Methods and apparatuses for communications between an IoT device reader and IoT devices

Abstract

A complementary reader-and-device architecture is disclosed in which a reader transmits, and a device receives and responds to, messages that share a common message format reused for multiple message types. The common format includes a message-type indicator (and, in some embodiments, a device-type indicator) that allows the device to quickly parse messages transmitted by the reader and determine whether or how to respond. In reader methods, the reader generates different message types—such as paging, contention resolution, and command messages—by setting the indicator while adhering to the common message format. In device methods, a device decodes the message-type indicator early, enabling efficient determination of whether or how to respond. Reducing format variations and simplifying decoding and control logic reduces processing complexity and operating power, supporting ultra-low-power and ambient Internet of Things (IoT) devices, and supporting operation with device populations involving multiple device types and / or device capabilities.

Description

[0001] METHODS AND APPARATUSES FOR COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN AN IOT DEVICE READER AND IOT DEVICES

[0002] TECHNICAL FIELD

[0003] Disclosed methods and apparatuses relate to wireless communications between an Internet of Things (loT) device reader and loT devices.

[0004] BACKGROUND

[0005] Wireless loT devices are often battery powered and both the need to change battery and the battery lifetime may be concerns for many potential applications such as asset tracking or environmental / industrial sensors. For this reason, the wireless communications industry has been interested in so-called Zero Energy (ZE) devices.

[0006] ZE devices refer to wireless loT devices that do not require battery replacement, and which can harvest energy from the environment. These ZE-IoT devices can in addition be of very small form factor and could even be printable. ZE devices target ultra-low power consumption to enable operation based on either energy -harvesting from ambient sources or back-scattering communication (cf. RFID).

[0007] Instead of relying on active transmission and reception for communication being powered by a battery, ZE devices harvest energy from an ambient source, such as vibrations, solar power, RF, etc. A particular example involves back-scattering communications where a charge carrier wave (CW) is provided to the device from the network, with the device modulating the CW and reflecting the modulated signal back to a reader in the network. Such operation enables energy autonomous operation during the lifetime of the devices without need for either manual replacement or charging of batteries. Compared to existing radio access technologies, this type of ZE operation puts new requirements on the radio interface and protocols.

[0008] The Third Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) began studying Zero Energy Internet of Things (ZE-IoT) in the context of Release 18, referring to the technology as “Ambient loT.” See the 3GPP Technical Report (TR) 38.848 for the study results. Work continued in Release 19, with Radio Access Network (RAN) Working Groups (WGs) RP-240826, with corresponding study results contained in 3 GPP TR 38.769. One agreement was to continue with normative work (RP-243326) to specify a limited solution. Limits include indoor inventory and indoor command only, backscattering Device Type 1 only, D1T1-B (micro BS indoor; device indoor) only, CW outside topology, and Reader-to-Device (R2D) transmissions being in the downlink(DL) spectrum, with Device-to-Reader (D2R) transmissions and the CW in the uplink (UL) spectrum.

[0009] There currently exist certain challenge(s). 3GPP has agreed on a Work Item (WI) in Rel-19 to standardize RAN aspects of Ambient loT, i.e., ultra-low complexity devices with ultra-low power consumption for the very-low end loT applications.

[0010] SUMMARY

[0011] A complementary reader-and-device architecture is disclosed in which a reader transmits, and a device receives and responds to, messages that share a common message format reused for multiple message types. The common format includes a message-type indicator (and, in some embodiments, a device-type indicator) that allows the device to quickly parse messages transmitted by the reader and determine whether or how to respond. In reader methods, the reader generates different message types — such as paging, contention resolution, and command messages — by setting the indicator while adhering to the common message format. In device methods, a device decodes the message-type indicator early, enabling efficient determination of whether or how to respond. By reducing format variation and simplifying decoding and control logic, the disclosed techniques reduce processing complexity and operating power, supporting ultra-low-power and ambient Internet of Things (loT) devices, and supporting operation with device populations involving multiple device types and / or device capabilities.

[0012] One embodiment comprises a method of a reader communicating wirelessly with a plurality of devices present in a surrounding physical environment. The reader comprises a communications apparatus and the method comprising, for each of one or more contention-based access occasions, the reader transmitting a paging message indicating the contention-based access occasion. The paging message has a common message format that is reused by the reader for multiple message types and comprises a message-type indicator set by the reader to a value corresponding to paging messages. Further according to the method, the reader performs a contention resolution process for each slot among a plurality of slots comprised in the contention-based access occasion. For each slot, that process comprises the reader monitoring for paging response messages transmitted in the slot by respective devices among the plurality of devices on a contention basis, and transmitting one or more contention resolution messages responsive to successfully receiving one or more paging response messages. The one or more contention resolution messages are based on device identifiers comprised in the one or more successfully received paging response messages and have the common message format but havethe message-type indicator set by the reader to a value corresponding to contention-resolution-type messages.

[0013] A related embodiment comprises a reader that is operative for communicating wirelessly with a plurality of devices present in a surrounding physical environment of the reader. The reader comprises a communications interface that is configured to transmit messages to the plurality of devices and receive messages from respective ones among the plurality of devices. The reader further includes processing circuitry that, with respect to each of one or more contention-based access occasions, is configured to: transmit a paging message indicating the contention-based access occasion, wherein the paging message has a common message format that is reused by the reader for multiple message types and comprises a message-type indicator set by the reader to a value corresponding to paging messages; and perform a contention resolution process for each slot among a plurality of slots comprised in the contention-based access occasion. The contention resolution process for each slot comprises the reader monitoring for paging response messages transmitted in the slot by respective devices among the plurality of devices on a contention basis, and transmitting one or more contention resolution messages responsive to successfully receiving one or more paging response messages. The one or more contention resolution messages are based on device identifiers comprised in the one or more successfully received paging response messages and have the common message format but have the message-type indicator set by the reader to a value corresponding to contention-resolution-type messages.

[0014] In another embodiment, a system comprises a reader and one or more devices. The reader is operative for wirelessly communicating with the one or more devices and comprises a communications interface configured to transmit messages to the one or more devices and receive messages from respective ones among the one or more devices. Further, the reader comprises processing circuitry that, with respect to each of one or more contention-based access occasions, is configured to: transmit a paging message indicating the contention-based access occasion, wherein the paging message has a common message format that is reused by the reader for multiple message types and comprises a message-type indicator set by the reader to a value corresponding to paging messages; and perform a contention resolution process for each slot among a plurality of slots comprised in the contention-based access occasion. The contention resolution process for each slot comprises the reader monitoring for paging response messages transmitted in the slot by respective devices among the one or more devices on a contention basis, and transmitting one or more contention resolution messages responsive to successfully receiving one or more paging response messages. The one or more contention resolutionmessages are based on device identifiers comprised in the one or more successfully received paging response messages and have the common message format but have the message-type indicator set by the reader to a value corresponding to contention-resolution-type messages.

[0015] Each of the one or more devices in the system is operative for wirelessly communicating with the reader and comprises a communications interface configured to receive messages from the reader and transmit messages to the reader. The device further comprises processing circuitry configured to: receive a message transmitted by the reader, the message received via the communications interface and having a common message format used by the reader for multiple types of messages and comprising a message-type indicator; and, in response to determining, based at least in part on a value of a message-type indicator in the message, that the message comprises a paging message associated with a respective one of the one or more contentionbased access occasions (i) select one among the plurality of slots that subdivide the contentionbased access occasion; and (ii) transmit a paging response message in the selected slot, the paging response message transmitted via the communications interface and comprising a contend on-resoluti on i dentifi er.

[0016] Yet another embodiment comprises a method performed by a device for communicating wirelessly with a reader. The method comprises: receiving a message transmitted by the reader, the message having a common message format used by the reader for multiple types of messages and comprising a message-type indicator; and in response to determining, based at least in part on a value of a message-type indicator in the message, that the message comprises a paging message associated with a contention-based access occasion, (i) selecting a slot from among a plurality of slots subdividing the contention-based access occasion, and (ii) transmitting a paging response message in the selected slot, the paging response message comprising a contentionresolution identifier.

[0017] Of course, the present invention is not limited to the above features and advantages. Indeed, those skilled in the art will recognize additional features and advantages upon reading the following detailed description, and upon viewing the accompanying drawings.

[0018] BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] Figure 1 is a block diagram of an example ambient Internet of Things (A-IoT) device, operating with respect to a network-transmitted carrier wave (CW).

[0020] Figure 2 is a diagram of example contention-based random access (CBRA) procedures and an example contention-free random access (CFRA) procedure.Figures 3 and 4 are signal flow diagrams corresponding to the two-step and four-step CBRA procedures shown in Figure 2.

[0021] Figure 5 is a flowchart illustrating a method in accordance with some embodiments. Figure 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method in accordance with some embodiments. Figure 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating example contention-based random access, and the mapping of identifiers to FDMA RA resources.

[0022] Figure 8 is a block diagram of an example of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments.

[0023] Figure 9 is a block diagram of an example of another communication system in accordance with some embodiments.

[0024] Figure 10 is a block diagram of a wireless device in accordance with some embodiments. Figure 11 is a block diagram of a network node in accordance with some embodiments. Figure 12 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment in which functions implemented in some embodiments may be virtualized.

[0025] Figure 13 is a block diagram of a system including a reader and one or more devices, according to an example embodiment.

[0026] Figure 14 is a logic flow diagram of a method of operation by a device, according to an example embodiment.

[0027] Figure 15 is a logic flow diagram of a method of operation by a reader, according to an example embodiment.

[0028] DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] Certain aspects of the disclosure and the described embodiments may provide solutions to existing challenges in the context of reader / device operations or other challenges. In some embodiments of the disclosure, the network defines multiple reader-to-device (R2D) and device-to-reader (D2R) message types over medium access control (MAC) and further formats, for some or all message types. One or more embodiments cater to inventory and inventory plus command use cases in the context of inventorying and commanding ambient Internet of Things (A-IoT) devices. One or more embodiments are based on the network (e.g., a network-based reader) applying the same message format for multiple message types, with individual messages carrying an indicator indicating the message type. For example, the indicator indicates the presence or absence of the information / configuration associated with a specific purpose.

[0030] At least one embodiment involves the use of a two-bit R2D message field, which may have advantages especially in the context of devices transmitting a “Msg2” in the context ofcontention resolution (responsive to receipt of a “Msgl” from the reader, and further in the context of sending access stratum (AS) acknowledgment / negative-acknowledgment (ACK / NACK) feedback, e.g., for “Msg3.” Multiple options are proposed for D2R message types. In particular, certain embodiments may provide one or more technical advantage(s). For example, by indicating the message type within the context of a common message format, the message decoding or processing costs are reduced. These reductions have particular value on the device side, as a receiving device can employ fewer blind decodes or terminate blind decoding of any given message early, responsive to determining that it is not targeted by the message or that it otherwise need not respond to the message. Such operations reduce energy consumption, which reduces the potential for connection outages caused by ambient devices running out of energy.

[0031] 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. Additional information may also be found in the document(s) provided in the Appendix.

[0032] With respect to terminology and disclaimers, disclosed example embodiments involve use cases in which the wireless devices are ultra-low power devices, ZE or A-IoT devices.

[0033] Further, the term “RAN node” as used herein can be a network node or a user equipment (UE). Examples of network nodes are NodeBs, base stations (BSs), multi -standard radio (MSR) radio nodes such as MSR BSs, eNodeBs, gNodeBs, MeNBs, SeNBs, location measurement units (LMUs), integrated access backhaul (IAB) nodes, network controllers, radio network controllers (RNCs), base station controllers (BSCs), relays, IAB repeaters, donor nodes, controlling relays, base transceiver stations (BTSs), Central Units (e.g., in gNBs), Distributed Units (e.g., in gNBs), Baseband Units, Centralized Baseband (C-RAN) access points (APs), transmission points, transmission nodes, transmission reception points (TRPs), Remote Radio Units (RRUs), Remote Radio Heads (RRHs), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network nodes (e.g., MCS, MME etc.), O&M, OSS, SON, positioning nodes (e.g. E-SMLC), etc. In particular, in one or more A-IoT scenarios, an example RAN node comprises an intermediate node / UE (e.g., relay UE, IAB, repeater etc.) and an assisting node / UE (e.g., relay UE, IAB, repeater etc.).

[0034] In this disclosure, terms like “polling”, “poll,” “paging”, “page”, “inventory”, “query”, and “interrogate” refer to one or more signals transmitted by a network node, e.g., by broadcast or dedicated signaling. The purpose of such signaling may be to facilitate / serve / manage / command one or more devices to synchronize to the network node (DL / UL synchronize to a reference time / frame / symbol, or synchronize to one or more than onesignal which the device receives from the network node, or synchronize based on a pre-defined rule), receive DL data, respond and transmit UL data correctly in intended resources. The content of such signaling may be a particular reference signal or a signal carrying control information and / or data. Such signal may be transmitted periodically or aperiodically, as configured by the network node.

[0035] In this disclosure, “A-IoT UE”, “A-IoT device”, “device”, and “UE” may be used interchangeably. Similarly, the terms “intermediate node”, “reader”, “reader device”, and “intermediate UE” may be used interchangeably. Using simple terminology, different types of nodes or devices may serve as a “reader” with respect to one or more other devices, such as A-loT devices. In this sense, unless otherwise specified, a “reader” is a communications apparatus that performs reader-side operations as described herein, and a “device” is a communications apparatus that responds to and communicates with the reader. Note that a reader may interact with a potentially large population of devices that are within the surrounding physical environment of the reader, and that each such device may perform various operations, depending upon its design and purpose.

[0036] During an example contention-based access procedure / round, an access occasion for a device starts from the time when the device receives a first DL (or reader to device (R2D)) signaling or indication of the start of the access occasion, until the time when the device receives a second DL (or R2D) signaling indicating the end of the access occasion or the start of the next access occasion. Devices may perform re-access in the event of contention resolution failure. Devices may perform re-access or retransmission in the event of data transmission failure. Reaccess means that the device accesses and transmits in a different access occasion from the access occasion in which the device has experienced failures. Retransmission means that the device uses the same or different resources to retransmit the data on the same access occasion in the time domain.

[0037] In one or more embodiments, an R2D message indicating Msgl resources can be based on one of the following messages, indicating a boundary of a random access occasion (e.g., in time): LI message, paging message which is repurposed (e.g., some fields e.g., paging ID may be ignored), another L2 message (e.g., RFID Query-rep like message), e.g., a MAC subheader, a MAC control PDU, a MAC CE, or any other L2 message generated by the MAC layer. Such an R2D message may be referred to as Msgl indicator signaling. Note, however, that one or more of the embodiments disclosed herein are not limited to the specific labels or terms applied to devices or messages herein; rather, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the disclosure applies equally to other devices and messages where they perform the same function.Figure 5 depicts a method in accordance with particular embodiments. The method 500 may be performed by an ambient-energy harvesting wireless device (e.g. UE 812, station 912 or wireless device 1000 as described later with reference to Figures 8, 9, and 10 respectively). Note that Figure 5 describes a method in which an ambient-energy harvesting wireless device (e.g., A-loT device, ultra-low power device, etc.) transmits a message to a reader; such messages may be referred to as D2R messages. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the disclosure also therefore inherently provides corresponding methods in which the reader receives, decodes and / or acts upon such messages. Those skilled in the art will further appreciate that “transmitting” in the context of ambient-energy harvesting wireless devices may mean receiving a carrier wave and modulating that carrier wave such that it contains additional information (e.g., a message, as described herein).

[0038] The method begins at step 502, in which the wireless device transmits, to a reader device, a message. In one or more embodiments, the message comprises an indication of a message type of the message, e.g., in the message header, in a MAC header or sub-header, or elsewhere in the message. For example, the indication of the message type may comprise two bits. In that case, the indication may indicate one of the following three or more message types: a contention-based transmission (e.g., Msg 1); a response to a contention-resolution message (e.g., Msg 3); or a command-related message. Alternatively, the indication may indicate one of the following four message types: a contention-based transmission (e.g., Msg 1); a response to a contentionresolution message from the reader (e.g., Msg 3); a command-related message for a READ request (e.g., the message comprises READ data); or a command-related message for WRITE or DISABLE (e.g., the message comprises a response to a command message from the reader device).

[0039] In another example, the indication of the message type comprises a single bit. In such cases, the indication may indicate one of the following message types: a contention-based transmission (e.g., Msg 1); and a message type comprising a response to a contention-resolution message (e.g., Msg 3), or a command-related message. That is, the second message type (comprising the response to a contention-resolution message or a command-related message) is a single type which covers both functions or purposes.

[0040] The contention-based transmission by a device performing contention-based operations with respect to a reader may comprise a contention-resolution identifier, such as a random number or identifier (e.g., RN16). The response to the contention-resolution message from the reader may comprise device credentials.In one or more embodiments, the indication message type in a D2R message may comprise a two-bit identifier. The identifier distinguishes D2R message types belonging to: Msgl (contention transmission containing random ID, or RN16), Msg3 (device credentials), or command related D2R messages. In another embodiment, the indication of the message type may comprise a two-bit identifier to distinguish D2R message types belonging to: Msgl (contention transmission containing random ID, or RN16), Msg3 (device credentials), command related D2R messages for READ request scenarios, i.e., D2R message contains READ data, or command related D2R messages for WRITE, DISABLE scenarios, i.e., a D2R message contains upper layer response in response to the command in the D2R message.

[0041] In an example embodiment, the indication of the message type in a D2R message comprises a one-bit identifier to distinguish D2R message types belonging to: Msgl (contention transmission containing random ID, or RN16), a message covering multiple uses / functions, including Msg3 (device credentials) and command related messages. In one or more other embodiments, an example D2R message contains no indication of the message type, as there may be no need or requirement to distinguish between all D2R messages according to message type.

[0042] Figure 6 depicts a method in accordance with particular embodiments. The method 600 may be performed by a network node (e.g. network node 810, access point 910 or network node 1100 as described later with reference to Figures 8, 9, and 10 respectively). In particular, the example network node operates as a reader with respect to one or more devices. According to Figure 6, the method includes the reader transmitting a message to an ambient-energy harvesting wireless device (e.g., A-IoT device, ultra-low power device, etc.). Such messages may be referred to as reader-to-device (R2D) messages. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the disclosure also therefore inherently provides corresponding methods in which the ambientenergy harvesting wireless device receives, decodes and / or acts upon such messages.

[0043] The method begins at step 602, in which the reader transmits a message to an ambientenergy harvesting wireless device. The message comprises an indication of a message type of the message. The message may comprise a PDU, with the transmission by the reader containing multiple messages (or PDUs). The indication of the message type may be contained within a header for the message such as a MAC header or sub-header. In some embodiments, the indication of the message type comprises two bits, and indicates one of four different message types. For example, such different message types may comprise: a paging message, a contention-resolution message for random access (e.g., Msg2); an acknowledgement or negative acknowledgement message, or a command or command request message.Each message type may be associated with a single behavior or purpose. Alternatively, at least a first message type may be associated with a plurality of behaviors or purposes.

[0044] Nonetheless, a particular message according to the first message type may comprise a single behavior or purpose from the plurality of behaviors or purposes. In such a case, the particular message according to the first message type may further comprise an indication of the single behavior or purpose.

[0045] In one example embodiment, the plurality of behaviors or purposes comprise contention resolution and acknowledgement or negative acknowledgement feedback. That is, a single message type encompasses behavior or function corresponding to both contention resolution and acknowledgement or negative acknowledgement feedback. A single message corresponding to that type may have both functions present, or may have only one of the functions present. One example reader message type comprises a message (e.g., QueryRep) that defines a start of a contention window in which ambient-energy harvesting wireless devices can contend for a connection to the reader.

[0046] Additionally, or alternatively, one message type may indicate contention-resolution for random access. An example contention resolution message sent by the reader comprises a mapping between an identifier for a resource on which a contention-based transmission was received, and an identifier for an ambient-energy harvesting wireless device which transmitted the contention-based transmission and won contention. The identifier for the resource may comprise a bitmap, in which bits correspond to respective resources on which contention-based transmissions may be transmitted, and a set bit identifies the resource on which the contentionbased transmission was received. The identifier for the resource on which the contention-based transmission was received may be contained within a header of the message, whereas the identifier for the ambient-energy harvesting wireless device which transmitted the contentionbased transmission and won contention may be contained within a payload of the message.

[0047] Further information regarding example transmission of R2D messages according to the method shown in Figure 6 is set out below.

[0048] In one embodiment, the following R2D message types may be defined from MAC perspective (using the following example headers to distinguish messages over MAC): (1) a paging message, (2) Msg2, (3) AS N / ACK, or (4) Command or command request. A two-bit identifier may be used in some embodiments to allow a receiving device to distinguish between the various R2D messages. In one alternative embodiment, the AS N / ACK functionality (defined as a separate R2D message above), may be defined under the umbrella of Msg2. That is, Msg2 can be utilized to provide AS N / ACK to one or more devices. In other words, the Msg2 messagetype provides two functionalities: (a) contention resolution of D2R Msgl transmissions and (b) AS N / ACK feedback for D2R Msg3 transmissions. In another embodiment, the same R2D message (associated with the same message type) may be used to indicate either D2R resource allocations or NACK indicator / message for triggering re-access. In this case, D2R resource allocation and NACK indicator will not be present in the message at the same time.

[0049] The R2D message may include an indicator indicating whether D2R resource allocation is present or absent. For example, an indicator having value ‘1’ may indicate the presence of the D2R resource allocation field, while the value ‘0’ may indicate the absence of the D2R resource allocation field. Alternatively, an indicator having value ‘0’ may indicate the presence of the D2R resource allocation field, while the value ‘ 1 ’ may indicate the absence of the D2R resource allocation field.

[0050] Additionally, or alternatively, the R2D message may include an indicator indicating whether the field of NACK indicator is present or absent. For example, an indicator having value ‘ 1’ may indicate the presence of the NACK indicator field, while the value ‘0’ may indicate the absence of the NACK indicator field. Alternatively, an indicator having value ‘0’ may indicate the presence of the NACK indicator field, while the value ‘ 1 ’ may indicate the absence of the NACK indicator field. Alternatively, the presence of the D2R resource allocation field in the R2D message may indicate the absence of a NACK indicator. Similarly, the presence of the NACK indicator field in the R2D message may indicate the absence of the D2R resource allocation field. In further embodiments, a message according to the Msg2 message type may indicate both (i.e., D2R resource allocation and NACK) at the same time: (a) contention resolution and or resource allocation for one or more devices, where such devices can be addressed with RN16 or AS ID, or (b) AS N / ACK for one or more devices. For such feedback, devices can be addressed with RN16 or AS ID or are addressed without indicating their device or local identifiers, such as RN16. Note that individual devices can understand this PDU, as the PDU applies to all devices which may have accessed the contention-based access occasion but directly addressed by other PDUs in the message.

[0051] An example R2D message comprises a “QueryRep,” which may be defined over MAC. The term “QueryRep” is borrowed terminology from RFID technology and indicates RFID initial access resource. Thus the “QueryRep” message according to embodiments of the disclosure may indicate initial access resources for A-IoT devices. 3GPP is discussing similar behavior but A-IoT RAT differs in several respects from the RFID context. At least for A-IoT, FDMA based and / or TDMA based initial access resources are allowed per contention-basedrandom access (CBRA) occasion (unlike in RFID, where a single occasion consists of single resource).

[0052] In one option, the QueryRep message is defined over LI, but it can be complemented with one or more R2D messages containing MAC which may contain information related to allocation behavior. Such R2D message(s) can be a new message type or based on (or utilizing) a different message type such as paging message or Msg2.

[0053] In one embodiment, a command or command request (or other command-related message types) message transmitted by a reader can contain one or more of the following message behaviors: (a) R2D carrying control or allocation information without any NAS PDU, (b) R2D carrying control or allocation information and NAS PDU indicating READ request information, (c) R2D carrying control or allocation information and NAS PDU indicating WRITE data, (d) R2D carrying control or allocation information and NAS PDU indicating DISABLE command, and (e) R2D carrying control or allocation information and NAS PDU indicating a TEMPORARY DISABLE command.

[0054] In such embodiments, therefore, multiple message behaviors (a to e) are all covered or contained within a single message type. In other embodiments, however, one or more of such behaviors may be defined as part of separate message types. For example, one message type may be defined for READ related commands, and another message type may be defined for WRITE related commands. Advantageously, however, the different message types may all be based on a common message format, e.g., where message header or sub-header information indicates the message type, thus allowing early determination by a receiving device of the particular message type.

[0055] Further, some information carried by a NAS PDU in the previous embodiment can be delivered over the AS layer. This may be defined with a new message type or kept under the same message type (e.g., command-related message or command request). For example, the READ request may be communicated using an AS flag in the message.

[0056] One message type described herein is the contention-resolution message type (e.g., Msg2) transmitted by a reader in a contention-resolution procedure. Such a message type may comprise a bitmap solution for mapping between random IDs or RN16s of successfully received device messages and corresponding FDMA resources. In this solution, for each frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA) occasion, there is a corresponding bit in the bit string which represents an association with the FDMA occasion. If the bit is set, then the corresponding payload contains the successful RN16 transmitted over FDMA occasion which maps to the setbit. One issue with this approach is that the devices need to know the order of bits mapped to the FDMA occasions a priori; if Msgl resources are updated, then the bitmap may need to be updated as well. Consider the example arrangement shown in Figure 7.

[0057] In the example arrangement, a contention-based random access occasion or window is signaled to devices by the reader with transmission by the reader of a QueryRep signal. Four possible FDMA resources are defined (identified by the indices Fl, F2, F3, and F4).

[0058] Transmissions are received by the reader from devices on three of these FDMA resources. The device which wins the contention for resource Fl is the device using RN16 Q; the device which wins the contention for resource F2 is the device using RN16 X; and the device which wins the contention for resource F4 is the device using RN16 Y.

[0059] The bitmap-based indication may be designed in various ways. Consider two options, where Option 1 comprises indicating the bitmap in the header. Here, to indicate success of devices on FDMA resource Fl, F2, and F4, the bitmap may be formatted as follows:

[0060] Msg2[Header_{1101} MACsubPdu_{payload: RN16 Q}, MACsubPdu_{payload: RN16 X}, MACsubPdu_{payload: RN16 Y}].

[0061] The bitmap string is indicated in the main header, and the set bits correspond to successfully accessed FDMA resource (e.g., where the reader has successfully received device identifiers, or RN16). The MAC subPDUs are included according to the order of the set bits. For example, the bit string 1101 indicates FDMA Fl, F2 and F4 resources have received successful RN16; after the header, the first MAC subPDU corresponds to the device which transmitted on Fl, the second subPDU corresponds to the device which accessed F2, and the third subPDU corresponds to the device which accessed F4.

[0062] Option 2 relies on indicating the bitmap in a sub-header. Here, to indicate success of devices on FDMA resource Fl, F2, and F4, the bitmap may be formatted as follows:

[0063] Msg2[Header MACsubPdu_{ subheader: 1000, payload: RN16 Q}, MACsubPdu_{ subheader:0100, payload: RN16 X}, MACsubPdu_{ subheader: 0001, payload: RN16 Y}]. This approach is similar to Option 1, except that the bitmap is indicated in the subPDU’ s header, which contains only one set bit in the string corresponding to the FDMA resource.

[0064] As further example details, a possible paging message structure (MAC PDU design) for transmission by a reader, includes: (a) a transaction ID, (b) device or group information, and (c) access resource information. Here, the particulars of the MAC PDU design depend on if (which part of) scheduling information is MAC control information and whether there is security information.A possible Msg2 or contention resolution message structure includes: (a) one or more RN16s as successfully received by the reader, (b) resource allocation information for Msg3 and possible subsequent R2D messages, and (c) possible AS ID allocation(s). Msg2 can be used to address one or more devices for segment or non-segment initial transmission, or segment or nonsegment re-transmission. Msg2 may also be re-purposed or additionally used to deliver NACK.

[0065] A possible command related message structure includes or indicates: (a) READ command request message or (b) WRITE command message. READ command messages may carry resource allocation information for D2R message transmission, and upper layer information related to the READ request. WRITE command messages may carry resource allocation information for R2D messages, and upper layer information corresponding to the WRITE data. For Query Rep like signaling, Msgl or resource access occasion indications may be used, with possible Msgl resource updates.

[0066] A particular embodiment involves four R2D message types: (1) a paging message, (2) a contention resolution message, (3) a command message (which may have sub-types), and (4) a QueryRep-like message. There are advantages in restricting R2D messages to a few types, with further advantages in reusing or overloading one or more message types for serving multiple purposes. For example, Msg2 in one or more embodiments is utilized for performing / indicating initial or re-transmission of Msg3 with or without segments or NACK for retriggering device access.

[0067] In the context of a paging message, the configuration and scheduling information regarding the corresponding contention-based access occasion(s), frequency offset (to support FDMA + TDMA in D2R transmission), may be either carried by MAC, by PHY control information or both. Operations may include utilizing FDMA indices in MAC for mapping with successful RN16s — i.e., the RN16s of devices for which the reader successfully receives a paging response message. The same applies to the R2D message used to update / adjust configurations for all devices in an access / paging / inventory round. Further, it may be assumed that at least the R2D message used for synchronization purposes (QueryRep-like) is part of PHY layer control signaling. A further assumption is that R2D messaging used to indicate Msgl resources is LI control signaling (QueryRep-like).

[0068] Msg2 used to echo the RN16 in response to Msgl can have its own format. As Msg2 may contain more than one RN16 value, it is advantageous to include a field to indicate the number of RN16s contained in the message. The size of this field can be five bits, for example. L2 control signaling may be needed, e.g., to facilitate a device to process only some parts meant for it rather than processing the whole PDU. For example, such signaling may be used to define the relationbetween an FDMA index to a selected RN16. That is, if valid RN16s are indicated by the reader in association with an FDMA index in the downlink (Msg2) message, a device needs only to parse the RN16 related to the FDMA occasion where it had transmitted. It remains open if any or what information for scheduling Msg3 is needed in the Msg2 MAC PDU.

[0069] Before Msg3 is successfully delivered, the Msg2 can also be for indications to support a feedback mechanism, i.e., to indicate explicitly or implicitly to a device to perform retransmission of the previous D2R message, or to perform re-access (NACK on Msg3), or to transmit the next D2R segment . These cases can be combined in one MAC PDU format. In these cases, there need to be a device ID in such an R2D message indicating the targeted device. Given that the reader has not successfully received the complete upper layer device ID (in Msg3), this device ID can only be the AS ID / RN16.

[0070] For each echoed RN16, there should be some mapping between the echoed RN16 and FDMA resources. This mapping allows devices to avoid parsing every RN16 and instead look for own RN16 only subject to mapping behavior between the FDMA resource and indicated RN16s. The mapping can be either static or dynamic. Dynamic mapping may be bit based or index based. In case of static mapping, the Msg2 contains the same number of placeholders as number of available FDMA access occasions. The FDMA occasion, which is accessed successfully, the corresponding placeholder in Msg2 indicates RN16 which is transmitted over the access FDMA occasion. Other placeholders may indicate dummy RN16 where no device is identified. One drawback is the Msg2 length is long even if the number of accessed devices is small.

[0071] In another option, the Msg2 content can be dynamic and include only successful RN16s. Compared to the static scenario, the message length is small as its size is limited by the number of devices responded to in a particular Msg2, and not by the total number of FDMA occasions configured. For a dynamic mapping, there can be two options.

[0072] One option is bitmap based. For each FDMA occasion, there is a corresponding bit in the bit string which represents an association with FDMA occasion. If the bit is set, then the corresponding payload contains the successful RN16 transmitted over the FDMA occasion which maps to the set bit in the string. One challenge with this approach is that the devices need to know the order of bits mapped to the FDMA occasions a priori, and if Msgl resource is updated, then bitmap needs to be updated as well.

[0073] One item that may be ignored in one or more embodiments is the inclusion of reader ID like information in messages transmitted by a reader. As of now, R2D transmissions may carryAS or (possibly unique) transaction IDs, which can help devices in differentiating targeted and non-targeted transmission in overlapping scenarios.

[0074] An example MAC PDU for Msg2 used to echo Msgl includes: (a) R2D message type, (b) one or multiple RN16s subject to message size limitation, (c) an FDMA index as a subheader and a corresponding payload indicating successful RN16s. FDMA index related information may be available at LI or MAC. An example device assumes a number of FDMA indices or RN16s are known for Msg2 decoding, and an AS feedback indication may be used for re-access.

[0075] The MAC PDU for the R2D message with variable size may contain a message type field, and a length field for the variable part. This format is for R2D from Msg4 that carries DL NAS data, i.e., command request received from CN and possibly other NAS information.

[0076] Considering the upper bound of 1000 bits TBS, seven bits are sufficient for the length. In addition, depending on whether the R2D message contains any security related information, either at NAS level or MAC level, other potential DL control information may be needed, pending SA3 progress.

[0077] For D2R, including segmentation support, an example MAC PDU for Msgl contains RN16 as a fixed-length item. Thus, Msgl can be distinguished from other D2R messages, given that all other D2R messages are larger in size. Meanwhile, D2R messages from Msg3 onwards can have the same MAC PDU format, considering their content of having upper layer information, UL control information (e.g., segmentation support). Thus, there may be no need for including a message type field in the MAC header for D2R messages and one advantage of this construct is a smaller message size.

[0078] With Msg3 and onwards containing upper layer data (NAS PDU) with possible variable sizes, there may be a 1 -bit indication to support segmentation. However, to enable the reader to estimate the remaining size of next segment(s) to allocate radio resources, especially in cases where the expected D2R message size is not provided by core network, the 1 -bit indication is not sufficient. In addition, Msg3 may need to carry security information in support of the challengeresponse authentication mechanism if defined (as in SA3 TR).

[0079] When it comes to the need of padding in D2R MAC PDUs with variable size, the reader may provide the payload size (grant size) for the D2R message in the preceding R2D message. The payload size (i.e. TBS-like) for PDRCH transmission with variable size may be explicitly indicated in the corresponding R2D control information. Given that the reader may not know exact size of a D2R message irrespective of whether it has assistant information from the core network, padding is needed when the grant size (TBS-like) allocated by the reader is larger thanactual data and control signal in the D2R message. This applies irrespective of bit or bytealignment for MAC PDU format. Broadly, the MAC PDU for D2R message other than Msgl may support inclusion of padding.

[0080] For the D2R message from Msg3, given that there may be command responses, the reader can know from which device (or RN16 sender) that the D2R message comes from the resources used by the transmission (i.e., scheduled in preceding R2D message). With this, AS ID (or RN16) does not need to be included in the D2R message.

[0081] For the length field, a first option is indicating a total size of upper layer data (one can think of buffer reporting although system is buffer-less). In case of segmented transmission, the reporting over length field should be provided in first segment; this enables reader to allocate resources efficiently for successive segments. Note that the length field would be practically not useful for remaining segments if first segment had indicated total upper layer data size. The reader needs to derive resources for various as per indicated total upper data size from the device.

[0082] Broadly, the length field indicates the size of the included payload in the current D2R transmission. In case of segmented transmission, the information carried in the length field for last segment is useful, as the PDU may contain padding in addition to payload, so the length field reporting enable network to identify payload in PDU. The length field usage in other nonlast segments may not be practically important, as the PDU is expected to be filled with payload without padding because there is remaining data (to be transmitted over next segment(s)). The device needs to calculate value of length especially for the last segment.

[0083] Regarding retransmission, there are advantages in having similar behavior for both segmented and non-segmented transmissions, and in both cases, the offset is indicated. Dynamic inclusion of the offset, e.g., only in segmented transmission, may be a needless complication. For approaches where the offset is indicated in both segmented and non-segmented transmissions, for non-segmented transmission or retransmission, the offset can be set to zero.

[0084] Further, specific to segmented transmissions, the device should transmit segments in order. This adherence to ordering follows from not having sequence numbering of segments. On handling erroneous cases where a segment fails, the reader can trigger retransmission for the failed segment or re-access. For re-access, the device always begins the transmission from scratch, i.e., with the first segment if device passes contention. In case of segmentation, 1 -bit indication from device is sufficient to manage resources except for allocation resources of last segment. The device ID in Msg 3 can be temporary ID which may not be static and requirerefreshes, and such details must be reconciled with respect to use of the offset-based mechanism for segmented transmission.

[0085] There may be no need of addressing information (i.e., AS ID / RN16) inside D2R message. In particular, the MAC PDU for D2R messages containing upper layer data except Msgl may include a length field. The length field may include the total size of upper layer data (at least in the first segment transmission). Use of this approach means that the 1 -bit indication is not needed. However, another option is that the length field indicates the size of the included payload in MAC PDU (at least in the last segment transmission), with use of a 1 -bit indication indicating whether there is more data or not, and the use of padding if needed. The unsegmented transmission can be retransmitted in a manner similar to segmented transmission by indicating offset. As noted, for unsegmented (re)-transmission, the offset is zero. Further, for segmented transmission, if re-access is triggered, the device may begin transmission from scratch (or with a first segment if segmentation needed) in a new occasion after passing contention.

[0086] Now consider error handling, such as the handling of erroneous situations pertaining to command related transmission failure. Notably there are two types of commands: read and write. After passing contention (Msgl is successful), but where Msg3 fails, the reader can trigger retransmission (retransmit Msg2 again), or re-access (transmit AS layer based NACK).

[0087] However, in one or more scenarios, such as inventory plus command, if Msg3 is successful, but a subsequent transmission has failed, then re-access is not used. Instead, the reader always configures the failed device for re-transmission, either in same CBRA occasion (where contention is successful) or in a new CFRA procedure. The reader can establish failure at device accordingly.

[0088] For a read command request scenario, if the device does not transmit a D2R message containing upper layer data or read data, the reader can assume that the read command has failed and retransmit the read command again. For a write command scenario, if the device does not transmit a D2R message containing upper layer acknowledgement in response to the write command, the reader can assume that the write command has failed and retransmit the write command. Note, the upper layer response is required in response to write command. Thus, the failure in command-related transmissions may be dealt with using retransmissions because device credentials are known and contention has passed.

[0089] In the case of inventory plus commands, a device is always expected to deliver a D2R message containing upper layer data in response to a command request. In case of a read request, the D2R message carries read data. In the case of a write command, the D2R message carries upper layer response.Continuing with the inventory plus command use case, if the Msg3 (carrying device credentials) transmission is successful but a subsequent command-related transmission has failed, the reader may trigger retransmission if it has failed to receive or decode the D2R message containing upper layer data in response to command request. Re-access is not needed. Upon negative acknowledgement of command, the device expects to retransmit not re-access Figure 8 shows an example of a communication system 800 in accordance with some embodiments. In the example, the communication system 800 includes a telecommunications network 802 that includes an access network 804, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 806, which includes one or more core network nodes 808. The access network 804 includes one or more access network nodes or base stations of various types, access network nodes 810A and 810B are depicted (which may be collectively referred to as network nodes 810), or any other similar 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access nodes or non-3GPP access points (APs). Some embodiments of the access network 804 may include more than one access network technology.

[0090] The network nodes 810 of access network 804 facilitate direct or indirect connection of wireless devices, also referred to as user equipments (UEs), such as by connecting UEs 812A, 812B, 812C, and 812D (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 812) to the core network 806 over one or more wireless connections. In one or more embodiments, a network node 810 carries out reader operations, or a standalone reader may be implemented, for communicating with devices according to one or more of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0091] However, 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 802 includes one or more Open-RAN (ORAN) network nodes. An ORAN network node is a network node in the telecommunications network 802 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 802, including one or more access network nodes 810 and / or core network nodes 808.

[0092] Examples of an ORAN network node include an open radio unit (O-RU), an open distributed unit (O-DU), an open central unit (O-CU), including an O-CU control plane (O-CU-CP) or an O-CU user plane (O-CU-UP), a RAN intelligent controller (near-real time or non-real time) hosting software or software plug-ins, such as a near-real time control application (e.g.,xApp) or a non-real time control application (e.g., rApp), or any combination thereof (the adjective “open” designating support of an ORAN specification). An ORAN network node may support a specification by, for example, supporting an interface defined by the ORAN specification, such as an Al, Fl, Wl, El, E2, X2, Xn interface, an open fronthaul user plane interface, or an open fronthaul management plane interface. Moreover, an ORAN network node may be a logical node in a physical node. Furthermore, an ORAN network node may be implemented in a virtualization environment (described further below) in which one or more network functions are virtualized. For example, the virtualization environment may include an O-Cloud computing platform orchestrated by a Service Management and Orchestration Framework via an 0-2 interface defined by the 0-RAN Alliance or comparable technologies.

[0093] The network nodes 810 facilitate direct or indirect connection of one or more UEs 812 to the core network 806 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 800 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 800 may include and / or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and / or other similar type of system.

[0094] The UEs 812 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 810 and other communication devices. In one or more embodiments, a number of UEs 812 operate as “devices” in the reader / device context applicable herein.

[0095] The network nodes 808, 810 are arranged, capable, configured, and / or operable to communicate directly or indirectly (e.g., via other devices of telecommunications network 802) with the UEs 812 and / or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunications network 802 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 802. More specifically, UEs 812 may send messages, data, and / or other signals to network nodes 808, 810 or other elements of the telecommunications network 802 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 (ormultiple intervening devices) that then transmit the signal to the relevant device. Similarly, network nodes 808, 810 may send messages, data, and other signals to UEs 812, other network nodes 808, 810, and other devices in telecommunications network 802 directly or indirectly. As one specific example, a core network node 808 may transmit a particular message to a UE 812 by transmitting the message to an access network node 810 that will then transmit the message to the intended UE 812. Similarly, a core network node 808 may receive a particular message from a UE 812 by receiving the message from an access network node 810 that itself received the message from the UE 812.

[0096] In the depicted example, the core network 806 connects elements of the access network 804 (e.g., one or more of the network nodes 810) to one or more host computing systems, such as host(s) 816. 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 806 includes one or more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 808) of various types, one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 808. Network nodes 808 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 808. 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).

[0097] A host 816 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 804 and / or the telecommunications network 802. A host 816 may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Each host 816 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.

[0098] As a whole, the communication system 800 of Figure 8 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system 800 may be configuredto 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 800 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 800 supporting different standards, protocols, or rule sets.

[0099] As one example, in certain embodiments, access network 804 may contain some access network nodes 810 that support 3 GPP radio access technologies (RAT), such as LTE or NR, while other access network nodes 810 support (or the same access network nodes 810 additionally support) non-3GPP RATs, such as Wi-Fi or a proprietary RAT. As another example, telecommunications network 802 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.

[0100] Telecommunications network 802 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunications network 802. For example, the telecommunications network 802 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.

[0101] In some examples, one or more of the UEs 812 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 804 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 804. 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).

[0102] In the example, the hub 814 communicates with the access network 804 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 812C and / or 812D) and network nodes (e.g., network node 810B). In some examples, the hub 814 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 814 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 806 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 814 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 810, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 814.

[0103] As another example, the hub 814 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 814 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 814 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 814 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and / or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 814 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0104] The hub 814 may have a constant / persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 810B. The hub 814 may also allow for a different communication scheme and / or schedule between the hub 814 and UEs (e.g., UE 812C and / or 812D), and between the hub 814 and the core network 806. In other examples, the hub 814 is connected to the core network 806 and / or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 814 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 804 and / or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 810 while still connected via the hub 814 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 814 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 810B. In other embodiments, the hub 814 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 810B, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and / or end point for certain data channels.Figure 9 is another example of a communication system 900 according to some embodiments. As used herein, the communication system 900 includes multiple access points (APs) 910 (with four exemplary APs 910A, 910B, 910C, and 910D being depicted) and multiple wireless devices, referred to in the context of communication system 900 as stations (STAs) 912 (referred to individually as STA 912A, STA 912B, STA 912C, STA 912D, and STA 912E). STA 912A is served by AP 910A in a first basic service set (BSS) 920A. STA 912B and STA 912C are served by AP 910B in a second BSS, BSS 920B. STA 912D is served by AP 910C in a third BSS, BSS 920C. STA 912E is served by AP 910D in a fourth BSS, BSS 920D. Stations 912 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 912 could, for example, correspond to other kinds of equipment like smart home devices, printers, multimedia devices, data storage devices, or the like.

[0105] Each of the STAs 912 may connect through a radio link to one of APs 910. For example, depending on location or channel conditions experienced by a given STA 912, 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.

[0106] Each AP 910 may provide data connectivity to STAs 912 connected to a particular AP 910. As illustrated, APs 910 may be connected to a data network 930. In this way, APs 910 may also provide data connectivity between STAs 912 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 912 and its serving AP 910 may be used for providing various kinds of services to STA 912, e.g., a voice service, a multimedia service, or other data service. Such services may be based on applications that are executed on STA 912 and / or on a device linked to STA 912. By way of example, Figure 9 illustrates an application service platform 932 provided in data network 930. The application(s) executed on STA 912 and / or on one or more other devices linked to STA 912 may use the radio link for data communication with one or more other STA 912 and / or the application service platform 932, thereby enabling utilization of the corresponding service(s) at STA 912.Figure 10 shows a wireless device 1000, which may be configured to operate in communication system 800 of Figure 8 or in communication system 900 of Figure 9. The wireless device 1000 may be alternatively referred to as a UE 1000, like a UE 812 within the context of communication system 800, or as a station (STA) 1000 or as a non-access-point station (non-AP STA) 1000, like a STA 912 within the context of the communication system 900, 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.

[0107] A wireless device 1000 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 1000 may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and / or operates the relevant device. Instead, wireless device 1000 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 1000 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).

[0108] In particular embodiments, wireless device 1000 includes processing circuitry 1002 that is operatively coupled via a bus 1004 to an input / output interface 1006, a power source 1008, a memory 1010, one or more communication interface(s) 1012, and / or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain embodiments of wireless device 1000 may include all or a subset of the components shown in Figure 10. The level of integration between the components may vary from one embodiment of wireless device 1000 to another. In general, in a particular embodiment of wireless device 1000, processing circuitry 1002, input / output interface 1006,power source 1008, memory 1010, and communication interface(s) 1012 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 1000. Further, certain embodiments of wireless devices 1000 may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

[0109] The processing circuitry 1002 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 1010. The processing circuitry 1002 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 1002 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs). The processing circuitry 1002 may be configured to cause the wireless device 1000 to perform the methods as described with reference to Figure 5 (when configured as an ambient-energy harvesting wireless device as described herein), or to perform the methods as described with reference to Figure 6 (when configured as a reader device for such an ambient-energy harvesting wireless device, e.g., as a relay).

[0110] In the example, the input / output interface 1006 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and / or output devices.

[0111] 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 1000. 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.In some embodiments, the power source 1008 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 1008 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 1008 itself, and / or an external power source, to the various parts of wireless device 1000 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power source 1008 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to make accessible power suitable for the respective components of the wireless device 1000 to which power is supplied. Note that, when configured as an ambient-energy harvesting wireless device as described herein, the wireless device 1000 may not comprise any power source itself. Rather, the device 1000 may comprise power circuitry (e.g., capacitive circuits and elements) designed to harvest, store and then utilize ambient energy. For example, the power circuitry may harvest energy from a carrier electromagnetic wave.

[0112] The memory 1010 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 1010 includes one or more programs 1014, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 1016. The memory 1010 may store, for use by wireless device 1000, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0113] The memory 1010 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 1010 may allow wireless device 1000 to access instructions, programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. Anarticle of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 1010, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0114] The processing circuitry 1002 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network via or using the communication interface(s) 1012. The communication interface(s) 1012 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 1022. The communication interface(s) 1012 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 1018 and / or a receiver 1020 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 1018 and receiver 1020 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 1022) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0115] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface(s) 1012 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.

[0116] In particular embodiments, wireless device 1000 may provide an output of data captured via a sensor, through its communication interface(s) 1012, via a wireless connection to a network node, and / or in any appropriate manner. Data captured by sensors of a wireless device 1000 can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another wireless device 1000. 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).As another example, wireless device 1000 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 1000 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.

[0117] Wireless device 1000, 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 1000 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 1000 shown in Figure 10.

[0118] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, wireless device 1000 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 1000 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 1000 may implement the 3 GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, wireless device 1000 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.

[0119] In practice, any number of wireless devices 1000 may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first wireless device 1000 might be or be integrated in a droneand provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second wireless device 1000 that is a remote controller operating the drone. When a user makes changes from the remote controller, the first wireless device 1000 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 1000 can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, wireless device 1000 might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0120] Figure 11 shows a network node 1100 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 1100 may be configured to operate in communication system 800 of Figure 8, like network nodes 808 or 810, or in communication system 900 of Figure 9, like an AP 910 or a station 912. 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., O-RU, O-DU, O-CU).

[0121] Network nodes 1100 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 1100 may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. Network nodes 1100 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 an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

[0122] Other examples of network nodes 1100 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).In particular embodiments, network node 1100 includes a processing circuitry 1102, a memory 1104, a communication interface 1106, and a power source 1108. In general, in a particular embodiment of network node 1100, processing circuitry 1102, memory 1104, communication interface 1106, and power source 1108 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 1100.

[0123] The network node 1100 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 1100 comprises multiple such entities (e.g., BTS and BSC), one or more of the separate entities may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 1100 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memories 1104 or portions of memory 1104 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 1110 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 1100 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1100, 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 1100.

[0124] The processing circuitry 1102 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and / or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other components, such as the memory 1104, to provide network node 1100 functionality. For example, the processing circuitry 1102 may be configured to cause the network node 1100 to perform the methods as described with reference to Figure 6.

[0125] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1102 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1102 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1112 and baseband processing circuitry 1114. In some embodiments, the RF transceiver circuitry 1112 and the baseband processing circuitry 1114 may be on separatechips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1112 and baseband processing circuitry 1114 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.

[0126] The memory 1104 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 1102. The memory 1104 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 1102 and utilized by the network node 1100. The memory 1104 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 1102 and / or any data received via the communication interface 1106. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 1102 and memory 1104 is integrated.

[0127] The communication interface 1106 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 1106 comprises port(s) / terminal(s) 1116 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. In particular embodiments, network node 1100 may be capable of wireless communication and communication interface 1106 may also include radio front-end circuitry 1118 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, an antenna 1110. Particular embodiments of radio front-end circuitry 1118 include filter(s) 1120 and amplifier(s) 1122. The radio front-end circuitry 1118 may be connected to an antenna 1110 and processing circuitry 1102. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1110 and processing circuitry 1102. The radio front-end circuitry 1118 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 1118 may convert the digital data into a radio signal(s) having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1120 and / or amplifiers 1122. The radio signal(s) may then be transmitted via the antenna 1110. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 1110 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 1118. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 1102. Inother embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and / or different combinations of components.

[0128] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 1100 may be capable of wireless communication but does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 1118, instead, the processing circuitry 1102 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 1110. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 1112 is part of the communication interface 1106. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 1106 includes one or more ports or terminals 1116, the radio front-end circuitry 1118, and the RF transceiver circuitry 1112, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 1106 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 1114, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0129] The antenna 1110 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and / or receive wireless signals. The antenna 1110 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 1118 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and / or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 1110 is separate from the network node 1100 and connectable to the network node 1100 through one or more interfaces or ports.

[0130] The antenna 1110, communication interface 1106, and / or the processing circuitry 1102 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 1100. Any information, data and / or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 1110, the communication interface 1106, and / or the processing circuitry 1102 may be configured to perform some or all of the transmitting or sending operations described herein as being performed by the network node 1100. Any information, data and / or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and / or any other network equipment.

[0131] The power source 1108 provides power to the various components of network node 1100 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 1108 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 1100 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 1100 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 1108. As a further example, the power source 1108 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to,or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0132] Embodiments of the network node 1100 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 11 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 1100 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 1100 and to allow output of information from the network node 1100. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 1100.

[0133] Figure 12 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1200 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 1200 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 1200 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.

[0134] Applications 1202 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment 1200 to implement some of the features, functions, and / or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0135] Hardware 1204 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 1206 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VM 1208A and VM 1208B (which may be collectively referred to as VMs 1208), and / or perform any of thefunctions, features and / or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 1206 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to one or more of the VMs 1208.

[0136] The VMs 1208 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by virtualization layer 1206. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 1202 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 1208, 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.

[0137] In the context of NFV, each of the VMs 1208 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 1208, and that part of hardware 1204 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 1208 on top of the hardware 1204 and corresponds to an application 1202.

[0138] Hardware 1204 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1204 may implement some functions via virtualization.

[0139] Alternatively, hardware 1204 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 1210, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1202. In some embodiments, hardware 1204 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 1212 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.

[0140] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and / or software neededto 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.

[0141] 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.

[0142] 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 functionalities 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.

[0143] Example Embodiments

[0144] With the foregoing disclosure details in mind, various example embodiments are enumerated below.

[0145] Group A Embodiments

[0146] 1. A method performed by an ambient-energy harvesting wireless device, the method comprising:

[0147] transmitting, to a reader device, a message, wherein the message comprises an indication of a message type of the message.2. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the indication of the message type comprises two bits.

[0148] 3. The method of embodiment 2, wherein the indication indicates one of the following three or more message types: contention-based transmission (e.g., Msg 1); response to a contention-resolution message (e.g., Msg 3); command-related message.

[0149] 4. The method of embodiment 2, wherein the indication indicates one of the following four message types: contention-based transmission (e.g., Msg 1); response to a contention-resolution message from the reader device (e.g., Msg 3); command-related message for READ request (e.g., the message comprises READ data); command-related message for WRITE or DISABLE (e.g., the message comprises a response to a command message from the reader device).

[0150] 5. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the indication of the message type comprises a single bit.

[0151] 6. The method of embodiment 5, wherein the indication indicates one of the following message types: contention-based transmission (e.g., Msg 1); and a message type comprising a response to a contention-resolution message (e.g., Msg 3), or a command-related message.

[0152] 7. The method of any preceding embodiment, wherein transmitting the message comprises receiving and modulating a carrier wave, such that the modulated carrier wave comprises the message.

[0153] 8. The method of any preceding embodiment, wherein the ambient-energy harvesting wireless device comprises a Zero Energy device or an Ambient Internet of Things (A-loT) device.

[0154] 9. A method performed by an ambient-energy harvesting wireless device, the method comprising: transmitting, to a reader device, a message, wherein the message omits any indication of a message type of the message.

[0155] 10. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host via the transmission to the network node.

[0156] Group B Embodiments

[0157] 11. A method performed by a reader device, the method comprising: transmitting, to an ambient-energy harvesting wireless device, a message, wherein the message comprises an indication of a message type of the message.

[0158] 12. The method of embodiment 11, wherein the indication of the message type comprises two bits and indicates one of four different message types.13. The method of embodiment 12, wherein the four different message types comprise: a paging message; contention-resolution for random access (e.g., Msg2); an acknowledgement or negative acknowledgement; and a command or command request.

[0159] 14. The method of any of embodiments 11 to 13, wherein each message type is associated with a single behavior or purpose.

[0160] 15. The method of any of embodiments 11 to 13, wherein at least a first message type is associated with a plurality of behaviors or purposes.

[0161] 16. The method of embodiment 15, wherein a particular message according to the first message type comprises a single behavior or purpose from the plurality of behaviors or purposes.

[0162] 17. The method of embodiment 16, wherein the particular message according to the first message type further comprises an indication of the single behavior or purpose.

[0163] 18. The method of any one of embodiments 15 to 17, wherein the plurality of behaviors or purposes comprise contention resolution and acknowledgement or negative acknowledgement feedback.

[0164] 19. The method of any one of embodiments 11 to 18, wherein the message type comprises a message (e.g., QueryRep) that defines a start of a contention window in which ambient-energy harvesting wireless devices can contend for a connection to the reader device.

[0165] 20. The method of any one of embodiments 11 to 19, wherein the message type indicates contention-resolution for random access, and wherein the message comprises a mapping between an identifier for a resource on which a contention-based transmission was received, and an identifier for an ambient-energy harvesting wireless device which transmitted the contention-based transmission and won contention.

[0166] 21. The method of embodiment 20, wherein the identifier for the resource comprises a bitmap, in which bits correspond to respective resources on which contention-based transmissions may be transmitted, and a set bit identifies the resource on which the contentionbased transmission was received.

[0167] 22. The method of embodiment 21, wherein the identifier for the resource on which the contention-based transmission was received is contained within a header of the message, and wherein the identifier for the ambient-energy harvesting wireless device which transmitted the contention-based transmission and won contention is contained within a payload of the message.

[0168] 23. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host or a user equipment.

[0169] Group C Embodiments24. A wireless device (812, 912, 1000), comprising: processing circuitry (1002) configured to cause the wireless device to perform any of the operations of any of the Group A embodiments when configured as an ambient-energy harvesting wireless device, or configured to cause the wireless device to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments when configured as a reader device.

[0170] 25. A network node (810, 910, 1100), the network node comprising: processing circuitry (1102) configured to cause the network node to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0171] 26. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer-readable code embodied therein, the computer-readable code being configured such that, on execution by a suitable computer or processing circuitry, the computer or processing circuitry is caused to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments and the Group B embodiments.

[0172] 27. A wireless device (812, 912, 1000) configured to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments when configured as an ambient-energy harvesting wireless device or configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments when configured as a reader device.

[0173] 28. A wireless device (812, 912, 1000) comprising processing circuitry (1002) and a memory (1010), said memory containing instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said wireless device is operative to perform the method of any of the Group A embodiments when configured as an ambient-energy harvesting wireless device, or to perform any of the operations of any of the Group B embodiments when configured as a reader device.

[0174] 29. A network node (810, 910, 1100), configured to perform the method of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0175] 30. A network node (810, 910, 1100) comprising processing circuitry (1102) and a memory (1104), said memory containing instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said network node is operative to perform the method of any of the Group B embodiments.

[0176] Further Example Embodiments

[0177] Figure 13 illustrates an example system 10 that includes a reader 20. The reader 20 includes a communications interface 22 and processing circuitry 24 that is operatively associated with the communications interface 22, for transmitting and receiving messages via the communications interface 22. In an example arrangement, the communications interface 22 comprises a cellular modem or other radio transceiver circuitry, and the processing circuitry 24comprises fixed circuitry or programmatically configured circuitry or a mix of both. In at least one embodiment, the processing circuitry 24 comprises a microprocessor that is specially adapted to carry out the reader-side operations described herein, based on the execution of computer program instructions stored in a memory included within the reader 20.

[0178] The reader 20 may be understood as a further example of a network node 810 as shown in Figure 8 or an access point 910 shown in Figure 9 or a network node 1100 as shown in Figure 11. Regardless, the example reader 20 is operative for communicating wirelessly with a plurality of devices present in a surrounding physical environment of the reader 20. The diagram illustrates one such device 30, but there may be a population of devices 30 of the same device type or of two or more different device types. As such, the reference number “30” is not limited to a specific or single type of device that is operative to respond to and interact with the reader 20.

[0179] The communications interface 22 of the reader 20 is configured to transmit messages to the plurality of devices 30 and receive messages from respective ones among the plurality of devices 30. The processing circuitry 24 is configured to, with respect to each of one or more contention-based access occasions: (a) transmit a paging message indicating the contentionbased access occasion, wherein the paging message has a common message format that is reused by the reader 20 for multiple message types and comprises a message-type indicator set by the reader 20 to a value corresponding to paging messages; and (b) perform a contention resolution process for each slot among a plurality of slots comprised in the contention-based access occasion.

[0180] The contention resolution process for each slot comprises the reader 20 monitoring for paging response messages transmitted in the slot by respective devices 30 among the plurality of devices on a contention basis, and transmitting one or more contention resolution messages responsive to successfully receiving one or more paging response messages. The one or more contention resolution messages are based on device identifiers comprised in the one or more successfully received paging response messages and have the common message format but have the message-type indicator set by the reader to a value corresponding to contention-resolution-type messages.

[0181] The example device 30 shown in the diagram is operative for communicating wirelessly with a reader, the device comprises a communications interface 32 that is configured to receive messages from the reader 20 and transmit messages to the reader 20. Further, the device 30 includes processing circuitry 34 that is configured to receive a message transmitted by the reader 20, the message received via the communications interface 32 and having a common messageformat used by the reader 20 for multiple types of messages and comprising a message-type indicator. Further, the processing circuitry 34 is configured to perform certain operations in response to determining, based at least in part on a value of a message-type indicator in the message, that the message comprises a paging message associated with a contention-based access occasion. Such operations include: (a) selecting a slot from among a plurality of slots subdividing the contention-based access occasion; and (b) transmitting a paging response message in the selected slot, the paging response message transmitted via the communications interface 32 and comprising a contention-resolution identifier.

[0182] The processing circuitry 24 of the reader 20 in one or more embodiments is further configured, for each slot within a contention-based access occasion, to transmit one or more contention resolution messages, indicating the device(s) 30 from which the reader 20 successfully received a paging response in the slot. Correspondingly, in one or more embodiments, the processing circuitry 34 of the example device 30 is configured to respond to receipt of such a contention resolution message by transmitting a contention resolution response message. In the diagram, “(1)” denotes the paging message transmitted by the reader 20, “(2)” denotes the paging response message transmitted by the device 30 in response to the paging message, “(3)” denotes a contention resolution message transmitted by the reader 20, in which the reader 20 indicates successful reception of the paging response message from the device 30, and “(4)” denotes a corresponding contention resolution response message from the device 30 to the reader 20.

[0183] In an example arrangement, the communications interface 32 of the device 30 comprises a cellular modem or other radio transceiver circuitry, and the processing circuitry 34 comprises fixed circuitry or programmatically configured circuitry or a mix of both. In at least one embodiment, the processing circuitry 34 comprises a microprocessor that is specially adapted to carry out the device-side operations described herein, based on the execution of computer program instructions stored in a memory included within the device 30. However, regardless of the particular circuitry details, an example device 30 herein is configured to perform a method 1400, as shown in Figure 14.

[0184] According to the method 1400, the device 30 communicates wirelessly with a reader 20, and the method 1400 includes the device 30 receiving (Block 1402) a message transmitted by the reader 20. The message has a common message format used by the reader 20 for multiple types of messages and comprising a message-type indicator. Further, the method 1400 includes, in response to the device 30 determining, based at least in part on a value of a message-type indicator in the message, that the message comprises a paging message associated with acontention-based access occasion, the device 30 carrying out certain actions or operations. Those operations include selecting (1404) a slot from among a plurality of slots subdividing the contention-based access occasion and transmitting (1406) a paging response message in the selected slot, the paging response message comprising a contention-resolution identifier.

[0185] The contention-based access occasion occurs, for example, in the performance of an inventory procedure conducted by the reader 20, and the method 1400 in one or more embodiments further comprises, responsive to not receiving a contention resolution message that indicates successful reception by the reader 20 of the paging response message transmitted by the device 30 in the selected slot, the device 30 continuing participation in the inventory procedure.

[0186] Continuing participation in the inventory procedure comprises, for example, the device 30 performing a re-transmission procedure or a re-access procedure. The re-transmission procedure comprises re-transmission by the device 30 of one or more paging response messages on one or more additionally selected slots within the contention-based access occasion.

[0187] Conversely, the re-access procedure comprises the device 30 transmitting one or more paging response messages in one or more selected slots within a further contention-based access occasion of the inventory procedure.

[0188] The contention-resolution identifier transmitted by the device 30 comprises, for example, a value randomly selected by the device from within a defined range of values. See the RN16 values discussed earlier herein.

[0189] The message-type indicator defined by the common message format used by the reader 20 comprises a bitfield in one or more embodiments. In corresponding example implementations of the method 1400, the device 30 interprets the binary value or bit pattern of the bitfield in each message received from the reader 20, for determination of the message type.

[0190] Each slot within a contention-based access occasion may be associated with a plurality of frequency-multiplexed resources and the method 1400 in such embodiments comprises the device 30 transmitting its query response message on a selected one among the plurality of frequency-multiplexed resources. Correspondingly, a contention resolution message transmitted by the reader 20 in response to successful reception by the reader 20 of the paging response message transmitted by the device 30 indicates the selected frequency -multiplexed resource used by the device 30 for transmitting the paging response message and indicates or is based on the contend on-resoluti on i dentifi er.As noted, the contention-based access occasion may occur in association with the reader 20 performing an inventory procedure and the method 1400 may further include the device 30 operating as an inventoried device in response to receiving a contention resolution response message from the reader 20 in reply to the paging response message transmitted by the device 30. While the device 30 operates as an inventoried device, the method 1400 further comprises the device 30 receiving a further message transmitted by the reader 20, determining from a value of the message-type indicator comprised in the further message that further message is a command message, and responding to the command message. Responding to the command message comprises, for example, the device 30 responding to the command message on the condition that a device type indicator comprised in the command message is compatible with a device type of the device 30.

[0191] The device is an Internet of Things (loT) device, in one or more embodiments.

[0192] Particularly, in at least one embodiment, the device 30 is an ambient energy harvesting device, and the method 1400 further comprises the device 30 receiving a carrier wave (CW) coincident with the contention-based access occasion and the device 30 transmitting the paging response message based on modulating the received carrier wave.

[0193] Figure 15 illustrates a method of a reader 20 communicating wirelessly with a plurality of devices 30 present in a surrounding physical environment. The example reader 20 comprises a communications apparatus — see, e.g., Figure 13 and the method 1500 comprises, for each of one or more contention-based access occasions, the reader transmitting (1502) a paging message indicating the contention-based access occasion, wherein the paging message has a common message format that is reused by the reader 20 for multiple message types and comprises a message-type indicator set by the reader 20 to a value corresponding to paging messages.

[0194] Further, the method 1500 includes the reader performing (1504) a contention resolution process for each slot among a plurality of slots comprised in the contention-based access occasion.

[0195] The contention resolution process for each slot comprises, for example, the reader 20 monitoring for paging response messages transmitted in the slot by respective devices 30 among the plurality of devices 30 on a contention basis, and transmitting one or more contention resolution messages responsive to successfully receiving one or more paging response messages. The one or more contention resolution messages are based on device identifiers comprised in the one or more successfully received paging response messages and have the common message format but have the message-type indicator set by the reader 20 to a value corresponding to contention-resolution-type messages.In one or more embodiments, frequency -multiplexed resources are associated with each slot, such that the reader 20 may successfully receive more than one paging response message per slot. The method 1500 in such embodiments further comprises the reader 20 transmitting a single contention resolution message for each slot, with the single contention resolution message carrying contention resolution information for each paging response message that was successfully received in the slot. The single contention resolution message comprises a bitmap string, for example, having a respective bit set for each frequency -multiplexed resource on which the reader successfully received a corresponding paging response message.

[0196] With respect to the corresponding transmission by the reader 20 of the one or more contention resolution messages responsive to successful reception of one or more paging response messages in any particular slot, the method 1500 in one or more embodiments further comprises the reader 20 monitoring for one or more contention resolution response messages from the device 30 or devices 30 that originated the one or more successfully received paging response messages. The reader 20 considers each device from which it successfully receives a contention resolution response message to be an inventoried device. Each contention resolution response message comprises device information and the reader 20 stores the corresponding device information for each inventoried device.

[0197] The method 1500 may further comprise the reader 20 sending one or more command messages, each command message targeting one or more inventoried devices and having the common message format but having the message-type indicator set by the reader to a value corresponding to command-type messages. In one or more embodiments, there are two or more command sub-types and wherein, for each command message transmitted by the reader 20, the reader 20 sets the message-type indicator to a value corresponding to a particular command subtype.

[0198] The message-type indicator used by the reader 20 comprises, for example, a bitfield in a header portion of the common message format, such that message decoding at any particular device 30 receiving any particular message from the reader 20 provides an early determination of the message type.

[0199] The common message format in at least one embodiment further defines a device-type indicator, and wherein, for any particular message transmitted by the reader 20, the reader 20 sets the device-type indicator to a value that indicates the device type or types targeted by the message. The device-type indicator comprises, for example, a bitfield in a header portion of the common message format, such that message decoding at any particular device 30 receiving anyparticular message from the reader 20 provides an early determination of the device type or types targeted by the particular message.

[0200] The message-type indicator comprises a three-bit bitfield in one or more embodiments. Further, in at least one embodiment, the distinct message types supported by the common message format comprise inventory type messages, contention resolution type messages, command messages, and acknowledgment / non-acknowledgment (ACK / NACK) messages. With respect to a population or plurality of devices 30 supported by the reader 20, one or more of the devices 30 may be ambient-energy harvesting devices. Correspondingly, each contention-based access occasion may coincide with transmission of a carrier wave (CW) used to provide ambient energy to the one or more ambient-energy harvesting devices 30. The reader 20 may transmit the CW, or there may be a separate transmitting arrangement or arrangements that are configured for synchronized CW transmission.

[0201] The plurality of devices 30 supported by the reader 20 comprises, for example, a mix of Internet of Things (loT) device types. As such, the common message format in at least one embodiment defines a device-type indicator used by the reader 20 to indicate which device type or types are targeted by any particular message transmitted by the reader 20.

[0202] The reader 20 in one or more embodiments inventories a plurality of devices 30 by carrying out the inventory procedure represented by the method 1500 one or more times. For example, the reader 20 may use two or more contention-based access occasions to inventory the plurality of devices 30. In a given inventorying operation that involves one or more contentionbased access occasions, devices 30 that are inventoried in any given one of the contention-based access occasions may stop competing in the further related contention-based access occasions, thus increasing the odds of the reader 20 successfully inventorying the remaining devices 30. The reader 20 may use a maximum number of contention-based access occasions in any given inventorying attempt and may terminate the inventory attempt responsive to not receiving any further paging response messages.

[0203] Notably, modifications and other embodiments of the disclosed invention(s) will come to mind to one skilled in the art having the benefit of the teachings presented in the foregoing descriptions and the associated drawings. Therefore, it is to be understood that the invention(s) is / are not to be limited to the specific embodiments disclosed and that modifications and other embodiments are intended to be included within the scope of this disclosure. Although specific terms may be employed herein, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation.Abbreviations

[0204] At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in this disclosure. If there is an inconsistency between abbreviations, preference should be given to how it is used above. If listed multiple times below, the first listing should be preferred over any subsequent listing(s).

[0205] 3GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project

[0206] 5G 5th Generation

[0207] 6G 6th Generation

[0208] ABS Almost Blank Subframe

[0209] ARQ Automatic Repeat Request

[0210] AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise

[0211] BCCH Broadcast Control Channel

[0212] BCH Broadcast Channel

[0213] CA Carrier Aggregation

[0214] CC Carrier Component

[0215] CCCH SDU Common Control Channel SDU

[0216] CDMA Code Division Multiple Access

[0217] CGI Cell Global Identity

[0218] CIR Channel Impulse Response

[0219] CP Cyclic Prefix

[0220] CPICH Common Pilot Channel

[0221] CQI Channel Quality Information

[0222] C-RNTI Cell RNTI

[0223] CSI Channel State Information

[0224] DCCH Dedicated Control Channel

[0225] DL Downlink

[0226] DM Demodulation

[0227] DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal

[0228] DRX Discontinuous Reception

[0229] DTX Discontinuous Transmission

[0230] DTCH Dedicated Traffic Channel

[0231] DUT Device Under Test

[0232] E-CID Enhanced Cell-ID (positioning method)

[0233] Ec / No Received energy per chip divided by the power density in the band eMBMS Evolved Multimedia Broadcast Multicast ServicesECGI Evolved CGI

[0234] eNB E-UTRAN NodeB

[0235] ePDCCH Enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0236] E-SMLC Evolved Serving Mobile Location Center

[0237] E-UTRAN Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

[0238] FDD Frequency Division Duplex

[0239] FFS For Further Study

[0240] gNB Base station in NR

[0241] GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

[0242] HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

[0243] HO Handover

[0244] HSPA High Speed Packet Access

[0245] HRPD High Rate Packet Data

[0246] LOS Line of Sight

[0247] LPP LTE Positioning Protocol

[0248] LTE Long-Term Evolution

[0249] MAC Medium Access Control

[0250] MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service Single Frequency Network MBSFN ABS MBSFN Almost Blank Subframe

[0251] MDT Minimization of Drive Tests

[0252] MIB Master Information Block

[0253] MME Mobility Management Entity

[0254] MSC Mobile Switching Center

[0255] NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel

[0256] NR New Radio

[0257] OCNGOFDMA Channel Noise Generator

[0258] OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

[0259] OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

[0260] OSS Operations Support System

[0261] OTDOA Observed Time Difference of Arrival

[0262] O&M Operation and Maintenance

[0263] PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel

[0264] P-CCPCH Primary Common Control Physical Channel

[0265] PCell Primary CellPCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator Channel PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol

[0266] PDP Power Delay Profile

[0267] PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel PGW Packet Gateway

[0268] PHICH Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

[0269] PMI Precoding Matrix Indicator

[0270] PRACH Physical Random Access Channel

[0271] PRS Positioning Reference Signal

[0272] PSS Primary Synchronization Signal

[0273] PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

[0274] RACH Random Access Channel

[0275] QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

[0276] RAN Radio Access Network

[0277] RAT Radio Access Technology

[0278] RLC Radio Link Control

[0279] RLM Radio Link Monitoring

[0280] RNC Radio Network Controller

[0281] RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier RRC Radio Resource Control

[0282] RRM Radio Resource Management

[0283] RS Reference Signal

[0284] RSCP Received Signal Code Power

[0285] RSRP Reference Symbol Received Power OR Reference Signal Received Power RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality OR Reference Symbol Received Quality

[0286] RS SI Received Signal Strength Indicator RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference

[0287] SCH Synchronization Channel

[0288] SCell Secondary CellSDAP Service Data Adaptation Protocol

[0289] SDU Service Data Unit

[0290] SFN System Frame Number

[0291] SGW Serving Gateway

[0292] SI System Information

[0293] SIB System Information Block

[0294] SNR Signal to Noise Ratio

[0295] SON Self-Organizing Network

[0296] SS Synchronization Signal

[0297] SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal

[0298] TDD Time Division Duplex

[0299] TDOA Time Difference of Arrival

[0300] TOA Time of Arrival

[0301] TSS Tertiary Synchronization Signal

[0302] TTI Transmission Time Interval

[0303] UE User Equipment

[0304] UL Uplink

[0305] UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module UTDOA Uplink Time Difference of Arrival WCDMA Wideband CDMA

[0306] WLAN Wireless Local Area Network

Claims

CLAIMSWhat is claimed is:

1. A method (1500) of communicating wirelessly with a plurality of devices (30) present in a surrounding physical environment, the method performed by a reader (20) comprising a communications apparatus and the method comprising, for each of one or more contention-based access occasions, the reader:transmitting (1502) a paging message indicating the contention-based access occasion, wherein the paging message has a common message format that is reused by the reader for multiple message types and comprises a message-type indicator set by the reader to a value corresponding to paging messages; andperforming (1504) a contention resolution process for each slot among a plurality of slots comprised in the contention-based access occasion;wherein the contention resolution process for each slot comprises the reader monitoring for paging response messages transmitted in the slot by respective devices among the plurality of devices on a contention basis, and transmitting one or more contention resolution messages responsive to successfully receiving one or more paging response messages, the one or more contention resolution messages based on device identifiers comprised in the one or more successfully received paging response messages and having the common message format but having the message-type indicator set by the reader to a value corresponding to contention- resolution-type messages.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein frequency -multiplexed resources are associated with each slot, such that the reader may successfully receive more than one paging response message per slot, and wherein the method comprises the reader transmitting a single contention resolution message for each slot, with the single contention resolution message carrying contention resolution information for each paging response message that was successfully received in the slot.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the single contention resolution message comprises a bitmap string having a respective bit set for each frequency-multiplexed resource on which the reader successfully received a corresponding paging response message.Page 50 of 584. The method according to claims 1-3, wherein, with respect to the corresponding transmission by the reader of the one or more contention resolution messages responsive to successful reception of one or more paging response messages in any particular slot, the method further comprises the reader monitoring for one or more contention resolution response messages from the device or devices that originated the one or more successfully received paging response messages and the reader considering each device from which it successfully receives a contention resolution response message to be an inventoried device.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein each contention resolution response message comprises device information and wherein the reader stores the corresponding device information for each inventoried device.

6. The method according to claim 5, wherein the method further comprises the reader sending one or more command messages, each command message targeting one or more inventoried devices and having the common message format but having the message-type indicator set by the reader to a value corresponding to command-type messages.

7. The method according to claim 6, wherein there are two or more command sub-types and wherein, for each command message transmitted by the reader, the reader sets the message-type indicator to a value corresponding to a particular command sub-type.

8. The method according to any one of claims 1-7, wherein the message-type indicator comprises a bitfield in a header portion of the common message format, such that message decoding at any particular device receiving any particular message from the reader provides an early determination of the message type.

9. The method according to any one of claims 1-8, wherein the common message format further defines a device-type indicator, and wherein, for any particular message transmitted by the reader, the reader sets the device-type indicator to a value that indicates the device type or types targeted by the message.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the device-type indicator comprises a bitfield in a header portion of the common message format, such that message decoding at any particularPage 51 of 58device receiving any particular message from the reader provides an early determination of the device type or types targeted by the particular message.

11. The method according to any one of claims 1-10, wherein the message-type indicator comprises a three-bit bitfield.

12. The method according to claim 11, wherein distinct message types supported by the common message format comprise inventory type messages, contention resolution type messages, command messages, and acknowledgment / non-acknowledgment (ACK / NACK) messages.

13. The method according to any one of claims 1-12, wherein one or more devices among the plurality of devices are ambient-energy harvesting devices.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein each contention-based access occasion coincides with transmission of a carrier wave used to provide ambient energy to the one or more ambient-energy harvesting devices.

15. The method according to any one of claims 1-14, wherein the plurality of devices comprises a mix of Internet of Things (loT) device types, and wherein the common message format defines a device-type indicator used by the reader to indicate which device type or types are targeted by any particular message transmitted by the reader.

16. The method according to any one of claims 1-15, wherein steps performed by the reader for each contention-based access occasion comprises an inventory procedure and wherein the method comprises the reader inventorying the plurality of devices based on carrying out the inventory procedure one or more times.

17. A method (1400) performed by a device (30) for communicating wirelessly with a reader (20), the method comprising:receiving (1402) a message transmitted by the reader, the message having a common message format used by the reader for multiple types of messages and comprising a message-type indicator;Page 52 of 58in response to determining, based at least in part on a value of a message-type indicator in the message, that the message comprises a paging message associated with a contention-based access occasion:selecting (1404) a slot from among a plurality of slots subdividing the contentionbased access occasion; andtransmitting (1406) a paging response message in the selected slot, the paging response message comprising a contention-resolution identifier.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein the contention-based access occasion occurs in the performance of an inventory procedure conducted by the reader, and wherein the method further comprises, responsive to not receiving a contention resolution message that indicates successful reception by the reader of the paging response message transmitted by the device in the selected slot, continuing participation in the inventory procedure.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein continuing participation in the inventory procedure comprises the device performing a re-transmission procedure or a re-access procedure, the re-transmission procedure comprising re-transmission of one or more paging response messages on one or more additionally selected slots within the contention-based access occasion, and the re-access procedure comprising transmitting one or more paging response messages in one or more selected slots within a further contention-based access occasion of the inventory procedure.

20. The method according to any one of claims 17-19, wherein the contention-resolution identifier comprises a value randomly selected by the device from within a defined range of values.

21. The method according to any one of claims 17-20, wherein the message-type indicator defined by the common message format used by the reader comprises a bitfield, and wherein the method comprises the device interpreting the binary value or bit pattern of the bitfield in each message received from the reader, for determination of the message type.

22. The method according to any one of claims 17-21, wherein each slot is associated with a plurality of frequency-multiplexed resources and wherein the method comprises the devicePage 53 of 58transmitting the query response message on a selected one among the plurality of frequency-multiplexed resources.

23. The method according to claim 22, wherein a contention resolution message transmitted by the reader in response to successful reception by the reader of the paging response message transmitted by the device indicates the selected frequency-multiplexed resource used by the device for transmitting the paging response message and indicates or is based on the contentionresolution identifier.

24. The method according to any one of claims 17-23, wherein the contention-based access occasion occurs in association with the reader performing an inventory procedure and wherein the method further includes the device operating as an inventoried device in response to receiving a contention resolution response message from the reader in reply to the paging response message transmitted by the device.

25. The method according to claim 24, wherein, while operating as an inventoried device, the method further comprises the device receiving a further message transmitted by the reader, determining from a value of the message-type indicator comprised in the further message that further message is a command message, and responding to the command message.

26. The method according to claim 25, wherein responding to the command message comprises responding to the command message on the condition that a device type indicator comprised in the command message is compatible with a device type of the device.

27. The method according to any one of claims 17-26, wherein the device is an Internet of Things (loT) device.

28. The method according to any one of claims 17-27, wherein the device is an ambient energy harvesting device, and wherein the method further comprises the device receiving a carrier wave coincident with the contention-based access occasion and the device transmitting the paging response message based on modulating the received carrier wave.

29. A device operative for communicating wirelessly with a reader, the device comprising:Page 54 of 58a communications interface configured to receive messages from the reader and transmit messages to the reader; andprocessing circuitry configured to:receive a message transmitted by the reader, the message received via the communications interface and having a common message format used by the reader for multiple types of messages and comprising a message-type indicator;in response to determining, based at least in part on a value of a message-type indicator in the message, that the message comprises a paging message associated with a contention-based access occasion:select a slot from among a plurality of slots subdividing the contentionbased access occasion; andtransmit a paging response message in the selected slot, the paging response message transmitted via the communications interface and comprising a contention-resolution identifier.

30. A reader operative for communicating wirelessly with a plurality of devices present in a surrounding physical environment of the reader, the reader comprising:a communications interface configured to transmit messages to the plurality of devices and receive messages from respective ones among the plurality of devices; and processing circuitry that, with respect to each of one or more contention-based access occasions, is configured to:transmit a paging message indicating the contention-based access occasion, wherein the paging message has a common message format that is reused by the reader for multiple message types and comprises a message-type indicator set by the reader to a value corresponding to paging messages; andperform a contention resolution process for each slot among a plurality of slots comprised in the contention-based access occasion;wherein the contention resolution process for each slot comprises the reader monitoring for paging response messages transmitted in the slot by respective devices among the plurality of devices on a contention basis, and transmitting one or more contention resolution messages responsive to successfully receiving one or more paging response messages, the one or Page 55 of 58more contention resolution messages based on device identifiers comprised in the one or more successfully received paging response messages and having the common message format but having the message-type indicator set by the reader to a value corresponding to contention-resolution-type messages.

31. A system comprising a reader and one or more devices, wherein:the reader is operative for wirelessly communicating with the one or more devices and comprises:a communications interface configured to transmit messages to the one or more devices and receive messages from respective ones among the one or more devices; andprocessing circuitry that, with respect to each of one or more contention-based access occasions, is configured to:transmit a paging message indicating the contention-based access occasion, wherein the paging message has a common message format that is reused by the reader for multiple message types and comprises a message-type indicator set by the reader to a value corresponding to paging messages; andperform a contention resolution process for each slot among a plurality of slots comprised in the contention-based access occasion; wherein the contention resolution process for each slot comprises the reader monitoring for paging response messages transmitted in the slot by respective devices among the one or more devices on a contention basis, and transmitting one or more contention resolution messages responsive to successfully receiving one or more paging response messages, the one or more contention resolution messages based on device identifiers comprised in the one or more successfully received paging response messages and having the common message format but having the message-type indicator set by the reader to a value corresponding to contention- resolution-type messages; andeach of the one or more devices being operative for wirelessly communicating with the reader and comprising:Page 56 of 58a communications interface configured to receive messages from the reader and transmit messages to the reader; andprocessing circuitry configured to:receive a message transmitted by the reader, the message received via the communications interface and having a common message format used by the reader for multiple types of messages and comprising a message-type indicator;in response to determining, based at least in part on a value of a messagetype indicator in the message, that the message comprises a paging message associated with a respective one of the one or more contention-based access occasions:select one among the plurality of slots that subdivide the contention-based access occasion; and transmit a paging response message in the selected slot, the paging response message transmitted via the communications interface and comprising a contention-resolution identifier.Page 57 of 58

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