wireless device or user equipment (UE) is used and it refers to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and / or with another wireless device in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, device to device (D2D) UE, proximity capable UE (aka ProSe UE), loT capable device, machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles etc.

[0142] Embodiments are applicable to any RAT or multi-RAT systems, where the wireless device receives and / or transmit signals (e.g. data) e.g. NR, Wi-Fi, 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.

[0143] In some embodiments a more general term “network node” is used and it can correspond to any type of radio network node or any network node, which communicates with a wireless device and / or with another network node. Examples of network nodes are NodeB, Master eNB, Secondary eNB, a network node belonging to Master cell group (MCG) or Secondary Cell Group (SCG), base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Remote Radio Head (RRH), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node e.g. Mobility Switching Centre (MSC), Mobile Management Entity (MME) etc., Operation and Maintenance (O&M), Operation Support System (OSS), Self-Organizing Network (SON), positioning node e.g. Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centre (E-SMLC), Minimizing Drive Test (MDT), etc.

[0144] In some embodiments, the non-limiting term wireless device or user equipment (UE) is used and it 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, proximity capable UE (aka ProSe UE), machine type UE or UEcapable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, PDA, PAD, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles etc.

[0145] The embodiments are described for 5G. However the embodiments are applicable to any RAT or multi-RAT systems, where the UE receives and / or transmit signals (e.g. data) e.g. LTE, LTE FDD / TDD, WCDMA / HSPA, GSM / GERAN, Wi Fi, WLAN, CDMA2000 etc.

[0146] As will be readily understood by those familiar with communications design, functions means or modules may be implemented using digital logic and / or one or more microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other digital hardware. In some embodiments, several or all of the various functions may be implemented together, such as in a single application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or in two or more separate devices with appropriate hardware and / or software interfaces between them. Several of the functions may be implemented on a processor shared with other functional components of a wireless device or network node, for example.

[0147] Alternatively, several of the functional elements of the processing means discussed may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware, while others are provided with hardware for executing software, in association with the appropriate software or firmware. Thus, the term “processor” or “controller” as used herein does not exclusively refer to hardware capable of executing software and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, read-only memory (ROM) for storing software, random-access memory for storing software and / or program or application data, and non-volatile memory. Other hardware, conventional and / or custom, may also be included. Designers of communications devices will appreciate the cost, performance, and maintenance trade-offs inherent in these design choices.

[0148] Fig.8 shows an example of a communication system 15100 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0149] In the example, the communication system 15100 includes a telecommunications network 15102 that includes an access network 15104, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 15106, which includes one or more core network nodes 15108. The access network 15104 includes one or more access network nodes or base stations of various types, access network nodes 15110A and 15110B are depicted (which may be collectively referred to as network nodes 15110 or network node 12), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points (APs). Some embodiments of the access network 15104 may include more than one access network technology. The network nodes 15110 of access network 15104 facilitate direct or indirect connection of wireless devices, also referred to as user equipments (UEs), such as by connecting UEs 15112A, 15112B, 15112C, and 15112D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 15112 or UE 10) to the core network 15106 over one or more wireless connections.

[0150] Moreover, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will beunderstood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunications network 15102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a network node in the telecommunications network 15102 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other network nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any network node in the telecommunications network 15102, including one or more access network nodes 15110 and / or core network nodes 15108.

[0151] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). An ORAN network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1 , F1 , W1 , E1 , E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN network node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies.

[0152] The network nodes 15110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of one or more UEs 15112 to the core network 15106 over one or more wireless connections. Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 15100 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 15100 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0153] The UEs 15112 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 15110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 15108, 15110 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly (e.g., via other devicesof telecommunications network 15102) with the UEs 15112 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunications network 15102 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunications network 15102. More specifically, UEs 15112 may send messages, data, and / or other signals to network nodes 15108, 15110 or other elements of the telecommunications network 15102 by transmitting such signals to the relevant device directly without the signals passing through any intervening devices or by transmitting such signals to the relevant device indirectly through an intervening device (or multiple intervening devices) that then transmit the signal to the relevant device. Similarly, network nodes 15108, 15110 may send messages, data, and other signals to UEs 151122, other network nodes 15108, 15110, and other devices in telecommunications network 15102 directly or indirectly. As one specific example, a core network node 108 may transmit a particular message to a UE 15112 by transmitting the message to an access network node 15110 that will then transmit the message to the intended UE 15112.

[0154] Similarly, a core network node 108 may receive a particular message from a UE 15112 by receiving the message from an access network node 15110 that itself received the message from the UE 15112.

[0155] In the depicted example, the core network 15106 connects elements of the access network 15104 (e.g., one or more of the network nodes 15110) to one or more host computing systems, such as host 15116. 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 15106 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 15108) of various types, one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 15108.

[0156] Network nodes 15108 are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, access network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 15108. Example core network nodes provide functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier Deconcealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0157] The host 15116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 15104 and / or the telecommunications network 15102. The host 15116 may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 15116 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.

[0158] As a whole, the communication system 15100 of Fig. 8 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 15100 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 (Wi-Fi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (Wi-Max), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, Li-Fi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox. Moreover, the communication system 15100 may be configured to support multiple different standards, protocols, or other rule sets, with individual components supporting all of the relevant rule sets or with different components or sub-systems within the communication system 15100 supporting different standards, protocols, or rule sets.

[0159] As one example, in certain embodiments, access network 15104 may contain some access network nodes 15110 that support 3GPP radio access technologies (RAT), such as LTE or NR, while other access network nodes 15110 support (or the same access network nodes 15110 additionally support) non-3GPP RATs, such as Wi-Fi or a proprietary RAT. As another example, telecommunications network 15102 may support multiple generations of related communication standards (e.g., 4G and 5G 3GPP communication standards) and, as a result, may include an access network 15104 and / or a core network 15106 that supports multiple different standard generations or may include multiple access networks 15104 and / or multiple core networks 106 with individual networks 15104, 15106 supporting different standard generations.

[0160] Telecommunications network 15102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunications network 15102. For example, the telecommunications network 15102 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.

[0161] In some examples, one or more of the UEs 15112 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 15104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 15104. 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).

[0162] In the example, the hub 15114 communicates with the access network 15104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 15112C and / or 15112D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 15110B). In some examples, the hub 15114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 15114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 15106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 15114 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 15110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 15114.

[0163] As another example, the hub 15114 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 15114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 15114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 15114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 15114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0164] The hub 15114 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 15110B. The hub 15114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 15114 and UEs (e.g., UE 15112C and / or 15112D), and between the hub 15114 and the core network 15106. In other examples, the hub 15114 is connected to the core network 15106 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 15114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 15104 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 15110 while still connected via the hub 15114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 15114 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 15110B. In other embodiments, the hub 15114 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 15110B, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0165] Fig.9 is another example of a communication system 15200 according to some embodiments. As used herein, the communication system 15200 includes multiple access points(APs) 15210 (with four exemplary APs 15210A, 1521 OB, 1521 OC, and 1521 OD being depicted) and multiple wireless devices, referred to in the context of communication system 15200 as stations (STAs) 15212 (referred to individually as STA 15212A, STA 15212B, STA 15212C, STA 15212D, and STA 15212E). STA 15212A is served by AP 15210A in a first basic service set (BSS) 15220A. STA 1521 OB and STA 1521 OC are served by AP 1521 OB in a second BSS, BSS 15220B. STA 15212D is served by AP 1521 OC in a third BSS, BSS 15220C. STA 15212E is served by AP 15210D in a fourth BSS, BSS 15220D. Stations 15212 may be non-AP STAs and correspond to various kinds of wireless devices, for example, user terminals, such as mobile or stationary computing devices like smartphones, laptop computers, desktop computers, tablet computers, gaming devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs) for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), or the like. Further, stations 15212 could, for example, correspond to other kinds of equipment like smart home devices, printers, multimedia devices, data storage devices, or the like.

[0166] Each of STAs 15212 may connect through a radio link to one of APs 15210. For example, depending on location or channel conditions experienced by a given STA 15212, the STA may select an appropriate AP and BSS for establishing the radio link. The radio link may be based on one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) carriers from a frequency spectrum that is shared on the basis of a contention-based mechanism, e.g., an unlicensed or license exempt band like 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band, the 5 GHz band, the 6 GHz band, or the 60 GHz band.

[0167] Each AP 15210 may provide data connectivity to STAs 15212 connected to a particular AP 15210. As illustrated, APs 15210 may be connected to a data network 15230. In this way, APs 15210 may also provide data connectivity between STAs 15212 and other entities, e.g., to one or more servers, service providers, data sources, data sinks, user terminals, or the like. Accordingly, the radio link established between a given STA 15212 and its serving AP 15210 may be used for providing various kinds of services to STA 15212, e.g., a voice service, a multimedia service, or other data service. Such services may be based on applications that are executed on STA 15212 and / or on a device linked to STA 15212. By way of example, Fig. 9 illustrates an application service platform 15232 provided in data network 15230. The application(s) executed on STA 15212 and / or on one or more other devices linked to STA 15212 may use the radio link for data communication with one or more other STA 15212 and / or the application service platform 15232, thereby enabling utilization of the corresponding service(s) at STA 15212.

[0168] Fig. 10 shows a wireless device 15300 being example of the UE 10, which may be configured to operate in communication system 15100 of Fig. 8 or in communication system 15200 of Fig. 9. The wireless device 15300 may be alternatively referred to as a UE 15300, like a UE 15112 within the context of communication system 15100, or as a station (STA) 15300 or as a nonaccess-point station (non-AP STA) 15300, like a STA 15212 within the context of the communication system 15200, in accordance with respective embodiments. As used herein, awireless device refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other wireless devices. Examples of a wireless device include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, and wireless terminal. Other examples include any type of UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0169] A wireless device 15300 may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, wireless device 15300 may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, wireless device 15300 may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, wireless device 15300 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).

[0170] In particular embodiments, wireless device 15300 includes processing circuitry 15302 that is operatively coupled via a bus 15304 to an input / output interface 15306, a power source 15308, a memory 15310, a communication interface 15312, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain embodiments of wireless device 15300 may include all or a subset of the components shown in Fig. 10. The level of integration between the components may vary from one embodiment of wireless device 15300 to another. In general, in a particular embodiment of wireless device 15300, processing circuitry 15302, input / output interface 15306, power source 15308, memory 15310, and communication interface 15312 may, in whole or in part, represent or include physical components common to or shared by one or more of the other elements of wireless device 15300. Further, certain embodiments of wireless devices 15300 may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0171] The processing circuitry 15302 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 15310. The processing circuitry 15302 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 15302 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0172] In the example, the input / output interface 15306 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices.

[0173] 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 wireless device 15300. 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.

[0174] In some embodiments, the power source 15308 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used to supply power to circuitry or to charge an associated battery. The power source 15308 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 15308 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of wireless device 15300 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power source 15308 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to make accessible power suitable for the respective components of the wireless device 15300 to which power is supplied.

[0175] The memory 15310 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 15310 includes one or more programs 15314, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 15316. The memory 15310 may store, for use by wireless device 15300, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0176] The memory 15310 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 diskdrive, 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 IS IM , 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 15310 may allow wireless device 15300 to access instructions, programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 15310, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0177] The processing circuitry 15302 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network via or using the communication interface 15312. The communication interface 15312 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 15322. The communication interface 15312 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another wireless device or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 15318 and / or a receiver 15320 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 15318 and receiver 15320 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 15322) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0178] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 15312 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0179] In particular embodiments, wireless device 15300 may provide an output of data captured via a sensor, through its communication interface 15312, via a wireless connection to a network node, and / or in any appropriate manner. Data captured by sensors of a wireless device 15300 canbe communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another wireless device 15300. In particular embodiments, such output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0180] As another example, wireless device 15300 comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, wireless device 15300 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.

[0181] Wireless device 15300, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. In particular embodiments, wireless device 15300 represents an loT device that comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the example embodiment of wireless device 15300 shown in Fig. 10.

[0182] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, wireless device 15300 may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another wireless device and / or a network node.

[0183] Wireless device 15300 may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, wireless device 15300 may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, wireless device 15300 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.In practice, any number of wireless devices 15300 may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first wireless device 15300 might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second wireless device 15300 that is a remote controller operating the drone. When a user makes changes from the remote controller, the first wireless device 15300 may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second wireless device 15300 can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, wireless device 15300 might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0184] Fig. 11 shows a network node 15400 in accordance with some embodiments being examples of the network node 12. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunications network. In accordance with respective embodiments, network node 15400 may be configured to operate in communication system 15100 of Fig. 8, like network nodes 15108 or 15110, or in communication system 15200 of Fig. 9, like an AP 15210 or a station 15212. 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., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0185] Network nodes 15400 may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. Network node 15400 may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. Network nodes 15400 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).

[0186] Other examples of network nodes 15400 include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, SelfOrganizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).In particular embodiments, network node 15400 includes a processing circuitry 15402, a memory 15404, a communication interface 15406, and a power source 15408. In general, in a particular embodiment of network node 15400, processing circuitry 15402, memory 15404, communication interface 15406, and power source 15408 may, in whole or in part, represent or include physical components common to or shared by one or more of the other elements of network node 15400.

[0187] The network node 15400 may be composed of multiple distinct network entities (e.g., a NodeB entity and a RNC entity, or a BTS entity and a BSC entity, etc.), which may each have or utilize their own respective physical components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 15400 comprises multiple such entities (e.g., BTS and BSC), one or more of the separate entities may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 15400 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memories 15404 or portions of memory 15404 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 15410 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 15400 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 15400, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 15400.

[0188] The processing circuitry 15402 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other components, such as the memory 15404, to provide network node 15400 functionality.

[0189] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 15402 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 15402 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 15412 and baseband processing circuitry 15414. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 15412 and the baseband processing circuitry 15414 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 15412 and baseband processing circuitry 15414 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0190] The memory 15404 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mountedmemory, 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 nonvolatile, 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 15402. The memory 15404 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 15402 and utilized by the network node 15400. The memory 15404 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 15402 and / or any data received via the communication interface 15406. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 15402 and memory 15404 is integrated.

[0191] The communication interface 15406 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data with UEs, other network nodes, and / or any other network equipment. In the illustrated embodiment, communication interface 15406 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 15416 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. In particular embodiments, network node 15300 may be capable of wireless communication and communication interface 15406 may also include radio front-end circuitry 15418 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, an antenna 15410. Particular embodiments of radio front-end circuitry 15418 include filter(s) 15420 and amplifier(s) 15422. The radio front-end circuitry 15418 may be connected to an antenna 15410 and processing circuitry 15402. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 15410 and processing circuitry 15402. The radio front-end circuitry 15418 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 15418 may convert the digital data into a radio signal(s) having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 15420 and / or amplifiers 15422. The radio signal(s) may then be transmitted via the antenna 15410. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 15410 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 15418. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 15402. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0192] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 15400 may be capable of wireless communication but does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 15418, instead, the processing circuitry 15402 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 15410. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 15412 is part of the communication interface 15406. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 15406 includes one or more ports or terminals 15416, the radio front-end circuitry 15418, and the RF transceiver circuitry 15412, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface15406 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 15414, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0193] The antenna 15410 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 15410 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 15418 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 15410 is separate from the network node 15400 and connectable to the network node 15400 through one or more interfaces or ports.

[0194] The antenna 15410, communication interface 15406, and / or the processing circuitry 15402 may be configured to perform some or all of the receiving operations and / or obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node 15400. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 15410, the communication interface 15406, and / or the processing circuitry 15402 may be configured to perform some or all of the transmitting or sending operations described herein as being performed by the network node 15400. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0195] The power source 15408 provides power to the various components of network node 15400 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 15408 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 15400 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 15400 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 15408. As a further example, the power source 15408 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.

[0196] Embodiments of the network node 15400 may include additional components beyond those shown in Fig. 11 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 15400 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 15400 and to allow output of information from the network node 15400. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 15400.

[0197] Fig. 12 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 15500 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 appliedto 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 15500 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as an access network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which a virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 15500 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.

[0198] Applications 15502 (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.

[0199] Hardware 15504 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 15506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VM 15508A and VM 15508B (which may be collectively referred to as VMs 15508), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 15506 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to one or more of the VMs 15508.

[0200] The VMs 15508 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by virtualization layer 15506. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 15502 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 15508, 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.

[0201] In the context of NFV, each of the VMs 15508 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 15508, and that part of hardware 15504 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 of the VMs 15508 on top of the hardware 15504 and corresponds to an application 15502.Hardware 15504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 15504 may implement some functions via virtualization.

[0202] Alternatively, hardware 15504 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 15510, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 15502. In some embodiments, hardware 15504 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 15512 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0203] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0204] 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, theprocessing 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.

[0205] The embodiments herein are not limited to the above described preferred embodiments. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used.

[0206] It will be appreciated that the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings represent non-limiting examples of the methods and apparatus taught herein. As such, the apparatus and techniques taught herein are not limited by the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Instead, the embodiments herein are limited only by the following claims and their legal equivalents.

Claims

CLAIMS1 . A method performed by a User Equipment, UE (10) for handling communication in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:- performing (403) a selection procedure of a frequency for communication, which selection procedure is based on support of a Low Power Wake Up Signal, LP-WUS, feature of the frequency.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein performing (403) the selection procedure comprises using a first set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection, or reselection, for UEs not supporting the LP-WUS-feature, and / or using a second set of parameters for performing a cell and / or frequency selection, or reselection, for UEs supporting the LP-WUS-feature.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein one or more parameters in the first set and / or second set comprises a frequency priority.

4. The method of any of the claims 1-3, wherein a first set of parameters is intended to be applied by UEs that are adapted to apply a power saving feature and a second set of parameters is intended for other UEs.

5. The method of any of the claims 1-4, further comprising:- signaling (401 ), to a network node (12), a support indication indicating for which one or more frequency bands and / or frequencies the UE (10) supports the LP-WUS feature.

6. The method of any of the claims 1-5, further comprising:receiving (402) an indication from a network node (12), wherein the indication indicates the one or more frequencies supporting the LP-WUS-feature, and / or wherein the indication is used to configure the UE (10) to perform the methods herein.

7. The method of any of the claims 1-6, wherein the selection procedure is a cell reselection procedure.

8. The method of any of the claims 1-7, wherein the UE (10) signals that the UE (10) supports the LP-WUS feature only when the UE (10) intends to use LP-WUS to monitor paging.

9. A method performed by a network node (12) for handling communication in a wireless communication network, the method comprising:- configuring (503) a User Equipment, UE, (10) with an indication indicating one or more frequencies supporting a Low Power Wake Up Signal, LP-WUS, feature.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:receiving (501 ), from the UE (10), a support indication indicating for which one or more frequency bands and / or frequencies the UE (10) supports the LP-WUS feature, and collecting the support indication from, one or more, or all, of the UEs that support the LP- WUS feature.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:using (502) the collected support indication to decide on which one or more frequencies to support the LP-WUS feature.

12. The method of any of the claims 9-11, wherein configuring (503) the UE (10) comprises transmitting a list of frequencies supporting the LP-WUS-feature.

13. The method of any of the claims 9-12, wherein configuring (503) the UE (10) comprises configuring the UE (10) with a first set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection, or reselection, for UEs not supporting the LP-WUS-feature, and a second set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection, or reselection, for UEs supporting the LP-WUS-feature.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein one or more parameters in the first set and / or second set comprises a frequency priority.

15. The method of any of the claims 9-14, wherein a first set of parameters is intended to be applied by UEs that are adapted to apply a power saving feature and a second set of parameters is intended for other UEs.

16. A computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1-15, as performed by the UE (10) and the network node (12), respectively.

17. A computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the claims 1 -15, as performed by the UE (10)and the network node (12), respectively.

18. A User Equipment, UE (10) for handling communication in a wireless communication network, wherein the UE (10) is configured to:perform a selection procedure of a frequency for communication, which selection procedure is based on support of a Low Power Wake Up Signal, LP-WUS, feature of the frequency.

19. The UE (10) of claim 18, wherein the UE (10) is configured to perform the selection procedure by using a first set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection, or reselection, for UEs not supporting the LP-WUS-feature, and / or by using a second set of parameters for performing a cell and / or frequency selection, or reselection, for UEs supporting the LP-WUS-feature.

20. The UE (10) of claim 19, wherein one or more parameters in the first set and / or second set comprises a frequency priority.

21. The UE (10) of any of the claims 18-20, wherein a first set of parameters is intended to be applied by UEs that are adapted to apply a power saving feature and a second set of parameters is intended for other UEs.

22. The UE (10) of any of the claims 18-21 , wherein the UE (10) is configured to:signal a support indication indicating for which one or more frequency bands and / or frequencies the UE (10) supports the LP-WUS feature.

23. The UE (10) of any of the claims 18-22, wherein the UE (10) is configured to:receive an indication from a network node (12), wherein the indication indicates the one or more frequencies supporting the LP-WUS-feature, and / or wherein the indication is used to configure the UE (10) to perform the methods herein.

24. The UE (10) of any of the claims 18-23, wherein the selection procedure is a cell reselection procedure.

25. The UE (10) of any of the claims 18-24, wherein the UE (10) signals that the UE (10) supports the LP-WUS feature only when the UE (10) intends to use LP-WUS to monitor paging.

26. A network node (12) for handling communication in a wireless communication network, wherein the network node (12) is configured to:configure a User Equipment, UE, (10) with an indication indicating one or morefrequencies supporting a Low Power Wake Up Signal, LP-WUS, feature.

27. The network node (12) of claim 26, wherein the network node (12) is configured to:receive a support indication indicating for which one or more frequency bands and / or frequencies the UE (10) supports the LP-WUS feature, and collect the support indication from, one or more, or all, of the UEs that support the LP-WUS feature.

28. The network node (12) of claim 27, wherein the network node (12) is configured to:use the collected support indication to decide on which one or more frequencies to support the LP-WUS feature.

29. The network node (12) of any of the claims 26-28, wherein the network node (12) is configured to configure the UE (10) by transmitting a list of frequencies supporting the LP-WUS-feature.

30. The network node (12) of any of the claims 26-29, wherein the network node (12) is configured to configure the UE (10) by configuring the UE (10) with a first set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection, or reselection, for UEs not supporting the LP-WUS-feature, and a second set of parameters for performing cell and / or frequency selection, or reselection, for UEs supporting the LP-WUS-feature.

31. The network node (12) of claim 30, wherein one or more parameters in the first set and / or second set comprises a frequency priority.

32. The network node (12) of any of the claims 26-31, wherein a first set of parameters is intended to be applied by UEs that are adapted to apply a power saving feature and a second set of parameters is intended for other UEs.

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