Network node and methods therein in a wireless communications network

Abstract

A method performed by a network node is provided. The method is for handling a first radio network node under attack in a wireless communications network. The attack relates to disturbed synchronisation of signals between the first radio network node and satellite nodes in a satellite navigation system serving the first radio network node. The network node obtains (301) signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system received in a number of respective radio network nodes. The number of radio network nodes are served by the satellite navigation system. Based on analysing said measured signal properties, the network node identifies (302) the first radio network node as having disturbed synchronisation with satellites in the satellite navigation system and not being able to synchronize with the wireless communications network. The first radio network node is comprised in the number of radio network nodes. The network node identifies (303) a second radio network node as being synchronized with satellites in the satellite navigation system based on an analysis of said measured signal properties. The second radio network node is comprised in the number of radio network nodes. The network node predicts (304) signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system to be received by the first radio network node based on signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system received at the second radio network node. The network node provides (305) information of the predicted signal properties of the satellite navigation system to the first radio network node, thereby enabling the first radio network node to synchronize with the wireless communications network.

Description

[0001] NETWORK NODE AND METHODS THEREIN IN A WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS NETWORK

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Embodiments herein relate to a network node and methods therein. In some aspects, they relate to handling a handling a first radio network node under attack in a wireless communications network.

[0004] BACKGROUND

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

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

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

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

[0009] With the new radio technologies and network architectures used in 5G, synchronization in the RAN has become an essential requirement. Although the basic requirements have not become more stringent in 5G, there is still a significant need for precise time synchronization. Synchronization must be accurate and reliable in the design of telecommunication networks, and this is crucial for 4G, 5G, and beyond.

[0010] RANs focus on optimizing service performance and reliability, with synchronization at the heart of their solution. They employ various means for synchronization to map network use cases and services in order to meet timing accuracy, availability, and cost objectives. Most commercial 5G networks are based on Time Division Duplex (TDD) and avoid interference with traffic through time and phase alignment. Some features of radio coordination also require time synchronization in Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) networks.

[0011] The new network architectures call for new synchronization approaches, including Precision Time Protocol (PTP), and radio interface- based methods to achieve synchronization of distributed radio units in the evolved RAN architecture. Such anarchitecture decomposes the 5G NR RAN into different logical nodes: Centralized Unit (CU), Distributed Unit (DU), and Radio Unit (RU). The baseband function is split between the CU and DU.

[0012] 5G enables the support of applications like Critical loT and Industrial Automation loT services that demand time synchronization. While many applications will benefit from precise time synchronization, achieving very high levels of time accuracy across large areas could prove expensive. For services with special accuracy or availability demands, careful analysis should minimize costs.

[0013] For TDD synchronization and interference management, the critical instants are those of transition between transmission and reception provided via the over-the-air synchronization (OAS) method given in the publication by Ruffini, Stefano, et al. titled "5G synchronization requirements and solutions." Ericsson technology review 2021.1, pages 2-13. Guard periods, similar to the cyclic prefix, are used, and synchronization is generally accomplished by counting an integer number of symbols. The guard period length includes the air propagation time, sufficient transient time for the transmitter to change between predefined power levels, and enough time for both the UE and the base station to switch modes from transmit to receive and vice versa (TRX TX, TX TRX), along with an allowance for cell phase synchronization errors. In TDD systems, these are major concerns for maintaining effective synchronization and reducing potential interference. However, the independence of this solution from Global Navigation Satellite System, (GNSS)-based synchronization makes it sensitive and vulnerable in 5G bands to over-the-air wireless environments like jamming and interference.

[0014] Current Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)-based waveform techniques necessitate precise timing and frequency synchronization. However, PTP-based solutions are not cost-efficient, with deployment costs being prohibitively high. Additionally, Global Positioning System (GPS) or GNSS-based synchronization solutions are highly susceptible to jamming and interference attacks. In addition, over-the air synchronization solution [1] is still open for some cost-efficient improvements due to the dependencies of PTP to increase robustness and resilience against interference and jamming attacks in GNSS communications bands.

[0015] SUMMARYAn object of embodiments herein is to improve synchronization in a wireless communication network under attack.

[0016] According to an aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a method performed by a network node for handling a first radio network node under attack in a wireless communications network. The attack relates to disturbed synchronisation of signals between the first radio network node and satellite nodes in a satellite navigation system serving the first radio network node.

[0017] The network node obtains signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system received in a number of respective radio network nodes. The number of radio network nodes are served by the satellite navigation system.

[0018] Based on analysing said measured signal properties, the network node identifies the first radio network node as having disturbed synchronisation with satellites in the satellite navigation system and not being able to synchronize with the wireless communications network. The first radio network node is comprised in the number of radio network nodes.

[0019] The network node identifies a second radio network node as being synchronized with satellites in the satellite navigation system, based on an analysis of said measured signal properties. The second radio network node is comprised in the number of radio network nodes.

[0020] The network node predicts signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system to be received by the first radio network node based on signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system received at the second radio network node.

[0021] The network node provides information of the predicted signal properties of the satellite navigation system to the first radio network node, thereby enabling the first radio network node to synchronize with the wireless communications network.

[0022] According to another aspect of embodiments herein, the object is achieved by a network node. The network node is configured to handle a first radio network node under attack in a wireless communications network. The attack is adapted to relate to disturbed synchronisation of signals between the first radio network node and satellite nodes in a satellite navigation system serving the first radio network node. The network node is further being configured to:- Obtain signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system received in a number of respective radio network nodes, which number of radio network nodes are adapted to be served by the satellite navigation system,

[0023] - Based on analysing said measured signal properties, identify the first radio network node as having disturbed synchronisation with satellites in the satellite navigation system and not being able to synchronize with the wireless communications network, which first radio network node is adapted to be comprised in the number of radio network nodes,

[0024] - Identify a second radio network node as being synchronized with satellites in the satellite navigation system, based on an analysis of said measured signal properties, which second radio network node is adapted to be comprised in the number of radio network nodes,

[0025] - Predict signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system to be received by the first radio network node based on signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system received at the second radio network node,

[0026] - Provide information of the predicted signal properties of the satellite navigation system to the first radio network node, thereby enabling the first radio network node to synchronize with the wireless communications network.

[0027] Embodiments herein may provide a resilience to attacks, such as e.g. GNSS jamming attacks: The system ensures continuous operation and synchronization even when certain nodes are under attacks.

[0028] Embodiments herein may provide network stability. By maintaining synchronization, the network can avoid the disruptions typically caused by attacks, ensuring stable and reliable communication.

[0029] Embodiments herein may provide cost-efficiency. This method leverages existing infrastructure, such as e.g. 5G signaling and radio network nodes such as e.g. base station (BSs) without the need for additional expensive hardware.

[0030] Embodiments herein may provide scalability. The solution can be scaled across different regions and various network sizes, providing a robust defense mechanism against attacks.

[0031] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0032] Examples of embodiments herein are described in more detail with reference to attached drawings in which:Figure 1 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a communications network.

[0033] Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram depicting an example embodiment herein. Figure 3 is a flowchart depicting an embodiment of a method in a network node Figure 4 is a schematic block diagram depicting an example embodiment herein. Figure 5 is a schematic block diagram depicting an example embodiment herein. Figure 6 is a schematic block diagram depicting an example embodiment herein. Figure 7 is a schematic block diagram of embodiments of a network node.

[0034] Figure 8 schematically illustrates embodiments of a communication system.

[0035] Figure 9 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a UE.

[0036] Figure 10 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a network node.

[0037] Figure 11 is a generalized block diagram of embodiments of a virtualization environment.

[0038] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] Example of embodiments herein overcome the challenge of maintaining synchronization in wireless communication networks, such as e.g. 5G networks under attacks, such as e.g. GNSS jamming attacks. The attack may e.g. be one or more out of: a jamming attack, electromagnetic interference attack, and an interference attack. The proposed solution will provide a maintained synchronization in the attacked radio network nodes. This is accomplished by leveraging radio network nodes, such as. e.g. base stations (BSs), which are in the safe region, i.e. attack free, the system ensures continuous synchronization for radio network nodes experiencing attacks, such as e.g. GNSS jamming. This is achieved through over-the-air 5G signaling, where unaffected radio network nodes, e.g. base stations (BSs), relay GNSS information to a radio network node, e.g. a base station (BS) which is under an attack, such as e.g. an GNSS attack, maintaining network stability and performance.

[0040] Figure 1 is a schematic overview depicting a wireless communications network 100, wherein embodiments herein may be implemented. The wireless communications network 100 comprises one or more RANs, and one or more CNs. The wireless communications network 100 may use 5G NR but may further use a number of other different technologies, such as, 6G, Wi-Fi, Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced,Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), Global System for Mobile communications and / or enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution (GSM and / or EDGE) or Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), just to mention a few possible implementations.

[0041] Base stations such as the network node 110 operate in the RAN the wireless communications network 100. The network node 110 may be a transmission and reception point e.g. a radio access network node such as a base station, e.g. a radio base station such as a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNB, eNode B), an NR Node B (gNB), a base transceiver station, a radio remote unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), an access controller, or any other network unit capable of communicating with UEs, such as a UE 120, within radio coverage of the base station. The network node 110 may be a first radio network node 111 or a second radio network node 112, or a third radio network node 113 or a fourth radio network node 114.

[0042] The network node 110 may also be any other node operating in the wireless communications network 100, such as e.g. a UE or the network node 110 could be operating in other networks, such as e.g. mobile networks, Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks (VANETs)), or Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs)).

[0043] Figure 1 also depicts a satellite navigation system 105 comprising satellite nodes 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136. The satellite navigation system 105 serves the network node 110, such as e.g. radio network nodes 111, 112, 113, 114.

[0044] One or more UEs operate in the communication network 100, such as e.g. the UE 120. The UE 120 may e.g. be 5G-RG, an a 5G device, a remote UE, a wireless device, an NR device, a mobile station, a wireless terminal, an NB-loT device, an MTC device, an eMTC device, a CAT-M device, a WiFi device, an LTE device and an a non-access point (non-AP) STA, a STA, that communicates via a base station such as e.g. a base station 105, one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. a RAN, to one or more core network (CN) nodes, in one or more CNs, It should be understood by the skilled in the art that “UE” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, client, mobile client, IMS client, wireless communication terminal, user equipment, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a car or any small base station communicating within a cell.Methods according to embodiments herein are performed by the network node 110, e.g., the first radio network node 111. These nodes may be Distributed Nodes (DN)s and functionality, e.g. comprised in a cloud 170 as shown in Figure 4.

[0045] In the examples below, the first radio network node 111 mentioned earlier in the application is referred to as a victim radio network node, or a victim base station or an attacked base station.

[0046] In the examples below, the second radio network node 112 mentioned earlier in the application is referred to as a support radio network node, or a support base station (BS) or an attack-free base station or a healthy base station (BS).

[0047] Figure 2 depicts a brief summary of an example of the solution comprising the actions A1-A6.

[0048] The following actions A1-A6 may be used to perform embodiments of herein:

[0049] A1 - Calculate Metrics: Compute Time of Arrival (ToA), Direction of Arrival (DoA), Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), and Carrier Frequency Offset (CFO) at the victim BS.

[0050] A2 - Determine Jammer Availability: Compute the weighted average of a specific threshold to determine the availability of a GNSS jammer.

[0051] A3 - Identify Supporters: Calculate the Euclidean distance between attack-free BSs, healthy BSs, and an attacked BS, victim BS, for the OAS

[0052] A4 - Loss Function Calculation: Calculate the loss functions between GNSS measurements and regression analysis of GNSS estimations.

[0053] A5 - Run Optimizer: Use the metrics from A1 in an optimization process in the presence of the GNSS jammer.

[0054] A6 - Update GNSS and Transmit Information: Update the GNSS information with the aid of the OAS.

[0055] Example embodiments herein involve maintaining accurate GNSS synchronization in 5G networks under attacks such as e.g. GNSS jamming attacks by leveraging OAS. Some example actions, also referred to as steps, may comprise:

[0056] 1. A method identifying victim BS, GNSS attacked BS, and supporter BSs based on- a. Predetermined threshold on weighted average of received signal features. - b. Determining attacked-free (supporter nodes) to calculate estimated GNSS information using 12 norms, which represent the Euclidean distance, involves minimizing the sum of squared differences between observed values and the estimated values to ensure the most accurate and stable solution.

[0057] 2. A method to serve GNSS information from attack free BS(s) (belongs in the safe region) to attacked BS (victim BS)

[0058] - a. Identify and measure the distance between attack free BS(s) and the victim BS. - b. GNSS regression method based on time of arrival, direction of arrival, received signal received indicator and carrier frequency offset observation.

[0059] This process ensures robust GNSS synchronization even under adverse conditions caused by GNSS jamming.

[0060] A number of embodiments will now be described, some of which may be seen as alternatives, while some may be used in combination.

[0061] A method according to embodiments herein will first be described as seen from the view of the network node 110, 111 together with Figure 3.

[0062] Figure 3 shows exemplary embodiments of a method performed by the network node 110, 111. The method is for handling a first, e.g., a victim, radio network node 111 under attack in a wireless communications network 100. The attack relates to disturbed synchronization of signals between the first radio network node 111 and satellite nodes 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136 in a satellite navigation system 105 serving the first radio network node 111.

[0063] In some embodiments, the attack relates to any one or more out of: a jamming attack, electromagnetic interference attack, and an interference attack, of signals between the first radio network node 111 and the satellite nodes 131, 132, 133, 134.

[0064] The method comprises the following actions, which actions may be taken in any suitable order.

[0065] Action 301

[0066] The network node 110, 111 obtains signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system 105 received in a number of respective radio network nodes 111, 112,113, 114. The number of radio network nodes 111, 112, 113, 114 are served by the satellite navigation system 105.

[0067] The signal properties may e.g. be obtained from outside by the network node 111 or the network node 111 or other any network nodes such as UEs may calculate them and / or measure them by itself by using the characteristics of the signals come from those nodes.

[0068] Action 302

[0069] Based on analyzing said measured signal properties, the network node 110, 111 identifies the first, e.g. victim, radio network node 111 as having disturbed synchronization with satellites 131, 132, 133 in the satellite navigation system 105 and not being able to synchronize with the wireless communications network 100. The first e.g. victim, radio network node 111 is comprised in the number of radio network nodes 111, 112, 113, 114, Disturbed synchronization when used herein means e.g. the GNSS signals.

[0070] Action 303

[0071] The network node 110, 111 identifies a second, e.g. a support, radio network node 113, 114 as being synchronized with satellites 134, 135, 136 in the satellite navigation system 105, based on an analysis of said measured signal properties. The second radio network node 113, 114 is comprised in the number of radio network nodes 111, 112, 113, 114,

[0072] In some embodiments, the identifying of the second, e.g. support, radio network node 113, 114, further comprises:

[0073] - Identifying a radio network node among radio network nodes identified as potential second radio network nodes 113, 114 being synchronized with the satellite navigation system 105, and being closest to the first radio network node 111, and

[0074] - choosing this radio network node as the second e.g. support, radio network node 113, 114.

[0075] This is an advantage since the network node 111 thereby quickly identifies the nearest or best radio network node, such as the radio network node 112 which is not under attack and can provide correct signal properties to the attacked radio network node

[0076] In some embodiments, the analysis of said signal properties comprises: calculating a threshold value for any one or more out of:

[0077] - Time of Arrival, ToA,- Direction of Arrival, DoA,

[0078] - Received Signal Strength Indicator, RSSI, and

[0079] - Carrier Frequency Offset, CFO, Angle of Arrival, AoA, and

[0080] comparing the threshold value with a corresponding value of the signal received in the radio network nodes 111, 112, 113, 114 from the satellite navigation system 105, to identify the first e.g. support, radio network node 111.

[0081] Action 304

[0082] The network node 110, 111 predicts signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system 105 to be received by the first, e.g. victim, radio network node 111 based on signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system 105 received at the second radio network node 113, 114.

[0083] Predicted signal properties when used herein, may e.g., comprise GNSS information.

[0084] The predicting is achieved by the network node 110 by using the model that is estimated utilizing Artificial intelligence, Al and / or Machine Learning, ML, or the mathematical model based on the features obtained from the received signals.

[0085] Action 305

[0086] The network node 110, 111 provides information of the predicted signal properties of the satellite navigation system 105 to the first, e.g. victim, radio network node 111, thereby enabling the first radio network node 111 to synchronize with the wireless communications network 100.

[0087] This is an advantage since the radio network node that is under attack, e.g. the first radio network node 111, can use this information to be able to synchronize back with the network.

[0088] In this way by using the methods above, robust network synchronization, such as e.g. GNSS synchronization is ensured even under adverse conditions caused by an attack such as e.g. GNSS jamming.

[0089] Synchronization actions may be made cost efficiently due to using existing infrastructure, such as e.g. 5G signaling and radio network nodes and scalable due to being independent from any additional hardware component.Embodiments herein such as the embodiments mentioned above will now be further described and exemplified. The text below is applicable to and may be combined with any suitable embodiment described above.

[0090] Embodiments herein provide a resilient synchronization mechanism for the communications network 100, such as a 5G networks, under GNSS jamming attacks by utilizing attack free BSs to transmit GNSS information to nodes which are under jamming attack via over-the-air 5G signaling. An example of a main communication scenario is shown in Figure 4. This collaborative approach ensures continuous synchronization, leveraging attacked-free BS nodes to support those under attack, while employing an optimized signal transmission model to minimize synchronization error. The solution is both cost-effective and scalable, as it utilizes existing infrastructure without requiring significant additional investment, thereby enhancing the robustness and stability of the network.

[0091] In the below text, the radio network node mentioned above is referred to as a node.

[0092] Figure 4 depicts OAS from BS supports to GNSS jamming cluster nodes.

[0093] Let N represent the total number of BSs in the network, and J Q N represent the set of BSs under GNSS jamming attack. It is also noted that, this synchronization jamming attack can be also seen in GPS jamming, GALILEO jamming attack scenarios, etc. The goal is to ensure that all j e N maintain synchronization using the information from attack free BSs N - J. OAS signal transmission is represented as Sifrom BS where i e N -J. The total synchronization signal received by BS under attack can be modelled as,

[0094] Sy = ' hijSi + rij

[0095] iEN-J

[0096] where hij and njrepresent the channel gain between BS from / -th node to y-th node and additive white Gaussian noise terms, respectively.

[0097] A1- Calculate Metrics: Received Signal Features

[0098] This relates to e.g. Action 301 mentioned above, see Figure 3.

[0099] In this invention, time of arrival (ToA), direction of arrival (DoA), received signal strength power (RSSI) and carrier frequency offset (CFO) features are used in the receiver nodes.Time of Arrival

[0100] The goal is to determine the position (xr,yr,zr) of a receiver by measuring the Time of Arrival (TOA) of signals from multiple BSs. The i-th BS positions (xi,yi, Zi) and the speed of light c are known. The receiver's clock bias bris an unknown.

[0101] The pseudo range pito the i th BS is given by

[0102] Pt = c • Atj,

[0103] where At = tTOA. - tBS. is the time difference between the TOA and the RF transmission time. Considering the clock bias br, the pseudorange becomes,

[0104] pi = di + c • br,

[0105] where d is the geometric distance represented as,

[0106] d

[0107]

[0108] -i = V (xr - ^)2+ (yr- y;)2+ (zr -zi)2- When we convert into a nonlinear equation can be expressed as,

[0109] 4

[0110]

[0111] (%r -%i)2+ (yr - y;)2+ (zr “zi)2+c’br = Pi> for i = 1,2,...,n, where n is given as number of BS sources to provide GNSS information (supporters). Linearizing around an approximate position (x0,y0,z0) given as Ax = xr— x0, Ay = yr— y0, Az = zr— z0, Ah = br— b0.

[0112] Expanding the pseudo range equation represented as

[0113] dp, dpi dpi

[0114] Pi ~ Poi + a — Ax + — Ay + — Az + c • Ah,

[0115] ’ dxrdyrdzr

[0116] where

[0117] dpj (xr- x^ dpj (yr- y() dpt(zr- Zj)

[0118]

[0119] dxrp0.i ’ dyrpOii’ dzrpOii

[0120] • Direction of Arrival

[0121] If the DoA from the i th BS is (azimuth) and <pt(elevation), the direction vector can be determined as,

[0122] dj = (co s (pi co s 6i,co s (pi sin6i,sin (pi).

[0123] In addition, the direction vector should match as,

[0124] (Xi -xr,yi -yr, Zi -zr)

[0125]

[0126] Idil

[0127] MUSIC, ESPRIT, and Root MUSIC algorithms could be used as DoA mechanism.

[0128] • Received Signal Strength Indicator

[0129] The Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) is one of the features to determine signal strength and distance between BSs. It is formulated as,

[0130] RSSIj = Pt— 10 • n • log10(dj) + C,where Ptis the transmitted power, n is the path loss exponent, C is a constant, and dt is the distance.

[0131] • Carrier Frequency Offset

[0132] Carrier frequency offset (CFO) is an important metric to demonstrate synchronization errors in the receiver side. The received signal r(t) under CFO it can be represented as,

[0133] r(t) = A • co s(2n(fc+ Af)t + ),

[0134] where Af,

[0135]

[0136] fcand are represented as the CFO shifting value, carrier frequency and phase difference. The CFO affects the difference between observed and actual signal frequency can be given as,

[0137]

[0138] = / meas—ft rue,

[0139] where fmeasand ftrueis given as observed frequency and actual system frequency, respectively.

[0140] The pseudo range considering CFO can be represented as,

[0141] c • A fi

[0142] Pi = di + c • br- - —.

[0143] Jc

[0144] A2: Determine GNSS Jammer Availability: Identify Nodes under GNSS Jamming Attack

[0145] This relates to e.g. Actions 302 and 303 mentioned above, see Figure 3.

[0146] Randomly selected G nodes at certain periods can be used to detect which nodes are under GNSS attack. Mean square error of the estimated and actual values of ToA, DoA, RSSI and CFO for a specific threshold is used as identifying nodes which is under GNSS synchronization attack. Mean square error of the selected node can be expressed as,

[0147] ((Pi - Pi)2+ IK - dj| + (RSSIi - RSSIi)

[0148] +wCF0• (Aft - AX)2) > r,

[0149]

[0150] Where T is indicate as predetermined threshold value.

[0151] A3: Identify Supporters (Attacked-free BSs) to GNSS Jamming Attacked Node The selection of the nearest K supporter BSs to a GNSS jamming attacked BS using the l2norm can be described as follows. For an attacked BS j e J and each BS i e N - J (the set of non-attacked BSs), the Euclidean distance between BS j and i is given by the Z2-norm:

[0152] d

[0153]

[0154] ij=llxi— XJ II2=J (Xi~Xj) +—+ (zi ~zj)where x = (x^y^zt) and x7= (%7,y7,z7) represent the spatial coordinates of BSsi and j, respectively.

[0155] To select the nearest K supporters, sort the distances d( / for each i e N -J and select the K BSs with the smallest d( / . These selected BSs will provide synchronization support to the attacked BS j via OAS.

[0156] After the determination of the GNSS attacked node and attacked-free nodes, supporters, over-the-air synchronization is applied. Our solution is based on the distribution of GNSS information from an attack-free BS, healthy node, to an attacked BS, target node, as illustrated in Figure 3. The time interval, At, represents the time difference due to RF propagation delays between transmitted and received frames. We utilize the OAS solution by transferring GNSS information from the selected attack-free BS, healthy node, to the attacked BS, target node, while monitoring physical layer frames.

[0157] Figure 5 depicts an example of transmit and received frames of OAS from healthy BS to target BS.

[0158] A4 - Loss Function Calculation: Combined Model for Linear Regression Main block diagram of the GNSS prediction is presented in Figure 4. Time of arrival, direction of arrival, received signal strength indicator and carrier frequency offset is used as GNSS estimation features. The combined linear regression model includes TOA, DoA, RSSI and CFO in a cost function given as,

[0159] 2 _ 2 +WDOA ’ II d; — di II +WRSSI • (RSSIj — RSSIj)

[0160] +WCFO ’ (^ / i—hfi) ),

[0161]

[0162] where pbd(, RSSI; and are estimated values of pseudo range between attack-free BS to attacked BS, direction vector of attack-free BS to attacked BS, and difference between observed CFO and actual frequency value. In addition, wDoA, wRSS| and wRSSIare weights of the linear regression model. The ToA weighted average is not used in our solution since closed-form solution existence but can be optionally applied.

[0163] Figure 6 depicts a block diagram of the training time and inference time of weight calculation of the regression model for GNSS prediction.A5 - Run Optimizer

[0164] During training, the weights are determined using the loss function and optimizer of the regression model. During inference, GNSS prediction is provided using supporter nodes, with the ToA, DoA, RSSI, and CFO inputs weighted according to the values determined during training. Gradient-descent, stochastic gradient descent, and adaptive moment estimation could be alternatively used.

[0165] A6 - Update GNSS and Transmit Information

[0166] This relates to e.g. Actions 304 and 305 mentioned above, see Figure 3.

[0167] In this step, after the GNSS prediction in the inference time the nearest node determined in A3 is responsible to transmit information to the GNSS attacked node over the air.

[0168] To perform the method actions above, the network node 110, 111 is configured to handle a first radio network node 111 under attack in a wireless communications network 100. The attack is adapted to relate to disturbed synchronization of signals between the first radio network node 111 and satellite nodes 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136 in a satellite navigation system 105 serving the first radio network node 111.

[0169] The network node 110, 111 may comprise an arrangement depicted in Figure 7. The network node 110, 111 may comprise an input and output interface 700 configured to communicate in the communications network 100, e.g., with first, e.g. a victim, radio network node 110 and UE 120. The input and output interface 700 may comprise a wireless receiver not shown, and a wireless transmitter not shown.

[0170] The network node 110, 111 is further configured to obtain signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system 105 received in a number of respective radio network nodes 111, 112, 113, 114. The number of radio network nodes 111, 112, 113, 114 are adapted to be served by the satellite navigation system 105,

[0171] Based on analyzing said measured signal properties, the network node 110, 111 is further configured to identify the first radio network node 111 as having disturbed synchronization with satellites 131, 132, 133 in the satellite navigation system 105 and not being able to synchronize with the wireless communications network 100. The first radio network node 111 is adapted to be comprised in the number of radio network nodes 111, 112, 113, 114.

[0172] The network node 110, 111 is further configured to identify a second support radio network node 113, 114 as being synchronized with satellites 134, 135, 136 in the satellite navigation system 105, based on an analysis of said measured signal properties. Thesecond radio network node 113, 114 is adapted to be comprised in the number of radio network nodes 111, 112, 113, 114.

[0173] The network node 110, 111 is further configured to predict signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system 105 to be received by the first radio network node 111 based on signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system 105 received at the second radio network node 113, 114.

[0174] The network node 110, 111 is further configured to provide information of the predicted signal properties of the satellite navigation system 105 to the first radio network node 111, thereby enabling the first radio network node 111 to synchronize with the wireless communications network 100.

[0175] The attack is further adapted to relate to of any one or more out of: a jamming attack, electromagnetic interference attack, and an interference attack of signals between the first radio network node 111 and the satellite nodes 131, 132, 133, 134.

[0176] The network node 110, 111 is further configured to analyze said signal properties by calculating a threshold value for any one or more out of:

[0177] - Time of Arrival, ToA,

[0178] - Direction of Arrival, DoA,

[0179] - Received Signal Strength Indicator, RSSI, and

[0180] - Carrier Frequency Offset, CFO, Angle of Arrival, AoA,

[0181] and the network node 110, 111 is further adapted to compare the threshold value with a corresponding value of the signal received in the radio network nodes 111, 112, 113, 114 from the satellite navigation system 105, to identify the first radio network node 111.

[0182] The network node 110, 111 is further configured to identify the second radio network node 113, 114, by

[0183] identifying a radio network node among radio network nodes identified as potential second radio network nodes 113, 114 being synchronized with the satellite navigation system 105, and being closest to the first radio network node 111, and

[0184] by choosing this radio network node as the second radio network node 113, 114.

[0185] Embodiments herein may be implemented through a respective processor one or more processors, such as the respective processor 710 of a processing circuitry in the network node 110, 111 depicted in Figure 7 together with respective computer program code for performing the functions and actions of the embodiments herein. The program code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer program product, for instancein the form of a data carrier carrying computer program code for performing the embodiments herein when being loaded into the network node 110, 111. One such carrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible with other data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program code may furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server and downloaded to the network node 110, 111.

[0186] The network node 110, 111. may further comprise a memory 720 comprising one or more memory units. The memory 720 comprises instructions executable by the processor in the network node 110, 111. The memory 720 is arranged to be used to store e.g., media functions, indications, tags, information, data, configurations, communication data, and applications to perform the methods herein when being executed in the network node 110, 111.

[0187] In some embodiments, a computer program 730, comprises instructions, which when executed by the at least one processor 710 cause the at least one processor of the network node 110, 111 to perform the actions above.

[0188] In some embodiments, a carrier 740 comprises the computer program 730, wherein the carrier 740 is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

[0189] Those skilled in the art will appreciate that units in the network node 110, 111 described above may refer to a combination of analog and digital circuits, and and / or one or more processors configured with software and and / or firmware, e.g. stored in the network node 110, 111, that when executed by the respective one or more processors such as the processors described above. One or more of these processors, as well as the other digital hardware, may be included in a single Application-Specific Integrated Circuitry ASIC, or several processors and various digital hardware may be distributed among several separate components, whether individually packaged or assembled into a System-on-a-Chip (SoC).

[0190] Figure 8 shows an example of a communication system QQ100 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0191] In the example, the communication system QQ100 includes a telecommunication network QQ102 that includes an access network QQ104, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network QQ106, which includes one or more core network nodes QQ108. The access network QQ104 includes one or more access network nodes, suchas network nodes QQ110a and QQ110b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes QQ110), or any other similar 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points. Moreover, as will be appreciated by those of skill in the art, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunication network QQ102 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a node in the telecommunication network QQ102 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any node in the telecommunication network QQ102, including one or more network nodes QQ110 and and / or core network nodes QQ108.

[0192] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). The network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an A1, F1, W1, E1, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN access node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies. The network nodes QQ110 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs QQ112a, QQ112b, QQ112c, and QQ112d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs QQ112) to the core network QQ106 over one or more wireless connections.

[0193] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without theuse of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system QQ100 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system QQ100 may include and and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and and / or other similar type of system.

[0194] The UEs QQ112 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes QQ110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes QQ110 are arranged, capable, configured, and and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs QQ112 and and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network QQ102 to enable and and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network QQ102.

[0195] In the depicted example, the core network QQ106 connects the network nodes QQ110 to one or more host computing systems, such as host QQ116. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network QQ106 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node QQ108) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node QQ108. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0196] The host QQ116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator provider of the access network QQ104 and and / or the telecommunication network QQ102. The host QQ116 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio and / or video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling dataon 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.

[0197] As a whole, the communication system QQ100 of 9 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0198] In some examples, the telecommunication network QQ102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network QQ102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network QQ102. For example, the telecommunications network QQ102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) and / or Massive loT services to yet further UEs.

[0199] In some examples, the UEs QQ112 are configured to transmit and and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network QQ104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network QQ104. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0200] In the example, the hub QQ114 communicates with the access network QQ104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and and / or QQ112d) and network nodes (e.g., network node QQ110b). In some examples, the hubQQ114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub QQ114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network QQ106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes QQ110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub QQ114. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub QQ114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR device, display, loudspeaker, or other media delivery device, the hub QQ114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub QQ114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub QQ114 acts as a proxy server orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0201] The hub QQ114 may have a constant and / or persistent or intermittent connection to the network node QQ110b. The hub QQ114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and and / or schedule between the hub QQ114 and UEs (e.g., UE QQ112c and and / or QQ112d), and between the hub QQ114 and the core network QQ106. In other examples, the hub QQ114 is connected to the core network QQ106 and and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub QQ114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network QQ104 and and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes QQ110 while still connected via the hub QQ114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to and / or from the UEs from and / or to the network node QQ110b. In other embodiments, the hub QQ114 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node QQ110b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0202] Figure 9 shows a UE QQ200 in accordance with some embodiments. The UE QQ200 presents additional details of some embodiments of the UE QQ112 of Figure 8.As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes such as e.g. the network node 110, 111, first radio network node 111, second radio network node 113, 114 and radio network nodes 110-114 and / or other UEs such as e.g. UE 120. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage and / or playback device, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), an Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR) device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded and / or integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-loT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.

[0203] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0204] The UE QQ200 includes processing circuitry QQ202 that is operatively coupled via a bus QQ204 to an input and / or output interface QQ206, a power source QQ208, a memory QQ210, a communication interface QQ212, and and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in 10. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0205] The processing circuitry QQ202 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory QQ210. The processing circuitry QQ202 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implementedstate 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 digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry QQ202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0206] In the example, the input and / or output interface QQ206 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE QQ200. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0207] In some embodiments, the power source QQ208 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source QQ208 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source QQ208 itself, and and / or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE QQ200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source QQ208. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source QQ208 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE QQ200 to which power is supplied.

[0208] The memory QQ210 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks,removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory QQ210 includes one or more application programs QQ214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data QQ216. The memory QQ210 may store, for use by the UE QQ200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0209] The memory QQ210 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUlCC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory QQ210 may allow the UE QQ200 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory QQ210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0210] The processing circuitry QQ202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface QQ212. The communication interface QQ212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna QQ222. The communication interface QQ212 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter QQ218 and and / or a receiver QQ220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter QQ218 and receiver QQ220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna QQ222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0211] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface QQ212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication,short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof.

[0212] Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and 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 and / or internet protocol (TCP and / or IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0213] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface QQ212, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0214] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0215] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator 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 and / or window sensor, a flood and / or 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 formonitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE QQ200 shown in Figure 9.

[0216] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and and / or measurements to another UE and and / or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-loT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0217] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and and / or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0218] Figure 10 shows a network node QQ300 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an O-RAN node (e.g., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0219] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, microbase stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and 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).

[0220] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell and / or multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O& M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0221] The network node QQ300 includes a processing circuitry QQ302, a memory QQ304, a communication interface QQ306, and a power source QQ308. The network node QQ300 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node QQ300 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node QQ300 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory QQ304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna QQ310 may be shared by different RATs). The network node QQ300 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node QQ300, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node QQ300.The processing circuitry QQ302 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node QQ300 components, such as the memory QQ304, to provide network node QQ300 functionality.

[0222] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry QQ312 and the baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 and baseband processing circuitry QQ314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0223] The memory QQ304 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry QQ302. The memory QQ304 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry QQ302 and utilized by the network node QQ300. The memory QQ304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry QQ302 and and / or any data received via the communication interface QQ306. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry QQ302 and memory QQ304 is integrated.

[0224] The communication interface QQ306 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and and / or data between a network node, access network, and and / or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface QQ306 comprises port(s) and / or terminal(s) QQ316 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface QQ306 also includes radio front-end circuitryQQ318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna QQ310. Radio front-end circuitry QQ318 comprises filters QQ320 and amplifiers QQ322. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may be connected to an antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna QQ310 and processing circuitry QQ302. The radio frontend circuitry QQ318 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry QQ318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters QQ320 and and / or amplifiers QQ322. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna QQ310. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna QQ310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry QQ318. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry QQ302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and and / or different combinations of components.

[0225] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node QQ300 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry QQ318, instead, the processing circuitry QQ302 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna QQ310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 is part of the communication interface QQ306. In still other embodiments, the communication interface QQ306 includes one or more ports or terminals QQ316, the radio front-end circuitry QQ318, and the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface QQ306 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry QQ314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0226] The antenna QQ310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna QQ310 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry QQ318 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna QQ310 is separate from the network node QQ300 and connectable to the network node QQ300 through an interface or port.

[0227] The antenna QQ310, communication interface QQ306, and and / or the processing circuitry QQ302 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and and / or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna QQ310, the communication interface QQ306, and and / or the processing circuitry QQ302 may beconfigured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and and / or any other network equipment.

[0228] The power source QQ308 provides power to the various components of network node QQ300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source QQ308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node QQ300 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source QQ308. As a further example, the power source QQ308 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0229] Embodiments of the network node QQ300 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 10 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node QQ300 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node QQ300 and to allow output of information from the network node QQ300. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node QQ300. In some embodiments providing a core network node, such as core network node QQ108 of FIG. 8, some components, such as the radio front-end circuitry QQ318 and the RF transceiver circuitry QQ312 may be omitted.

[0230] Figure 11 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment QQ400 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtualmachines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments QQ400 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment QQ400 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface. Virtualization may facilitate distributed implementations of a network node, UE, core network node, or host.

[0231] Applications QQ402 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment QQ400 to implement some of the features, functions, and and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0232] Hardware QQ404 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input and / or output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers QQ406 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs QQ408a and QQ408b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs QQ408), and and / or perform any of the functions, features and and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer QQ406 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs QQ408.

[0233] The VMs QQ408 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer QQ406. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance QQ402 may be implemented on one or more of VMs QQ408, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0234] In the context of NFV, a VM QQ408 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs QQ408, and that part of hardware QQ404 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and and / or hardware shared by that VM withothers of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs QQ408 on top of the hardware QQ404 and corresponds to the application QQ402.

[0235] Hardware QQ404 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware QQ404 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware QQ404 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration QQ410, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications QQ402. In some embodiments, hardware QQ404 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system QQ412 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0236] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and 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 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 and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between theprocessing 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.

[0237] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0238] When using the word "comprise" or “comprising” it shall be interpreted as nonlimiting, i.e. meaning "consist at least of".

[0239] The embodiments herein are not limited to the preferred embodiments described above. Various alternatives, modifications and equivalents may be used.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A method performed by a network node (110, 111) for handling a first radio network node (111) under attack in a wireless communications network (100), which attack relates to disturbed synchronisation of signals between the first radio network node (111) and satellite nodes (131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136) in a satellite navigation system (105) serving the first radio network node (111), the method comprising: obtaining (301) signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system (105) received in a number of respective radio network nodes (111, 112, 113, 114), which number of radio network nodes (111, 112, 113, 114) are served by the satellite navigation system (105),based on analysing said measured signal properties, identifying (302) the first radio network node (111) as having disturbed synchronisation with satellites (131, 132, 133) in the satellite navigation system (105) and not being able to synchronize with the wireless communications network (100), which first radio network node (111) is comprised in the number of radio network nodes (111, 112, 113, 114),identifying (303) a second radio network node (113, 114) as being synchronized with satellites (134, 135, 136) in the satellite navigation system (105), based on an analysis of said measured signal properties, which second radio network node (113, 114) is comprised in the number of radio network nodes (111, 112, 113, 114),predicting (304) signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system (105) to be received by the first radio network node (111) based on signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system (105) received at the second radio network node (113, 114),providing (305) information of the predicted signal properties of the satellite navigation system (105) to the first radio network node (111), thereby enabling the first radio network node (111) to synchronize with the wireless communications network (100).

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the attack relates to of any one or more out of: a jamming attack, electromagnetic interference attack, and an interference attack, of signals between the first radio network node (111) and the satellite nodes (131, 132, 133, 134).

3. The method according to any of the claims 1-2, wherein the analysis of said signal properties comprises calculating a threshold value for any one or more out of: - Time of Arrival, ToA,- Direction of Arrival, DoA,- Received Signal Strength Indicator, RSSI, and- Carrier Frequency Offset, CFO, Angle of Arrival, AoA, andcomparing the threshold value with a corresponding value of the signal received in the radio network nodes (111, 112, 113, 114) from the satellite navigation system (105), to identify the first radio network node (111).

4. The method according to any of the claims 1-3, wherein the identifying (303) of the second radio network node (113, 114), further comprises.identifying a radio network node among radio network nodes identified as potential second radio network nodes (113, 114)being synchronised with the satellite navigation system (105), and being closest to the first radio network node (111), andchoosing this radio network node as the second radio network node (113, 114).

5. A computer program (730) comprising instructions, which when executed by a processor (710), causes the processor (710) to perform actions according to any of the claims 1-4.

6. A carrier (740) comprising the computer program (730) of claim 5, wherein the carrier (740) is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, an electromagnetic signal, a magnetic signal, an electric signal, a radio signal, a microwave signal, or a computer-readable storage medium.

7. A network node (110, 111) configured to handle a first (victim) radio network node (111) under attack in a wireless communications network (100), which attack is adapted to relate to disturbed synchronisation of signals between the first radio network node (111) and satellite nodes (131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136) in a satellite navigation system (105) serving the first radio network node (111), the network node (110, 111) further being configured to:obtain signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system (105) received in a number of respective radio network nodes (111, 112, 113, 114), which number of radio network nodes (111, 112, 113, 114) are adapted to be served by the satellite navigation system (105),based on analysing said measured signal properties, identify the first radio network node (111) as having disturbed synchronisation with satellites (131, 132, 133) in the satellite navigation system (105) and not being able to synchronize with the wireless communications network (100), which first radio network node (111) is adapted to be comprised in the number of radio network nodes (111, 112, 113, 114),identify a second (support) radio network node (113, 114) as being synchronized with satellites (134, 135, 136) in the satellite navigation system (105), based on an analysis of said measured signal properties, which second radio network node (113, 114) is adapted to be comprised in the number of radio network nodes (111, 112, 113, 114),predict signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system (105) to be received by the first radio network node (111) based on signal properties of signals from the satellite navigation system (105) received at the second radio network node (113, 114),provide information of the predicted signal properties of the satellite navigation system (105) to the first radio network node (111), thereby enabling the first radio network node (111) to synchronize with the wireless communications network (100).

8. The network node (110, 111) according to claim 7, wherein the attack is adapted to relate to of any one or more out of: a jamming attack, electromagnetic interference attack, and an interference attack, of signals between the first radio network node (111) and the satellite nodes (131, 132, 133, 134).

9. The network node (110, 111) according to any of the claims 7-8, further being configured to analyse said signal properties by calculating a threshold value for any one or more out of:- Time of Arrival, ToA,- Direction of Arrival, DoA,- Received Signal Strength Indicator, RSSI, and- Carrier Frequency Offset, CFO, Angle of Arrival, AoA, andfurther being configured to compare the threshold value with a corresponding value of the signal received in the radio network nodes (111, 112, 113, 114) from the satellite navigation system (105), to identify the first radio network node (111).

10. The network node (110, 111) according to any of the claims 7-9, further being configured to identify the second radio network node (113, 114), byidentifying a radio network node among radio network nodes identified as potential second radio network nodes (113, 114) being synchronised with the satellite navigation system (105), and being closest to the first radio network node (111), andby choosing this radio network node as the second radio network node (113,

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