Fast establishment of uplink / downlink decoupled connection

Abstract

A user equipment ("UE") can perform (510) a measurement on a downlink ("DL") transmission from a network node The DL transmission can use a first carrier frequency. The UE can further transmit (520) an uplink ("UL") message to the network node using the first carrier frequency. The UL message can include an indication of the measurement on the DL transmission. The UE can further receive (540) a DL message from the network node using the first carrier frequency. The DL message can include an indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions. The UE can, subsequent to receiving the DL message, communicate (580) with the network node using the first carrier frequency for DL and either the first carrier frequency or a second carrier frequency for UL based on the indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions.

Description

FAST ESTABLISHMENT OF UPLINK / DOWNLINK DECOUPLED CONNECTIONTECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure is related to wireless communication systems and more particularly to fast establishment of uplink (“UL”) / downlink (“DL”) decoupled connection.BACKGROUND

[0002] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a new radio (“NR”) network (e.g., a 5th Generation (“5G”) network) including a 5G core (“5GC”) network 130, network nodes 120a-b (e.g., 5G base station (“gNB”)), multiple communication devices 110 (also referred to as user equipment (“UE”)).

[0003] Cellular systems can use multiple frequency bands with the different frequency bands having different characteristics. In some examples, lower frequency bands (e.g., up to 2 GHz) have better coverage but offer less bandwidth (and hence lower data rates) than higher frequency bands (e.g., 3.5 GHz or higher). Less favorable propagation conditions can, to some extent, be compensated for with higher transmission power, which can be significantly easier to accomplish in the downlink with the base station as the transmitter than in the uplink with the power limitations of a UE (e.g., a handset). Thus, the “best” (providing the highest data rates) frequency band to use for the downlink may not necessarily be the best frequency band for the uplink. For a UE located close to the base stations, a higher frequency band (e.g., 3.5 GHz) can be preferable in both uplink and downlink. For a UE in a less favorable location, the uplink may be best served in a lower frequency band (e.g., a frequency division duplex (“FDD”) band in the sub-1 GHz range) while a higher frequency band might still be preferable for the downlink given the higher transmission power of the base station compared to the UE. This is sometimes known as uplink (“UL”)-downlink (“DL”) decoupling to differentiate it from the common practice of having both uplink and downlink in the same frequency band.SUMMARY

[0004] According to some embodiments, a method of operating a user equipment (“UE”) is provided. The method includes performing a measurement on a downlink (“DL”) transmission from a network node. The DL transmission can use a first carrier frequency. The method can further include transmitting an uplink (“UL”) message to the network node using the first carrier frequency. The UL message can include an indication of the measurement on the DL transmission. The method can further include receiving a DL message from the network node using the first carrier frequency. The DL message can include an indication of whether to use thefirst carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions. The method can further include, subsequent to receiving the DL message, communicating with the network node using the first carrier frequency for DL and using either the first carrier frequency or a second carrier frequency for UL based on the indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions.

[0005] According to other embodiments, a method of operating a network node is provided. The method includes receiving an uplink (“UL”) message from a user equipment (“UE”) using a first carrier frequency. The UL message can include an indication of a measurement on a DL transmission using the first carrier frequency. The method can further include determining whether to have the UE use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions. The method can further include transmitting a DL message to the UE using the first carrier frequency. The DL message can include an indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions. The method can further include, subsequent to transmitting the DL message, communicating with the UE using the first carrier frequency for DL and using either the first carrier frequency or a second carrier frequency for UL based on the indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions.

[0006] According to other embodiments, a communication device, a computer program, computer program product, non-transitory computer readable medium, host, or system is provided to perform one of the above methods.

[0007] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. In some embodiments, UL-DL decoupling can occur during (rather than after) completion of a RA procedure. As a result, a UE may be able to successfully communicate (e.g., transmit in a better UL carrier) with a gNB sooner. In some examples, earlier UL-DL decoupling can improve user experience. In additional or alternative examples, earlier UL-DL decoupling can reduce resource consumption by allowing the UE to remain in an active / connected state for a shorter period of time.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0008] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate certain non-limiting embodiments of inventive concepts. In the drawings:

[0009] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example of a 5thgeneration (“5G”) network;

[0010] FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating an example of a cell reselection procedure;

[0011] FIG. 3 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an example of a random access procedure;

[0012] FIG. 4 is a signal flow diagram illustrating an example of performing uplink (“UL”)-downlink (“DL”) decoupling during a RA procedure in accordance with some embodiments;

[0013] FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating an example of operations performed by a user equipment, UE, in accordance with some embodiments;

[0014] FIG. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an example of operations performed by a network node in accordance with some embodiments;

[0015] FIG. 7 is a block diagram of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments;

[0016] FIG. 8 is a block diagram of another communication system in accordance with some embodiments;

[0017] FIG. 9 is a block diagram of a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments;

[0018] FIG. 10 is a block diagram of a network node in accordance with some embodiments; and

[0019] FIG. 11 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment in accordance with some embodiments.DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0020] 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, in which examples of embodiments of inventive concepts are shown. Inventive concepts may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of present inventive concepts to those skilled in the art. It should also be noted that these embodiments are not mutually exclusive. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present / used in another embodiment.

[0021] A UE in idle mode (e.g., not connected to a base station) can perform a procedure known as cell reselection. Via the cell reselection procedure, the UE selects a suitable cell on which the UE camps. The UE can monitor control channels on the cell where the UE camps so that the UE can receive system information, paging information, and notification messages. The UE may also initiate a transfer to connected mode on the cell where it camps.

[0022] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a cell reselection procedure. The UE can monitor the quality of its camped cell, and if the quality of the camped cell falls below a threshold, the UE can start performing measurements on other cells. These other cells may be on the same carrier frequency as the camped cell (intra-frequency cell reselection) or on a different carrier frequency than the camped cell (inter-frequency cell reselection). If a second cell is suitable and its quality is better than the camped cell, the UE can reselect the second cell. In 5G, quality can be defined based on reference signal received power (“RSRP”) and / or reference signal received quality (“RSRQ”).

[0023] Similar to cell reselection, is a related procedure referred to as cell selection, which the UE performs: 1) when the UE is initially switched on; and / or 2) when the UE transitions from connected to idle mode. In this case, since there is no camped cell, the UE directly performs measurements on other cells.

[0024] When the UE wants to connect to the cellular network, it can start by executing a random-access (“RA”) procedure. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a four-step RA procedure. At block 305, the UE performs a cell search in which the UE determines a cell to connect to based on measurements of signals transmitted by a network node (e.g., the gNB). At operation 310, the UE transmits a preamble (e.g., randomly selected), known as message 1 (“Msg 1”) in the UL (to the gNB). At operation 320, in response to receiving the preamble, the base station responds with message 2 (“Msg 2”), including (among other things) a timing correction command and a scheduling grant. At operation 330, in response to receiving Msg 2, the UE applies the timing correction to the UL and transmits message 3 (“Msg 3”) on the time-frequency resources provided in Msg 2. Among other things, Msg 3 includes some form of identity of the UE. At operation 340, message 4 (“Msg 4”) is transmitted by the base station in response to receiving Msg 3. A purpose of Msg 4 can be to handle collisions between multiple UEs attempting a random access at the same time. If the random-access procedure is declared successful after receiving Msg4, additional configuration information is exchanged to establish the connection and subsequently transmit data in one or both directions (block 350).

[0025] Note that msg 1 and msg 3 are transmitted in the uplink, while msg 2 and msg 4 are transmitted in the downlink.

[0026] In 5G, there is also a complementary two-step random access procedure in which msg 1 and msg 3 are combined into a single transmission, msg A, and msg 2 and msg 4 are combined into a single response message, msg B.

[0027] In 5G, it is possible to aggregate multiple carriers in the downlink (and in the uplink). A purpose of aggregating multiple carriers can be to access a larger bandwidth (and thereby a higher data rate) than one carrier can offer by transmitting on multiple carriers inparallel. As part of the carrier aggregation framework, it is also possible to perform UL transmission (“Tx”) switching, which includes having two or more uplink carriers configured but transmitting only on one of them at a time (switching can have lower complexity than aggregation). The carrier aggregation framework can be used to realize uplink-downlink decoupling by configuring one downlink carrier and one uplink carrier in a low frequency band and similarly in a high frequency band. However, configuring (and activating) multiple carriers can be only be performed once a connection is established between the UE and the base station (e.g., after the random-access procedure has completed).

[0028] In addition to carrier aggregation, 5G also supports supplementary uplink (“SUL”) in which a conventional DL / UL carrier pair has an associated or supplementary uplink carrier with the SUL carrier that can be operating in lower frequency bands. Although carrier aggregation (with Tx switching) and the supplementary uplink have some similarities, there are also differences. In some examples, in the case of carrier aggregation, each uplink carrier has its own associated downlink carrier. This can be beneficial for the UE as each uplink has a well-defined downlink serving as a reference for timing and pathloss estimation in the UE. In contrast, the supplementary uplink carrier does not have an associated downlink carrier of its own and the supplementary uplink therefore need to share the same downlink for timing and pathloss estimation, which may complicate the UE implementation. Furthermore, the supplementary uplink assumes an uplink-only carrier, which impacts the frequency bands which can be used for the SUL.

[0029] There currently exist certain challenge(s). Currently, UL-DL decoupling is not possible until the random-access procedure has completed and potentially after additional carrier-aggregation configuration, which can be time consuming. For smaller amounts of data (e.g., small packets), which is a common scenario, the data transmission may be over before carrier aggregation and uplink Tx switching has been configured, meaning that those smaller packets will not benefit from uplink-downlink decoupling.

[0030] While, SUL can allow the UE to access an uplink carrier in a different frequency band than the downlink, it has not been widely deployed for several reasons. For example, SUL can increase UE complexity due to lack of a downlink reference in the supplementary uplink band. It is therefore of interest to find schemes enabling UL-DL decoupling (e.g., UL and DL in different frequency bands) at an early stage to also benefit occasional transmissions of small packets.

[0031] Various embodiments herein address the above challenges by enabling the UE to start transmitting uplink on a carrier that is different from a carrier where the received downlink.

[0032] In some embodiments, a random-access procedure as depicted in FIG. 4 is completed on the camped cell. As part of the msg 4 transmission (or immediately following msg 4), the UE can receive a configuration, which, if the contention-resolution procedure completed successfully, triggers the UE to perform subsequent UL transmissions on a different carrier frequency (denoted as low band in FIG. 4) than the carrier frequency of the camped cell (denoted as high band in FIG. 4). The downlink carrier used for downlink transmissions remains the same throughout the procedure in FIG. 4.

[0033] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE performs all uplink transmissions on the carrier frequency indicated in the configuration after receiving the configuration.

[0034] In additional or alternative embodiments, the first uplink transmission on the low band carrier is an acknowledgement of the reception of the configuration transmitted over a physical uplink shared channel (“PUSCH”). The UE can be provided uplink resources for PUSCH transmission by a dynamic grant on the downlink carrier. In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE may be configured with uplink resources (e.g., by signaling in the configuration). These uplink resources may be dedicated to the UE or shared with other UEs. In some examples, this is relevant if the uplink timing of the low band and high band carriers are sufficiently similar.

[0035] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE switches all the uplink transmissions to the low band carrier immediately after receiving the configuration. In other embodiments, the UE may perform signaling on the high band carrier before switching the uplink to the low band carrier.

[0036] In additional or alternative embodiments, the first uplink transmission on the uplink low band carrier is a PRACH preamble, which is the first step of a random-access procedure where the uplink messages are transmitted on the low band uplink carrier and the downlink message(s) are received on the HB downlink carrier as illustrated in FIG. 4. The low band random-access procedure may use only msg 1’ (preamble ) and msg 2’ (response incl timing correction), or it may include all four messages (msg 1’ to msg 4’). The former is useful if the UE, as part of msg 4, receives indication which preamble to use in the low band uplink transmission, while the latter includes the contention-resolution messages (msg 3’ and msg 4’) and thus is useful if contention-free transmissions of msg 1 cannot be guaranteed. Whether to do only the first two steps or all four steps can either be fixed in the specifications or indicated to the UE, for example as part of the system information received on the high band downlink carrier or as part of msg2’. In case the random access procedure include all four messages (msg 1’ to msg 4’) the UE may use a specific subset of the PRACH preambles to indicate to the gNB that the downlink messages msg2’ and msg4’ should be transmitted on the high band.

[0037] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE receives indication from the gNB (e.g., as part of msg 4) whether to perform a random-access procedure on the low band uplink or not. This information can, as discussed above, include instructions on the preamble sequence to apply in msg 1’ (for contention-free random access). Alternatively, the preamble sequence to use for msgl’ can be linked to the preamble sequence used for msgl . Information whether to perform a contention resolution step using msg 3’ and msg 4’ can also be included as part of msg 4, or as part of msg 2’ .

[0038] In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE can by itself decide whether to perform a random-access procedure after switching the uplink to the low band carrier. The UE can base the decision on the downlink timing measured on the respective downlink carrier, the (HB) downlink carrier upon which downlink transmissions occur and the (LB) downlink carrier related to the low band uplink carrier. If the timing difference between the two is larger than a threshold, the UE concludes the low band and high band carriers are not time aligned and decides to perform a random-access transmission on the low band uplink carrier, otherwise it assumes the high band and low band carriers are time aligned and no random-access transmission is needed. The threshold can be fixed in the specifications or, preferable, conveyed to the UE as part of the system information. In additional or alternative embodiments, the threshold is conveyed in a dedicated configuration the UE received.

[0039] In the description above, a four-step random access procedure has been assumed. It is obvious to anyone skilled in the art that the principles can be applied to a two-step randomaccess procedure, using msg A and msg B, or to variants of the two-step and four-step procedures.

[0040] Operations of a UE 900 (implemented using the structure of FIG. 9) will now be discussed with reference to the flow charts of FIG. 5 according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. For example, modules may be stored in memory 910 of FIG. 9, and these modules may provide instructions so that when the instructions of a module are executed by respective UE processing circuitry 902, UE 900 performs respective operations of the flow chart.

[0041] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of operations performed by a UE to perform fast establishment of UL / DL decoupled connection.

[0042] At block 510, processing circuitry 902 performs a measurement on a DL transmission from a network node. In some embodiments, the DL transmission uses a first carrier frequency. In additional or alternative embodiments, the measurement of the first DL transmission includes at least one of: a reference signal received power, RSRP; a referencesignal received quality, RSRQ; a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, SINR; and a signal-to-noise ratio, SNR.

[0043] At block 520, processing circuitry 902 transmits, via communication interface 912, an UL message to the network node using the first carrier frequency and including an indication of the measurement on the DL transmission. In some embodiments, the DL transmission is a first DL transmission, and transmitting the UL message includes transmitting an indication of a measurement of a second DL transmission using the second carrier frequency that is different from the first carrier frequency. In some examples, the measurement of the second DL transmission includes at least one of: a reference signal received power, RSRP; a reference signal received quality, RSRQ; a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, SINR; and a signal-to-noise ratio, SNR.

[0044] At block 540, processing circuitry 902 receives, via communication interface 912, a DL message using the first carrier frequency and including an indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions. In some embodiments, the UL message and the DL message are part of a random access, RA, procedure between the UE and the network node. In some examples, the UL message is a message 3, msg 3, of a four-step RA procedure, and the DL message is a message 4, msg 4, of the four-step RA procedure. In additional or alternative examples, the UL message is a message A, msg A, of a two-step RA procedure, and the DL message is a message B, msg B, of the two-step RA procedure.

[0045] In additional or alternative embodiments, the first carrier frequency is higher than the second carrier frequency. In some examples, the first carrier frequency is a high band frequency, and the second carrier frequency is a low band frequency. In some examples, in the case of FDD, a carrier frequency represents the frequencies for UL and DL, respectively, in a high beam.

[0046] At block 550, processing circuitry 902 determines a timing difference between a first timing for the first carrier frequency and a second timing for the second carrier frequency.

[0047] At block 560, processing circuitry 902 determines whether to perform a timing alignment procedure based on the timing difference.

[0048] At block 570, processing circuitry 902 performs at least a portion of a RA procedure using the second carrier frequency for UL and the first carrier frequency for DL.

[0049] In some embodiments, the UE performs at least the portion of a random access, RA, procedure using the second carrier frequency for UL and the first carrier frequency for DL in response to determining to perform the timing alignment procedure. In additional or alternative embodiments, the UE performs at least the portion of the RA procedure in response to receiving the DL message. In some examples, the portion of the RA procedure includes msg 1 and msg 2of a RA procedure. In additional or alternative examples, the portion of the RA procedure includes an entire RA procedure.

[0050] In additional or alternative embodiments, performing at least the portion of RA procedure comprises: transmitting a second UL message to the network node using the second carrier frequency; and receiving a second DL message from the network node using the first carrier frequency, the second DL message including an indication of a timing adjustment

[0051] At block 580, processing circuitry 902 communicates, via communication interface 912, with the network using the first carrier frequency for DL and using either the first carrier frequency or the second carrier frequency for UL. In some embodiments, the UE uses either the first carrier frequency or the second carrier frequency for UL based on the indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions.

[0052] In additional or alternative embodiments, the DL message includes an indication to use the second carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions. Communicating with the network node includes communicating with the network node using the second carrier frequency for UL based on the indication to use the second carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions.

[0053] Various operations from the flow chart of FIG. 5 may be optional with respect to some embodiments of UEs and related methods.

[0054] Operations of a network node 1000 (implemented using the structure of FIG. 10) will now be discussed with reference to the flow charts of FIG. 6 according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. For example, modules may be stored in memory 1004 of FIG. 10, and these modules may provide instructions so that when the instructions of a module are executed by respective network node processing circuitry 1002, network node 1000 performs respective operations of the flow chart.

[0055] FIG. 6 illustrates an example of operations performed by a network node to perform fast establishment of UL / DL decoupled connection.

[0056] At block 610, processing circuitry Q402 receives, via communication interface 1006, an UL message from a UE using a first carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the UL message includes an indication of a measurement on a DL transmission using the first carrier frequency. In some embodiments, the DL transmission is a first DL transmission, and receiving the UL message includes receiving an indication of a measurement of a second DL transmission using the second carrier frequency that is different from the first carrier frequency. In some examples, the measurement of the first DL transmission and the measurement of the second DL transmission each comprise at least one of: a reference signal received power, RSRP; a referencesignal received quality, RSRQ; a signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio, SINR; and a signal-to-noise ratio, SNR.

[0057] In additional or alternative embodiments, the first carrier frequency is higher than the second carrier frequency. In some examples, the first carrier frequency is a high band frequency, and the second carrier frequency is a low band frequency.

[0058] At block 620, processing circuitry 1002 receives, via communication interface 1006, an indication of whether the UE is capable of UL / DL decoupling.

[0059] At block 630, processing circuitry 1002 determines whether to have the UE use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions. In some embodiments, determining whether to have the UE use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions includes determining to have the UE use a different carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions than the first carrier frequency based on the indication that the UE is capable of UL-DL decoupling.

[0060] At block 640, processing circuitry 1002 transmits, via communication interface 1006, a DL message to the UE using the first carrier frequency and including an indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions. In some embodiments, the UL message and the DL message are part of a random access, RA, procedure between the UE and the network node. In some examples, the UL message is a message 3, msg 3, of a four-step RA procedure, and the DL message is a message 4, msg 4, of the four-step RA procedure. In additional or alternative examples, the UL message is a message A, msg A, of a two-step RA procedure, and the DL message is a message B, msg B, of the two-step RA procedure.

[0061] At block 650, processing circuitry 1002 performs at least a portion of a RA procedure using the second carrier frequency for UL and the first carrier frequency for DL. In some embodiments, the UE performs at least the portion of the RA procedure responsive to transmitting the DL message.

[0062] In additional or alternative embodiments, performing at least the portion of RA procedure includes: receiving a second UL message from the UE using the second carrier frequency; and transmitting a second DL message to the UE using the first carrier frequency, the second DL message including an indication of a timing adjustment

[0063] At block 660, processing circuitry 1002 communicates, via communication interface 1006, with the UE using the first carrier frequency for DL and either the first carrier frequency or the second carrier frequency for UL (e.g., based on the indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions).

[0064] In some embodiments, the DL message includes an indication to use the second carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions. Communicating with the network node includes communicating with the UE using the second carrier frequency for UL based on the indication to use the second carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions.

[0065] Various operations from the flow chart of FIG. 6 may be optional with respect to some embodiments of network nodes and related methods.

[0066] FIG. 7 shows an example of a communication system 700 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0067] In the example, the communication system 700 includes a telecommunications network 702 that includes an access network 704, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 706, which includes one or more core network nodes 708. The access network 704 includes one or more access network nodes or base stations of various types, access network nodes 710A and 710B are depicted (which may be collectively referred to as network nodes 710), or any other similar 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3 GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points (APs). Some embodiments of the access network 704 may include more than one access network technology. The network nodes 710 of access network 704 facilitate direct or indirect connection of wireless devices, also referred to as user equipments (UEs), such as by connecting UEs 712A, 712B, 712C, and 712D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 712) to the core network 706 over one or more wireless connections.

[0068] 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 702 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a network node in the telecommunications network 702 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 702, including one or more access network nodes 710 and / or core network nodes 708.

[0069] 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 maysupport 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 0-2 interface defined by the 0-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies.

[0070] The network nodes 710 facilitate direct or indirect connection of one or more UEs 712 to the core network 706 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 700 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 700 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0071] The UEs 712 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 710 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 708, 710 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly (e.g., via other devices of telecommunications network 702) with the UEs 712 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunications network 702 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 702. More specifically, UEs 712 may send messages, data, and / or other signals to network nodes 708, 710 or other elements of the telecommunications network 702 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 708, 710 may send messages, data, and other signals to UEs 7122, other network nodes 708, 710, and other devices in telecommunications network 702 directly or indirectly. As one specific example, a core network node 108 may transmit a particular message to a UE 712 by transmitting the message toan access network node 710 that will then transmit the message to the intended UE 712.Similarly, a core network node 108 may receive a particular message from a UE 712 by receiving the message from an access network node 710 that itself received the message from the UE 712.

[0072] In the depicted example, the core network 706 connects elements of the access network 704 (e.g., one or more of the network nodes 710) to one or more host computing systems, such as host 716. 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 706 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 708) of various types, one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 708. Network nodes 708 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 708. 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).

[0073] The host 716 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 704 and / or the telecommunications network 702. The host 716 may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 716 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio / video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0074] As a whole, the communication system 700 of FIG. 7 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 700 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 700 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 700 supporting different standards, protocols, or rule sets.

[0075] As one example, in certain embodiments, access network 704 may contain some access network nodes 710 that support 3 GPP radio access technologies (RAT), such as LTE or NR, while other access network nodes 710 support (or the same access network nodes 710 additionally support) non-3GPP RATs, such as Wi-Fi or a proprietary RAT. As another example, telecommunications network 702 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.

[0076] Telecommunications network 702 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunications network 702. For example, the telecommunications network 702 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.

[0077] In some examples, one or more of the UEs 712 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 704 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 704.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).

[0078] In the example, the hub 714 communicates with the access network 704 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 712C and / or 712D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 710B). In some examples, the hub 714 may be a controller, router,content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 714 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 706 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 714 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 710, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 714.

[0079] As another example, the hub 714 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 714 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 714 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 714 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 714 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0080] The hub 714 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 710B. The hub 714 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 714 and UEs (e.g., UE 712C and / or 712D), and between the hub 714 and the core network 706. In other examples, the hub 714 is connected to the core network 706 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 714 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 704 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 710 while still connected via the hub 714 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 714 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to / from the UEs from / to the network node 710B. In other embodiments, the hub 714 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 710B, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.

[0081] FIG. 8 is another example of a communication system 800 according to some embodiments. As used herein, the communication system 800 includes multiple access points (APs) 810 (with four exemplary APs 810A, 810B, 810C, and 810D being depicted) and multiple wireless devices, referred to in the context of communication system 800 as stations (STAs) 812 (referred to individually as STA 812A, STA 812B, STA 812C, ST A 812D, and STA 812E). STA 812A is served by AP 810A in a first basic service set (BSS) 820A. STA 810B and STA 810C are served by AP 810B in a second BSS, BSS 820B. STA 812D is served by AP 810C in athird BSS, BSS 820C. STA 812E is served by AP 810D in a fourth BSS, BSS 820D. Stations 812 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 812 could, for example, correspond to other kinds of equipment like smart home devices, printers, multimedia devices, data storage devices, or the like.

[0082] Each of STAs 812 may connect through a radio link to one of APs 810. For example, depending on location or channel conditions experienced by a given STA 812, 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.

[0083] Each AP 810 may provide data connectivity to STAs 812 connected to a particular AP 810. As illustrated, APs 810 may be connected to a data network 830. In this way, APs 810 may also provide data connectivity between STAs 812 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 812 and its serving AP 810 may be used for providing various kinds of services to STA 812, e.g., a voice service, a multimedia service, or other data service. Such services may be based on applications that are executed on STA 812 and / or on a device linked to STA 812. By way of example, FIG. 8 illustrates an application service platform 832 provided in data network 830. The application(s) executed on STA 812 and / or on one or more other devices linked to STA 812 may use the radio link for data communication with one or more other STA 812 and / or the application service platform 832, thereby enabling utilization of the corresponding service(s) at STA 812.

[0084] FIG. 9 shows a wireless device 900, which may be configured to operate in communication system 700 of FIG. 7 or in communication system 800 of FIG. 80. The wireless device 900 may be alternatively referred to as a UE 900, like a UE 712 within the context of communication system 700, or as a station (STA) 900 or as a non-access-point station (non-AP STA) 900, like a STA 812 within the context of the communication system 800, 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.

[0085] A wireless device 900 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 900 may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, wireless device 900 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 900 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).

[0086] In particular embodiments, wireless device 900 includes processing circuitry 902 that is operatively coupled via a bus 904 to an input / output interface 906, a power source 908, a memory 910, a communication interface 912, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain embodiments of wireless device 900 may include all or a subset of the components shown in FIG. 9. The level of integration between the components may vary from one embodiment of wireless device 900 to another. In general, in a particular embodiment of wireless device 900, processing circuitry 902, input / output interface 906, power source 908, memory 910, and communication interface 912 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 900. Further, certain embodiments of wireless devices 900 may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0087] The processing circuitry 902 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 910. The processing circuitry 902 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 902 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0088] In the example, the input / output interface 906 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, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. An input device may allow a user to capture information into wireless device 900. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0089] In some embodiments, the power source 908 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 908 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 908 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of wireless device 900 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power source 908 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to make accessible power suitable for the respective components of the wireless device 900 to which power is supplied.

[0090] The memory 910 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable readonly memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 910 includes one or more programs 914, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 916. The memory 910 may store, for use by wireless device 900, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0091] The memory 910 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 910 may allow wireless device 900 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 910, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0092] The processing circuitry 902 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network via or using the communication interface 912. The communication interface 912 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 922. The communication interface 912 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 918 and / or a receiver 920 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 918 and receiver 920 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 922) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0093] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 912 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication (e.g., according to an IEEE 802.11 family standard), LPWAN communication, data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. Communications may be implemented according to one or more communication protocols and / or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol / intemet protocol (TCP / IP),synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.

[0094] In particular embodiments, wireless device 900 may provide an output of data captured via a sensor, through its communication interface 912, via a wireless connection to a network node, and / or in any appropriate manner. Data captured by sensors of a wireless device 900 can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another wireless device 900. 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).

[0095] As another example, wireless device 900 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 900 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.

[0096] Wireless device 900, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door / window sensor, a flood / moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. In particular embodiments, wireless device 900 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 900 shown in FIG. 9.

[0097] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, wireless device 900 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 900 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 900 may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, wireless device 900 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.

[0098] In practice, any number of wireless devices 900 may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first wireless device 900 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 900 that is a remote controller operating the drone. When a user makes changes from the remote controller, the first wireless device 900 may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g., by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and / or the second wireless device 900 can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, wireless device 900 might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0099] FIG. 10 shows a network node 1000 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 1000 may be configured to operate in communication system 700 of FIG. 7, like network nodes 708 or 710, or in communication system 800 of FIG. 8, like an AP 810 or a station 812. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)), 0-RAN nodes or components of an 0-RAN node (e.g., 0-RU, 0-DU, O-CU).

[0100] Network nodes 1000 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 1000 may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. Network nodes 1000 may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units, distributed units (e.g., in an O-RAN access node) and / or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as anantenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0101] Other examples of network nodes 1000 include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, multi -standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell / multicast coordination entities (MCEs), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and / or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0102] In particular embodiments, network node 1000 includes a processing circuitry 1002, a memory 1004, a communication interface 1006, and a power source 1008. In general, in a particular embodiment of network node 1000, processing circuitry 1002, memory 1004, communication interface 1006, and power source 1008 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 1000.

[0103] The network node 1000 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 1000 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 NodeB s. 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 1000 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memories 1004 or portions of memory 1004 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1010 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1000 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1000, 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 1000.

[0104] The processing circuitry 1002 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 logicoperable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other components, such as the memory 1004, to provide network node 1000 functionality.

[0105] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1002 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1002 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1012 and baseband processing circuitry 1014. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 1012 and the baseband processing circuitry 1014 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 1012 and baseband processing circuitry 1014 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0106] The memory 1004 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 1002. The memory 1004 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 1002 and utilized by the network node 1000. The memory 1004 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1002 and / or any data received via the communication interface 1006. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1002 and memory 1004 is integrated.

[0107] The communication interface 1006 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 1006 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 1016 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. In particular embodiments, network node 900 may be capable of wireless communication and communication interface 1006 may also include radio front-end circuitry 1018 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, an antenna 1010. Particular embodiments of radio front-end circuitry 1018 include filter(s) 1020 and amplifier(s) 1022. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 may be connected to an antenna 1010 and processing circuitry 1002. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1010 and processing circuitry 1002. The radio front-end circuitry 1018 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 1018 may convert the digital data into a radio signal(s) having the appropriate channeland bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1020 and / or amplifiers 1022. The radio signal(s) may then be transmitted via the antenna 1010. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1010 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1018. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1002. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0108] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 1000 may be capable of wireless communication but does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1018, instead, the processing circuitry 1002 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1010. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1012 is part of the communication interface 1006. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1006 includes one or more ports or terminals 1016, the radio front-end circuitry 1018, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1012, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1006 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1014, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0109] The antenna 1010 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1010 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 1018 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1010 is separate from the network node 1000 and connectable to the network node 1000 through one or more interfaces or ports.

[0110] The antenna 1010, communication interface 1006, and / or the processing circuitry 1002 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 1000. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 1010, the communication interface 1006, and / or the processing circuitry 1002 may be configured to perform some or all of the transmitting or sending operations described herein as being performed by the network node 1000. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0111] The power source 1008 provides power to the various components of network node 1000 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1008 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1000 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1000 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an inputcircuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 1008. As a further example, the power source 1008 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power if the external power source fails.

[0112] Embodiments of the network node 1000 may include additional components beyond those shown in FIG. 10 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 1000 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1000 and to allow output of information from the network node 1000. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1000.

[0113] FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1100 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 1100 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 1100 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.

[0114] Applications 1102 (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.

[0115] Hardware 1104 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 1106 (alsoreferred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VM 1108 A and VM 1108B (which may be collectively referred to as VMs 1108), and / or perform any of the functions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1106 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to one or more of the VMs 1108.

[0116] The VMs 1108 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by virtualization layer 1106. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1102 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1108, 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.

[0117] In the context of NFV, each of the VMs 1108 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 1108, and that part of hardware 1104 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 1108 on top of the hardware 1104 and corresponds to an application 1102.

[0118] Hardware 1104 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1104 may implement some functions via virtualization.Alternatively, hardware 1104 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 1110, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1102. In some embodiments, hardware 1104 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 1112 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0119] 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 understoodthat these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein.Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and / or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and / or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0120] 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.

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method of operating a user equipment, UE, the method comprising:performing (510) a measurement on a downlink, DL, transmission from a network node, the DL transmission using a first carrier frequency;transmitting (520) an uplink, UL, message to the network node using the first carrier frequency, the UL message including an indication of the measurement on the DL transmission;receiving (540) a DL message from the network node using the first carrier frequency, the DL message including an indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions; andsubsequent to receiving the DL message, communicating (580) with the network node using the first carrier frequency for DL and using either the first carrier frequency or a second carrier frequency for UL based on the indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein the DL message includes an indication to use the second carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions, andwherein communicating with the network node comprises communicating with the network node using the second carrier frequency for UL based on the indication to use the second carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions.

3. The method of any of Claims 1-2, wherein the UL message and the DL message are part of a random access, RA, procedure between the UE and the network node.

4. The method of Claim 3, wherein the UL message is a message 3, msg 3, of a four-step RA procedure, andwherein the DL message is a message 4, msg 4, of the four-step RA procedure.

5. The method of Claim 3, wherein the UL message is a message A, msg A, of a two-step RA procedure, andwherein the DL message is a message B, msg B, of the two-step RA procedure.

286. The method of any of Claims 1-5, wherein the DL transmission is a first DL transmission, andwherein transmitting the UL message comprises transmitting an indication of a measurement of a second DL transmission using the second carrier frequency that is different from the first carrier frequency.

7. The method of Claim 6, wherein the measurement of the first DL transmission and the measurement of the second DL transmission each comprise at least one of:a reference signal received power, RSRP;a reference signal received quality, RSRQ;a signal -to-interference-plus-noise ratio, SINR; anda signal -to-noise ratio, SNR.

8. The method of any of Claims 1-7, wherein the first carrier frequency is higher than the second carrier frequency.

9. The method of Claim 8, wherein the first carrier frequency is a high band frequency, and wherein the second carrier frequency is a low band frequency.

10. The method of Claims 1-9, further comprising:determining (550) a timing difference between a first timing measured on a DL signal using the first carrier frequency and a second timing measured on a DL signal using the second carrier frequency; anddetermining (560) whether to perform a timing alignment procedure based on the timing difference.

11. The method of Claim 10, further comprising:responsive to determining to perform the timing alignment procedure, performing (570) at least a portion of a random access, RA, procedure using the second carrier frequency for UL and the first carrier frequency for DL.

12. The method of any of Claims 1-11, further comprising:responsive to receiving the DL message, performing (570) at least a portion of a random access, RA, procedure using the second carrier frequency for UL and the first carrier frequency for DL.

13. The method of any of Claims 11-12, wherein performing at least the portion of RA procedure comprises:transmitting a second UL message to the network node using the second carrier frequency; andreceiving a second DL message from the network node using the first carrier frequency, the second DL message including an indication of a timing adjustment14. A method of operating a network node, the method comprising:receiving (610) an uplink, UL, message from a user equipment, UE, using a first carrier frequency, the UL message including an indication of a measurement on a DL transmission using the first carrier frequency;determining (630) whether to have the UE use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions; andtransmitting (640) a DL message to the UE using the first carrier frequency, the DL message including an indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions; andsubsequent to transmitting the DL message, communicating (660) with the UE using the first carrier frequency for DL and using either the first carrier frequency or a second carrier frequency for UL based on the indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions.

15. The method of Claim 14, wherein the DL message includes an indication to use the second carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions, andwherein communicating with the network node comprises communicating with the UE using the second carrier frequency for UL based on the indication to use the second carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions.

16. The method of any of Claims 14-15, wherein the UL message and the DL message are part of a random access, RA, procedure between the UE and the network node.

17. The method of Claim 16 wherein the UL message is a message 3, msg 3, of a four-step RA procedure, andwherein the DL message is a message 4, msg 4, of the four-step RA procedure.

18. The method of Claim 16, wherein the UL message is a message A, msg A, of a two-step RA procedure, andwherein the DL message is a message B, msg B, of the two-step RA procedure.

19. The method of any of Claims 14-18, wherein the DL transmission is a first DL transmission, andwherein receiving the UL message comprises receiving an indication of a measurement of a second DL transmission using the second carrier frequency that is different from the first carrier frequency.

20. The method of Claim 19, wherein the measurement of the first DL transmission and the measurement of the second DL transmission each comprise at least one of:a reference signal received power, RSRP;a reference signal received quality, RSRQ;a signal -to-interference-plus-noise ratio, SINR; anda signal -to-noise ratio, SNR.

21. The method of any of Claims 14-20, wherein the first carrier frequency is higher than the second carrier frequency.

22. The method of Claim 21, wherein the first carrier frequency is a high band frequency, and wherein the second carrier frequency is a low band frequency.

23. The method of any of Claims 14-22, further comprising:responsive to transmitting the DL message, performing (650) at least a portion of a random access, RA, procedure using the second carrier frequency for UL and the first carrier frequency for DL.

24. The method of Claim 23, wherein performing at least the portion of RA procedure comprises:receiving a second UL message from the UE using the second carrier frequency; and transmitting a second DL message to the UE using the first carrier frequency, the second DL message including an indication of a timing adjustment25. The method of any of Claims 14-24, further comprising:receiving (620) an indication that the UE is capable of UL-DL decoupling,wherein determining whether to have the UE use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions comprises determining to have the UE use a different carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions than the first carrier frequency based on the indication that the UE is capable of UL-DL decoupling.

26. A user equipment, UE, (900) adapted to perform operations comprising:performing (510) a measurement on a downlink, DL, transmission from a network node, the DL transmission using a first carrier frequency;transmitting (520) an uplink, UL, message to the network node using the first carrier frequency, the UL message including an indication of the measurement on the DL transmission;receiving (540) a DL message from the network node using the first carrier frequency, the DL message including an indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions; andsubsequent to receiving the DL message, communicating (580) with the network node using the first carrier frequency for DL and using either the first carrier frequency or a second carrier frequency for UL based on the indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions.

27. The UE of Claim 26, the operations further comprising any of the operations of Claims 2-13.

28. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by processing circuitry (902) of a user equipment, UE, (900), whereby execution of the program code causes the UE to perform operations comprising:performing (510) a measurement on a downlink, DL, transmission from a network node, the DL transmission using a first carrier frequency;transmitting (520) an uplink, UL, message to the network node using the first carrier frequency, the UL message including an indication of the measurement on the DL transmission;receiving (540) a DL message from the network node using the first carrier frequency, the DL message including an indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions; andsubsequent to receiving the DL message, communicating (580) with the network node using the first carrier frequency for DL and using either the first carrier frequency or a secondcarrier frequency for UL based on the indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions.

29. The computer program of Claim 28, the operations further comprising any of the operations of Claims 2-13.

30. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium (910) including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (902) of a user equipment, UE, (900), whereby execution of the program code causes the UE to perform operations comprising:performing (510) a measurement on a downlink, DL, transmission from a network node, the DL transmission using a first carrier frequency;transmitting (520) an uplink, UL, message to the network node using the first carrier frequency, the UL message including an indication of the measurement on the DL transmission;receiving (540) a DL message from the network node using the first carrier frequency, the DL message including an indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions; andsubsequent to receiving the DL message, communicating (580) with the network node using the first carrier frequency for DL and using either the first carrier frequency or a second carrier frequency for UL based on the indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions.

31. The computer program product of Claim 30, the operations further comprising any of the operations of Claims 2-13.

32. A network node (1000) adapted to perform operations comprising:receiving (610) an uplink, UL, message from a user equipment, UE, using a first carrier frequency, the UL message including an indication of a measurement on a DL transmission using the first carrier frequency;determining (630) whether to have the UE use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions; andtransmitting (640) a DL message to the UE using the first carrier frequency, the DL message including an indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions; andsubsequent to transmitting the DL message, communicating (660) with the UE using the first carrier frequency for DL and using either the first carrier frequency or a second carrierfrequency for UL based on the indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions.

33. The network node of Claim 32, the operations further comprising any of the operations of Claims 15-25.

34. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by processing circuitry (1002) of a network node (1000), whereby execution of the program code causes the network node to perform operations comprising:receiving (610) an uplink, UL, message from a user equipment, UE, using a first carrier frequency, the UL message including an indication of a measurement on a DL transmission using the first carrier frequency;determining (630) whether to have the UE use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions; andtransmitting (640) a DL message to the UE using the first carrier frequency, the DL message including an indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions; andsubsequent to transmitting the DL message, communicating (660) with the UE using the first carrier frequency for DL and using either the first carrier frequency or a second carrier frequency for UL based on the indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions.

35. The computer program of Claim 34, the operations further comprising any of the operations of Claims 15-25.

36. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium (1004) including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (1002) of a network node (1000), whereby execution of the program code causes the network node to perform operations comprising:receiving (610) an uplink, UL, message from a user equipment, UE, using a first carrier frequency, the UL message including an indication of a measurement on a DL transmission using the first carrier frequency;determining (630) whether to have the UE use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions; andtransmitting (640) a DL message to the UE using the first carrier frequency, the DL message including an indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions; andsubsequent to transmitting the DL message, communicating (660) with the UE using the first carrier frequency for DL and using either the first carrier frequency or a second carrier frequency for UL based on the indication of whether to use the first carrier frequency for subsequent UL transmissions.

37. The computer program product of Claim 36, the operations further comprising any of the operations of Claims 15-25.35

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