Indication of UE capabilities

Abstract

There is provided a method performed by a user equipment, the method comprising: receiving, from a network, an indication of at least one criterion for determining a type of the user equipment; determining the type of the user equipment based on the at least one criterion; and transmitting an indication of the determined type of the user equipment to the network.

Description

[0001] INDICATION OF UE CAPABILITIES

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Various example embodiments relate generally to improving communication efficiency, e.g. by a user equipment (UE) indicating its type (indicative of UEs capabilities) to a network, wherein the type is determined based on certain at least one criterion.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] With the advancement of communications technology, multitude of UEs were introduced to the market encompassing diverse UE capabilities and catering many different services. It may be beneficial for the network to know the type of a UE when the UE is connecting the network. Current UE capability enquiry procedures may not be efficient for this purpose.

[0006] BRIEF DESCRIPTION

[0007] According to some aspects, there is provided the subject matter of the independent claims. Some further aspects are defined in the dependent claims. The embodiments that do not fall under the scope of the claims are to be interpreted as examples useful for understanding the disclosure.

[0008] LIST OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] In the following, the invention will be described in greater detail with reference to the embodiments and the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 presents a network to which one or more embodiments are applicable;

[0010] Figures 2 and 3 show signaling flow diagrams, according to some embodiments;

[0011] Figure 4 shows different options for at least one criterion and for indication, according to some embodiments;

[0012] Figure 5 illustrates an apparatus, according to an embodiment;

[0013] DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0014] The following embodiments are exemplary. Although the specification may refer to “an”, “one”, or “some” embodiment(s) in several locations of the text, this does not necessarily mean that each reference is made to the same embodiment(s), or that a particular feature only applies to a single embodiment. Single features of different embodiments may also be combined to provide otherembodiments. Further, when a particular feature, structure, or characteristic is described in connection of an embodiment, itis within the knowledge of one skilled in the art to apply such feature, structure, or characteristic in connection with other embodiments whether or not explicitly described. It shall be understood that although the terms “first,” “second” 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.

[0015] For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrases “at least one of A or B”, “at least one of A and B”, and “A and / or B” means (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A, B, and / or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B), (A and C), (B and C), or (A, B, and C). As used herein, the terms “the at least one” and “the one or more” mean “any one of the at least one” and “any one of the one or more”, respectively.

[0016] Embodiments described may be implemented in a communication network, such as any of the following radio access technologies (RATs): Worldwide Interoperability for Micro-wave Access (WiMAX), Global System for Mobile communications (GSM, 2G), GSM EDGE radio access Network (GERAN), General Packet Radio Service (GRPS), Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS, 3G) based on basic wideband-code division multiple access (W-CDMA), high-speed packet access (HSPA), Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, and enhanced LTE (eLTE), 5G (also called NR), or any future RAT such as 6G. Moreover, communication within the communication network 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 (M1M0), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple (OFDM), and / or Discrete Fourier Transform spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM).

[0017] As used herein, the term “network device” or “network node” refers to a node in a communication network via which user equipment may access the network and / or which is capable of controlling radio communication and managing radio resources within a cell. The network node or network device may be referred to as a base station (BS), an access point (AP) or an access node. The network device may be, depending on the applied technology, 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 head (RH), a remote radio head (RRH), a relay, an Integrated Access and Backhaul (1AB) node, a low power node, anon-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, or an aircraft network device.

[0018] Moreover, in connection of split radio access network (RAN), the network device may refer to a centralised unit (CU) of a base station and / or a distributed unit (DU) of a base station. An interface between CU and DU may be referred to as an Fl interface in NR. In the split RAN architecture, node operations may be carried out, at least partly, in the central / centralized unit, CU, (e.g. server, host or node) operationally coupled to the DU, (e.g. a radio head / node). One CU may control one or more DUs, acting at least as transmit / receive (Tx / Rx) nodes. In some embodiments, the DUs may comprise e.g. a radio link control (RLC), medium access control (MAC) layer and a physical (PHY) layer, whereas the CU may comprise the layers above RLC layer, such as a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, a radio resource control (RRC) and an internet protocol (IP) layers. Other functional splits are possible too. In practice, any processing task may be performed in either the CU or the DU and the boundary where the responsibility is shifted between the CU and the DU may depend on the applied implementation.

[0019] The term “terminal device” refers to any end device that may be capable of wireless communication. By way of example, a terminal device may be referred to as a communication device, user equipment (UE), a Subscriber Station (SS), or a Mobile Station (MS). The terminal device may include 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, USB dongles, 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.

[0020] A term “resource”, as used herein, may refer to radio resources in time domain, in frequency domain, in space domain, and / or in code domain. Some examples of resources include e.g. a physical resource block (PRB), a radio frame, a subframe, a time slot, a subband, a frequency region, a sub-carrier, a frequency band, a carrier, a beam, etc. The term “transmission” and / or “reception” may referto wirelessly transmitting and / or receiving via a wireless propagation channel on radio resources.

[0021] Figure 1 illustrates an example of a communication network to which examples disclosed herein may be applied. The communication network or a cellular communication network may comprise a network node 110 providing one or more cells, such as cell 100, and a network node 112 providing one or more other cells, such as cell 102. Each cell may be, e.g., a macro cell, a micro cell, femto, or a pico cell, for example. The cell may define a coverage area or a service area of the corresponding access node.

[0022] The network node 110 may provide a user equipment (UE) 120 (one or more UEs) with wireless access to the communication network. The wireless access may comprise downlink (DL) communication from the network node to the UE 120 and uplink (UL) communication from the UE 120 to the network node. Examples of uplink channels comprise physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) for transmitting control information, physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for transmitting data towards the network, and a logical dedicated control channel for transmitting dedicated signaling messages from the user equipment to the network. Examples of downlink channels comprise physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for transmitting control information, physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) for transmitting data towards the user equipment and a logical dedicated control channel for transmitting dedicated signaling messages from the network to the user equipment.

[0023] There may be a plurality of UEs 120, 122 in the system. Each of them may be served by the same or by different control nodes 110, 112. The UEs 120, 122 may communicate with each other, in case device-to-device (D2D) communication interface is established between them via a so-called sidelink (SL). Such D2D communications may be referred to as machine-to-machine, peer-to-peer (P2P) communications, or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), for example.

[0024] In the case of multiple network nodes in the communication network, the network nodes may be connected to each other via an interface. LTE specifications call such an interface as X2 interface. An interface between an LTE node and a 5G node, or between two 5G nodes may be called Xn interface.

[0025] The network nodes 110 and 112 may be further connected via another interface to a core network 116 of the communication network. The LTE specifications specify the core network as an evolved packet core (EPC), and the core network may comprise e.g. a mobility management entity (MME) and a gateway node. The MME may handle mobility of terminal devices in a tracking areaencompassing a plurality of cells and handle signalling connections between the terminal devices and the core network. The gateway node may handle data routing in the core network and to / from the terminal devices. The 5G specifications specify the core network as a 5G core (5GC). The 5G core may comprise e.g. an access and mobility management function (AMF) and a user plane function / gateway (UPF) and other functions. The AMF may handle termination of non-access stratum (NAS) signalling, NAS ciphering & integrity protection, registration management, connection management, mobility management, access authentication and authorization, security context management. The UPF node may support packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection and quality of service (QoS) handling, for example.

[0026] As said, nowadays the number of different types of UEs is increasing, meaning there are UEs with diverse UE capabilities. These UE types having different capabilities could be intended for offering divergent performance metrics such as high-speed data connectivity, enhanced energy efficiency or ultra-low latency to suit the expected use cases. In the 6G era, with the advent of enhanced and novel range of applications with dissimilar characteristics like augmented / virtual reality (AR / VR), massive twinning, immersive smart cities, holographic communications, remote surgery, ambient-loT and V2X, it is expected that more customized devices for each of these use cases will be introduced to the market. Consequently, 6G deployments are expected to be diversified, ensuring resilient, efficient and economical scaling of the offered services. For instance, the envisioned essential deployments include eMBB (including demanding services such as XR, Metaverse) or Low Power Wireless Access LPWA (for services based on or derivative from loT, that target cost optimizations and energy efficiency). Concurrently, 6G will need to accommodate a variety of devices to support services. The identification, interoperability, and coherent management of these various types of UEs would be one of the continuing challenges faced by the telecommunication systems.

[0027] Some steps have been taken in earlier 3gpp releases to alleviate the challenges. For example, UE categories were introduced in 4G with the objective of defining the UE’s (layer 1, LI) data rate requirements. Such UE categories specify the maximum LI data rate, minimum supported M1M0 layers and L2 buffering capabilities. The initial Rel-8 introduced only the UE categories 1 to 5. In Rel-10, UE categories 6 to 8 were added. Originally, the UE categories were encompassing both UL and DL but were later split to UL and DL categories to allow more UE flexibility with the expectation of permitting UEs to have different UL and DLprocessing capability. In the end, 26 UE categories were defined in 4G which resulted in a too fragmented and unclear classification. The UE category definitions do not indicate how the UEs can reach the maximum data rate and presented a static figure.

[0028] Due to the issues faced in LTE, UE categories were not defined in 5G standardization initially. UE categories were replaced by specified maximum data rate formulas based on signalled UE capabilities. 3GPP specifications define a formula for calculating the maximum (LI) data rate and minimum L2 buffer sizes which also considers M1M0 support that can vary depending on the used band and band combination. Additionally, a formula was needed for calculation because of different subcarrier spacing (SCS) and frequency ranges in NR. However, due to the lack of specific UE categories, it was difficult to identify UEs which were meant for unique use cases. For example, RedCap devices with limited capabilities meant for specific use cases were introduced into the market and it was not possible to exclusively identify these devices for differentiated handling with only the common formula. Due to this, in later releases, it was required to specify some specific capability UE types also in 5G.

[0029] There will be multitude of new devices with unique capabilities (e.g. unique types) to be considered for 6G as well. For example, ambient-loT devices which requires extremely energy efficient operation, and XR / VR devices with higher throughput and real time data transmission need fundamentally different modes of operation.

[0030] According to standardized legacy framework, provided UE Capabilities are stored in RAN and Core Network (in UE Context) and maintained in the UE registration area to limit signaling overhead. The underlying principle is that upon fresh UE connection to the network, the UE provides its complete set of Capabilities for a given RAT or frequency band, based on a network enquiry. However, due to 5G dynamics, there are recognized needs by device manufactures to change the approach by enabling dynamic UE Capabilities. Proprietary changes would enable the same UE indicating different input of its capabilities based on the device condition.

[0031] Considering that the specific deployments can be intended to a particular service, and the devices are aimed at a particular service too, the network deployment and device implementation are closely complementing each other. The requirements of devices must be adequately fulfilled by the underlying network infrastructure. Therefore, both the deployment strategy and the capabilities of devices are directed towards the same situation and use case.Notably, static UE capabilities indicating entire set of UE supported features appear to be insufficient and not optimal, as the UE internal conditions may dictate its mode of operation. In context of the device classification, the static UE capabilities pertain to its static UE type (in 4G) and achievable performance with it. A UE which indicates that it belongs to high-performance services may appear to be incapable of satisfying the requirements due to performance degradation. In such a scenario, when the manufactured UE type for high performance is unable to perform in its native mode, it introduces ambiguity for the network on how to tailor the operations and configurations towards the UE.

[0032] Moreover, for the network providers, there is a notable concern regarding those UEs that claim they belong to high-performance service categories but could temporarily become only capable of low-performance service. Despite their classifications suggesting they are equipped for demanding applications, there maybe instances where these devices do not meet the expected performance standards. This discrepancy can lead to issues such as failures in operations, overall performance degradation and inability to deliver the service successfully. Moreover, different UEs may be categorized / classified as being of certain type for a certain deployment while the same UE may be categorized / classified as being of another type for another deployment. Deployments can be e.g. terrestrial network (TN) or non-terrestrial network (NTN), to mention only a few non-limiting deployment types.

[0033] Therefore, current methods to indicate UE capabilities / type falls short and introduces burden in recognizing the intended UE in matching network service deployment. To at least partially tackle these challenges, there is proposed a solution for categorizing / classifying UEs (e.g. for 6G operations). To accomplish this in an efficient and reliable manner, UEs are distinguished by different criteria (also called validation criteria). In some embodiments, as will be shown, UE can determine the type it belongs to or would belong to based on the validation criteria, which may be provided by the network. The network configures the validation criteria to set the boundaries for segregation of devices. Then, the UE notifies the network about the determined UE Type. The proposed framework enables changing the UE type based on the network configuration or based on UE’s conditions (which can include present conditions or previous conditions experienced by the UE), and allows a differentiated treatment of device types and transparent management of services.

[0034] Figure 2 depicts an example method. The method may be computer-implemented. The method may be performed by a user equipment, such as the UE120 of Figure 1. Figure 2 shows a procedure for assigning configurations for a UE type determination based on validation criteria associated with the intended service and performance.

[0035] As shown in Figure 2, the UE in step 200 receives, from the network (e.g. from a network node such as gNB 110), an indication of at least one criterion for determining a type of the user equipment. The gNB 110 may determine the at least one criterion useable by the UE for determining a type of the UE. The gNB may require that the UE meets predetermined requirement(s) before it can be classified as e.g. energy efficient UE (i.e. a type of the UE would be energy efficient UE according to some criteria, or e.g. type X which is mapped to or associated with e.g. energy efficient UE). However, the exact manner on how and on what basis the at least one criterion is determined by the gNB may be an implementation specific issue, and not discussed in detail in the description.

[0036] The indication of the at least one criterion may comprise the at least the criterion, or it may be an indication of where to obtain the at least one criterion. For example, the at least criterion may be prestored at the UE (e.g. defined by 3GPP specifications), and the indication tells the UE which (e.g. by means of index or indexes) of the possibly many prestored criteria the UE should use as the at least one criterion. The following embodiments may assume that the network broadcasts and the UE receives the at least one criterion explicitly (i.e. the SIB comprises the at least one criterion). However, this is merely a non-limiting option, and the above mentioned indication of the at least one criterion is possible as well.

[0037] In an embodiment, the indication of the at least one criterion is received in a broadcast signalling from the network node. In an embodiment, the broadcast signaling is a system information block (SIB) 1. In an embodiment, the broadcast signalling comprises several system information blocks, each system information block indicating a different set of at least one criterion such that each system information block is associated with a different type of user equipment. For example, each SIB provides a set of at least one criterion that is specific to certain type of UE. In this manner different SIBs may serve different types of UE. Alternatively, a new SIB or SIBs can be dedicated for this purpose. As such, the reception of the at least one criterion (and the following determination of step 202) may take place while the UE is in an RRC inactive mode or in an RRC idle mode. This is efficient as it enables the UE to indicate its type directly when connecting the network for RRC connection, as will be explained later.

[0038] In step 202, the UE 120 determines the type of the user equipment 120 based on the at least one criterion.In an embodiment, each type of the UE is characterized with a different capability( / ies) of the UE. The capability may be static capability or dynamic capability. As will be shown later with different embodiments, one UE type may be associated with or indicative of a capability to operate with low energy efficiency, according to certain energy consumption threshold(s), while another type may be associated with or indicative of high data throughput according to certain throughput threshold(s). Such threshold(s) may be provided among the at least one criterion to the UE.

[0039] In an embodiment, each type of the user equipment is associated with at least one service of the network. For example, some services, such as autonomous driving assistance, may require that UE (e.g. the car) is capable of high communication throughput, low latencies and low error rate (e.g. high reliability). If the UE type is determined in step 202 to be such a high data throughput, low latencies and low error rate UE (based on certain at least one criterion indicated to the UE in step 200), the UE may indicate this to the network (in step 203, see below) and the network may then assign to the UE such services which are suitable for such type of UE.

[0040] Therefore, in an embodiment, the determination of the type of the UE in step 202 comprises determining which one or more criteria of the at least one criterion the user equipment meets (e.g. a threshold check shown in Figure 2), possibly only within a predefined time duration or permanently. The at least one criterion may comprise e.g. threshold(s) which the UE can compare against its own static and / or dynamic capabilities, and in that way determine what is the type of the UE or whether the UE meets the criteria or which of the criteria the UE meets. The type of the UE is at least partly determined based on which of the at least one criterion the UE meets.

[0041] In an embodiment, the network broadcasts criteria associated with several services. The UE may determine which service it requires, select that at least one criterion which is related to that specific service (among possible a plurality of criteria, some being specific to the to-be-requested service while some are not related to that service), and determine whether it meets that selected at least one criterion. That is, the network may broadcast only criteria that is related to one service or criteria for different services.

[0042] It is to be noted that the UE’s capabilities may vary depending on e.g. battery status and / or power level of the UE. As one example, if the UE is capable of high data throughout when the UE has at least a decent battery level, the same UE may not be capable of high data throughput if the battery level is too low (batterylevel may be one of the thresholds or may affect fulfilling some other threshold(s)). Therefore, the UE type may change dynamically. Also, if the network decides to change the criteria of the UE to be categorized as e.g. high data throughput device, the category of the UE may change even if the UE has the same capability as before.

[0043] In an embodiment, the values of the at least one criterion may be set based on simulations, testing, historical data, artificial intelligence, machine learning, to mention only a few non-limiting options.

[0044] In an embodiment, each of the at least one criterion is associated with a capability of the UE. For example, the capability is indicative of at least one of the following characteristic of the UE: energy efficiency, power class, communication latency, communication throughput, communication error rate, or positioning accuracy. Therefore, the validation criteria broadcasted, e.g. through SIB, could include parameters which consider the energy efficiency, throughput, latency requirements and / or other determining factors. For instance, the validation criteria can list explicit value(s), range(s), boundary ( / ies) or threshold(s) for one or more of the above mentioned capabilities of the UE. The explicit value may be a value for a certain measurable capability, such as maximum throughput, the UE is capable of. The UE may determine what is the maximum throughput the UE is capable of, and if this determined value coincides with the explicit value, the UE can categorize itself as specific type of UE with respect to communication throughput. Boundaries or ranges may provide upper and / or lower limits for certain UE capability, and the UE needs to determine that its capability is within the provided limits. Threshold(s) may also provide upper and / or lower limits for certain capability.

[0045] As some non-limiting options any one or more of the following may be included in the at least one criterion:

[0046] • Related to energy efficiency or power consumption or power class:

[0047] The at least one criterion may include boundary ( / ies) for e.g. one or more of the following: energy cost index, energy class, energy consumption, power status or battery status). This / these may set requirements for the UE to classify itself as a device capable of performing in an energy efficient manner.

[0048] • Related to maximum latency. The at least one criterion may include boundary( / ies) for e.g. maximum processing latency and / or delay. The latency or delay may be in connection of overall latency or specifically to signaling processing and / or a protocol layer delay. Such boundary( / ies) sets a requirement(s) for classifying the UE asa device capable of performing accordingly (e.g. as a device that is capable of not exceeding the indicated latency threshold).

[0049] • Related to maximum achievable throughput. The at least one criterion may include boundary ( / ies) for a minimum achievable throughput that sets requirement for the UE to classify (i.e. determine) the UE as a high performance device, or as a low performance device, for example.

[0050] It should be noted that there can be one validation criterion or combination of the criteria that needs to be met for the UE to determined itself as a certain type of UE. For example, when the network provides validation criteria for a service associated with autonomous driving, the validation criteria may indicate threshold related to both low error rate and low latency, which both need to be met before the UE can determine and notify the network that the UE is of a type suitable for the service. In other words, the network may provide the validation criterion / a that needs to be met in order for the UE to determine itself as a certain type of a UE type or capable of a certain service type.

[0051] As some examples, there can be different validation criteria given for different associated UE Types. For instance, regarding power consumption or energy efficiency, current capability of the UE with respect to this characteristic being below certain provided threshold as the at least one criterion (e.g. with given numerical value) is associated with UE Type X (e.g. UE Type 1). As another example, UE’s maximum achievable data rate or throughput being above a certain threshold as the at least one criterion (e.g. with given numerical value) is associated with UE Type Y (e.g. UE Type 2).

[0052] In an embodiment, the at least one criterion defines requirements that need to be met in order for the user equipment to be of a certain type, and the determination of the type comprises a check as to whether the user equipment is of the certain type. As an example, the UE compares its internal conditions, such as internally specified UE capabilities and performance characteristics (including temporary status, such as battery level, power consumption or radio conditions (good or bad)) against the validation criteria / ion provided by the network and determines whether the check is positive or negative. For instance, if the provided validation criteria were associated with a certain UE type X or with a certain service, the UE determines whether the UE meets the criteria / ion. For example, if the UE satisfies the validation criteria / ion for the UE Type X or for the service, the UE will categorize itself as belonging to or being of UE Type X, or being a UE that is capable for the service.In step 204 the UE transmits an indication of the determined type of the user equipment 120 to the network (e.g. gNB 110). That is, the UE sends the indication of the UE Type (e.g. UE Type X) or an indicator resulting from the check (if number of validation criteria was given, it can be an index corresponding to a fulfilled criterion or its rank in the order, for example). The indicator ties the UE to a certain set of UE capabilities that are associated with the UE Type based on the validation criteria. One benefit is that the network becomes at an early state aware of the UE’s capabilities, which expedites providing the UE with an appropriate service, for example.

[0053] In an embodiment, wherein the at least one criterion indicates a plurality of criteria, the indication of the determined type comprises information indicating which of the plurality of criteria the user equipment meets. For example, the indication can be the UE type, or an index corresponding to the validation criterion that has been met, for example, or many indexes if many criteria are met. In this way the index or indexes associates with the check of the validation criteria in the order of validation criteria provided. In some embodiments, the network may determine the UE type based on the received indication, such as based on the index corresponding to the validation criterion that has been met, or based on many indexes if many criteria are met by the UE.

[0054] As one example, the indication of the determined type may comprise a positive acknowledgement or a negative acknowledgement as to whether the user equipment is of the certain type. This may be a valid e.g. when the validation criteria provided to the UE defines certain criteria the UE needs to meet in order to be categorized as a certain UE type. The network may be interested in knowing if all the provided criteria are met. And the UE may then provide ACK or NACK as the indication indicating whether all of the criteria are met or not.

[0055] Meeting all the requirements may imply to the network that the UE is of a certain type, suitable for a specific service, possibly in a specific deployment scenario (as will be described later). For example, when the at least one criterion defines requirements that need to be met in order for the UE to be applicable to a certain service from the network, the indication of the determined type comprises or may be a positive acknowledgement or a negative acknowledgement as to whether the user equipment is applicable for the service.

[0056] In an embodiment, the indication of the determined type comprises a type index of a plurality of type indexes, wherein each type index corresponds to a different type of the user equipment.

[0057] A certain UE type may be mapped to certain service, for example,according to predetermined mapping table. In addition to, or alternatively, a certain index may be mapped to certain UE type, according to another predetermined mapping table. In this way the signaling for indicating the type may be kept low, while the network still obtaining information on which service is suitable for the UE and which configuration for the service should be provided to the UE.

[0058] In an embodiment, the indication of the determined type is transmitted to the network in an RRC connection setup request message. Thus, when the UE intends to move from the idle state to RRC connected state, it may be beneficial for the UE to send the indication within the RRC connection setup request message so that the network will as early as possible, to obtain knowledge of the UE’s type.

[0059] In an embodiment, the determination of the indication is based on temporal conditions of the UE, such as radio conditions or battery level. Therefore, in an embodiment, the indication of the determined UE type is valid only for a predetermined time duration from the transmission of the indication. After the predetermined duration, the network may not rely that the UE anymore fulfils the at least one criterion, and may need to ask for new UE type determination or request UE capabilities according to prior art solutions.

[0060] In an embodiment, where several SIBs providing criteria for different UE types are received in step 200, the UE may determine which SIB comprises the criteria the UE met, and determine the type of the UE based on that SIB.

[0061] In an optional steps 206A and 206B, the network node (e.g. gNB 110) creates and the UE receives a configuration based on the indicated type of the UE, e.g. the configuration is associated with the indicated UE type X that is associated with certain service. The network thus may conclude that the indication is sufficient information for knowing the device capabilities and a suitable operational configuration for the UE. As one advantage, in such scenario, the exchange of UE capabilities as in prior art is not required before providing the initial configuration to the UE. Thereafter, the UE may optionally apply the received configuration for performing communications with the network in step 208.

[0062] In an embodiment, the at least one criterion is per deployment scenario, or at least the provided criterion / a comprises also deployment specific criteria. For example, the network could be of a specific deployment type, and therefore provide deployment specific criteria / ion to the UE, to ensure that UEs that attempt connection to the network are UEs that the network can serve. This is shown in Figure 3, where depicting a procedure for assigning configurations for a UE type determination based on validation criteria associated to an intended service in agiven deployment. The embodiments disclosed in connection of Figure 2 apply to the corresponding steps in Figure 3 as well, unless otherwise specified.

[0063] In step 300A, the network satisfies requirements for a specific deployment (also called deployment scenario) such as TN, NTN, LPWA (Low-power wide-area network), Energy Efficient (EE) RAN, A1ML (artificial intelligence machine learning) supportive or A1ML native RAN. There may be certain predetermined conditions for the network to be allowed to operate or to be capable of operating in a given deployment scenario.

[0064] In step 300, the network node (e.g. gNB 110) broadcasts (e.g. in the SIB) the validation criteria to be used by the UEs for determining its classification in a specific deployment (e.g. UE type classification in the given deployment). This information can be either included in S1B1 or a new SIB message can be dedicated for this purpose. The validation criteria could include parameters which consider the energy efficiency, throughput, latency requirements and or other determining factors that are specific for the deployment. The examples provided in connection of Figure 2 apply here as well.

[0065] What is more, the criterion / a are in Figure 3 given for a specific deployment scenario and may not be used by the UE for specifying the UE type in another deployment scenario. For instance, if the provided at least one criterion is specific to TN, then the UE may not determine its type for NTN deployment based on these at least one criterion. The deployment for which the at least one criterion is specific to may be indicated to the UE in connection of the at least one criterion.

[0066] As further example in addition to the examples given already in connection of Figure 2, the validation criterion / a can list explicit value(s), range(s), boundary( / ies) or threshold(s) for certain deployment performance, such as for • NTN performance (with the boundary(ies) or condition(s) for NTN specific performance, such as GEO, LEO, HAPS or multiorbit support). As an example, the at least one criterion may require the UE to support multiple positioning methods before it can declare itself as NTN UE (as the type of UE).

[0067] • A1ML performance (with the boundary(ies) or condition(s) for machine learning processing, machine learning models and / or their performance associated with CPU, GPU or memory requirements). As an example, the at least one criterion may require the UE to support multiple machine learning models before it can declare itself as A1ML UE (as the type of UE).

[0068] In an embodiment, there is one validation criterion, e.g. a criterion tosupport a certain functionality (e.g. ML or predictions support, or multi-orbit support). In this scenario the validation criteria for a classical deployment (e.g. for energy efficiency, latency or throughput as in Figure 2) may play a role with lower priority compared to deployment specific criterion. If the validation criterion is explicitly or implicitly assigned as a requirement for the UE being of a specific UE type, the criterion may be internally used in the UE to determine if the UE is matching the validation criterion.

[0069] In an embodiment, there can be different validation criteria given for different UE types in different deployments. For instance, if the UE’s maximum achievable data rate or throughput is above a certain threshold as the provided criterion (given as a numerical value, for example), the UE is determined to be a UE type N (e.g. UE Type 1) for a given scenario (e.g. NTN). As another example, if the UE’s power consumption capability or energy efficiency indicator is below a certain threshold as the provided criterion (given as a numerical value, for example), the UE is determined to be a UE Type M (e.g. UE Type 2) for a given scenario (e.g. LPWA). In this way, when the at least one criterion is deployment scenario specific, the UE may determine whether or not the user equipment meets or would meet the at least one criterion in the deployment scenario or when the UE would be operating under that deployment scenario.

[0070] In an embodiment there may be different at least one criterion provided to the UE for the same capability measure in different deployment scenarios. As a consequence, in NTN a UE could be categorized as energy efficient according to NTN specific at least one criterion associated with energy efficiency, while in TN the same UE could categorize itself as non-energy efficient according to TN specific at least one criterion associated with energy efficiency.

[0071] In an embodiment, one of the UE Types (e.g. UE Type N) can be considered as native and default UE Type which matches the deployment default operational mode. When the UE provides an indication that the UE is of type N for the deployment scenario, the network may then derive that the UE is of default type for the deployment scenario, and a default configuration for the deployment scenario may be configured for the UE. If the UE is of an improved quality / type compared to the default type N (e.g. throughput is better than throughput that is merely sufficient for a service in the deployment, e.g. the throughput is better than the default throughput by a predetermined offset), the network may provide an optimized configuration to the UE, wherein the optimized configuration is more suitable for the deployment scenario than the default configuration (e.g. the configuration defines higher throughput for the service than the defaultconfiguration).

[0072] As one example, the criteria for UE being able to categorize itself as ‘default’ (e.g. type N) is provided to the UE in a SIB broadcasting. Consequently, only those UEs can get connected to which satisfy the criteria. This broadcasting could include the criteria or refer to pre-defined criteria (e.g. boundaries for performance), e.g. to values that are given in standard specifications. In addition to the default criteria, the SIB may comprise or refer to improved performance factors as the criteria to be met for UE type classification.

[0073] In step 302, the UE (e.g. UE 120) determines the type of the UE based on the at least deployment specific criterion and indicates the determined type in step 304 to the network. The UE may thus determine its type based on the at least one criterion and the deployment scenario specific to the deployment scenario.

[0074] In an embodiment, the UE sends the indication within an RRC Connection Setup Request. In an embodiment, the indication may be implicit such that sending of the request serves as an implicit indicator to the network that the UE has satisfied the provided at least one criterion for the deployment for which the request was sent (i.e. meaning that the UE is of a type that is needed for the specific deployment). In an embodiment, only if the indicated UE type matches with a native (i.e. default) operational mode of the deployment, the UE can trigger the request without any explicit indicator. However, if the UE meets criterion that is needed for non-default configuration, the UE may include the indication in the request. Alternatively, the UE may in any case include in the request also the indication of the UE type (e.g. UE Type N), as long as the validation criterion check was positive (i.e. the UE meets the one or more criteria for the deployment that are needed to be me in order to be classified as UE type N, which is suitable (e.g. based on predefined mapping table) to be served in the deployment scenario).

[0075] In optional step 306A, the network creates a configuration associated with the indicated UE type (e.g. type N), transmits the configuration to the UE in step 306B, and communicates with UE based on the configuration in the specific deployment in step 308.

[0076] Steps 310-316 show a different behaviour when a UE compares its UE capabilities and performance characteristics (including temporary status, such as battery level, power consumption or radio conditions (good or bad)) against the validation criteria provided by the network and determines that the check is negative for being UE type N, and therefore negative for being served under the specific deployment. E.g. if the UE (e.g. other device or the same UE 120 at different time), determines in step 310 that it does not satisfy the validation criteria for thegiven deployment (i.e. is not capable to perform as required for a UE of type N), the UE may notify in step 312 the network about not satisfying (default or expected configuration requirements). This can be done e.g. once attempting the connection to the network. For example, the UE sends RRC Connection Setup Request to the network in step 312 including in the request message an indication that differentiates the UE type (e.g. from a UE Type N that satisfies validation criteria from SIB). This can be realized either by a dedicated index, “other” UE type (e.g. UE Type Z) or value “none” that corresponds to not meeting all the validation criteria provided by the network. As a consequence, in steps 314A and 314B, the network configures the UE with a different configuration than in step 306A above. Then, the UE and the network may communicate in step 316 according to the different (nondefault) configuration possibly under another deployment scenario than in step 308. For example, in step 208 the communication may be according to NTN deployment, while the communication in step 316 may be according to TN deployment.

[0077] From network point of view, such as from gNB 110 point of view, the embodiments may comprise e.g. the following: determining at least one criterion for determining a type of the user equipment, transmitting an indication of the at least one criterion to a user equipment, and receiving, from the user equipment, an indication of the determined type of the user equipment. In another embodiment the gNB 110 may determine at least one criterion, wherein each of the at least one criterion is associated with a capability of the user equipment, transmit an indication of the at least one criterion to a user equipment, and receive, from the user equipment, an indication indicating whether or not the user equipment meets the at least one criterion.

[0078] As has been shown, the embodiments propose procedures for the network to broadcast the validation criteria for the UEs to define their UE Types (e.g. through SIB), upon reception of which a UE can determine the UE Type it would belong to. The validation criteria could include parameters which consider energy efficiency, throughput, latency requirements and other factors that can be associated with classification (such as deployment). The UE can signal to the NW the UE Type it would belong to when requesting to setup a RRC connection.

[0079] If the NW subsequently detects the need to optimize the operational mode for the UE, then this could trigger a broadcast information update for new validation criteria for the UEs. For instance, by changing boundaries of the validation criteria, the network can group the UEs accordingly to high performance and low performance services. The UEs attempting connection based on the newcriteria may belong to different group of devices, enabling different network strategies e.g. in load management.

[0080] The proposed embodiments can have several advantages, such as e.g. network can control dynamic UE capabilities change and enable flexible device classification, network can directly assign an operational mode without needing to enquire UE Capabilities, avoidance of excessive procedures to exchange the information on the UE capabilities, acceleration of fully operational mode, and enablement of deployment specific strategies and network optimization with differentiated traffic treatment and load management per device type.

[0081] Different non-limiting examples for criteria and indication options are presented in Figure 4A-4C. In these figures, the provided at least one criterion comprises three criterion each defining a threshold for a certain capability of the UE: one for power consumption, one for latency, and one for throughput. These may be indexed with indexes [1, 2, 3], respectively. The UE then determines whether the UE meets these criteria or not, or which of the criteria the UE meets, as explained above.

[0082] In Figure 4A the UE determines that it meets all of the criteria. In such case, the UE may indicate to the network e.g. in step 204, that the UE belongs to type X, wherein type X is per predetermined mapping table associated with meeting all three criteria. In addition to or alternatively, the UE may indicate to the network the indexes [1, 2, 3] (i.e. the indexes of the criteria the UE meets). As yet one option, the UE may indicate to the network ‘ACK’ as a positive acknowledgment to the UE meeting all of the provided criteria.

[0083] In Figure 4B the UE determines that it meets only criterion 2. In such case, the UE may indicate to the network e.g. in step 204, that the UE belongs to type Y, wherein type Y is per predetermined mapping table associated with meeting criteria 2. In addition to or alternatively, the UE may indicate to the network the index [2] (i.e. the index of the criteria the UE meets). As yet one option, the UE may indicate to the network ‘NACK’ as a negative acknowledgment to the UE not meeting all of the provided criteria.

[0084] Figure 4C shows an example how the deployment specificity can be added to the set of at least one criterion. In this example, criteria 1 and 2 are for deployment A (e.g. NTN) and criterion 3 is for deployment B (e.g. TN). In this case, the UE meets criteria 2 and 3. This means that all criteria for deployment B is met, while all the criteria for deployment A is not met. In such case, the UE may indicate to the network e.g. in step 204, that the UE belongs to type Z, wherein type Z is per predetermined mapping table associated with meeting criteria 2 and 3. In additionto or alternatively, the UE may indicate to the network the indexes [2, 3] (i.e. the index of the criteria the UE meets). As yet one option, the UE may indicate to the network a ‘ACK’ as a positive acknowledgment to the UE meeting all of the provided criteria for deployment B, and / or a ‘NACK’ as a negative acknowledgment to the UE not meeting all of the provided criteria for deployment A.

[0085] As said, in some embodiment, the provided at least one criteria might comprise only the criteria for deployment A or only the criteria for deployment B. In such case, the indication need not specify for which deployment the ACK or NACK is for.

[0086] An embodiment, as shown in Figure 5, provides an apparatus 10 comprising a control circuitry (CTRL) 12, such as at least one processor, and at least one memory 14 storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to carry out any one of the above-described processes. In an example, the at least one memory and the computer program code (software), are configured, with the at least one processor, to cause the apparatus to carry out any one of the above-described processes. The control circuitry 12 may comprise relevant circuitry / ies for performing the functions, according to any of the embodiments.

[0087] The memory may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor-based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, fixed memory and removable memory. The memory may comprise a database for storing data.

[0088] In an embodiment, the apparatus 10 is or is comprised in a user equipment, such as the UE 120. The apparatus may be caused to execute some of the functionalities of the above described processes, such as the UE steps of Figures 2 and / or 3.

[0089] In another embodiment, the apparatus 10 is or is comprised in a network node, such as the gNB 110. The apparatus may be caused to execute some of the functionalities of the above described processes, such as the network side steps of Figures 2 and / or 3, for example.

[0090] The apparatus may further comprise a radio interface (TRX) 16 comprising hardware and / or software for realizing communication connectivity according to one or more communication protocols. The TRX may provide the apparatus with communication capabilities to a user equipment and / or to other entities of the base station, for example.

[0091] The apparatus may also comprise a user interface 18 comprising, forexample, at least one keypad, a microphone, a touch display, a display, a speaker, etc. The user interface may be used to control the apparatus by the user.

[0092] The control circuitry 12 may comprise relevant circuitry / ies for performing the functions, according to any of the embodiments.

[0093] As used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ refers to all of the following: (a) hardware-only circuit implementations, such as implementations in only analog and / or digital circuitry, and (b) combinations of circuits and software (and / or firmware), such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of processor(s) or (ii) portions of processor(s) / software including digital signal processor(s), software, and memory(ies) that work together to cause an apparatus to perform various functions, and (c) circuits, such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that require software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present. This definition of ‘circuitry’ applies to all uses of this term in this application. As a further example, as used in this application, the term ‘circuitry’ would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and / or firmware. The term ‘circuitry’ would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular element, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or another network device.

[0094] An apparatus capable of performing the method of Figures 2 and / or 3 (for example, a user equipment or a network device, respectively) may comprise means for performing the steps of the respective method, or of any of the described embodiments thereof. The means may be implemented in any suitable form. For example, the means may be implemented in a circuitry or software module. Some further example means for carrying out the processes may include at least one of the following: detector, processor (including dual-core and multiple-core processors), digital signal processor, controller, receiver, transmitter, encoder, decoder, memory, RAM, ROM, software, firmware, display, user interface, display circuitry, user interface circuitry, user interface software, display software, circuit, antenna, antenna circuitry, and circuitry. A 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).

[0095] As used herein the term “means” is to be construed in singular form, i.e. referring to a single element, or in plural form, i.e. referring to a combination of single elements. Therefore, terminology “means for [performing A, B, C]”, is to be interpreted to cover an apparatus in which there is only one means for performingA, B and C, or where there are separate means for performing A, B and C, or partially or fully overlapping means for performing A, B, C. Further, terminology “means for performing A, means for performing B, means for performing C” is to be interpreted to cover an apparatus in which there is only one means for performing A, B and C, or where there are separate means for performing A, B and C, or partially or fully overlapping means for performing A, B, C.

[0096] The techniques and methods described herein may be implemented by various means. For example, these techniques may be implemented in hardware (one or more devices), firmware (one or more devices), software (one or more modules), or combinations thereof. For a hardware implementation, the apparatus(es) of embodiments may be implemented within one or more application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), digital signal processing devices (DSPDs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), processors, controllers, micro-controllers, microprocessors, other electronic units designed to perform the functions described herein, or a combination thereof. For firmware or software, the implementation can be carried out through modules of at least one chip set (e.g. procedures, functions, and so on) that perform the functions described herein. The software codes may be stored in a memory unit and executed by processors. The memory unit may be implemented within the processor or externally to the processor. In the latter case, it can be communicatively coupled to the processor via various means, as is known in the art. Additionally, the components of the systems described herein may be rearranged and / or complemented by additional components in order to facilitate the achievements of the various aspects, etc., described with regard thereto, and they are not limited to the precise configurations set forth in the given figures, as will be appreciated by one skilled in the art.

[0097] Embodiments as described may also be carried out in the form of a computer process defined by a computer program or portions thereof. Embodiments of the methods described may be carried out by executing at least one portion of a computer program comprising corresponding instructions. The computer program may be in source code form, object code form, or in some intermediate form, and it may be stored in some sort of carrier, which may be any entity or device capable of carrying the program. For example, the computer program may be stored on a computer program distribution medium readable by a computer or a processor. The computer program medium may be, for example but not limited to, a record medium, computer memory, read-only memory,electrical carrier signal, telecommunications signal, and software distribution package, for example. The computer program medium may be a non-transitory medium. Coding of software for carrying out the embodiments as shown and described is well within the scope of a person of ordinary skill in the art.

[0098] Following is a list of some aspects of the invention.

[0099] According to a first aspect, there is provided a method, comprising: receiving, from a network, an indication of at least one criterion for determining a type of the user equipment; determining the type of the user equipment based on the at least one criterion; and transmitting an indication of the determined type of the user equipment to the network.

[0100] The method of the first aspect may further comprise at least one feature from the following bulleted list:

[0101] • wherein each type of the user equipment is characterized with a different capability of the user equipment.

[0102] • wherein each type of the user equipment is associated with at least one service of the network.

[0103] • wherein the indication of the at least one criterion is received in a broadcast signalling from the network node.

[0104] • wherein the broadcast signaling is a system information block (SIB) 1.

[0105] • wherein the broadcast signalling comprises several system information blocks, each system information block indicating a different set of at least one criterion such that each system information block is associated with a different type of user equipment.

[0106] • wherein the reception of the indication of the at least one criterion and the determination take place while the user equipment is in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive mode or in an RRC idle mode.

[0107] • wherein the indication of the determined type is transmitted to the network in an RRC connection setup request message.

[0108] • wherein the user equipment is further caused to: receive a configuration based on the indicated type of the user equipment; and apply the received configuration for performing communications with the network.

[0109] • wherein the determination of the type of the user equipment comprises determining which one or more criteria of the at leastone criterion the user equipment meets.

[0110] • wherein each of the at least one criterion is associated with a capability of the user equipment.

[0111] • wherein the capability is indicative of an energy efficiency of the user equipment.

[0112] • wherein the capability is indicative of a communication latency of the user equipment.

[0113] • wherein the capability is indicative of a communication throughput of the user equipment.

[0114] • wherein the indication of the determined type comprises a type index of a plurality of type indexes, wherein each type index corresponds to a different type of the user equipment.

[0115] • wherein the at least one criterion defines requirements that need to be met in order for the user equipment to be of a certain type, and the indication of the determined type comprises a positive acknowledgement or a negative acknowledgement as to whether the user equipment is of the certain type.

[0116] • wherein the at least one criterion indicates a plurality of criteria, and wherein the indication of the determined type comprises information indicating which of the plurality of criteria the user equipment meets.

[0117] • wherein the indication is valid for a predetermined time duration from the transmission of the indication.

[0118] • wherein the at least one criterion is deployment scenario specific, and the user equipment is further caused to determine the type of the user equipment based on the at least one criterion and the deployment scenario.

[0119] According to a second aspect, there is provided a method, comprising: determining at least one criterion for determining a type of the user equipment; transmitting an indication of the at least one criterion to a user equipment; receiving, from the user equipment, an indication of the determined type of the user equipment.

[0120] According to a third aspect, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: receive, from a network, an indication of at least one criterion for determining a type of the user equipment; determine the type of the user equipment based on theat least one criterion; and transmit an indication of the determined type of the user equipment to the network. Various embodiments of the third aspect may comprise at least one feature from the bulleted list under the first aspect.

[0121] According to a fourth aspect, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network node at least to: determine at least one criterion for determining a type of the user equipment; transmit an indication of the at least one criterion to a user equipment; receive, from the user equipment, an indication of the determined type of the user equipment.

[0122] According to a fifth aspect, there is provided a computer program product embodied on a distribution medium and comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to carry out the method according to the first aspect or according to the second aspect.

[0123] According to a sixth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to carry out the method according to the first aspect or according to the second aspect.

[0124] According to a seventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus, comprising means for performing the method according to the first aspect or according to the second aspect, and / or means configured to cause the apparatus to perform the method according to the first aspect or according to the second aspect.

[0125] According to an eight aspect, there is provided a method, comprising: receiving, from a network, an indication of at least one criterion, wherein each of the at least one criterion is associated with a capability of the user equipment; determining whether or not the user equipment meets the at least one criterion; and transmitting an indication to the network, the indication indicating whether or not the user equipment meets the at least one criterion. .

[0126] The method of the eight aspect may further comprise at least one feature from the following bulleted list:

[0127] • wherein the indication of the at least one criterion is received in a broadcast signalling from the network node.

[0128] • wherein the broadcast signaling is a system information block (SIB) 1.

[0129] • wherein the broadcast signalling comprises several system information blocks, each system information block indicating a different set of at least one criterion such that each systeminformation block is associated with a different type of user equipment.

[0130] • wherein the reception of the indication of the at least one criterion and the determination take place while the user equipment is in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive mode or in an RRC idle mode.

[0131] • wherein the indication is transmitted to the network in an RRC connection setup request message.

[0132] • wherein the user equipment is further caused to: receive a configuration based on the indication; and apply the received configuration for performing communications with the network.

[0133] • wherein the capability is indicative of an energy efficiency of the user equipment.

[0134] • wherein the capability is indicative of a communication latency of the user equipment.

[0135] • wherein the capability is indicative of a communication throughput of the user equipment.

[0136] • wherein the at least one criterion defines requirements that need to be met in order for the user equipment to be applicable to a certain service from the network, and the indication of the determined type comprises a positive acknowledgement or a negative acknowledgement as to whether the user equipment is applicable for the service.

[0137] • wherein the indication is valid for a predetermined time duration from the transmission of the indication.

[0138] • wherein the at least one criterion is deployment scenario specific, and the user equipment is further caused to determine whether or not the user equipment meets the at least one criterion in the deployment scenario.

[0139] According to a ninth aspect, there is provided a method, comprising: determining at least one criterion, wherein each of the at least one criterion is associated with a capability of the user equipment; transmitting an indication of the at least one criterion to a user equipment; receiving, from the user equipment, an indication indicating whether or not the user equipment meets the at least one criterion.

[0140] According to a tenth aspect, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, whenexecuted by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to: receive, from a network, an indication of at least one criterion, wherein each of the at least one criterion is associated with a capability of the user equipment; determine whether or not the user equipment meets the at least one criterion; and transmit an indication to the network, the indication indicating whether or not the user equipment meets the at least one criterion. Various embodiments of the tenth aspect may comprise at least one feature from the bulleted list under the eight aspect.

[0141] According to an eleventh aspect, there is provided an apparatus, comprising: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network node at least to: determine at least one criterion, wherein each of the at least one criterion is associated with a capability of the user equipment; transmit an indication of the at least one criterion to a user equipment; receive, from the user equipment, an indication indicating whether or not the user equipment meets the at least one criterion.

[0142] According to a twelfth aspect, there is provided a computer program product embodied on a distribution medium and comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to carry out the method according to the eight aspect or according to the ninth aspect.

[0143] According to a thirteenth aspect, there is provided a computer program product comprising program instructions which, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to carry out the method according to the eight aspect or according to the ninth aspect.

[0144] According to a fourteenth aspect, there is provided an apparatus, comprising means for performing the method according to the eight aspect or according to the ninth aspect, and / or means configured to cause the apparatus to perform the method according to the eight aspect or according to the ninth aspect Even though the invention has been described above with reference to an example according to the accompanying drawings, it is clear that the invention is not restricted thereto but can be modified in several ways within the scope of the appended claims. Therefore, all words and expressions should be interpreted broadly and they are intended to illustrate, not to restrict, the embodiment. It will be obvious to a person skilled in the art that, as technology advances, the inventive concept can be implemented in various ways. Further, it is clear to a person skilled in the art that the described embodiments may, but are not required to, be combined with other embodiments in various ways.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A user equipment, comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the user equipment at least to:receive, from a network, an indication of at least one criterion for determining a type of the user equipment;determine the type of the user equipment based on the at least one criterion; andtransmit an indication of the determined type of the user equipment to the network.

2. The user equipment of claim 1, wherein each type of the user equipment is characterized with a different capability of the user equipment.

3. The user equipment of any of claims 1 to 2, wherein each type of the user equipment is associated with at least one service of the network.

4. The user equipment of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the indication of the at least one criterion is received in a broadcast signalling from the network node.

5. The user equipment of claim 4, wherein the broadcast signaling is a system information block (SIB) 1.

6. The user equipment of claim 4, wherein the broadcast signalling comprises several system information blocks, each system information block indicating a different set of at least one criterion such that each system information block is associated with a different type of user equipment.

7. The user equipment of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the reception of the indication of the at least one criterion and the determination take place while the user equipment is in a radio resource control (RRC) inactive mode or in an RRC idle mode.

8. The user equipment of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the indication of the determined type is transmitted to the network in an RRC connection setuprequest message.

9. The user equipment of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the user equipment is further caused to:receive a configuration based on the indicated type of the user equipment; andapply the received configuration for performing communications with the network.

10. The user equipment of any of claims 1 to 9, wherein the determination of the type of the user equipment comprises determining which one or more criteria of the at least one criterion the user equipment meets.

11. The user equipment of any of claims 1 to 10, wherein each of the at least one criterion is associated with a capability of the user equipment.

12. The user equipment of claim 11, wherein the capability is indicative of an energy efficiency of the user equipment.

13. The user equipment of any of claims 11 to 12, wherein the capability is indicative of a communication latency of the user equipment.

14. The user equipment of any of claims 11 to 13, wherein the capability is indicative of a communication throughput of the user equipment.

15. The user equipment of any of claims 1 to 14, wherein the indication of the determined type comprises a type index of a plurality of type indexes, wherein each type index corresponds to a different type of the user equipment.

16. The user equipment of any of claims 1 to 15, wherein the at least one criterion defines requirements that need to be met in order for the user equipment to be of a certain type, and the indication of the determined type comprises a positive acknowledgement or a negative acknowledgement as to whether the user equipment is of the certain type.

17. The user equipment of any of claims 1 to 16, wherein the at least one criterion indicates a plurality of criteria, and wherein the indication of thedetermined type comprises information indicating which of the plurality of criteria the user equipment meets.

18. The user equipment of any of claims 1 to 17, wherein the indication is valid for a predetermined time duration from the transmission of the indication.

19. The user equipment of any of claims 1 to 18, wherein the at least one criterion is deployment scenario specific, and the user equipment is further caused to determine the type of the user equipment based on the at least one criterion and the deployment scenario.

20. A network node, comprising:at least one processor; andat least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the network node at least to:determine at least one criterion for determining a type of the user equipment;transmit an indication of the at least one criterion to a user equipment; receive, from the user equipment, an indication of the determined type of the user equipment.

21. A method performed by a user equipment, the method comprising: receiving, from a network, an indication of at least one criterion for determining a type of the user equipment;determining the type of the user equipment based on the at least one criterion; andtransmitting an indication of the determined type of the user equipment to the network.

22. A method performed by a network node, the method comprising: determining at least one criterion for determining a type of the user equipment;transmitting an indication of the at least one criterion to a user equipment;receiving, from the user equipment, an indication of the determined type of the user equipment.

23. A computer program product embodied on a distribution medium readable by a computer and comprising program instructions which, when the program is executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to carry out the method according to claim 21 or the method according to claim 22.

24. A computer program product comprising program instructions which, when the program is executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to carry out the method according to claim 21 or the method according to claim 22.

25. An apparatus, comprising means for performing the method according to claim 21 or the method according to claim 22.

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