Advanced requirement accessibility for cellular system

Abstract

Example embodiments of the disclosure relate to apparatuses, methods, and computer readable storage medium for advanced requirement accessibility for cellular systems. In a solution, a first apparatus determines one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations from a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations for carrier aggregation or dual connectivity. The one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations are associated with a first version of the database. The first apparatus determines updating information for a capability of the first apparatus based on the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations. The updating information indicates support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

Description

ADVANCED REQUIREMENT ACCESSIBILITY FOR CELLULAR SYSTEMFIELD

[0001] Various example embodiments of the present disclosure generally relate to the field of telecommunication and in particular, to apparatuses, methods, and computer readable storage medium for advanced requirement accessibility for cellular systems.BACKGROUND

[0002] In 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), the number of band combinations for carrier aggregation (CA) and dual connectivity (DC) has caused massive maintenance work to keep track of existing and new additions. It has been agreed to transition the tables containing the information of the band combinations to a database accessible via the internet for easier tracking of supported combinations and requirements.SUMMARY

[0003] In a first aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The first apparatus comprises at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to: determine one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations from a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations for carrier aggregation or dual connectivity, wherein the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations are associated with a first version of the database; and determine updating information for a capability of the first apparatus based on the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, the updating information indicating support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0004] In a second aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method. The method comprises: determining one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations from a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations for carrier aggregation or dual connectivity, wherein the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations are associated with a first version of the database; and determining updating information for a capability of the first apparatus based on the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, the updating information indicating support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0005] In a third aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a first apparatus. The firstapparatus comprises means for determining one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations from a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations for carrier aggregation or dual connectivity, wherein the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations are associated with a first version of the database; and means for determining updating information for a capability of the first apparatus based on the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, the updating information indicating support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0006] In a fourth aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a computer readable medium. The computer readable medium comprises instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus to perform at least the method according to the second aspect.

[0007] It is to be understood that the Summary section is not intended to identify key or essential features of embodiments of the present disclosure, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Other features of the present disclosure will become easily comprehensible through the following description.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] Some example embodiments will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, where:

[0009] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented;

[0010] FIG. 2 illustrates a schematic diagram of use of a repository to store CA combination information;

[0011] FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram of radio frequency (RF) hardware of a terminal device;

[0012] FIG. 4 illustrates a signaling chart of a process for accessing new set(s) of frequency domain radio resource allocations according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0013] FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of a downlink band configuration and an uplink band configuration according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0014] FIG. 6 illustrates another schematic diagram of a downlink band configuration and an uplink band configuration according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0015] FIG. 7 illustrates a signaling chart of a process of new database updates according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0016] FIG. 8 illustrates a signaling chart of a process for accessing new set(s) of frequencydomain radio resource allocations according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0017] FIG. 9 illustrates a signaling chart of a process of new database updates according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0018] FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0019] FIG. 11 illustrates a schematic diagram of database updates according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0020] FIG. 12 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0021] FIG. 13 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0022] FIG. 14 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a third apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0023] FIG. 15 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0024] FIG. 16 illustrates a flowchart of a method implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure;

[0025] FIG. 17 illustrates a simplified block diagram of a device that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure; and

[0026] FIG. 18 illustrates a block diagram of an example computer readable medium in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0027] Throughout the drawings, the same or similar reference numerals represent the same or similar element.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] Principle of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to some example embodiments. It is to be understood that these embodiments are described only for the purpose of illustration and help those skilled in the art to understand and implement the present disclosure, without suggesting any limitation as to the scope of the disclosure. Embodiments described herein can be implemented in various manners other than the ones described below.

[0029] In the following description and claims, unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skills in the art to which this disclosure belongs.

[0030] References in the present disclosure to “one embodiment,” “an embodiment,” “an example embodiment,” and the like indicate that the embodiment described may include a particular feature, structure, or characteristic, but it is not necessary that every embodiment includes the particular feature, structure, or characteristic. Moreover, such phrases are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection with an embodiment, it is submitted that it is within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to affect such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described.

[0031] It shall be understood that although the terms “first,” “second,”..., etc. in front of noun(s) and the like may be used herein to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another and they do not limit the order of the noun(s). For example, a first element could be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element could be termed a first element, without departing from the scope of example embodiments. As used herein, the term “and / or” includes any and all combinations of one or more of the listed terms.

[0032] As used herein, “at least one of the following: ” and “at least one of ” and similar wording, where the list of two or more elements are joined by “and” or “or”, mean at least any one of the elements, or at least any two or more of the elements, or at least all the elements.

[0033] As used herein, unless stated explicitly, performing a step “in response to A” does not indicate that the step is performed immediately after “A” occurs and one or more intervening steps may be included.

[0034] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “has”, “having”, “includes” and / or “including”, when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, elements, and / or components etc., but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, elements, components and / or combinations thereof.

[0035] As used in this application, the term “circuitry” may refer to one or more or all of the following:(a) hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry) and(b) combinations of hardware circuits and software, such as (as applicable):(i) a combination of analog and / or digital hardware circuit(s) with software / firmware and(ii) any portions of hardware processor(s) with software (including digital signal processor(s)), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions) and (c) hardware ci rcuit(s) and or processor(s), such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that requires software (e.g., firmware) for operation, but the software may not be present when it is not needed for operation.

[0036] This definition of circuitry applies to all uses of this term in this application, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this application, the term circuitry also covers an implementation of merely a hardware circuit or processor (or multiple processors) or portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term circuitry also covers, for example, and if applicable to the particular claim element, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

[0037] As used herein, the term “communication network” refers to a network following any suitable communication standards, such as New Radio (NR), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-loT) and so on. Furthermore, the communications between a terminal device and a network device in the communication network may be performed according to any suitable generation communication protocols, including, but not limited to, the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), 2.5G, 2.75G, the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), 4.5G, the fifth generation (5G), the sixth generation (6G) communication protocols, and / or any other protocols either currently known or to be developed in the future. Embodiments of the present disclosure may be applied in various communication systems. Given the rapid development in communications, there will of course also be future type communication technologies and systems with which the present disclosure may be embodied. It should not be seen as limiting the scope of the present disclosure to only the aforementioned system.

[0038] As used herein, the term “network device” refers to a node in a communication network via which a terminal device accesses the network and receives services therefrom. The network device may refer to a base station (BS) or an access point (AP), for example, a node B (NodeB or NB), an evolved NodeB (eNodeB or eNB), an NR NB (also referred to as a gNB), a Remote Radio Unit (RRU), a radio header (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access andBackhaul (IAB) node, a low power node such as a femto, a pico, a non-terrestrial network (NTN) or non-ground network device such as a satellite network device, a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite and a geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) satellite, an aircraft network device, and so forth, depending on the applied terminology and technology. In some example embodiments, radio access network (RAN) split architecture comprises a Centralized Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) at an IAB donor node. An IAB node comprises a Mobile Terminal (IAB-MT) part that behaves like a UE toward the parent node, and a DU part of an IAB node behaves like a base station toward the next-hop IAB node.

[0039] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example rather than limitation, a terminal device may also be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), a Portable Subscriber Station, a Mobile Station (MS), or an Access Terminal (AT). The terminal device may include, but not limited to, a mobile phone, a cellular phone, a smart phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, a tablet, a wearable terminal device, a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable computers, desktop computer, image capture terminal devices such as digital cameras, gaming terminal devices, music storage and playback appliances, vehiclemounted wireless terminal devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, smart devices, wireless customer-premises equipment (CPE), an Internet of Things (loT) device, a watch or other wearable, a head-mounted display (HMD), a vehicle, a drone, a medical device and applications (e.g., remote surgery), an industrial device and applications (e.g., a robot and / or other wireless devices operating in an industrial and / or an automated processing chain contexts), a consumer electronics device, a device operating on commercial and / or industrial wireless networks, and the like. The terminal device may also correspond to a Mobile Termination (MT) part of an IAB node (e.g., a relay node). In the following description, the terms “terminal device”, “communication device”, “terminal”, “user equipment” and “UE” may be used interchangeably.

[0040] As used herein, the term “resource,” “transmission resource,” “resource block,” “physical resource block” (PRB), “uplink resource,” or “downlink resource” may refer to any resource for performing a communication, for example, a communication between a terminal device and a network device, such as a resource in time domain, a resource in frequency domain, a resource in space domain, a resource in code domain, or any other combination of the time, frequency, space and / or code domain resource enabling a communication, and the like. In the following, unless explicitly stated, a resource in both frequency domain and time domain will be used as an example of a transmission resource for describing some example embodiments of the present disclosure. Itis noted that example embodiments of the present disclosure are equally applicable to other resources in other domains.

[0041] FIG. 1 illustrates an example communication environment 100 in which example embodiments of the present disclosure can be implemented. In the communication environment 100, a plurality of communication devices, including a first apparatus 110, a second apparatus 120 and a third apparatus 130, may communicate with each other.

[0042] In the example of FIG. 1, the second apparatus 120 has a certain coverage range, which may be called as a serving area or a cell. The first apparatus 110 is located in the cell managed by the second apparatus 120. In the communication environment 100, the second apparatus 120 may communicate data and control information with the first apparatus 110.

[0043] The third apparatus 130 may include a device associated with (e.g., storing, accessible to, in connection to, and so on) a database. The database may be 3GPP database which covers all supported sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations (e.g., band combinations) specified by 3GPP. FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram 200 of use of a repository to store CA combination information. Specifically, a suggested implementation of the database backend is illustrated. Such a database may be accessible via the internet. As shown in FIG. 2, a global information tracker (GIT) repository may be used to store information of CA combination(s). This database may be developed and / or implemented according to agreements of meetings in 3GPP.

[0044] In some example embodiments, if the first apparatus 110 is a terminal device and the second apparatus 120 is a network device, a link from the second apparatus 120 to the first apparatus 110 is referred to as a downlink (DL), while a link from the first apparatus 110 to the second apparatus 120 is referred to as an uplink (UL). In DL, the second apparatus 120 is a transmitting (TX) device (or a transmitter) and the first apparatus 110 is a receiving (RX) device (or a receiver). In UL, the first apparatus 110 is a TX device (or a transmitter) and the second apparatus 120 is a RX device (or a receiver).

[0045] It is to be understood that the number of apparatuses and their connections shown in FIG. 1 are only for the purpose of illustration without suggesting any limitation. The communication environment 100 may include any suitable number of apparatuses configured to implement example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0046] In the following, for purpose of illustration, some example embodiments are described with the first apparatus 110 operating as a terminal device and the second apparatus 120 operating as a network device. However, in some example embodiments, operations described in connection with a terminal device may be implemented at a network device or other device, and operations described in connection with a network device may be implemented at a terminal device or otherdevice.

[0047] Communications in the communication environment 100 may be implemented according to any proper communication protocol(s), comprising, but not limited to, cellular communication protocols of the first generation (1G), the second generation (2G), the third generation (3G), the fourth generation (4G), the fifth generation (5G), the sixth generation (6G), and the like, wireless local network communication protocols such as Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 and the like, and / or any other protocols currently known or to be developed in the future. Moreover, the communication may utilize any proper wireless communication technology, comprising but not limited to: Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD), Time Division Duplex (TDD), Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM), Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) and / or any other technologies currently known or to be developed in the future.

[0048] FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic diagram 300 of radio frequency (RF) hardware of a terminal device, e.g., a UE. A generic UE RF hardware block diagram is shown in FIG. 3. In carrier aggregation (CA) and dual connectivity (DC), the amount of simultaneous active carriers may be determined, among others, from the amount of local oscillators (LOs) that may serve a maximum of receivers, while the digital transfer of data allows sufficient bandwidths for all active receivers.

[0049] The activation of the multiple LOs and receivers depends on the operator support and demand for CA and DC configurations. A UE may inform a network of the supported combinations that maps the operational bands to band combinations that are supported in combination by the system of FIG. 3. Many combinations may activate the same antennas, front-end modules, receivers and LOs, but each combination will be unique.

[0050] A UE may be limited by its hardware to which band combinations it can support. The hardware may be fixed upon production, meaning that UE’s hardware may not be modified within its lifetime. The UE’s hardware may be designed based on the set of band combinations specified in the release considered during the design of the UE. This secures that all aspects of requirements have been considered before the UE declares support for a specific band combination.

[0051] However, this does not mean that a UE, once produced, can never support new band combinations. In some cases, the UE has the hardware to support a newly specified band combinations but the UE’s software (i.e. capability set) does not include this information. The UE currently does not have access to the latest list of specified band combinations and therefore can’t update its capabilities. This may be limiting the freedom of the network to schedule the UE using an optimum band combination even if the UE could support technically support the later specifiedoptimum band combination.

[0052] There is a need to solve the problem how can a UE access information of new band combination(s) to identify and support the runtime updates.

[0053] According to some example embodiments of the present disclosure, there is proposed a solution for advanced requirement accessibility for cellular systems. In the proposed solution, a first apparatus e.g., a UE, would be enhanced to access band combination information runtime, allowing it to update its list of supported band combinations after its factory production time. Specifically, the first apparatus receives, from a second apparatus, first database information of a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, e.g., multiple band combinations. The first apparatus determines one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the database as candidates for updating capabilities of the first apparatus by comparing the first database information and second database information stored at the first apparatus. Then, the first apparatus determines updating information for the capability of the first apparatus based on the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations. The updating information indicates support of the first apparatus for each of the sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0054] In this way, the 3GPP band combination(s) may be used in run-time. Meanwhile, no over the air update of UE modem firmware is needed.

[0055] Example embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0056] FIG. 4 illustrates a signaling flow 400 of a process for accessing new set(s) of frequency domain radio resource allocations according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purposes of discussion, the signaling flow 400 will be discussed with reference to FIG. 1 , for example, by using the first apparatus 110, the second apparatus 120, and the third apparatus 130. The first apparatus 110 may be or include for example a terminal device, e.g., UE, the second apparatus 120 may be or include for example a network device, e.g., BS or gNB, and the third apparatus 130 may be or include for example a device associated with the database.

[0057] In the signaling flow 400, the second apparatus 120 first transmits (405), to the third apparatus 130, a request for information of a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations. Upon receiving (410) the request, as a response, the third apparatus 130 transmits (415), to the second apparatus 120, the information of the database. The information of the database includes the version information of the database. That is, the information indicates the version of the database. In addition, or alternatively, the information of the database includes one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations added toa current version of the database. For example, the information of the database may include band combination(s) that are newly added to the database in the current version.

[0058] A set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include two or more component carriers. Alternatively, the set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include two or more bands, which may be also referred to as band combinations for example.

[0059] The second apparatus 120 receives (420) the above information of the database from the third apparatus 130. Thus, the second apparatus 120 may be aware of the version information of the database, and / or the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations added to a current version of the database. Then, the second apparatus 120 transmits (425), to the first apparatus 110, first database information determined based on the received response.

[0060] The first apparatus 110 receives (430), from the second apparatus 120, the first database information of a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations. In some cases, the first apparatus 110 may receive (430) the first database information via system information (e.g., a system information block (SIB)) broadcasted from the second apparatus 120. Alternatively, the first apparatus 110 may first send to the second apparatus 120 a request for information of the database, and may receive (430) the first database information from the second apparatus 120 via a response to the request.

[0061] The first database information may include various information. For example, first database information may include but is not limited to, version information of the database, an operator information, the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, a channel bandwidth, bandwidth control information, a power class, and / or time division duplex synchronization information. It is to be understood that these are just examples of information included in the first database information received (430) from the second apparatus 120, rather than suggesting any limitations. Other suitable information may be included in the first database information in further example embodiments of the present application.

[0062] The first apparatus 110 determines (435) one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the database as candidates for updating a capability of the first apparatus by comparing the first database information and second database information stored at the first apparatus.

[0063] There may be several ways for the first apparatus 110 to determine the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations. In some examples, the first apparatus 110 may first compare the first database information and the second database information which is stored at the first apparatus. The second database information may indicate the version of the database corresponding to the sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations supported by the firstapparatus 110.

[0064] Then, the first apparatus 110 may determine whether the first database information mismatches the second database information. For example, the first apparatus 110 may determine whether the version (also referred to as first version) of the database comprised in the first database information is different from the version (also referred to as second version) of the database comprised in the second database information. If not, the first apparatus 110 may determine the first database information mismatches the second database information.

[0065] In the case where the mismatching occurs, the first apparatus 110 may know that the database is updated or upgraded. Thus, it may obtain one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations which are newly added to the current version of the database. In an example, the first apparatus 110 may transmit, to the third apparatus 130, a request for the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the database which are relevant to the first apparatus. Then, the first apparatus 110may receive, from the third apparatus 130, a response to the request indicating the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0066] In an example, the second apparatus 120, e.g., the NW, broadcasts information of database version for band combinations. Upon identification of a new version, the first apparatus 110, e.g., a UE, may request a “delta” list for the latest version, to identify band combinations that have been added. The NW schedules and transfers the list to the UE, that updates the “checked version” information and adds potentially supported combinations. As an alternative, the UE may have the database version stored. When having a data connection, the UE may inspect the 3GPP database to see if there is an update and whether the update is relevant for this specific UE. If so, it can download relevant parts of the database.

[0067] The UE may then try to find what can be supported with existing hardware and software of the UE by determining updating information discussed below.

[0068] The first apparatus 110 determines (440) the updating information for the capability of the first apparatus based on the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations. The updating information indicates support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0069] The first apparatus 110 may determine the support of the first apparatus for each set of frequency domain radio resource allocations in a variety of ways. For example, the first apparatus 110 may make the determination by using a radio frequency hardware model, and / or a machine learning model, and / or other suitable model(s). The radio frequency hardware model may be predefined or predetermined, which may be a low complexity RF hardware model. Such a RF hardware model may have an input of band combination (also referred to as “band combo”) and anoutput of support of said band combination, with limits for performance degradation. The machine learning (ML) model may be a ML based black box, for example, with an input of a band combination and an output of a probability of support for said band combination.

[0070] The first apparatus 110 may determine the support for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, for example, based on an architecture of the first apparatus 110. The architecture may include the RF hardware or other component(s) of the first apparatus 110. Alternatively, or in addition, the first apparatus 110 may determine the support based on run time information about radio frequency requirements. The run time information may be obtained from the third apparatus 130 or other suitable nodes. The first apparatus 110 may use the run time information, such as maximum sensitivity degradation and / or emissions, to check itself for compliance.

[0071] Optionally, in some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may transmit, to the second apparatus 120, updated capability information indicating at least one set of frequency domain radio resource allocations to which an architecture of the first apparatus is compliant. The at least one set of frequency domain radio resource allocations may be determined from the plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the database, and each of the at least one set of frequency domain radio resource allocations is supported by the first apparatus 110. In some example embodiments, the updated capability information may be transmitted, for example, via a registration request from the first apparatus 110 to the second apparatus 120.

[0072] In some examples, upon having obtained information about the newly specified band combinations, the first apparatus 110, e.g., the UE, may perform internal checks for compliance with said band combination and adds to the band combination list of the UE capabilities those combinations that comply with rules of adding combinations without breaking configuration or calibration relations.

[0073] It is not specified here how the compliance is checked. Examples may include low complexity RF hardware models (input: band combo, limits for performance degradation; output: support of said band combination) and / or ML based black boxes (input: band combo; output: probability of support for said band combination). Optionally, the UE may consider further run time information provided by databases about RF requirements, such as maximum sensitivity degradation and / or emissions, to check itself for compliance.

[0074] In some cases, optionally, the UE may implement functionality to trial the newly added band combinations for a set number of times and undo the addition of new band combinations, if performance is not as expected, e.g., connection failures, reduced throughput, hand over failures, call establishment failures, etc.

[0075] In this way, the 3GPP band combinations may be used in run-time. The network (NW) filtering of band combinations may limit the UE checks for compliance. Addition of band combinations past production point using the 3GPP database information causes the UE performance to be increased over deployment times and enables the NW to schedule said UE more easily. Moreover, no over the air update of UE modem firmware is needed.

[0076] FIG. 5 illustrates a schematic diagram of a downlink band configuration and an uplink band configuration according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. As an example, a new 3GPP release and therefore a new version of the database may contain a change as shown in FIG. 5, where an additional carrier has been added as non-contiguous intra-band CA. The underlined part shown in FIG. 5 indicates the change, e.g., the band combinations newly added to the new version of the database, compared with the previous version of the database.

[0077] FIG. 6 illustrates another schematic diagram of a downlink band configuration and an uplink band configuration according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0078] Likewise, an addition to the band combinations could replace inter-band carriers. If the replacement picks a band outside an active band-group, the UE could support the change. In FIG.6 a configuration using band n1 A, already part of the high band group, is replaced by band n78, which is an Ultra high band above 3.3GHz, currently not active considering the configuration in the first row. The UE could support this addition.

[0079] In this addition, the UE already has configuration information of the combinations DC_2A-7A-28A_n78A including the uplink combinations to the right. The UE receives information of the added combination that changes n78A to n78(2A) and the UE determines this as a combination it may support from existing hardware configurations and calibration data. The UE adds the combinations and will report the combinations upon next UE capability exchange with the NW.

[0080] FIG. 7 illustrates a signaling flow 700 of a process of new database updates according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The example embodiments discussed with reference to FIG. 7 may be considered as implementations of the example embodiments of FIG. 4. In FIG. 7, the first apparatus 110 is discussed as a UE 710 for example, the second apparatus 120 is discussed as a gNB 720 for example, and the third apparatus 130 is discussed as a device associated with the database (also referred to as DB for discussion) 730 for example.

[0081] The signaling flow 700 starts at 751, where the DB 730, e.g., a 3GPP database, may cover all supported band combinations specified by 3GPP.

[0082] At 752, the gNB 720 may screen the database for the band combination version number, or similar indication of updates.

[0083] At 753, the gNB 720 may check the 3GPP database for new versions of the band combination database. At this step, the gNB 720 may request the band combination version number or band combination updates.

[0084] At 754, the DB 730, e.g., the band combination database, may return the actual latest released version number, e.g., the version of 3GPP database. There may be different versions dependent on 3GPP releases, one for R15, one for R16, etc. Or the database delivers the latest band combinations upon NW request at 753.

[0085] At 755, the gNB 720 may itself update its own database but will as a minimum store the database number. New band combination that is supported by the operator may be filtered for broadcasting.

[0086] At 756, the gNB 720 may broadcast the band combination database version in system information or on request. For example, the gNB 720 may send updated band information including 3GPP DB version and operator code. Additionally, the information may contain band combination(s), channel bandwidths (BWs), Bandwidth Class (BWC), Time Division Duplexing (TDD) sync etc.

[0087] At 757, the UE 710 may compare the band combination database version broadcasted by the network with the one the UE is based upon. For example, at 757, the UE 710 may check a new list and / or the operator code, and identify possible bands to support based on DB version and / or operator code.

[0088] At 758, if the versions are different, and if the UE 710 supports reading and updating the band combinations by itself, the UE 710 may request the updated band combinations relevant to the UE 710.

[0089] At 759, the DB 730 may provide the requested information, which may include updated band combination (BC) information.

[0090] At 760, the UE 710 may check whether its RF architecture and hardware is compliant with the new band combination(s).

[0091] Examples include low complexity RF hardware models (input: band combo, limits for performance degradation; output: support of said band combination) and / or ML based black boxes (input: band combo; output: probability of support for said band combination).

[0092] Optionally, the UE 710 may consider further run time information provided by databases about RF requirements, such as maximum sensitivity degradation and / or emissions, to check itself for compliance.

[0093] At 761, the UE 710 may re-register to the network, e.g., by sending a registration request to the gNB 720, which may update the UE capabilities shared with the network.

[0094] The above example embodiments are related to a process, involving three apparatuses110, 120 and 130, for enhancing capability information of the first apparatus 110. More specifically, the second apparatus 120 is involved in providing the version information of the database or one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations added to a current version of the database. In some other example embodiments, the process may be performed between two apparatuses, for example, the first apparatus 110 and the third apparatus 130, without the second apparatus 120. More details in this regard will be discussed with respect to FIGS. 8 to 9 below.

[0095] FIG. 8 illustrates a signaling flow 800 of a process for accessing new set(s) of frequency domain radio resource allocations according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purposes of discussion, the signaling flow 800 will be discussed with reference to FIG. 1 , for example, by using the first apparatus 110, the second apparatus 120, and the third apparatus 130. The first apparatus 110 may be or include for example a terminal device, e.g., UE, the second apparatus 120 may be or include for example a network device, e.g., BS or gNB, and the third apparatus 130 may be or include for example a device associated with the database.

[0096] In the signaling flow 800, an apparatus whose capability is to be enhanced (discussed as the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1) interacts with another apparatus associated with the database (discussed as the third apparatus 130 which is associated with the database in FIG. 1). It is to be understood that since these two apparatuses are mainly discussed in the example embodiments of FIG. 8, one of the two apparatuses is referred to a first apparatus, which is discussed with the first apparatus 110. The other one of the two apparatuses is referred to as a second apparatus, which is discussed with the third apparatus 130. However, this “second apparatus” is just for describing one of the two apparatuses, that is, a device which is associated with the database, and does not refer to the second apparatus 120 (e.g., a network device gNB) in FIG. 1.

[0097] The third apparatus 130 transmits (805) information of a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations to the first apparatus 110. The information of a database includes version information of the database, and / or one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations added to a current version of the database. The first apparatus 110 receives (810) the information of the database and determines (815) updating information for a capability of the first apparatus 110 based on the information of the database. The updating information indicates support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0098] In addition, the information of the database may further include various information, which include, for example, but not limited to, the version information of the database, an operator information (e.g., an operator code), the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, a channel bandwidth, bandwidth control information, a power class, or time divisionduplex synchronization information.

[0099] A set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include two or more component carriers. Alternatively, the set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include two or more bands, which may be also referred to as band combinations for example.

[0100] In some example embodiments, the information of the database may be obtained by the first apparatus 110 through requesting the third apparatus 130. For example, the first apparatus 110 may transmit to the third apparatus 130 a request for the information of the database. The third apparatus 130 may agree to provide the requested information and send to the first apparatus 110 a response including the information of the database.

[0101] In some cases, the information of the database may include the version information of the database, e.g., the current version of the database, without the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations. In this event, the first apparatus 110 may first determine, based on the version information, whether the current version of the database is different from a version of the database stored at the first apparatus. If the current version of the database is different from the stored version of the database, the first apparatus 110 may transmit, to the third apparatus 130, a request for the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations. Upon receiving a response from the third apparatus 130, the first apparatus 110 may have the knowledge of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations from the response.

[0102] On the basis of the information of the database, the first apparatus 110 may determine the support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations. This determination may be made based on a radio frequency hardware model, a machine learning model, and / or the like.

[0103] I n addition, or alternatively, the support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations may be determined based on an architecture of the first apparatus, and / or run time information about radio frequency requirements. The run time information may be obtained in various ways, for example, by receiving from the third apparatus 130.

[0104] By determining (815) the updating information based on the information of the database, the first apparatus 110 may know which one of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations is supported by the first apparatus 110. If there is at least one set of frequency domain radio resource allocations can be supported, the first apparatus 110 may determine updated capability information indicating the at least one set of frequency domain radio resource allocations to which an architecture of the first apparatus 110 is compliant.

[0105] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may transmit updated capabilityinformation to a network device, e.g., the second apparatus 120 shown in FIG. 1 or FIG. 8. The updated capability information may be transmitted in various ways, for example, via a registration request to the network device.

[0106] In this way, the addition of band combinations in the database, e.g., the 3GPP database may be used to enhance the UE capabilities, without the need of the change / update of the software on the UE or involving the network device.

[0107] FIG. 9 illustrates a signaling flow 900 of a process of new database updates according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The example embodiments discussed with reference to FIG. 9 may be considered as implementations of the example embodiments of FIG. 8. In FIG. 9, the first apparatus 110 is discussed as a UE 910 for example, the second apparatus 120 is discussed as a gNB 920 for example, and the third apparatus 130 is discussed as a device associated with the database (also referred to as DB for discussion) 930 for example.

[0108] In the example embodiments of FIG. 9, the UE 910 has the database version stored and occasionally, when having a data connection, may inspect the database, e.g., the 3GPP database, to see if there is an update and whether the update is relevant for itself / this specific UE 910. If so, it may by itself download relevant parts of the database.

[0109] In the example embodiments of FIG. 9, the 3GPP database may cover all supported band combinations specified by 3GPP, as indicated by 951.

[0110] At 952, the UE 910 may screen the database for the band combination version number, or similar indication of updates.

[0111] At 953, the UE 910 may request the band combination version number or band combination updates. As shown, the UE 910 may check the 3GPP database for new versions of the band combination database.

[0112] At 954, the DB 930, e.g., the band combination database may return the version of the database, which is the actual latest released version number. There may be different versions dependent on 3GPP releases, one for R15, one for R16, etc. Alternatively, the DB 930 may deliver the latest band combinations upon request of the UE 910.

[0113] At 955, the UE 910 may request details on new band combinations to DB 930, e.g., via an internet interface.

[0114] At 956, the DB 930 sends updated band information including the version of the database and operator code. Additionally, the information may contain band combination, channel BWs, BWC, TDD sync etc.

[0115] At 957, the UE 910 may check whether its architecture and / or hardware, e.g., ITS RF architecture and hardware, is compliant with the new band combination(s). When checking, the UEmay utilize low complexity RF hardware models (input: band combo, limits for performance degradation; output: support of said band combination) and / or ML based black boxes (input: band combo; output: probability of support for said band combination), and / or the like.

[0116] Optionally, the UE 910 may consider further run time information provided by databases about RF requirements, such as maximum sensitivity degradation and / or emissions, to check itself for compliance.

[0117] At 958, the UE 910 may re-register to the network, e.g., the gNB 920, which will update the UE 910 capabilities shared with the network.

[0118] FIG. 10 illustrates a flowchart of a process 1000 implemented at a first device according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purposes of discussion, the signaling flow 800 will be discussed with reference to the first apparatus 110, e.g., a terminal device or a UE, in FIG. 1. The process 1000 may be implemented by the first apparatus 110 in example embodiments discussed with reference to FIGS. 4, 7, 8 and 9.

[0119] In the process 1000, at 1010, the first apparatus 110 determines one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations from a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations for carrier aggregation or dual connectivity, wherein the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations are associated with a first version of the database.

[0120] At 1020, based on the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, the first apparatus 110 determines updating information for a capability of the first apparatus, e.g., UE capabilities. The updating information indicates support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0121] A set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include two or more component carriers. Alternatively, the set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include two or more bands, which may be also referred to as band combinations for example.

[0122] The updating information may be determined in various ways. In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may determine whether a band of a first set of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations is changed to a band of a band group that has resources to spare. If yes, the first apparatus 110 may determine that the first set of frequency domain radio resource allocations is supported by the first apparatus 110.

[0123] In one example, the first set of frequency domain radio resource allocations may be determined as an intra-band set of frequency domain radio resource allocations supported by the first apparatus 110, or an additional bandwidth class supported by the first apparatus 110.

[0124] As an alternative for determining the updating information, in some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may determine whether a second set of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations is changed to bands inside a band group, which has resources to spare, that are supported as fallbacks. If so, the first apparatus 110 may determine that the second set of frequency domain radio resource allocations is supported by the first apparatus 110.

[0125] In some example embodiments, at 1020, the first apparatus 110 may first obtain information of the database and then determine the updating information based thereon. Such information of the database may include, for example, but not limited to version information of the database, an operator information, the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, a channel bandwidth, bandwidth control information, a power class, or time division duplex synchronization information. Then, the first apparatus 110 may determine the updating information based on the received information.

[0126] Additionally, or alternatively, at 1020, the first apparatus 110 may determine the support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations by using a radio frequency hardware model, a machine learning model, and / or the like.

[0127] Optionally, at 1020, the first apparatus 110 may determine the support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations based on at least one of an architecture of the first apparatus or run time information about radio frequency requirements.

[0128] Upon having the knowledge of the support of the first apparatus for which set frequency domain radio resource allocations, the first apparatus 110 may determine updated capability information. The updated capability information may indicate at least one set of frequency domain radio resource allocations to which the architecture of the first apparatus is compliant. In some cases, the updated capability information may further indicate a type of update which the first apparatus accepts without software update. After determining the updated capability information, the first apparatus 110 may send the updated capability information to a device, e.g., a gNB, to indicate its new capability.

[0129] In some examples, the first apparatus 110, e.g., a UE, may determine support only for certain combination types that follow rules such as:Changes to band of band group that has resources in spare, such as support of intra-band combinations in addition;Changes to bands inside band groups that are supported in fallbacks, while the UE determines that the band group has resources to spare.

[0130] FIG. 11 illustrates a schematic diagram 1100 of database updates according to some example embodiments of the present disclosure. In FIG. 11, it may be only the channel category that has been updated, adding CA_n66A-n257G / H on top of CA_n66A-n257A. This is more a configuration of baseband rules, not RF configuration as such. Therefore, the likelihood of such a change requiring a software (SW) update is low. The embodiments would be improved by a UE capability of what types of updates the UE can accept without SW update.

[0131] FIG. 12 shows a flowchart of an example method 1200 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1200 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0132] At block 1210, the first apparatus 110 receives, from a second apparatus, first database information of a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0133] At block 1220, the first apparatus 110 determines one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the database as candidates for updating a capability of the first apparatus by comparing the first database information and second database information stored at the first apparatus.

[0134] At block 1230, the first apparatus 110 determines updating information for the capability of the first apparatus based on the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, the updating information indicating support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0135] In some example embodiments, the first database information may be received via system information broadcasted from the second apparatus, or wherein the first database information is received from the second apparatus via a response to a request for information of the database

[0136] In some example embodiments, the first database information may include at least one of: version information of the database, an operator information, the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, a channel bandwidth, bandwidth control information, a power class, or time division duplex synchronization information.

[0137] In some example embodiments, the method 1200 may further include: determining the first database information mismatches the second database information; transmitting, to a third apparatus associated with the database, a request for the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the database which are relevant to the first apparatus; and receiving, from the third apparatus, a response to the request indicating the one or more sets of frequencydomain radio resource allocations.

[0138] In some example embodiments, the method 1200 may further include: in accordance with a determination that a first version of the database comprised in the first database information is different from a second version of the database comprised in the second database information, determining the first database information mismatches the second database information.

[0139] In some example embodiments, the method 1200 may further include: determining the support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations by using at least one of: a radio frequency hardware model, or a machine learning model.

[0140] In some example embodiments, the method 1200 may further include: determining the support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations based on at least one of an architecture of the first apparatus or run time information about radio frequency requirements, wherein the run time information is obtained from a third apparatus associated with the database.

[0141] In some example embodiments, the method 1200 may further include: transmitting, to the second apparatus, updated capability information indicating at least one set of frequency domain radio resource allocations to which an architecture of the first apparatus is compliant.

[0142] In some example embodiments, the updated capability information may be transmitted via a registration request to the second apparatus.

[0143] In some example embodiments, a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include component carriers, and / or wherein a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation comprises bands.

[0144] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may include a terminal device, and the second apparatus may include a network device.

[0145] FIG. 13 shows a flowchart of an example method 1300 implemented at a second apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1300 will be described from the perspective of the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

[0146] At block 1310, the second apparatus 120 transmits, to a third apparatus, a request for information of a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0147] At block 1320, the second apparatus 120 receives, from the third apparatus, the information of the database comprising at least one of version information of the database or one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations added to a current version of thedatabase.

[0148] At block 1330, the second apparatus 120 transmits, to a first apparatus, first database information determined based on the received response.

[0149] In some example embodiments, the first database information may be broadcasted via system information, or the first database information may be transmitted to the first apparatus in response to a request for information of the database from the first apparatus.

[0150] In some example embodiments, the first database information may include at least one of: the version information of the database, an operator information, the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, a channel bandwidth, bandwidth control information, a power class, or time division duplex synchronization information.

[0151] In some example embodiments, the method 1300 further comprises: receiving, from the first apparatus, updated capability information indicating at least one set of frequency domain radio resource allocations to which an architecture of the first apparatus is compliant, wherein the at least one set of frequency domain radio resource allocations is determined from the plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the database.

[0152] In some example embodiments, the updated capability information may be received via a registration request from the first apparatus.

[0153] In some example embodiments, a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include component carriers, and / or a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include bands.

[0154] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may include a terminal device, the second apparatus may include a network device, and the third apparatus may include a device associated with the database.

[0155] FIG. 14 shows a flowchart of an example method 1400 implemented at a third apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1400 will be described from the perspective of the third apparatus 130 in FIG. 1.

[0156] At block 1410, the third apparatus 130 receives, from a second apparatus, a request for information of a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0157] At block 1420, the third apparatus 130 transmits, to the second apparatus, the information of the database comprising at least one of version information of the database or one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations added to a current version of the database.

[0158] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus 130 may further receive, from a first apparatus, a request for one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the database which are relevant to the first apparatus; and transmit, to the first apparatus, a response to the request indicating the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0159] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may include a terminal device.

[0160] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus 130 may further transmit, to the first apparatus, run time information about radio frequency requirements.

[0161] In some example embodiments, a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include component carriers, and / or a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include bands.

[0162] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus may include a network device, and the third apparatus may include a device associated with the database.

[0163] FIG. 15 shows a flowchart of an example method 1500 implemented at a first apparatus in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1500 will be described from the perspective of the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0164] At block 1510, the first apparatus 110 receives, from a second apparatus, information of a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, the information of the database comprises at least one of version information of the database or one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations added to a current version of the database.

[0165] At block 1520, the first apparatus 110 determines updating information for the capability of the first apparatus based on the information of the database, the updating information indicating support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0166] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may further transmit, to the second apparatus, a request for the information of the database; and receive, from the second apparatus, a response to the request which comprises the information of the database.

[0167] In some example embodiments, the information of the database may include at least one of: the version information of the database, an operator information, the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, a channel bandwidth, bandwidth control information, a power class, or time division duplex synchronization information.

[0168] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may further determine, based on the version information, that the current version of the database is different from a version of thedatabase stored at the first apparatus; transmitting, to the second apparatus, a request for the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations; and receive, from the second apparatus, a response to the request indicating the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0169] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may further determine the support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations by using at least one of: a radio frequency hardware model, or a machine learning model.

[0170] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may further determine the support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations based on at least one of an architecture of the first apparatus or run time information about radio frequency requirements, wherein the run time information is obtained from the second apparatus.

[0171] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus 110 may further transmit, to a network device, updated capability information indicating at least one set of frequency domain radio resource allocations to which an architecture of the first apparatus is compliant.

[0172] In some example embodiments, the updated capability information may be transmitted via a registration request to the network device.

[0173] In some example embodiments, a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include component carriers, and / or a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include bands.

[0174] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may include a terminal device, and the second apparatus may include a device associated with the database.

[0175] FIG. 16 shows a flowchart of an example method 1600 implemented at a second apparatus (for example, the third apparatus 130 in FIG. 1) in accordance with some example embodiments of the present disclosure. For the purpose of discussion, the method 1600 will be described from the perspective of the third apparatus 130 in FIG. 1.

[0176] At block 1610, the third apparatus 130 transmits, to a first apparatus, information of a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, wherein the information of the database at least one of version information of the database or one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations added to a current version of the database.

[0177] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus 130 may further receive, from the first apparatus, a request for the information of the database; and transmit, to the first apparatus, a response to the request which comprises the information of the database.

[0178] In some example embodiments, the information of the database may include at least one of: the version information of the database, an operator information, the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, a channel bandwidth, bandwidth control information, a power class, or time division duplex synchronization information.

[0179] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus 130 may further receive, from the first apparatus, a request for the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations; and transmit, to second apparatus, a response to the request indicating the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0180] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus 130 may further transmit, to the first apparatus, run time information about radio frequency requirements.

[0181] In some example embodiments, a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include component carriers, and / or a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include bands.

[0182] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may include a terminal device, and the third apparatus 130 may include a device associated with the database.

[0183] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 1200 (for example, the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 1200. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0184] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, first database information of a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations; means for determining one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the database as candidates for updating a capability of the first apparatus by comparing the first database information and second database information stored at the first apparatus; and means for determining updating information for the capability of the first apparatus based on the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, the updating information indicating support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0185] In some example embodiments, the first database information may be received via system information broadcasted from the second apparatus, or the first database information may be received from the second apparatus via a response to a request for information of the database

[0186] In some example embodiments, the first database information may include at least one of: version information of the database, an operator information, the one or more sets of frequencydomain radio resource allocations, a channel bandwidth, bandwidth control information, a power class, or time division duplex synchronization information.

[0187] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining the first database information mismatches the second database information; means for transmitting, to a third apparatus associated with the database, a request for the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the database which are relevant to the first apparatus; and means for receiving, from the third apparatus, a response to the request indicating the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0188] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for in accordance with a determination that a first version of the database comprised in the first database information is different from a second version of the database comprised in the second database information, determining the first database information mismatches the second database information.

[0189] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining the support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations by using at least one of: means for a radio frequency hardware model, or means for a machine learning model.

[0190] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining the support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations based on at least one of an architecture of the first apparatus or run time information about radio frequency requirements, wherein the run time information is obtained from a third apparatus associated with the database.

[0191] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the second apparatus, updated capability information indicating at least one set of frequency domain radio resource allocations to which an architecture of the first apparatus is compliant.

[0192] In some example embodiments, the updated capability information may be transmitted via a registration request to the second apparatus.

[0193] In some example embodiments, a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include component carriers, and / or a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include bands.

[0194] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may include a terminal device, and the second apparatus may include a network device.

[0195] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of themethod 1300 (for example, the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 1300. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in the second apparatus 120 in FIG. 1.

[0196] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a third apparatus, a request for information of a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations; means for receiving, from the third apparatus, the information of the database comprising at least one of version information of the database or one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations added to a current version of the database; and means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, first database information determined based on the received response.

[0197] In some example embodiments, the first database information may be broadcasted via system information, or the first database information may be transmitted to the first apparatus in response to a request for information of the database from the first apparatus.

[0198] In some example embodiments, the first database information may include at least one of: the version information of the database, an operator information, the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, a channel bandwidth, bandwidth control information, a power class, or time division duplex synchronization information.

[0199] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the first apparatus, updated capability information indicating at least one set of frequency domain radio resource allocations to which an architecture of the first apparatus is compliant, wherein the at least one set of frequency domain radio resource allocations is determined from the plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the database.

[0200] In some example embodiments, the updated capability information may be received via a registration request from the first apparatus.

[0201] In some example embodiments, a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include component carriers, and / or a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include bands.

[0202] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may include a terminal device, the second apparatus may include a network device, and the third apparatus may include a device associated with the database.

[0203] In some example embodiments, a third apparatus capable of performing any of the method 1400 (for example, the third apparatus 130 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 1400. The means may be implemented in any suitableform. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The third apparatus may be implemented as or included in the third apparatus 130 in FIG. 1.

[0204] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, a request for information of a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations; and means for transmitting, to the second apparatus, the information of the database comprising at least one of version information of the database or one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations added to a current version of the database.

[0205] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from a first apparatus, a request for one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the database which are relevant to the first apparatus; and means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, a response to the request indicating the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0206] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may include a terminal device.

[0207] In some example embodiments, the third apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, run time information about radio frequency requirements.

[0208] In some example embodiments, a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include component carriers, and / or a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include bands.

[0209] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus may include a network device, and the third apparatus may include a device associated with the database.

[0210] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 1500 (for example, the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 1500. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0211] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for receiving, from a second apparatus, information of a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, the information of the database comprises at least one of version information of the database or one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations added to a current version of the database; and means for determining updating information for a capability of the first apparatus based on the information of the database, the updating information indicating support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0212] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the second apparatus, a request for the information of the database; and means for receiving, from the second apparatus, a response to the request which comprises the information of the database.

[0213] In some example embodiments, the information of the database may include at least one of: the version information of the database, an operator information, the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, a channel bandwidth, bandwidth control information, a power class, or time division duplex synchronization information.

[0214] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining, based on the version information, that the current version of the database is different from a version of the database stored at the first apparatus; means for transmitting, to the second apparatus, a request for the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations; and means for receiving, from the second apparatus, a response to the request indicating the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0215] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining the support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations by using at least one of: means for a radio frequency hardware model, or means for a machine learning model.

[0216] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining the support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations based on at least one of an architecture of the first apparatus or run time information about radio frequency requirements, wherein the run time information is obtained from the second apparatus.

[0217] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to a network device, updated capability information indicating at least one set of frequency domain radio resource allocations to which an architecture of the first apparatus is compliant.

[0218] In some example embodiments, the updated capability information may be transmitted via a registration request to the network device.

[0219] In some example embodiments, a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include component carriers, and / or a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include bands.

[0220] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may include a terminal device, and the second apparatus may include a device associated with the database.

[0221] In some example embodiments, a second apparatus capable of performing any of the method 1600 (for example, the third apparatus 130 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 1600. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The second apparatus may be implemented as or included in the third apparatus 130 in FIG. 1.

[0222] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus comprises means for transmitting, to a first apparatus, information of a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, wherein the information of the database at least one of version information of the database or one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations added to a current version of the database.

[0223] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the first apparatus, a request for the information of the database; and means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, a response to the request which comprises the information of the database.

[0224] In some example embodiments, the information of the database may include at least one of: the version information of the database, an operator information, the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, a channel bandwidth, bandwidth control information, a power class, or time division duplex synchronization information.

[0225] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for receiving, from the first apparatus, a request for the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations; and means for transmitting, to second apparatus, a response to the request indicating the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0226] In some example embodiments, the second apparatus further comprises: means for transmitting, to the first apparatus, run time information about radio frequency requirements.

[0227] In some example embodiments, a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include component carriers, and / or a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include bands.

[0228] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may include a terminal device, and the second apparatus may include a device associated with the database.

[0229] In some example embodiments, a first apparatus capable of performing any of the method 1000 (for example, the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1) may comprise means for performing the respective operations of the method 1000. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. The first apparatus may be implemented as or included in the first apparatus 110 in FIG. 1.

[0230] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus comprises means for determining one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations from a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations for carrier aggregation or dual connectivity, wherein the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations are associated with a first version of the database; and means for determining updating information for a capability of the first apparatus based on the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, the updating information indicating support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

[0231] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining whether a band of a first set of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations is changed to a band of a band group that has resources to spare; and means for in accordance with the determination that a band of the first set of frequency domain radio resource allocations is changed to the band of a band group that has resources to spare, determining that the first set of frequency domain radio resource allocations is supported by the first apparatus.

[0232] In some example embodiments, the first set of frequency domain radio resource allocations may be determined as an intra-band set of frequency domain radio resource allocations supported by the first apparatus, or an additional bandwidth class supported by the first apparatus.

[0233] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining whether a second set of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations is changed to bands inside a band group that are supported as fallbacks, wherein the band group has resources to spare; and means for in accordance with a determination that the second set of frequency domain radio resource allocations is changed to the bands inside the band group that are supported as fallbacks, determining that the second set of frequency domain radio resource allocations is supported by the first apparatus.

[0234] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for obtaining information of the database comprising at least one of: means for versioning information of the database, means for an operator information, means for the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, means for a channel bandwidth, means for bandwidth control information, means for a power class, or means for timing division duplex synchronization information; and means for determining the updating information based on the received information.

[0235] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining the support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domainradio resource allocations by using at least one of: means for a radio frequency hardware model, or means for a machine learning model.

[0236] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining the support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations based on at least one of an architecture of the first apparatus or run time information about radio frequency requirements.

[0237] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus further comprises: means for determining updated capability information indicating at least one set of frequency domain radio resource allocations to which the architecture of the first apparatus is compliant.

[0238] In some example embodiments, the updated capability information further indicates a type of update which the first apparatus accepts without software update.

[0239] In some example embodiments, a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include component carriers, and / or a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation may include bands.

[0240] In some example embodiments, the first apparatus may include a terminal device.

[0241] FIG. 17 is a simplified block diagram of a device 1700 that is suitable for implementing example embodiments of the present disclosure. The device 1700 may be provided to implement a communication device, for example, the first apparatus 110 or the second apparatus 120 or the third apparatus 130 as shown in FIG. 1. As shown, the device 1700 includes one or more processors 1710, one or more memories 1720 coupled to the processor 1710, and one or more communication modules 1740 coupled to the processor 1710.

[0242] The communication module 1740 is for bidirectional communications. The communication module 1740 has one or more communication interfaces to facilitate communication with one or more other modules or devices. The communication interfaces may represent any interface that is necessary for communication with other network elements. In some example embodiments, the communication module 1740 may include at least one antenna.

[0243] The processor 1710 may be of any type suitable to the local technical network and may include one or more of the following: general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on multicore processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The device 1700 may have multiple processors, such as an application specific integrated circuit chip that is slaved in time to a clock which synchronizes the main processor.

[0244] The memory 1720 may include one or more non-volatile memories and one or more volatile memories. Examples of the non-volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a ReadOnly Memory (ROM) 1724, an electrically programmable read only memory (EPROM), a flash memory, a hard disk, a compact disc (CD), a digital video disk (DVD), an optical disk, a laser disk, and other magnetic storage and / or optical storage. Examples of the volatile memories include, but are not limited to, a random-access memory (RAM) 1722 and other volatile memories that will not last in the power-down duration.

[0245] A computer program 1730 includes computer executable instructions that are executed by the associated processor 1710. The instructions of the program 1730 may include instructions for performing operations / acts of some example embodiments of the present disclosure. The program 1730 may be stored in the memory, e.g., the ROM 1724. The processor 1710 may perform any suitable actions and processing by loading the program 1730 into the RAM 1722.

[0246] The example embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented by means of the program 1730 so that the device 1700 may perform any process of the disclosure as discussed with reference to FIG. 4 to FIG.16. The example embodiments of the present disclosure may also be implemented by hardware or by a combination of software and hardware.

[0247] In some example embodiments, the program 1730 may be tangibly contained in a computer readable medium which may be included in the device 1700 (such as in the memory 1720) or other storage devices that are accessible by the device 1700. The device 1700 may load the program 1730 from the computer readable medium to the RAM 1722 for execution. In some example embodiments, the computer readable medium may include any types of non-transitory storage medium, such as ROM, EPROM, a flash memory, a hard disk, CD, DVD, and the like. The term “non-transitory,” as used herein, is a limitation of the medium itself (i.e., tangible, not a signal) as opposed to a limitation on data storage persistency (e.g., RAM vs. ROM).

[0248] FIG. 18 shows an example of the computer readable medium 1800 which may be in form of CD, DVD or other optical storage disk. The computer readable medium 1800 has the program 1730 stored thereon.

[0249] Generally, various embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented in hardware or special purpose circuits, software, logic or any combination thereof. Some aspects may be implemented in hardware, and other aspects may be implemented in firmware or software which may be executed by a controller, microprocessor or other computing device. Although various aspects of embodiments of the present disclosure are illustrated and described as block diagrams, flowcharts, or using some other pictorial representations, it is to be understood that the block, apparatus, system, technique or method described herein may be implemented in, as nonlimiting examples, hardware, software, firmware, special purpose circuits or logic, general purpose hardware or controller or other computing devices, or some combination thereof.

[0250] Some example embodiments of the present disclosure also provide at least one computer program product tangibly stored on a computer readable medium, such as a non-transitory computer readable medium. The computer program product includes computerexecutable instructions, such as those included in program modules, being executed in a device on a target physical or virtual processor, to carry out any of the methods as described above. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, libraries, objects, classes, components, data structures, or the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. The functionality of the program modules may be combined or split between program modules as desired in various embodiments. Machine-executable instructions for program modules may be executed within a local or distributed device. In a distributed device, program modules may be located in both local and remote storage media.

[0251] Program code for carrying out methods of the present disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. The program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that the program code, when executed by the processor or controller, cause the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may execute entirely on a machine, partly on the machine, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the machine and partly on a remote machine or entirely on the remote machine or server.

[0252] In the context of the present disclosure, the computer program code or related data may be carried by any suitable carrier to enable the device, apparatus or processor to perform various processes and operations as described above. Examples of the carrier include a signal, computer readable medium, and the like.

[0253] The computer readable medium may be a computer readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A computer readable medium may include but not limited to an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of the computer readable storage medium would include an electrical connection having one or more wires, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0254] Further, although operations are depicted in a particular order, this should not be understood as requiring that such operations be performed in the particular order shown or insequential order, or that all illustrated operations be performed, to achieve desirable results. In certain circumstances, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. Likewise, although several specific implementation details are contained in the above discussions, these should not be construed as limitations on the scope of the present disclosure, but rather as descriptions of features that may be specific to particular embodiments. Unless explicitly stated, certain features that are described in the context of separate embodiments may also be implemented in combination in a single embodiment. Conversely, unless explicitly stated, various features that are described in the context of a single embodiment may also be implemented in a plurality of embodiments separately or in any suitable sub-combination.

[0255] Although the present disclosure has been described in languages specific to structural features and / or methodological acts, it is to be understood that the present disclosure defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above. Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed as example forms of implementing the claims.

Claims

36WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:

1. A first apparatus comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the first apparatus at least to:determine one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations from a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations for carrier aggregation or dual connectivity, wherein the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations are associated with a first version of the database; anddetermine updating information for a capability of the first apparatus based on the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, the updating information indicating support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

2. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:determine whether a band of a first set of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations is changed to a band of a band group that has resources to spare; andin accordance with the determination that a band of the first set of frequency domain radio resource allocations is changed to the band of a band group that has resources to spare, determine that the first set of frequency domain radio resource allocations is supported by the first apparatus.

3. The first apparatus of claim 2, wherein the first set of frequency domain radio resource allocations is determined as an intra-band set of frequency domain radio resource allocations supported by the first apparatus, or an additional bandwidth class supported by the first apparatus.

4. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:determine whether a second set of frequency domain radio resource allocations in the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations is changed to bands inside a band group that are supported as fallbacks, wherein the band group has resources to spare; andin accordance with a determination that the second set of frequency domain radio resource allocations is changed to the bands inside the band group that are supported as fallbacks, determine that the second set of frequency domain radio resource allocations is supported by the first apparatus.

375. The first apparatus of claim 1, wherein the first apparatus is caused to:obtain information of the database comprising at least one of:version information of the database,an operator information,the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations,a channel bandwidth,bandwidth control information,a power class, ortime division duplex synchronization information; anddetermine the updating information based on the received information.

6. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: determine the support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations by using at least one of:a radio frequency hardware model, ora machine learning model.

7. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: determine the support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations based on at least one of an architecture of the first apparatus or run time information about radio frequency requirements.

8. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first apparatus is caused to: determine updated capability information indicating at least one set of frequency domain radio resource allocations to which the architecture of the first apparatus is compliant.

9. The first apparatus of claim 8, wherein the updated capability information further indicates a type of update which the first apparatus accepts without software update.

10. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation comprises component carriers, and / orwherein a set of frequency domain radio resource allocation comprises bands.

11. The first apparatus of any of claims 1 to 10, wherein the first apparatus comprises a terminal device.

12. A method comprising:determining one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations from a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations for carrier aggregation or dual connectivity, wherein the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations are associated with a first version of the database; anddetermining updating information for a capability of the first apparatus based on the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, the updating information indicating support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

13. A first apparatus comprising:means for determining one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations from a database comprising a plurality of sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations for carrier aggregation or dual connectivity, wherein the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations are associated with a first version of the database; andmeans for determining updating information for a capability of the first apparatus based on the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations, the updating information indicating support of the first apparatus for each of the one or more sets of frequency domain radio resource allocations.

14. A computer readable medium comprising instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus at least to perform the method of claim 12.

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