Methods and nodes for indicating conditions for remaining on LR band

Abstract

There is provided a method performed by a wireless device, which has a Low power Radio (LR) operating at a first frequency and a Main Radio (MR) operating at a second frequency, the wireless device being in an inactive or idle mode. The method comprises: starting a timer upon receipt of a paging message on the first frequency or a Low Power Wake Up Signal (LP-WUS) or upon data arrival in a buffer of the wireless device; searching for a suitable cell operating at the second frequency in a cell selection procedure while the timer is running; and if a suitable cell is found while the timer is running, performing a random access procedure with the suitable cell on the second frequency; if no suitable cell is found while the timer is running, performing the random access procedure on the first frequency.

Description

P112908W001METHODS AND NODES FOR INDICATING CONDITIONS FOR REMAINING ON LR BAND RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This application claims the benefits of priority of US 63 / 754,756, entitled “Conditions for remaining on LR band" and filed at the USPTO on February 6, 2025, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] This application relates to communication networks and particularly to methods and nodes for indicating conditions for remaining on a Low Radio (LR) band.BACKGROUND

[0003] Low Power Wake Up Signal (LP- WUS) in RRC IDLE and RRC INACTIVE

[0004] LP-WUS in New Radio (NR) improves User Equipment (UE) power saving when the UE is in Radio Resource Control (RRC) IDLE or RRC INACTIVE and the UE monitors paging. With LP-WUS, the UE has a separate receiver referred to as the Wake-Up Radio (WUR), with a Low power Radio (LR) that monitors the LP-WUS. When the LP-WUS is detected and the subgroup information in the LP-WUS indicates that the UE should wake-up, then the UE receives a paging on the Physical Downlink (DL) Control Channel (PDCCH) / Physical DL Shared Channel (PDSCH) during the following Paging Occasion (PO) in the Discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle using the Main Radio (MR). Typically, the UE is not paged during every PO, i.e. the MR can remain in sleep mode multiple / many DRX cycles and save power. The LR consumes much less power compared to the MR (factor of 10 to 100).

[0005] The WUR can be On-off keying (OOK)-based, which uses Low Power Synchronization Signal (LP-SS) for synchronization and serving cell measurements. Or the WUR is Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)-based, which uses Primary SS (PSS) / Secondary SS (SSS) for synchronization and serving cell measurements.

[0006] Due to its signal characteristics, LP-WUS may not provide full cell coverage, i.e. near the cell border there may be poor or no LP-WUS coverage. Thus, an entry condition (i.e. MR Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) / Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ) threshold and optionally an LR RSRP / RSRQ threshold) and exit condition (i.e. LR threshold) is used to determine when the UE is allowed to use LP-WUS in RRC IDLE or RRC INACTIVE. When the UE is above the entry threshold(s), and the LR performs serving cell measurements using LP-SS or Synchronization Signal block (SSB) and the LR uses LP-WUS to monitor paging, then the MR is not required to perform serving cell measurements nor paging monitoring.

[0007] LP- WUS coverageP112908W001

[0008] Due to its signal characteristics, LP-WUS may not provide full cell coverage, i.e. near the cell border there may be poor or no LP-WUS coverage. Based on existing Resource Radio Management (RRM) / Channel state Information-Reference signal (CSLRS) measurement reporting, the gNB can determine when the UE is inside or outside the LP-WUS coverage and (de-)configure the LP-WUS using RRCRe configuration.

[0009] Cell re-selection

[0010] The cell selection and cell re-selection procedures are based on the following (as described in 38.304):Srxlev = Qrxlevmeas - (Qrxlevmin + Qrxlevminoffset )- Pcompensation - Qoffsettemp Squal = Qqualmeas - (Qqualmin + Qqualminoffset) - Qoffsettemp

[0011] where the different variables can be found in 3GPP TS 38.304.

[0012] A high level description of how intra- and inter-cell measurements are performed (ignoring the concept of low mobility and cell-edge) is as follows.

[0013] When the UE is in the cell center of the serving cell (good signal strength and quality), i.e. when

[0014] Srxlev > SlntraSearchP and Squal > SlntraSearchQ,

[0015] the UE is not required to perform any intra-cell measurements.

[0016] Whether to perform inter-frequency measurements or not depends on the priority of the frequencies. The priorities of the available frequencies are configured in system information (SI) or in RRCRelease when the UE is released to the idle or inactive state. The priorities given in the RRCRelease message override the priorities given in the SI. The priorities in RRCRelease may have a configured validity time.

[0017] Frequencies of equal or lower priorities are not measured if the serving cell fulfills the condition:

[0018] Srxlev > SnonlntraSearchP and Squal > SnonlntraSearchQ:

[0019] If the condition is not fulfilled, these frequencies are measured.

[0020] Frequencies of higher priority than the serving cell are measured irrespective of the conditions.

[0021] Operating LR and MR on different bands

[0022] The LR and MR can operate on different frequencies or bands. The motivation for this is that LR may not be configured on all frequencies, or the UE does not support LR on all frequencies; allowing the use of LR on a band different from the frequency where the UE normally camps enables use of the LR and hereby power savings. The typical scenario is envisioned to be that the LR is configured on a lower frequency band (coverage layer) and the data transmissionsP112908W001using the MR are more efficiently carried out on the higher frequency band (capacity layer). The problem with this scenario, in addition to support and configuration, is that the lower frequency could become congested if all WUS capable UEs would camp on this frequency and perform the access to the LR band before moving to the MR band for the data transmissions. Allowing operation on different bands for the LR (LP-WUS reception) and MR (e.g. paging on LR band and random access and data transmission on MR-band) would enable better load balancing between the frequencies.

[0023] In the envisioned scenario, the UE monitors for a WUS on the LR frequency. Upon reception of the WUS, the UE continues to monitor for paging on either the LR or MR frequency. Finally, upon reception of the paging, the UE initiates a random access on the MR frequency where also the data transmi ssion(s) take place. The procedure is as follows:

[0024] 1. The UE in RRC IDLE or RRC INACTIVE, equipped with a MR and LR operating in different frequencies, will switch to the LR operation and enter a deep sleep mode after the MR stores the information for Random Access Channel (RACH) on the cell / cells it is camping on, , and information of the SI associated with the LR cell and / or MR cell.

[0025] 2. The UE’s LR performs monitoring of a LP-WUS on the LR band.

[0026] 3. The UE should wake up in the PO associated with the LR band; the LR will proceed to wake up the MR in this band if a LP-WUS is detected.

[0027] 4. The UE’ s MR will perform synchronization with the LR band and receive the paging message on this band (e.g. 700 MHz ).

[0028] 5. If the paging message is addressed to the UE, the MR would then frequency retune and re-synchronize to the higher frequency band for an initial access (e.g. 3.5 GHz ) which can be the same as the LR band or a different band (depending on load balancing).

[0029] 6. Upon synchronization and based on the stored configuration received from the previous access, the UE will perform the RACH procedure to the band where it was released to the Idle / Inactive state.

[0030] The agreement RAN#106 is rather vague and leaves the following options open solution:

[0031] 1. The UE is prioritized to camp on the LR band, i.e. the same frequency (cell) is used for both the MR and LR. This will not solve the alleged overload situation.

[0032] 2. The UE is prioritized to camp on the LR band but performs RACH on the MR band, i.e. when paged, the UE moves to the MR band. While the UE monitoring the LP-WUS in the inactive / idle mode, the UE performs the cell re-selection on the LR band. This case is illustrated in Fig. 1.P112908W001

[0033] 3. The UE is not prioritized to camp on the LR band but can be redirected there by dedicated signaling (when released from the connected state).SUMMARY

[0034] There currently exist certain challenge(s). The problem to be solved is that a UE moving to an MR-band for the random access (RA) procedure after receiving a LP-WUS and paging on a LR-band may not be efficient due to additional latency in some cases. That is, since the DL is monitored on the LR-band, the UE will perform serving cell measurements on the LR-band. Upon LP-WUS reception and RA triggering on the MR-band, the UE has no recent / valid RRM measurements and may have to perform separate RRM measurements and cell re-selection in the MR-band, which adds to the DL latency. There may also be a related situation where the MR of the UE is sleeping and the UE is camping on the LR-band. The UE receives UL data in its buffer and then re-selects to a cell on the MR-band before transmitting the data on the MR cell. A problem may occur since the time to perform the inter-frequency measurements to find the MR cell when camping on the LR cell may be long and unpredictable.

[0035] This problem is most pronounced in case the UE has reselected from the original LR cell and is not in the coverage of the original MR cell, where it was released to the idle or inactive mode (e.g. in the case of a configuration via RRC redirection in RRCRelease message).

[0036] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges.

[0037] In this disclosure, conditions for whether to activate the MR after receiving a LP-WUS and move to the MR-band after receiving paging or remain on the LR-band when performing the random access are described. Also how to select a band when receiving UL data in the UE buffer is specified. In one embodiment, a timer is started when the UE receives a LP-WUS or paging on the LR-band. If the timer expires before the UE has found a suitable MR cell, the UE can perform the RA on the LR-band. In another example, the paging message indicates if the UE should move to the MR-band and possibly if the timer should be started.

[0038] In one example, the timer is started when the UE receives UL data in its buffer, and if the timer expires before the UE has found a suitable MR cell, the UE can perform the RA on the LR-band. In another example, the Quality of Service (QoS) of the Data Radio Bearer (DRB) or priority of the Logical Channel (LCH) containing the UL data governs which band the UE should perform the random access on.

[0039] Generally stated, embodiments herein allow to control the time the UE can spend on finding and synchronizing to the MR-band after receiving a LP-WUS and paging on the LR-band.P112908W001This is done by implementing, for example, a timer, started when the paging is received and when the timer expires, the UE is allowed to access the LR-band instead of the MR-band.

[0040] For example, there is provided a method in a wireless device (e.g. WUR UE). The method comprises: starting a timer upon receipt of a paging message on the first frequency or a LP-WUS or upon data arrival in a buffer of the wireless device; searching for a suitable cell operating at the second frequency in a cell selection procedure while the timer is running; and if a suitable cell is found while the timer is running, performing a random access procedure with the suitable cell on the second frequency; if no suitable cell is found while the timer is running, performing the random access procedure on the first frequency. A wireless device for implementing this method is also provided.

[0041] There is provided a method in a network node. The method comprises: sending an indication of a timer to the wireless device; and performing a random access procedure with the at least one wireless device on a cell operating at the second frequency if the timer is running and performing the random access with the at least one wireless device on a cell operating at the first frequency if the timer has expired. A network node for implementing the method is also provided.

[0042] There is provided a computer-readable medium comprising instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the above methods.

[0043] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s).

[0044] The time (or time duration) for the UE to access the network is controlled, since the UE is allowed to perform access to the cell it is camping on during that time. This should be much faster than completing a cell search on the MR-band in cases where the UE has moved.

[0045] By controlling the access, access delay can be limited / reduced.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0046] Exemplary embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to the following figures, in which:

[0047] Fig. 1 illustrates a diagram of a UE performing some actions at the LR band and some other actions at the MR band.

[0048] Fig. 2 illustrates a scenario where a timer is used, according to an embodiment.

[0049] Fig. 3 illustrates a method in a wireless device, according to an embodiment.

[0050] Fig. 4 illustrates a method in a network node, according to an embodiment.

[0051] Fig. 5 shows an example of a communication system, according to an embodiment.

[0052] Fig. 6 is another example of a communication system 600 according to some embodiments.P112908W001

[0053] Fig. 7 shows a schematic diagram of a wireless device, according to an embodiment.

[0054] Fig. 8 shows a schematic diagram of a network node, according to an embodiment.

[0055] Fig. 9 illustrates a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

[0057] Embodiments of the disclosure relate to UEs in an inactive or idle mode (e.g. RRC INACTIVE or RRC IDLE) monitoring a LP-WUS in on one frequency band but configured to perform an initial access and data transmissions on another band.

[0058] In the below description, an ‘MR cell’ is a cell on which the UE performs the initial access, goes to RRC CONNECTED mode, and transmits / receives data. An ‘LR cell’ is a cell on which the UE camps, reads SI, performs cell-reselection and monitors LP-WUS.

[0059] It should be noted that the terms “access or initial access” and “cell re-select” refer to the access (e.g. random access) procedure and the cell re-selection / cell selection procedure, respectively. Also, the terms “band” and “frequency band” can be used interchangeably. Furthermore LR-cell and LR band may be used interchangeably. In the same way, MR-cell and MR band may be used interchangeably.

[0060] An overview of the scenario discussed in RAN2 where the UE is camping on the LR band (indicated as prioritized frequency) is shown in Fig. 1. The figure shows the timeline from left to right, where the UE is initially camping on the LR cell and when paged, it performs the access procedure on an MR cell.

[0061] In a first example, the UE starts a timer upon receiving the paging on the LR band. If a new suitable cell on the MR band has not been found when the timer expires, the UE stops the cell reselection procedure for the initial access and instead performs the random access on the LR band. This is illustrated in Fig. 2. For example, in Fig. 2, the UE receives a release message from a network node and enters in the inactive / idle mode, at step 105. As such, the UE is released and may store the MR cell configuration, for example. As the LR frequency is prioritized, the UE selects a cell in the LR frequency and sync to that cell, in step 110. As the UE monitors for a LP-WUS, the UE detects the LP-WUS in step 115. Upon detection of the LP-WUS, the MR is activated in step 120. The UE then receives a paging message and starts a timer in step 125. During that time, the UE tries to find a cell in the MR frequency, in step 130. If at the end of the timer, i.e. the timer expires, the UE has not found a cell, then the UE performs the RACH in the LR cell, in step 135. The UE then can transmit data at the frequency of the LR cell, in step 140. And the UEP112908W001stops the cell selection procedure on the MR cell in step 145. The UE does not receive / acquire any SI on the MR cell, does not perform the RACH on the MR cell and does not transmit data on the MR band.

[0062] In one example, the timer may be defined / configured to start when the UE receives the LP-WUS indication or when the MR is awake (that is after the startup time, which can depend on configuration or capability).

[0063] The timer could be configured for the UE via any of the following:

[0064] - In the RRCRelease message where the WUR UE is configured to prioritize initial access on a MR band (if a suitable cell is found upon receiving a paging or UL data arrival).

[0065] - In system information (SI), in combination with the configuration to prioritize the initial access on a MR band (if a suitable cell is found upon receiving a paging or UL data arrival).

[0066] - If both of the above are configured, the timer value in the SI would override the one configured in the RRC Release message.

[0067] As a variant, instead of a timer, a counter could be used.

[0068] Some alternative options are provided below regarding when to perform the access on the LR band. For example, when the timer expires and

[0069] - The UE has not yet initiated a RA procedure on any MR cell since the start of the timer;

[0070] - The UE has not completed a RA procedure on any MR cell since the start of the timer;

[0071] - The UE has not obtained the SI of the selected MR cell;

[0072] - None of the considered MR cells contain the indication ‘Separate initial access for WUR UEs allowed’ in SI, i.e., a new indication is introduced to inform UEs whether a separate initial access is allowed on this cell. The new indication can be in System Information Block (SIB1) acquired during the cell re-selection procedure. As a note, “separate initial access” means that the UE performs the random access on a cell / band where it is not camping on. And a “WUR UE” means a UE capable or supporting WUR.

[0073] In a second example, conditions for how the UE should behave in the scenario where the UE obtains UL data in its buffer will be described. In this case, the following options are given:

[0074] - The UE always performs the random access on the LR band where it is camping. This is legacy behavior but here it is defined to be valid also in the case when the UE is configured to move to a different (MR) band upon reception of the LP-WUS and paging on the LR band.

[0075] - The UE always performs the random access on the MR band where it is configured to access, upon reception of the LP-WUS and paging on the LR band.P112908W001

[0076] - The UE starts a timer when it receives data in its UL buffer. If the UE has not found a suitable cell on the MR band when the timer expires, the UE performs the random access on the LR band.

[0077] - The timer configuration may depend on the QoS of the DRB or the priority of the LCH where the UE has obtained its UL data. A DRB with QoS requiring shorter latency will be configured with a shorter timer than the default one, i.e. a DRB without QoS requirements.

[0078] - The band to be used for access may be configured differently, compared to the above examples / options, depending on the QoS of the DRB or the priority of the LCH where the UE has received its UL data. For example, a UE obtaining time sensitive data may access on the LR band while a UE obtaining non-time sensitive data accesses on the MR band. This may apply

[0079] when the UE performs small data transmissions (SDT) in inactive mode or when the UE first transits to the connected mode before transmitting the UL data.

[0080] - The UE performs the random access on the frequency or band (e.g. for the LR or MR) according to a configuration or indication it has received from the base station / gNB. For example, the broadcast SI for the cell where the UE camps using the LR indicates whether the UE should use the LR band or some other bands for the random access after it has received the paging message. This option can also involve a timer, which the UE starts similarly as described in the other example (e.g. upon receiving data in the UL buffer), and the indicated behavior is triggered only when the timer is running. Otherwise, upon the timer expiry, the UE performs the random access according to a specified default behavior.

[0081] In one example, the time (duration) that the UE may take to find a suitable MR cell can be zero, i.e. the UE should perform RACH on the cell that was the PCell in RRC CONNECTED mode, i.e. the UE is allowed to perform RACH on the LR frequency. For example, a zero time may apply when the establishment / resume cause is e.g. emergency or highPriorityA ccess .

[0082] In one example, the indication that WUR UEs should prioritize the initial access on another cell in another frequency band than the current serving cell (i.e., when paged on a cell in the LR band, or upon arrival of UL data, perform separate cell re-selection on and prioritize the cells in the indicated MR band) is implicit from the configuration of the timer. If the timer is not configured for the UE, the UE shall perform the initial access on the serving cell where the downlink is monitored (e.g. LR cell).

[0083] In one example, test cases are defined to ensure that the UE performs the necessary actions to find a suitable MR cell and does not prematurely perform RACH on a LR cell.P112908W001

[0084] In one example, the network (NW) may reply with RRCReject including WaitTime or RRCRelease with redirectedCarrierlnfo to an MR frequency when the UE performs RACH on the LR carrier before the time to find an MR cell has expired, i.e. the UE triggers RACH on LR frequency prematurely.

[0085] In one example, the NW can include a redirectedCarrierlnfo-list in system information block (SIB) and provide an index to this list of carriers / frequencies in the paging message (or index to an existing frequency list in SIB) where the UE should try to perform a RACH.

[0086] In one example, the paging message may include "zero time", i.e. a flag allowing the LP-WUS capable UE to perform RACH in the LR frequency (e.g. when the UE has an emergency Protocol Data Unit (PDU) session). In one option, it is specified that the UE always performs a RA on the cell it is camping on if it has an emergency PDU session.

[0087] In one example, the NW can configure the UE to not use the MR and LR in different bands and not use the LP-WUS, e.g. when Time Sensitive Communications (TSC) services are used.

[0088] In one example, when the LP-WUS frequency, i.e. the LR band, is congested, it can be indicated in SI or RRCRelease that LP-WUS capable UEs, that monitor the LP-WUS on this carrier and perform RACH on another carriers, should consider this carrier to have the lowest priority frequency for a certain time, e.g. using deprioritisationReq for LP-WUS capable UEs.

[0089] In another example, when the UE wants to use a LP-WUS, the UE is allowed to consider the frequency on which the UE can receive the LP-WUS as the highest priority frequency. When the UE needs to reply to a paging, the UE shall consider the LP-WUS frequency as the lowest priority frequency.

[0090] In another example, when the UE needs to reply to a paging (or upon UL data arrival), the UE behavior is similar to when the UE wakes up from a long extended DRX (at least for Long Term Evolution (LTE)), i.e. the UE cannot assume that the cell / frequency where the UE performed the access before is still suitable (since the cell / frequency can be separate from the LR-cell currently being the serving cell). Before initiating a RA on the separate cell in the MR-band, the UE has to measure the cell / frequency, and check if there is a suitable cell to camp on (with that frequency). The UE needs to acquire MIB / SIB1 before the access, and acquire the essential SI, unless the UE has valid stored information. The SI for the candidate MR cell can further include an indication such as “if initial access on another frequency band for WUR is allowed on the cell or not”. If the UE cannot find a suitable cell on the old frequency, then the UE needs to measure on other frequencies than the MR band / frequencies, potentially based on stored frequencyP112908W001information where the UE performed an access before. If the UE cannot find a suitable cell / frequency, e.g. within a certain time limit, then the UE may access the LR band / frequencies.

[0091] In one example, the network can indicate in the paging message, whether the UE may access the LR frequency to respond to paging. Example cases for providing such an indication are when the LR frequency is not congested or when latency is prioritized. The paging message may also include a time limit after which the UE should stop searching for a suitable MR frequency / cell and access the LR cell / frequency. The paging message may include an index mapped to a time limit or timer setting, while further information based on the index can be found in SI (e.g. time limit, MR frequency information, etc.) or be part of the specification, e.g. 3GPP TS 38.331 or 38.321. See an example of an extension of the paging message definition below (additions in bold):Paging message)PagingRecord-vl700 : : = pagingCause-rl7)PagingRecord-vl800 : : = SEQUENCE {mt-SDT ENUMERATED { true) OPTIONAL •• •• feA )PagingRecord-vl 9XY : : = SEQUENCE {wurAccessOnOtherCarrier ENUMERATED {true} OPTIONAL — Need N }PagingUE-Identity : : = CHOICE {ng-5G-S-TMSI NG-5G-S-TMSI ,fuill-RNTI I-RNTI-Value,)GroupPaging-r 18 : : = SEQUENCE {i n ct iveRe ce tionAll owed- r 18 ENUMERATED { true)P112908W001)

[0092] In one example, when the UE moves to the MR band after receiving the paging, if the UE is not within the coverage of the old MR cell anymore, it performs an access on the LR cell.

[0093] Now turning to Fig. 3, a flow chart of a method 200 in a wireless device, comprising a LR operating at a first frequency (or LR band) and a MR operating at a second frequency (or MR band, will be described. The wireless device can be the UE 512 or 700 and is in an idle or inactive mode, e.g. the UE has received a release message or a suspend message from the gNB. Method 200 comprises:

[0094] Step 210: starting a timer upon receipt of a paging message on the first frequency or a LP-WUS, or upon data arrival in a buffer of the wireless device;

[0095] Step 220: searching for a suitable cell operating at the second frequency in a cell selection procedure while the timer is running;

[0096] Step 230: if a suitable cell is found while the timer is running, performing a random access procedure with the suitable cell on the second frequency; if no suitable cell is found while the timer is running, performing the random access procedure on the first frequency.

[0097] In some examples, the timer is configured in the release message, the paging message, or in a SI message. In some examples, a configuration of the timer depends on a QoS of a DRB or a priority of a LCH from which the wireless device has obtained uplink data. In some examples, the paging message comprises an indication of whether the wireless device may access the first frequency in response to the receipt of the paging message. In some examples, the wireless device receives a message indicating that performing the random access is prioritized on the second frequency. In some examples, the message is a release message or a SI message. In some examples, the paging message comprises an indication of a duration of the timer. For example, the timer has a duration of zero. In this case, the wireless device performs the random access procedure on the first frequency. In some examples, the wireless device receives a list of frequencies on which the wireless can perform the random access procedure. In some examples, the paging message comprises a list of frequencies on which the wireless can perform the random access procedure. In some examples, the wireless device receives a configuration comprising an indication to not use the MR and LR in different bands and not use LP-WUS, e.g. when TSC services are used.

[0098] Fig. 4 illustrates a flow chart of an example method 300 in a network node, in a network comprising at least one wireless device, which has LR operating at a first frequency and a MR operating at a second frequency. The at least one wireless device is in an idle or inactive mode. The network node can be the network node 510 or 800. The method 300 comprises:P112908W001

[0099] Step 310: sending an indication of a timer to the at least one wireless device;

[0100] Step 320: performing a random access procedure with the at least one wireless device on a cell operating at the second frequency if the timer is running and performing the random access with the at least one wireless device on a cell operating at the first frequency if the timer has expired.

[0101] In some examples, the indication of the timer is contained in a release message, a paging message, or a SI message. In some examples, the network node sends a configuration of the timer to the at least one wireless device. In some examples, the configuration of the timer depends on a QoS of a DRB or a priority of a LCH from which the at least one wireless device has obtained uplink data. In some examples, the network node sends a message indicating that performing the random access is prioritized on the second frequency. In some examples, the message is a release message or a SI message. In some examples, the paging message comprises an indication of a duration of the timer. For example, the timer has a duration of zero. In some examples, the network node sends a list of frequencies on which the wireless can perform the random access procedure. In some examples, the paging message comprises a list of frequencies on which the wireless can perform the random access procedure.

[0102] Fig. 5 shows an example of a communication system 500 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0103] In the example, the communication system 500 includes a telecommunications network 502 that includes an access network 504, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 506, which includes one or more core network nodes 508. The access network 504 includes one or more access network nodes or base stations of various types, access network nodes 510A and 510B are depicted (which may be collectively referred to as network nodes 510), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points (APs). Some embodiments of the access network 504 may include more than one access network technology. The network nodes 510 of access network 504 facilitate direct or indirect connection of wireless devices, also referred to as UEs, such as by connecting UEs 512A, 512B, 512C, and 512D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 512) to the core network 506 over one or more wireless connections.

[0104] Moreover, a network node is not necessarily limited to an implementation in which a radio portion and a baseband portion are supplied and integrated by a single vendor. Thus, it will be understood that network nodes include disaggregated implementations or portions thereof. For example, in some embodiments, the telecommunications network 502 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a network node in theP112908W001telecommunications network 502 that supports an ORAN specification (e.g., a specification published by the O-RAN Alliance, or any similar organization) and may operate alone or together with other network nodes to implement one or more functionalities of any network node in the telecommunications network 502, including one or more access network nodes 510 and / or core network nodes 508.

[0105] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g., xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). An ORAN network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an Al, Fl, Wl, El, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN network node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface defined by the O-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies.

[0106] The network nodes 510 facilitate direct or indirect connection of one or more UEs 512 to the core network 506 over one or more wireless connections. Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and / or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and / or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 500 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and / or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and / or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 500 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0107] The UEs 512 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 510 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 508, 510 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly (e.g., viaP112908W001other devices of telecommunications network 502) with the UEs 512 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunications network 502 to enable and / or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and / or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunications network 502. More specifically, UEs 512 may send messages, data, and / or other signals to network nodes 508, 510 or other elements of the telecommunications network 502 by transmitting such signals to the relevant device directly without the signals passing through any intervening devices or by transmitting such signals to the relevant device indirectly through an intervening device (or multiple intervening devices) that then transmit the signal to the relevant device. Similarly, network nodes 508, 510 may send messages, data, and other signals to UEs 5122, other network nodes 508, 510, and other devices in telecommunications network 502 directly or indirectly. As one specific example, a core network node 108 may transmit a particular message to a UE 512 by transmitting the message to an access network node 510 that will then transmit the message to the intended UE 512. Similarly, a core network node 108 may receive a particular message from a UE 512 by receiving the message from an access network node 510 that itself received the message from the UE 512.

[0108] In the depicted example, the core network 506 connects elements of the access network 504 (e.g., one or more of the network nodes 510) to one or more host computing systems, such as host 516. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 506 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 508) of various types, one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 508. Network nodes 508 are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, access network nodes, and / or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 508. Example core network nodes provide functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and / or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0109] The host 516 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 504 and / or the telecommunications network 502. The host 516 may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 516 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of suchP112908W001applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0110] As a whole, the communication system 500 of Fig. 5 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 500 may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and / or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (Wi-Fi); and / or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (Wi-Max), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, Li-Fi, and / or any low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox. Moreover, the communication system 500 may be configured to support multiple different standards, protocols, or other rule sets, with individual components supporting all of the relevant rule sets or with different components or sub-systems within the communication system 500 supporting different standards, protocols, or rule sets.[OHl] As one example, in certain embodiments, access network 504 may contain some access network nodes 510 that support 3 GPP radio access technologies (RAT), such as LTE or NR, while other access network nodes 510 support (or the same access network nodes 510 additionally support) non-3GPP RATs, such as Wi-Fi or a proprietary RAT. As another example, telecommunications network 502 may support multiple generations of related communication standards (e.g., 4G and 5G 3GPP communication standards) and, as a result, may include an access network 104 and / or a core network 106 that supports multiple different standard generations or may include multiple access networks 104 and / or multiple core networks 106 with individual networks 104, 106 supporting different standard generations.

[0112] Telecommunications network 502 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunications network 502. For example, the telecommunications network 502 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and / or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC) / Massive loT services to yet further UEs.P112908W001

[0113] In some examples, one or more of the UEs 512 are configured to transmit and / or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 504 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 504. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi -standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0114] In the example, the hub 514 communicates with the access network 504 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 512C and / or 512D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 510B). In some examples, the hub 514 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 514 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 506 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 514 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 510, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 514.

[0115] As another example, the hub 514 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 514 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 514 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 514 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 514 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0116] The hub 514 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 510B. The hub 514 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 514 and UEs (e.g., UE 512C and / or 512D), and between the hub 514 and the core network 506. In other examples, the hub 514 is connected to the core network 506 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 514 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 504 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 510 while still connected via the hub 514 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 514 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / fromP112908W001the UEs from / to the network node 51 OB. In other embodiments, the hub 514 may be a nondedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 51 OB, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0117] Fig. 6 is another example of a communication system 600 according to some embodiments. As used herein, the communication system 600 includes multiple access points (APs) 610 (with four exemplary APs 610A, 610B, 610C, and 610D being depicted) and multiple wireless devices, referred to in the context of communication system 600 as stations (STAs) 612 (referred to individually as STA 612A, STA 612B, STA 612C, STA 612D, and STA 612E). STA 612A is served by AP 610A in a first basic service set (BSS) 620A. STA 610B and STA 610C are served by AP 610B in a second BSS, BSS 620B. STA 612D is served by AP 610C in a third BSS, BSS 620C. STA 612E is served by AP 610D in a fourth BSS, BSS 620D. Stations 612 may be non-AP STAs and correspond to various kinds of wireless devices, for example, user terminals, such as mobile or stationary computing devices like smartphones, laptop computers, desktop computers, tablet computers, gaming devices, head-mounted displays (HMDs) for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), or the like. Further, stations 612 could, for example, correspond to other kinds of equipment like smart home devices, printers, multimedia devices, data storage devices, or the like.

[0118] Each of STAs 612 may connect through a radio link to one of APs 610. For example, depending on location or channel conditions experienced by a given STA 612, the STA may select an appropriate AP and BSS for establishing the radio link. The radio link may be based on one or more orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) carriers from a frequency spectrum that is shared on the basis of a contention-based mechanism, e.g., an unlicensed or license exempt band like 2.4 GHz Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) band, the 5 GHz band, the 6 GHz band, or the 60 GHz band.

[0119] Each AP 610 may provide data connectivity to STAs 612 connected to a particular AP 610. As illustrated, APs 610 may be connected to a data network 630. In this way, APs 610 may also provide data connectivity between STAs 612 and other entities, e.g., to one or more servers, service providers, data sources, data sinks, user terminals, or the like. Accordingly, the radio link established between a given STA 612 and its serving AP 610 may be used for providing various kinds of services to STA 612, e.g., a voice service, a multimedia service, or other data service. Such services may be based on applications that are executed on STA 612 and / or on a device linked to STA 612. By way of example, Fig. 6 illustrates an application service platform 632 provided in data network 630. The application(s) executed on STA 612 and / or on one or moreP112908W001other devices linked to STA 612 may use the radio link for data communication with one or more other STA 612 and / or the application service platform 632, thereby enabling utilization of the corresponding service(s) at STA 612.

[0120] Fig. 7 shows a wireless device 700, which may be configured to operate in communication system 500 of Fig. 5 or in communication system 600 of Fig. 6. The wireless device 700 may be alternatively referred to as a UE 700, like a UE 512 within the context of communication system 500, or as a station (STA) 700 or as a non-access-point station (non-AP STA) 700, like a STA 612 within the context of the communication system 600, in accordance with respective embodiments. As used herein, a wireless device refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and / or other wireless devices. Examples of a wireless device include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle, vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded / integrated wireless device, and wireless terminal. Other examples include any type of UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and / or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. The UE can be also a WUR UE, with a LR and a MR, for example.

[0121] A wireless device 700 may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3 GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, wireless device 700 may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, wireless device 700 may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, wireless device 700 may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).

[0122] In particular embodiments, wireless device 700 includes processing circuitry 702 that is operatively coupled via a bus 704 to an input / output interface 706, a power source 708, a memory 710, a communication interface 712, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain embodiments of wireless device 700 may include all or a subset of the componentsP112908W001shown in Fig. 7. The level of integration between the components may vary from one embodiment of wireless device 700 to another. In general, in a particular embodiment of wireless device 700, processing circuitry 702, input / output interface 706, power source 708, memory 710, and communication interface 712 may, in whole or in part, represent or include physical components common to or shared by one or more of the other elements of wireless device 700. Further, certain embodiments of wireless devices 700 may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0123] The processing circuitry 702 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 710. The processing circuitry 702 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 702 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs). Furthermore, the processing circuitry 702 can be configured to perform any of the steps of method 200 of Fig. 3.

[0124] In the example, the input / output interface 706 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices. Examples of an output device include a speaker, a sound card, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into wireless device 700. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0125] In some embodiments, the power source 708 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used to supply power to circuitry or to charge an associated battery. The power source 708 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 708 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of wireless device 700 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power source 708 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to make accessible power suitable for the respective components of the wireless device 700 to which power is supplied.P112908W001

[0126] The memory 710 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM) and other kinds of ROMs, magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, thememory 710 includes one or more programs 714, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 716. The memory 710 may store, for use by wireless device 700, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0127] The memory 710 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and / or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 710 may allow wireless device 700 to access instructions, programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 710, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0128] The processing circuitry 702 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network via or using the communication interface 712. The communication interface 712 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 722. The communication interface 712 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another wireless device or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 718 and / or a receiver 720 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 718 and receiver 720 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 722) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0129] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 712 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication (e.g., according to anP112908W001IEEE 802.11 family standard), LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / internet protocol (TCP / IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0130] In particular embodiments, wireless device 700 may provide an output of data captured via a sensor, through its communication interface 712, via a wireless connection to a network node, and / or in any appropriate manner. Data captured by sensors of a wireless device 700 can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another wireless device 700. In particular embodiments, such output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0131] As another example, wireless device 700 comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, wireless device 700 may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0132] Wireless device 700, when in the form of an loT device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. In particular embodiments, wireless device 700 represents an loT device that comprises circuitry and / or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the example embodiment of wireless device 700 shown in Fig. 7.P112908W001

[0133] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, wireless device 700 may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and / or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and / or measurements to another wireless device and / or a network node. Wireless device 700 may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, wireless device 700 may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, wireless device 700 may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and / or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0134] In practice, any number of wireless devices 700 may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first wireless device 700 might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second wireless device 700 that is a remote controller operating the drone. The first and / or the second wireless device 700 can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, wireless device 700 might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0135] Fig. 8 shows a network node 800 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and / or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunications network. In accordance with respective embodiments, network node 800 may be configured to operate in communication system 500 of Fig. 5, like network nodes 508 or 510, or in communication system 600 of Fig. 6, like an AP 610 or a station 612. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs (NBs), evolved NBs (eNBs) and NR NBs (gNBs)), O-RAN nodes or components of an 0-RAN node (e.g., 0-RU, 0-DU, O-CU).

[0136] Network nodes 800 may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. Network node 800 may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. Network nodes 800 may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an 0-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).P112908W001

[0137] Other examples of network nodes 800 include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi -cell / multi cast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0138] In particular embodiments, network node 800 includes a processing circuitry 802, a memory 804, a communication interface 806, and a power source 808. In general, in a particular embodiment of network node 800, processing circuitry 802, memory 804, communication interface 806, and power source 808 may, in whole or in part, represent or include physical components common to or shared by one or more of the other elements of network node 800.

[0139] The network node 800 may be composed of multiple distinct network entities (e.g., a NodeB entity and a RNC entity, or a BTS entity and a BSC entity, etc.), which may each have or utilize their own respective physical components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 800 comprises multiple such entities (e.g., BTS and BSC), one or more of the separate entities may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 800 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memories 804 or portions of memory 804 for different RATs) and some components maybe reused (e.g., a same antenna 810 maybe shared by different RATs). The network node 800 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 800, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, Wi-Fi (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 800.

[0140] The processing circuitry 802 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other components, such as the memory 804, to provide network node 800 functionality.P112908W001

[0141] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 802 includes a system on a chip (SOC).In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 802 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 812 and baseband processing circuitry 814. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 812 and the baseband processing circuitry 814 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 812 and baseband processing circuitry 814 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0142] The memory 804 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and / or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and / or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and / or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 802. The memory 804 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and / or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 802 and utilized by the network node 800. The memory 804 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 802 and / or any data received via the communication interface 806. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 802 and memory 804 is integrated. Furthermore, the processing circuitry 802 is configured to perform any steps of method 300 of Fig. 4.

[0143] The communication interface 806 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and / or data with UEs, other network nodes, and / or any other network equipment. In the illustrated embodiment, communication interface 806 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 816 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. In particular embodiments, network node 700 may be capable of wireless communication and communication interface 806 may also include radio front-end circuitry 818 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, an antenna 810. Particular embodiments of radio front-end circuitry 818 include filter(s) 820 and amplifier(s) 822. The radio front-end circuitry 818 may be connected to an antenna 810 and processing circuitry 802. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 810 and processing circuitry 802. The radio front-end circuitry 818 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 818 may convert the digital data into a radio signal(s) having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination ofP112908W001filters 820 and / or amplifiers 822. The radio signal(s) may then be transmitted via the antenna 810. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 810 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 818. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 802. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0144] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 800 may be capable of wireless communication but does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 818, instead, the processing circuitry 802 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 810. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 812 is part of the communication interface 806. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 806 includes one or more ports or terminals 816, the radio front-end circuitry 818, and the RF transceiver circuitry 812, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 806 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 814, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0145] The antenna 810 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 810 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 818 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 810 is separate from the network node 800 and connectable to the network node 800 through one or more interfaces or ports.

[0146] The antenna 810, communication interface 806, and / or the processing circuitry 802 may be configured to perform some or all of the receiving operations and / or obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node 800. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 810, the communication interface 806, and / or the processing circuitry 802 may be configured to perform some or all of the transmitting or sending operations described herein as being performed by the network node 800. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0147] The power source 808 provides power to the various components of network node 800 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 808 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 800 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 800 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 808. As a further example, the power source 808 mayP112908W001comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0148] Embodiments of the network node 800 may include additional components beyond those shown in Fig. 8 for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and / or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, the network node 800 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 800 and to allow output of information from the network node 800. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 800.

[0149] Fig. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 900 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 900 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as an access network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which a virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized. In some embodiments, the virtualization environment 900 includes components defined by the O-RAN Alliance, such as an O-Cloud environment orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an O-2 interface.

[0150] Applications 902 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0151] Hardware 904 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and / or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and / or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input / output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 906 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VM 908A and VM 908B (which may be collectively referred to as VMs 908), and / or perform any of the functions, featuresP112908W001and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 906 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to one or more of the VMs 908.

[0152] The VMs 908 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by virtualization layer 906. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 902 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 908, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

[0153] In the context of NFV, each of the VMs 908 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 908, and that part of hardware 904 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and / or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more of the VMs 908 on top of the hardware 904 and corresponds to an application 902.

[0154] Hardware 904 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 904 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 904 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 910, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 902. In some embodiments, hardware 904 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 912 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0155] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or softwareP112908W001needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0156] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device-readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and / or by end users and a wireless network generally.

[0157] It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein are not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings.

Claims

P112908W001Claims1. A method (200) performed by a wireless device (512, 700), which has a Low power Radio (LR) operating at a first frequency and a Main Radio (MR) operating at a second frequency, the wireless device being in an inactive or idle mode, the method comprising:- starting (210) a timer upon receipt of a paging message on the first frequency or a Low Power Wake Up Signal (LP-WUS) or upon data arrival in a buffer of the wireless device;- searching for (220) a suitable cell operating at the second frequency in a cell selection procedure while the timer is running; and- if a suitable cell is found while the timer is running, performing a random access procedure with the suitable cell on the second frequency (230);- if no suitable cell is found while the timer is running, performing the random access procedure on the first frequency (230).

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the timer is configured in a release message, the paging message, or system information (SI) message.

3. The method of any one of claims 1 to 2, wherein a configuration of the timer depends on a Quality of Service (QoS) of a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) or a priority of a Logical Channel (LCH) from which the wireless device has obtained uplink data.

4. The method of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the paging message comprises an indication of whether the wireless device may access the first frequency in response to the receipt of the paging message.

5. The method of any one of claims 1 to 4, further comprising receiving a message indicating that performing the random access is prioritized on the second frequency.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the message is a release message or a SI message.

7. The method of claim 1 or 5, wherein the paging message comprises an indication of a duration of the timer.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the timer has a duration of zero.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising performing the random access procedure on the first frequency.

10. The method of any one of claims 1 to 9, further comprising receiving a list of frequencies on which the wireless can perform the random access procedure.

11. The method of any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the paging message comprises a list of frequencies on which the wireless can perform the random access procedure.

12. A method (300) performed by a network node (510, 800) in a network comprising at least one wireless device (512, 700), which has a Low power Radio (LR) operating at a first frequencyP112908W001and a Main Radio (MR) operating at a second frequency, the method comprising:- sending (310) an indication of a timer to the wireless device; and- performing (320) a random access procedure with the at least one wireless device on a cell operating at the second frequency if the timer is running and performing the random access with the at least one wireless device on a cell operating at the first frequency if the timer has expired.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the indication of the timer is contained in a release message, a paging message, or a system information (SI) message.

14. The method of claim 12 or 13, further comprising sending a configuration of the timer to the at least one wireless device.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the configuration of the timer depends on a Quality of Service (QoS) of a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) or a priority of a Logical Channel (LCH) from which the at least one wireless device has obtained uplink data.

16. The method of any one of claims 12 to 15, further comprising sending a message indicating that performing the random access is prioritized on the second frequency,17. The method of claim 16, wherein the message is a release message or a SI message.

18. The method of claim 13 or 15, wherein the paging message comprises an indication of a duration of the timer.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the timer has a duration of zero.

20. The method of any one of claims 12 to 19, further comprising sending a list of frequencies on which the wireless can perform the random access procedure.

21. The method of any one of claims 13 to 19, wherein the paging message comprises a list of frequencies on which the wireless can perform the random access procedure.

22. A wireless device (512, 700) which has a Low power Radio (LR) operating at a first frequency and a Main Radio (MR) operating at a second frequency, the wireless device comprising a network interface (712) and processing circuitry (702) connected thereto, the processing circuitry (702) configured to perform the method of any one of claims 1 to 11.

23. A network node (510, 800) in a network comprising at least a wireless device, which has a Low power Radio (LR) operating at a first frequency and a Main Radio (MR) operating at a second frequency, the network node comprising a network interface (806) and processing circuitry (802) connected thereto, the processing circuitry (802) configured to perform the method of any one of claims 12 to 21.

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