Patent Publication Number: US-2023164000-A1

Title: Channel Estimation in a Wireless Communication Network

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present application relates generally to a wireless communication network, and relates more particularly to channel estimation in such a network. 
     BACKGROUND 
     A Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) wireless communication system exploits the spatial dimension of the communication channel to send multiple transmissions in parallel on at least partly overlapping time and frequency resources. In so-called massive MIMO, for example, a radio network node equipped with multiple antennas serves multiple wireless devices simultaneously, in the same time-frequency resource, using spatial multiplexing. The radio network node in this regard precodes a downlink transmission to each wireless device based on an estimate of the downlink channel for that device, in order to cancel multi-user interference and realize significant performance gains. 
     Different approaches exist for the radio network node to obtain the downlink channel estimates needed for downlink transmission precoding. According to pure codebook-based precoding, each wireless device explicitly transmits to the radio network node channel information that the device determined from measurement of a downlink reference signal. Especially as the number of antennas grows in massive MIMO, though, this approach is resource intensive as it requires significant uplink resources for channel information feedback, as well as downlink resources for the downlink reference signal. Pure reciprocity-based precoding is less resource intensive. According to pure reciprocity-based precoding, each wireless device transmits an uplink reference signal to the radio network node and the radio network node exploits downlink-uplink reciprocity in order to determine downlink channel estimates from the uplink reference signals. However, the relatively lower transmit power of wireless devices compared to the radio network node practically limits reciprocity-based precoding to use with wireless devices near the center of the radio network node&#39;s coverage area, where both uplink and downlink signal qualities are sufficiently high. Indeed, if a downlink channel estimate derived from an unreliable uplink channel estimate is used for downlink transmission precoding, a large part of the beamforming gain will be lost due to beam misalignment and the ability to spatially suppress interference will be reduced. This means that the performance gains from spatial multiplexing will be low or non-existent. If cell-edge devices focus their transmit power in a small fraction of the frequency band, the quality of the uplink channel estimates and thereby interference suppression will improve, but at the expense of greatly reduced data rate due to a reduction in frequency bandwidth. 
     Challenges therefore exist in obtaining channel estimates for precoding downlink transmissions to wireless devices over a wide coverage area, in a way that conserves resources and increases data rate. 
     SUMMARY 
     According to some embodiments herein, a radio network node obtains a downlink channel estimate by exploiting a combination of uplink-downlink reciprocity and channel information feedback. In particular, a wireless device transmits an uplink signal (e.g., an uplink reference signal) from which the radio network node can determine an uplink channel estimate. Notably, without any additional cost in uplink resources, this uplink signal also implicitly conveys channel information that the wireless device determined from a downlink reference signal. The wireless device may, for example, select which uplink signal to transmit from a set of candidate uplink signals that implicitly convey different respective channel information. The radio network node in such a case may jointly (i) identify which candidate uplink signal is received; and (ii) determine an uplink channel estimate from the uplink signal. The radio network node may then exploit uplink-downlink reciprocity to determine the downlink channel estimate from the uplink channel estimate and from the implicitly conveyed channel information. The implicitly conveyed channel information advantageously increases the accuracy of this downlink channel estimate, without requiring additional uplink resources or transmit power to feed back that information. With more accurate downlink channel estimation, then, the radio network node may precode downlink transmissions with improved multi-user interference cancellation, even for wireless devices with low signal quality, such as those devices at the cell edge. 
     More particularly, embodiments herein include a method performed by a wireless device. The method includes receiving a downlink reference signal from a radio network node over a downlink channel. The method further includes determining channel information based on measurement of the downlink reference signal. The method may then include transmitting, to the radio network node over an uplink channel, an uplink signal (e.g., an uplink reference signal) that implicitly conveys the determined channel information. 
     In some embodiments, the uplink signal is a sounding reference signal. 
     In other embodiments, the uplink signal is a random access preamble. 
     In some embodiments, the channel information is, or encodes, a quantized estimate of the uplink channel or the downlink channel. 
     In some embodiments, the downlink reference signal is received, and the uplink reference signal is transmitted, using time division duplexing (TDD). Alternatively or additionally, the downlink channel is, or is assumed to be, fully reciprocal with the uplink channel. 
     In some embodiments, the method also comprises selecting, from among multiple candidate uplink signals (e.g., multiple candidate uplink reference signals) in a set, the uplink signal to transmit, based on the determined channel information. In this case, the different candidate uplink signals in the set may implicitly convey different respective channel information. In one embodiment, the set is a finite set of pairwise orthogonal uplink signals. In another embodiment, by contrast, the set is a finite set of uplink signals that includes at least some uplink signals which are not pairwise orthogonal but all pairs of uplink signals in the set have a correlation below a threshold. Alternatively or additionally, the different candidate uplink signals in the set may use different uplink signal resources, where the different uplink signal resources include different signal sequences, different time resources, different frequency combs, different frequency patterns, and/or different cyclic shifts. Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, the different candidate uplink signals are candidate uplink reference signals or are different random access preambles. 
     Regardless, in one or more embodiments, the method alternatively or additionally includes receiving, from the radio network node, a mapping that maps the different candidate uplink signals to different respective channel information. In this case, selecting the uplink signal to transmit may be based on the mapping. 
     In some embodiments, the number of candidate uplink signals in the set is less than or equal to 
     
       
         
           
             
               v 
               = 
               
                 B 
                 N 
               
             
             , 
           
         
       
     
     where B is a number of beams over which the radio network node is configured to transmit and where N is a number of transmit antennas at the radio network node. 
     In some embodiments, the method further comprises, after transmitting the uplink reference signal, receiving, from the radio network node over the downlink channel, a precoded downlink transmission that is precoded based on the determined channel information. In one such embodiment, the precoded downlink transmission includes a downlink reference signal, where the downlink reference signal is based on the transmitted uplink reference signal. 
     Embodiments herein also include a method performed by a radio network node. The method includes transmitting a downlink reference signal over a downlink channel. The method also includes receiving an uplink signal from a wireless device over an uplink channel. The method further includes jointly (i) identifying which candidate uplink signal in a set of candidate uplink signals is the received uplink signal; and (ii) determining an estimate of the uplink channel from the received uplink signal. The method may further include determining channel information implicitly conveyed by the identified candidate uplink signal, where different candidate uplink signals in the set implicitly convey different channel information. The method may also include determining an estimate of the downlink channel based on the determined channel information and the determined estimate of the uplink channel. 
     In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, to the wireless device, a mapping that maps the different candidate uplink signals in the set to different respective channel information. In this case, determining the channel information implicitly conveyed by the identified candidate uplink signal may comprise mapping the identified candidate uplink signal to channel information according to the mapping. 
     In some embodiments, jointly identifying and determining may be performed such that the identified candidate uplink signal implicitly conveys channel information that corresponds to the determined estimate of the uplink channel. 
     In one embodiment, the set is a finite set of pairwise orthogonal uplink signals. In another embodiment, by contrast, the set is a finite set of uplink signals that includes at least some uplink signals which are not pairwise orthogonal but all pairs of uplink signals in the set have a correlation below a threshold. Alternatively or additionally, the different candidate uplink signals in the set may use different uplink signal resources, where the different uplink signal resources include different signal sequences, different time resources, different frequency combs, different frequency patterns, and/or different cyclic shifts. Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, the different candidate uplink signals are candidate uplink reference signals or are different random access preambles. 
     In some embodiments, the uplink signal is a sounding reference signal. 
     In other embodiments, the uplink signal is a random access preamble. 
     In some embodiments, the channel information is, or encodes, a quantized estimate of the uplink channel or the downlink channel. 
     In some embodiments, the downlink reference signal is received, and the uplink reference signal is transmitted, using time division duplexing (TDD). Alternatively or additionally, the downlink channel is, or is assumed to be, fully reciprocal with the uplink channel. 
     Regardless, in one or more embodiments, the method alternatively or additionally includes, based on the determined estimate of the downlink channel, precoding a downlink transmission to the wireless device; and transmitting the precoded downlink transmission to the wireless device over the downlink channel. In one such embodiment, the precoded downlink transmission includes a downlink reference signal, in which case the method may further comprise selecting the downlink reference signal based on the identified candidate uplink signal. 
     In some embodiments, the number of candidate uplink signals in the set is less than or equal to 
     
       
         
           
             
               v 
               = 
               
                 B 
                 N 
               
             
             , 
           
         
       
     
     where B is a number of beams over which the radio network node is configured to transmit and where N is a number of transmit antennas at the radio network node. 
     Embodiments moreover include corresponding apparatus, computer programs, and carriers of those computer programs. For example, embodiments herein include a wireless device, e.g., comprising communication circuitry and processing circuitry. The wireless device is configured to receive a downlink reference signal from a radio network node over a downlink channel. The wireless device is further configured to determine channel information based on measurement of the downlink reference signal. The wireless device may also be configured to transmit, to the radio network node over an uplink channel, an uplink signal (e.g., an uplink reference signal) that implicitly conveys the determined channel information. 
     Embodiments also include a radio network node, e.g., comprising communication circuitry and processing circuitry. The radio network node is configured to transmit a downlink reference signal over a downlink channel, and to receive an uplink signal from a wireless device over an uplink channel. The radio network node is further configured to jointly (i) identify which candidate uplink signal in a set of candidate uplink signals is the received uplink signal; and (ii) determine an estimate of the uplink channel from the received uplink signal. The radio network node may further be configured to determine channel information implicitly conveyed by the identified candidate uplink signal, where different candidate uplink signals in the set implicitly convey different channel information. The radio network node may also be configured to determine an estimate of the downlink channel based on the determined channel information and the determined estimate of the uplink channel. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    is a block diagram of a wireless communication network according to some embodiments. 
         FIG.  2    is a graph depicting the probability of incorrectly detecting a user beam according to some embodiments with orthogonal uplink signals and according to other embodiments with optimized, non-orthogonal uplink signals. 
         FIG.  3    is a graph depicting the probability of incorrectly detecting a quantized user beam according to some embodiments. 
         FIG.  4    is a graph depicting the mean absolute angle error between the detected and the unquantized beam according to some embodiments. 
         FIG.  5    is a logic flow diagram of a method performed by a wireless device according to some embodiments. 
         FIG.  6    is a logic flow diagram of a method performed by a radio network node according to some embodiments. 
         FIG.  7    is a block diagram of a wireless device according to some embodiments. 
         FIG.  8    is a block diagram of a radio network node according to some embodiments. 
         FIG.  9    is a block diagram of a wireless communication network according to some embodiments. 
         FIG.  10    is a block diagram of a user equipment according to some embodiments. 
         FIG.  11    is a block diagram of a virtualization environment according to some embodiments. 
         FIG.  12    is a block diagram of a communication network with a host computer according to some embodiments. 
         FIG.  13    is a block diagram of a host computer according to some embodiments. 
         FIG.  14    is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. 
         FIG.  15    is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. 
         FIG.  16    is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. 
         FIG.  17    is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       FIG.  1    shows a wireless communication network  10  according to some embodiments, e.g., a New Radio (NR) network, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, or a Wifi network. The wireless communication network  10  as depicted includes a radio network node  12  (e.g., a base station) and a wireless device  14  (e.g., a user equipment, UE). The radio network node  12  may be equipped with multiple antenna ports, e.g., for massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO). The radio network node  12  communicates wirelessly with the wireless device  14  over a downlink (DL) channel  16  and an uplink (UL) channel  18 . The downlink channel  16  is the radio channel over which downlink transmissions propagate from the radio network node  12  to the wireless device  14 , whereas the uplink channel  18  is the radio channel over which uplink transmissions propagate from the wireless device  14  to the radio network node  12 . 
     In some embodiments, the downlink channel  16  is, or is assumed to be, reciprocal with the uplink channel  18 . This may be the case, for example, where the downlink channel  16  and the uplink channel  18  are deployed on the same frequency resources but are separated in different time resources via time division duplexing (TDD). Regardless, the uplink-downlink reciprocity means that one or more properties of the downlink channel  16  may be inferred from one or more properties of the uplink channel  18 , and vice versa. The reciprocity may be full in the sense that all properties of the downlink channel  16  may be inferred from the corresponding properties of the uplink channel  18 , and vice versa. Or, the reciprocity may be partial in the sense that some, but not necessarily all, properties of the downlink channel  16  may be inferred from corresponding properties of the uplink channel  18 , and vice versa. Regardless, the reciprocity means that the radio network node  12  may characterize the uplink channel  18 , and, using reciprocity, apply one or more of the same channel characterizations to the downlink channel  16 . 
     Indeed, in some embodiments, the radio network node  12  exploits this uplink-downlink reciprocity, in combination with implicit channel information feedback from the wireless device  14 , in order to determine an estimate of the downlink channel  16 .  FIG.  1    in this regard shows that the radio network node  12  transmits a downlink reference signal  24  over the downlink channel  16 . The downlink reference signal  24  may for instance be a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS). Regardless, the wireless device  14  correspondingly receives this downlink reference signal  24  over the downlink channel  16 . The wireless device  14  (via channel information determination  26 ) determines channel information  28  based on measurement of this downlink reference signal  24 . In some embodiments, this channel information  28  is information that characterizes the downlink channel  16 . In other embodiments, the channel information  28  is information that characterizes the uplink channel  18 . In this case, channel information determination  26  may map an estimate of the downlink channel  16  onto an estimate of the uplink channel  18 , e.g., so as to compensate for any hardware-incurred reciprocity errors between the downlink channel  16  and the uplink channel  18 . Either way, the channel information  28  may be, or encode, a quantized channel estimate, e.g., in the form of a precoder or beam selected from a codebook of multiple possible precoders or beams. 
     In any event, after determining the channel information  28  from the downlink reference signal  24 , the wireless device  14  thereafter conveys that channel information  28  to the radio network node  12 . The wireless device  14  does so by transmitting an uplink signal  30  to the radio network node  12  over the uplink channel  18 . Notably, though, the uplink signal  30  does not explicitly convey the channel information  28 . In fact, in some embodiments, the uplink signal  30  is an uplink reference signal, such as a sounding reference signal (SRS), that explicitly conveys a reference signal sequence. Or, in other embodiments, the uplink signal  30  is a random access preamble, such as a Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) preamble, that explicitly conveys a preamble sequence. Instead of explicitly conveying the channel information  28 , then, the uplink signal  30  implicitly conveys the channel information  28 . The uplink signal&#39;s conveyance of the channel information  28  is implicit in the sense that the uplink signal  30  does not itself expressly convey the channel information  28 , but the channel information  28  is nonetheless implied from something else that the uplink signal  30  does expressly convey. Advantageously, this means that the uplink signal  30  conveys the channel information  28  without any additional cost in uplink resources above and beyond the uplink resources needed for what the uplink signal  30  expressly conveys. 
       FIG.  1    for example shows that, in some embodiments, a set  32  of candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N is defined. In one or more embodiments, the set  32  is a finite set of pairwise orthogonal uplink signals. In other embodiments, the set  32  is a finite set of uplink signals that includes at least some uplink signals which are not pairwise orthogonal, but all pairs of uplink signals in the set have a correlation below a threshold, e.g., to satisfy detection requirements. Regardless, the different candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N in the set  32  may explicitly convey different things, e.g., different signal sequences, different preambles, or, generally, different symbol values. Alternatively or additionally, the different candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N in the set  32  may use different uplink signal resources, e.g., in the form of different signal sequences, different time resources, different frequency combs, different frequency patterns, and/or different cyclic shifts. Where the candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N are sounding reference signals (SRSs) for instance, the candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N may use different SRS resources, e.g., where each SRS resource may be a combination of a time resource, a frequency comb, a cyclic shift, a Zadoff-Chu sequence, a frequency domain resource, and/or a frequency domain hopping pattern. 
     Regardless of how the candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N differ from one another in terms of what they explicitly convey or how they explicitly convey it, the different candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N in the set  32  implicitly convey different respective channel information  28 - 1  . . .  28 -N. Which candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N convey which channel information  28 - 1  . . .  28 -N may be defined, for example, according to a mapping  34  that maps the different candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N in the set  32  to different respective channel information  28 - 1  . . .  28 -N. In this case, the mapping  34  may be predefined at both the wireless device  14  and the radio network node  12 , or may be signaled from the radio network node  12  to the wireless device  14 . In any event, the wireless device  14  in these and other embodiments may select, from among the candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N in the set  32 , the uplink signal  30  to transmit, based on the determined channel information  28 . That is, the wireless device  14  may select to transmit (as the uplink signal  30 ) whichever one of the candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N implicitly conveys the channel information  28  that the wireless device  14  determined from the downlink reference signal  24 . In embodiments that use the mapping  34  as shown, for instance, an uplink signal mapper  36  at the wireless device  14  may use the mapping  34  to map the determined channel information  28  to whichever one of the candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N implicitly conveys that channel information  28 . The wireless device  14  then implicitly conveys the channel information  28  simply by transmitting, as the uplink signal  30 , the selected candidate uplink signal over the uplink channel  18 . The implicit conveyance of channel information  28  may be attributable, therefore, to the wireless device  14  adapting which candidate uplink signal is transmitted, as a function of or otherwise in dependence on the channel information  28  to be conveyed, rather than fixedly transmitting the same uplink signal irrespective of the channel information  28 . 
     The radio network node  12  correspondingly receives the uplink signal  30  from the wireless device  14  over the uplink channel  18 .  FIG.  1    shows that the radio network node  12  includes a channel estimator  38  configured to determine an estimate  40  of the downlink channel  16  based on the received uplink signal  30 . The channel estimator  38  does so by exploiting the channel information  28  implicitly conveyed by the uplink signal  30 , in combination with reciprocity between the uplink and downlink channels  16 ,  18 . 
     More particularly, the channel estimator  38  performs joint uplink signal identification and uplink channel estimation  40  in order to jointly (i) identify which candidate uplink signal in the set  32  of candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N is the received uplink signal  30 ; and (ii) determine an estimate  42  of the uplink channel  18  from the received uplink signal  30 , e.g., based on measurement of the uplink signal  30 . In identifying which candidate uplink signal is the received uplink signal  30 , the channel estimator  38  identifies the uplink signal  30  as being a certain one of the candidate uplink signals in the set  32  of candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N, e.g., by comparing the received uplink signal  30  to the different candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N and identifying the candidate uplink signal that most closely matches the received uplink signal  30 . That such identification is performed jointly with determining the estimate  42  of the uplink channel  18 , though, means that the identification and estimate determination are performed in conjunction with one another, so that each one depends on the other. Accordingly, rather than determining the estimate  42  of the uplink channel  18  and then, based on that uplink channel estimate  42 , separately identifying which candidate uplink signal is the uplink signal  30 , the channel estimator  38  determines the estimate  42  of the uplink channel  18  in cooperation with and/or at the same time as identifying which candidate uplink signal is the uplink signal  30 . 
     The channel estimator  38  may for example jointly identify which candidate uplink signal is the uplink signal  30  and determine the uplink channel estimate  42  such that the identified candidate uplink signal implicitly conveys channel information  28  that corresponds to the determined estimate  42  of the uplink channel  18 . For instance, the channel estimator  38  in some embodiments determines, from among different possible combinations of candidate uplink signals and implicitly conveyed channel information, which combination most closely correlates with the received uplink signal  30  and the estimate of the uplink channel over which the uplink signal  30  was received. For example, the channel estimator  38  may perform matched filtering on the received uplink signal  30  using each candidate uplink signal, to not only determine how closely the candidate uplink signal correlates with the received uplink signal  30  but also to determine how closely the channel information implicitly conveyed by that candidate uplink signal correlates with the estimate of the uplink channel over which the uplink signal  30  was received. Moreover, in some embodiments, the channel estimator  38  may advantageously exploit this approach to limit processing complexity, e.g., to only correlate with uplink signals received in beam directions with high energy and/or only evaluate spatially for uplink signals with high energy. 
     After identifying which candidate uplink signal is the received uplink signal  30 , the channel estimator  38  determines the channel information  28  implicitly conveyed by the identified candidate uplink signal. The channel estimator  38  as shown, for example, includes an uplink signal demapper  44  that maps the identified candidate uplink signal to channel information  28 , e.g., according to the mapping  34 . Notably, then, the channel estimator  38  exploits the same received uplink signal  30  both for determining the estimate  42  of the uplink channel  18  and for recovering the implicitly conveyed channel information  28 . 
     The channel estimator  38  as shown also includes a downlink channel estimator  46  that determines the estimate  22  of the downlink channel  16  based on the determined channel information  28  and the determined estimate  42  of the uplink channel  18 , e.g., assuming reciprocity between the downlink channel  16  and the uplink channel  18 . Note here that the implicitly conveyed channel information  28  contributes additional information to estimation of the downlink channel  16  than would have otherwise been available from an uplink channel estimate alone. Moreover, with the channel information  28  having been determined by the wireless device  14  from the downlink reference signal  24 , the channel information  28  itself may accurately characterize the downlink channel  16  or the uplink channel  18 , even if the uplink signal quality is low, e.g., due to the transmit power of the wireless device  12  being lower than the transmit power of the radio network node  14 . The implicitly conveyed channel information  28  therefore advantageously increases the accuracy of the downlink channel estimate  22 , and does so without requiring additional uplink resources or transmit power to feed back that information  28 . Generally, then, some embodiments utilize the channel information  28  at the wireless device  14  to redesign the uplink signal transmission for improving the downlink channel estimate  22  at the radio network node  12  and/or for improving system capacity. 
     Based on such an estimate  22  of the downlink channel  16 , the radio network node  12  in some embodiments may precode a downlink transmission (not shown) to the wireless device  14 , e.g., where the downlink transmission may include user data for the wireless device  14 . That is, radio network node  12  precodes a downlink transmission to the wireless device  14  based on the estimate  22  of the downlink channel  16  and then transmits the precoded downlink transmission to the wireless device  14  over the downlink channel  16 . In some embodiments, the radio network node  12  transmits, to the wireless device  14 , control information indicating that the precoded downlink transmission is quasi-co-located with the uplink signal  30 . The control information may for instance comprise Downlink Control Information, DCI, on a Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH. Regardless, based on this control information, the wireless device  14  may assume that the channel characteristics of the precoded downlink transmission are related to the implicitly conveyed channel information. 
     In some embodiments, the precoded downlink transmission may include a downlink reference signal. In such a case, the radio network node  12  may even select the downlink reference signal based on the identified candidate uplink signal. The radio network node  12  may do so for example where multiple wireless devices contend in the uplink. The radio network node  12  in this regard may configure a set of virtual cell identities and, depending on the identity of the uplink signal  30 , select one of the virtual identities to use for deriving the downlink reference signal. This results in different downlink reference signals for different uplink signals. 
     Note that, although  FIG.  1    focused on a single wireless device  14 , the wireless device  14  may be just one of multiple wireless devices served by the radio network node  12 , e.g., in a massive Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) scenario. In this case, the downlink transmission to the wireless device  14  may be one of multiple downlink transmissions that are precoded based on respective estimates of the downlink channels over which they will propagate. The radio network node  12  in some embodiments determines each of those downlink channel estimates as described above, by exploiting uplink signals received from respective ones of the wireless devices. Doing so may enable the radio network node  12  to advantageously precode the downlink transmissions with improved multi-user interference cancellation, even for wireless devices with low signal quality, such as those devices at the cell edge. 
     Consider a simple example, e.g., where the wireless communication network  10  is an NR network or an LTE network. In this example, the downlink reference signal  24  is a CSI-RS and the uplink signal  30  is an SRS, selected from among multiple different candidate SRSs that use different SRS resources assigned to the wireless device  14 . The wireless device  14  measures the CSI-RS to determine the channel information  28  in the form of a selected precoder or beam. The wireless device  14  then selects which SRS resource to use (and therefore which SRS to transmit) depending on the selected precoder or beam. For example where the channel information  28  represents a selected beam, in a 120 degree sector, 4 different SRS resources may be assigned to the wireless device  14 . If the wireless device  14  selects a beam in [0,30) degrees, the wireless device  14  selects to use SRS resource  1 . If the wireless device  14  selects a beam in [30,60) degrees, the wireless device  14  selects to use SRS resource  2 . If the wireless device  14  selects a beam in [60,90) degrees, the wireless device  14  selects to use SRS resource  3 . And if the wireless device  14  selects a beam in [90,120) degrees, the wireless device  14  selects to use SRS resource  4 . When the radio network node  12  performs joint signal identification and channel estimation, then, it may restrict itself to or prioritize channel estimates that lie in the subspace implicitly indicated by the used SRS resource, e.g., giving a 6 dB processing gain advantage (the sequence detection gives low errors). 
     In another example, the uplink signal  30  is a random access preamble, a scheduling request, or any other type of signal usable for resolving contention between multiple wireless devices. In this case, different random access preambles, scheduling requests, or other contention-resolving signals may be mapped to different precoders or beams. The wireless device  14  then selects which random access preamble, scheduling request, or other contention-resolving signal to transmit depending on the selected precoder or beam. For example where the channel information  28  represents a selected beam, in a 120 degree sector, 4 different random access preambles may be assigned to the wireless device  14 . If the wireless device  14  selects a beam in [0,30) degrees, the wireless device  14  selects to transmit random access preamble  1 . If the wireless device  14  selects a beam in [30,60) degrees, the wireless device  14  selects to transmit random access preamble  2 . If the wireless device  14  selects a beam in [60,90) degrees, the wireless device  14  selects to transmit random access preamble  3 . And if the wireless device  14  selects a beam in [90,120) degrees, the wireless device  14  selects to transmit random access preamble  4 . When the radio network node  12  performs joint signal identification and channel estimation, then, it may restrict itself to or prioritize channel estimates that lie in the subspace implicitly indicated by the received random access preamble e.g., giving a 6 dB processing gain advantage (the sequence detection gives low errors). This may in turn improve random access or other procedures for resolving multi-device contention. 
     Consider now additional details illustrated in an example where a single single-antenna wireless device  14  is served by a radio network node  12  with N antennas. In this example, uplink-downlink reciprocity holds, and each of the uplink channel  18  and the downlink channel  16  is represented by the N-dimensional vector g. Further, consider a grid-of-beams world; that is, g is unknown at the radio network node  12  but is one of the B vectors in the set  ={g 1 , . . . , g b , . . . , g B }. These vectors are mutually non-orthogonal in general but they have the same, known, norm ∥g∥ 2 =Nβ. The goal of the radio network node  12  is to determine the estimate  22  of the downlink channel  16  based on the uplink signal  30  (e.g., an uplink reference signal) transmitted over the uplink channel  18 . For the sake of the example, assume that the wireless device  14  has perfectly detected the downlink channel  16  from the set of beams g with the help of the downlink reference signal  24 . On the uplink, for the purpose of channel estimation at the radio network node  12 , the uplink signal  30  transmitted by the wireless device is an uplink signal s, and the radio network node  12  receives 
         Y =√{square root over (ρ)} gs   T   +W,  
 
     where W is noise with  (0,1) elements. This uplink signal s has unit norm, ∥s∥ 2 =1, which makes the parameter ρ have the interpretation of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) after coherent integration over the signal. Assume that the uplink signal s conveys a sequence of symbols (e.g., a reference signal sequence), where the sequence is τ symbols long, which implies that s is a vector of length τ. 
     If the uplink signal s were fixed, so as to be constant regardless of which beam the wireless device detected, the task of the radio network node would be to detect the most likely beam, which translates into 
     
       
         
           
             
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                 𝒢 
               
             
             
                
               
                 Y 
                 - 
                 
                   
                     ρ 
                   
                   ⁢ 
                   
                     gs 
                     T 
                   
                 
               
                
             
           
         
       
     
     or equivalently 
     
       
         
           
             
               max 
               
                 g 
                 ∈ 
                 𝒢 
               
             
                
             Re 
             ⁢ 
             
               
                 { 
                 
                   
                     s 
                     T 
                   
                   ⁢ 
                   Y 
                   ⁢ 
                   g 
                 
                 } 
               
               . 
             
           
         
       
     
     If the true beam is g, then an error is made in favor of another candidate beam, g b′  if Re{s T Yg b′ }&gt;Re{s T Yg b }. This can also be expressed as 
       Re{√{square root over (ρ)} g   b   H   g   b′   +s   T   Wg   b′ }&gt;Re{√{square root over (π)} Nβ+s   T   Wg   b }.
 
     In this case, for a fixed set of beams, only the SNR affects the detection performance. 
     By contrast, the wireless device  14  according to embodiments herein selects the uplink signal s as a function of g. According to some embodiments, for example, the wireless device  14  and the radio network node  12  have agreed upon a mapping  34  of the beams to uplink signals, s=M(g), such that s b =M(g b ), for all b=1, . . . , B. Hence, the wireless device  14  will transmit an uplink signal s based on the channel estimate  28  that it has obtained. The detection task at the radio network node  12  is to jointly detect the uplink signal s and the channel estimate g: 
     
       
         
           
             
               min 
               
                 g 
                 ∈ 
                 𝒢 
               
             
             
               
                  
                 
                   Y 
                   - 
                   
                     
                       ρ 
                     
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       
                         gM 
                         ⁡ 
                         ( 
                         g 
                         ) 
                       
                       T 
                     
                   
                 
                  
               
               . 
             
           
         
       
     
     If the true channel-signal pair is (g b , M(g b ))=(g b , s b ), then an error is made in favor of another candidate channel-signal pair, (g b′ , s b′ ) if 
       Re{√{square root over (ρ)} s   b′   T   s*   b   g   b   H   g   b′   +s   b′   T   W   H   g   b′ }&gt;Re{√{square root over (ρ)} Nβ+s   b   T   W   H   g   b }.
 
     Here, two factors affect the detection performance. First, having a higher SNR will improve the performance. Second, importantly, the product Re{s b′   T s* b g b   H g b′ } will affect the performance, demonstrating that the choice of the signal mapping M(⋅) affects performance. For best performance, this metric should be small for all pairs of b and b′, b≠b′. In general, the metric is non-zero. However, it is zero in the following two special cases:
         a. When the beams are all mutually orthogonal: g b   H g b′ =0, b=1, . . . , B, b′=1, . . . , B, b≠b′, which is generally not the case.   b. When the uplink signals are all mutually orthogonal s b   H s b′ =0, b=1, . . . , B, b′=1, . . . , B, b≠b′. Generally, for these uplink signals to be mutually orthogonal, the number of symbols in the uplink signals need to be equal to (or larger than) the number of beams, τ=B, which is not desirable as the overhead for uplink signals increases while the total uplink resources are limited.       

     Some embodiments design the mapping M(⋅) such that given a sequence length τ and the set of beams  , the inner product s b   H s b′  is small when g b   H g b′  is large. In one embodiment, the optimal mapping is obtained in a max-min sense, mathematically: 
     
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   min 
                   
                     
                       M 
                       : 
                       
                         s 
                         b 
                       
                     
                     = 
                     
                       M 
                       ⁡ 
                       ( 
                       
                         g 
                         b 
                       
                       ) 
                     
                        
                   
                 
                   
                 
                   
                     max 
                     
                       b 
                       , 
                       
                         b 
                         ′ 
                       
                     
                   
                   
                     b 
                     ≠ 
                     
                       b 
                       ′ 
                     
                   
                 
                    
                 Re 
                 ⁢ 
                 
                   { 
                   
                     
                       s 
                       
                         b 
                         ′ 
                       
                       T 
                     
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       s 
                       b 
                       * 
                     
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       g 
                       b 
                       H 
                     
                     ⁢ 
                     
                       g 
                       
                         b 
                         ′ 
                       
                     
                   
                   } 
                 
               
               = 
               
                 
                   min 
                   S 
                 
                    
                 
                   ζ 
                   ⁡ 
                   ( 
                   
                     S 
                     , 
                     G 
                   
                   ) 
                 
               
             
             , 
             where 
           
         
       
       
         
           
             
               S 
               = 
               
                 
                   
                     [ 
                     
                       
                         s 
                         1 
                       
                       , 
                       … 
                          
                       , 
                       
                         s 
                         B 
                       
                     
                     ] 
                   
                   ⁢ 
                       
                   and 
                   ⁢ 
                       
                   G 
                 
                 = 
                 
                   [ 
                   
                     
                       g 
                       1 
                     
                     , 
                     … 
                         
                     , 
                     
                       g 
                       B 
                     
                   
                   ] 
                 
               
             
             , 
             and 
           
         
       
       
         
           
             
               ζ 
               ⁡ 
               ( 
               
                 S 
                 , 
                 G 
               
               ) 
             
             = 
             
               
                 
                   max 
                   
                     b 
                     , 
                     
                       b 
                       ′ 
                     
                   
                 
                 
                   b 
                   ≠ 
                   
                     b 
                     ′ 
                   
                 
               
                  
               Re 
               ⁢ 
               
                 { 
                 
                   
                     s 
                     
                       b 
                       ′ 
                     
                     T 
                   
                   ⁢ 
                   
                     s 
                     b 
                     * 
                   
                   ⁢ 
                   
                     g 
                     b 
                     H 
                   
                   ⁢ 
                   
                     g 
                     
                       b 
                       ′ 
                     
                   
                 
                 } 
               
             
           
         
       
     
     For illustration, say that the beams between the N antenna radio network node  12  and the single-antenna wireless device  14  are (uniform linear array with λ/2-spacing) 
     
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   
                     
                       g 
                       b 
                     
                     = 
                     
                       
                         
                           β 
                         
                         [ 
                         
                           1 
                           , 
                           … 
                              
                           , 
                           
                             e 
                             
                               2 
                               ⁢ 
                               π 
                               ⁢ 
                               
                                 j 
                                 ⁡ 
                                 ( 
                                 
                                   n 
                                   - 
                                   1 
                                 
                                 ) 
                               
                               ⁢ 
                               
                                 
                                   b 
                                   - 
                                   1 
                                 
                                 B 
                               
                             
                           
                           , 
                           … 
                              
                           , 
                           
                             e 
                             
                               2 
                               ⁢ 
                               π 
                               ⁢ 
                               
                                 j 
                                 ⁡ 
                                 ( 
                                 
                                   N 
                                   - 
                                   1 
                                 
                                 ) 
                               
                               ⁢ 
                               
                                 
                                   b 
                                   - 
                                   1 
                                 
                                 B 
                               
                             
                           
                         
                         ] 
                       
                       T 
                     
                   
                   , 
                 
               
               
                 
                   ( 
                   1 
                   ) 
                 
               
             
           
         
       
     
     for all b=1, . . . , B. The inner product of two beams is 
     
       
         
           
             
               
                 g 
                 b 
                 H 
               
               ⁢ 
               
                 g 
                 
                   b 
                   ′ 
                 
               
             
             = 
             
               β 
               ⁢ 
               
                 
                   ∑ 
                   
                     n 
                     = 
                     1 
                   
                   N 
                 
                 
                   
                     e 
                     
                       2 
                       ⁢ 
                       π 
                       ⁢ 
                       
                         j 
                         ⁡ 
                         ( 
                         
                           n 
                           - 
                           1 
                         
                         ) 
                       
                       ⁢ 
                       
                         
                           
                             b 
                             ′ 
                           
                           - 
                           b 
                         
                         B 
                       
                     
                   
                   . 
                 
               
             
           
         
       
     
     If 
     
       
         
           
             v 
             = 
             
               B 
               N 
             
           
         
       
     
     is an integer, then every vth beam is orthogonal, 
     
       
         
           
             
               
                 
                   g 
                   b 
                   H 
                 
                 ⁢ 
                 
                   g 
                   
                     b 
                     + 
                     v 
                   
                 
               
               = 
               
                 
                   β 
                   ⁢ 
                   
                     
                       ∑ 
                       
                         n 
                         = 
                         1 
                       
                       N 
                     
                     
                       e 
                       
                         2 
                         ⁢ 
                         π 
                         ⁢ 
                         j 
                         ⁢ 
                         
                           
                             ( 
                             
                               n 
                               - 
                               1 
                             
                             ) 
                           
                           N 
                         
                       
                     
                   
                 
                 = 
                 0 
               
             
             , 
           
         
       
     
     and hence, v orthogonal sequences are sufficient to make the desired metric 0, ζ(S, G)=0. Accordingly, in some embodiments, the number of candidate uplink signals in the set from which the uplink signal is selected may be less than or equal to 
     
       
         
           
             
               v 
               = 
               
                 B 
                 N 
               
             
             , 
           
         
       
     
     where B is the number of beams over which the radio network node  12  is configured to transmit and where N is the number of transmit antennas at the radio network node  12 . 
     According to some embodiments, then, the wireless device  14  may receive and measure the downlink reference signal  24  from the radio network node  12 , in order to obtain channel information  28  in the form of an estimate ĝ of the downlink channel g. The wireless device  14  may then select, based on this estimate ĝ, an uplink signal s to transmit. The wireless device  14  may for example map the estimate ĝ onto an uplink signal s according to the mapping M(ĝ) between different possible channel estimates and different respective uplink signals. The wireless device  14  may have obtained this mapping M(ĝ) from the radio network node  12 , or the mapping M(ĝ) may be predefined. In some embodiments, by way of the mapping M(ĝ), the uplink signal s encodes the estimate ĝ in the form of an index, e.g., a precoding matrix indicator (PMI). Regardless, the wireless device  14  transmits the selected uplink signal s to the radio network node  12  over the uplink channel  18 . 
     The radio network node  12  correspondingly receives the uplink signal s over the uplink channel  18 . The uplink signal s depends on the downlink channel g in two ways. First, the uplink signal s encodes information about the downlink channel g, e.g., according to the mapping M(ĝ). Second, the uplink signal s has propagated over an uplink channel  18  that is, or is assumed to be, reciprocal with the downlink channel g. Viewing the uplink signal s as a “pilot”, albeit a priori unknown to the radio network node  12 , the spatial characteristics of the received per-antenna signals themselves contain information about the downlink channel g. Such spatial characteristics may include for example phase shifts between the per-antenna signals. Accordingly, the radio network node  12  determines its estimate of the downlink channel g using an algorithm that simultaneously exploits both of these dependencies. The radio network node  12  may for example jointly detect the uplink signal s and estimate the downlink channel g from the uplink signal s, using an algorithm that exploits a combination of uplink-downlink reciprocity and knowledge of the mapping M(ĝ). In this way, the wireless device  14  herein may assist the radio network node  12  with downlink channel estimation, by exploiting uplink-downlink reciprocity combined with channel information feedback. Such may improve the uplink and/or downlink channel estimation quality, enable the use of reciprocity-based channel estimation also in cases where the uplink SNR is too low for conventional methods, and/or enable improved multiplexing of uplink reference signals for reciprocity, e.g., for LTE or NR SRS channel. 
       FIG.  2    shows the probability of incorrectly detecting a user beam, according to the results of a simulation where the beams are generated according to equation (1). The number of beams B is 70 and the number of radio network node antennas N is 10, making v=7. In the simulation, there are τ orthogonal uplink signals which are assigned to every τth beam. To guarantee that the metric is 0, it is sufficient to use τ=7. The “No feedback” case is when the uplink signal s is fixed, which serves as a baseline. The cases “τ=2”, “τ=3”, “τ=5”, “τ=7” consider the embodiments described above where the τ uplink signals are mutually orthogonal. These cases outperform the baseline and larger τ leads to smaller probability of error. The “τ=3, improved” case is when the uplink signals are non-orthogonal but optimized in a way that tries to minimize the metric ζ. The result is that the performance comes close to the case of τ=7 but with less than half ( 3/7) of the uplink resources, when the uplink signal mapping is chosen appropriately. 
       FIGS.  3  and  4    show the results of a more realistic simulation, where the wireless device  14  is not located in the “grid-of-beams world” but instead located in line-of-sight to the radio network node  12  with an arbitrary angle-of-arrival. The considered methods are the same as in  FIG.  2   . The radio network node  12  is equipped with a horizontal uniform linear array. The wireless device  14  “quantizes” its channel to the closest (in angle) beam from the set g and maps it to the corresponding uplink signal  30 , e.g., an uplink reference signal. The wireless device  14  sends the uplink signal  30  over the uplink channel  18  (which again, is line-of-sight with an arbitrary angle). The radio network node  12  then detects which of the quantized beams is most likely. 
     Observe again that the performance of the “improved” signal mapping is very good even though the wireless device  14  quantizes its channel estimates by projecting onto a grid.  FIG.  3    shows that the probability of error is smaller than the baseline, and comparable to the case of τ=7 (which uses more than twice the amount of uplink resources) for a wide range of SNR values.  FIG.  4    shows the angle-of-arrival estimation error (rather than the probability of beam mis-detection), and the conclusions are similar to in  FIG.  3   . 
     In view of the above modifications and variations,  FIG.  5    shows a method performed by a wireless device  14  according to some embodiments. The method includes receiving a downlink reference signal  24  from a radio network  12  node over a downlink channel  16  (Block  110 ). The method further includes determining channel information  28  based on measurement of the downlink reference signal  24  (Block  120 ). The method may then include transmitting, to the radio network node  12  over an uplink channel  18 , an uplink signal  30  (e.g., an uplink reference signal) that implicitly conveys the determined channel information  28  (Block  130 ). 
     In some embodiments, the uplink signal  30  is a sounding reference signal. 
     In other embodiments, the uplink signal  30  is a random access preamble. 
     In some embodiments, the channel information  28  is, or encodes, a quantized estimate of the uplink channel  18  or the downlink channel  16 . 
     In some embodiments, the downlink reference signal  24  is received, and the uplink signal  30  is transmitted, using time division duplexing (TDD). Alternatively or additionally, the downlink channel  16  is, or is assumed to be, fully reciprocal with the uplink channel  18 . 
     In some embodiments, the method also comprises selecting, from among multiple candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N (e.g., multiple candidate uplink reference signals) in a set  32 , the uplink signal  30  to transmit, based on the determined channel information  28  (Block  125 ). In this case, the different candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N in the set  32  may implicitly convey different respective channel information. In one embodiment, the set  32  is a finite set of pairwise orthogonal uplink signals. In another embodiment, by contrast, the set  32  is a finite set of uplink signals that includes at least some uplink signals which are not pairwise orthogonal but all pairs of uplink signals in the set have a correlation below a threshold. Alternatively or additionally, the different candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N in the set  32  may use different uplink signal resources, where the different uplink signal resources include different signal sequences, different time resources, different frequency combs, different frequency patterns, and/or different cyclic shifts. Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, the different candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N are candidate uplink reference signals or are different random access preambles. 
     Regardless, in one or more embodiments, the method alternatively or additionally includes receiving, from the radio network node  12 , a mapping  34  that maps the different candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N to different respective channel information (Block  100 ). In this case, selecting the uplink signal  30  to transmit may be based on the mapping. 
     In some embodiments, the number of candidate uplink signals in the set  32  is less than or equal to 
     
       
         
           
             
               v 
               = 
               
                 B 
                 N 
               
             
             , 
           
         
       
     
     where B is a number of beams over which the radio network node  12  is configured to transmit and where N is a number of transmit antennas at the radio network node  12 . 
     In some embodiments, the method further comprises, after transmitting the uplink signal  30 , receiving, from the radio network node  12  over the downlink channel  16 , a precoded downlink transmission that is precoded based on the determined channel information  28  (Block  140 ). In one such embodiment, the precoded downlink transmission includes a downlink reference signal, where the downlink reference signal is based on the transmitted uplink signal  30 . 
       FIG.  6    shows a method performed by the radio network node  12  according to some embodiments. The method includes transmitting a downlink reference signal  24  over a downlink channel  16  (Block  210 ). The method also includes receiving an uplink signal  30  from a wireless device  14  over an uplink channel  18  (Block  220 ). The method further includes jointly (i) identifying which candidate uplink signal in a set  32  of candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N is the received uplink signal  30 ; and (ii) determining an estimate  42  of the uplink channel  18  from the received uplink signal  30  (Block  230 ). The method may further include determining channel information  28  implicitly conveyed by the identified candidate uplink signal (Block  240 ), where different candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N in the set  32  implicitly convey different channel information. The method may also include determining an estimate  22  of the downlink channel  16  based on the determined channel information  28  and the determined estimate  42  of the uplink channel  18  (Block  250 ). 
     In some embodiments, the method further includes transmitting, to the wireless device  14 , a mapping  34  that maps the different candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N in the set  32  to different respective channel information (Block  200 ). In this case, determining the channel information  28  implicitly conveyed by the identified candidate uplink signal may comprise mapping the identified candidate uplink signal to channel information according to the mapping  34 . 
     In some embodiments, jointly identifying and determining may be performed such that the identified candidate uplink signal implicitly conveys channel information that corresponds to the determined estimate  42  of the uplink channel  18 . 
     In one embodiment, the set  32  is a finite set of pairwise orthogonal uplink signals. In another embodiment, by contrast, the set  32  is a finite set of uplink signals that includes at least some uplink signals which are not pairwise orthogonal but all pairs of uplink signals in the set have a correlation below a threshold. Alternatively or additionally, the different candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N in the set  32  may use different uplink signal resources, where the different uplink signal resources include different signal sequences, different time resources, different frequency combs, different frequency patterns, and/or different cyclic shifts. Alternatively or additionally, in some embodiments, the different candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N are candidate uplink reference signals or are different random access preambles. 
     In some embodiments, the uplink signal  30  is a sounding reference signal. 
     In other embodiments, the uplink signal  30  is a random access preamble. 
     In some embodiments, the channel information  28  is, or encodes, a quantized estimate of the uplink channel  18  or the downlink channel  16 . 
     In some embodiments, the downlink reference signal  24  is received, and the uplink signal is transmitted, using time division duplexing (TDD). Alternatively or additionally, the downlink channel  16  is, or is assumed to be, fully reciprocal with the uplink channel  18 . 
     Regardless, in one or more embodiments, the method alternatively or additionally includes, based on the determined estimate  22  of the downlink channel  16 , precoding a downlink transmission to the wireless device  14  (Block  260 ), and transmitting the precoded downlink transmission to the wireless device  14  over the downlink channel  16  (Block  270 ). In one such embodiment, the precoded downlink transmission includes a downlink reference signal, in which case the method may further comprise selecting the downlink reference signal  24  based on the identified candidate uplink signal. 
     In some embodiments, the number of candidate uplink signals  30 - 1  . . .  30 -N in the set  32  is less than or equal to 
     
       
         
           
             
               v 
               = 
               
                 B 
                 N 
               
             
             , 
           
         
       
     
     where B is a number of beams over which the radio network node  12  is configured to transmit and where N is a number of transmit antennas at the radio network node  12 . 
     Embodiments herein also include corresponding apparatuses. Embodiments herein for instance include a wireless device  14  configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the wireless device  14 . 
     Embodiments also include a wireless device  14  comprising processing circuitry and power supply circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the wireless device  14 . The power supply circuitry is configured to supply power to the wireless device  14 . 
     Embodiments further include a wireless device  14  comprising processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the wireless device  14 . In some embodiments, the wireless device  14  further comprises communication circuitry. 
     Embodiments further include a wireless device  14  comprising processing circuitry and memory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the wireless device  14  is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the wireless device  14 . 
     Embodiments moreover include a user equipment (UE). The UE comprises an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals. The UE also comprises radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the wireless device  14 . In some embodiments, the UE also comprises an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry. The UE may comprise an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry. The UE may also comprise a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE. 
     Embodiments herein also include a radio network node  12  configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the radio network node  12 . 
     Embodiments also include a radio network node  12  comprising processing circuitry and power supply circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the radio network node  12 . The power supply circuitry is configured to supply power to the radio network node  12 . 
     Embodiments further include a radio network node  12  comprising processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the radio network node  12 . In some embodiments, the radio network node  12  further comprises communication circuitry. 
     Embodiments further include a radio network node  12  comprising processing circuitry and memory. The memory contains instructions executable by the processing circuitry whereby the radio network node  12  is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the radio network node  12 . 
     More particularly, the apparatuses described above may perform the methods herein and any other processing by implementing any functional means, modules, units, or circuitry. In one embodiment, for example, the apparatuses comprise respective circuits or circuitry configured to perform the steps shown in the method figures. The circuits or circuitry in this regard may comprise circuits dedicated to performing certain functional processing and/or one or more microprocessors in conjunction with memory. For instance, the circuitry may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory may include program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein, in several embodiments. In embodiments that employ memory, the memory stores program code that, when executed by the one or more processors, carries out the techniques described herein. 
       FIG.  7    for example illustrates a wireless device  14  as implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments. As shown, the wireless device  14  includes processing circuitry  310  and communication circuitry  320 . The communication circuitry  320  (e.g., radio circuitry) is configured to transmit and/or receive information to and/or from one or more other nodes, e.g., via any communication technology. Such communication may occur via one or more antennas that are either internal or external to the wireless device  14 . The processing circuitry  310  is configured to perform processing described above, e.g., in  FIG.  5   , such as by executing instructions stored in memory  330 . The processing circuitry  310  in this regard may implement certain functional means, units, or modules. 
       FIG.  8    illustrates a radio network node  12  as implemented in accordance with one or more embodiments. As shown, the radio network node  12  includes processing circuitry  410  and communication circuitry  420 . The communication circuitry  420  is configured to transmit and/or receive information to and/or from one or more other nodes, e.g., via any communication technology. The processing circuitry  410  is configured to perform processing described above, e.g., in  FIG.  6   , such as by executing instructions stored in memory  430 . The processing circuitry  410  in this regard may implement certain functional means, units, or modules. 
     Those skilled in the art will also appreciate that embodiments herein further include corresponding computer programs. 
     A computer program comprises instructions which, when executed on at least one processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to carry out any of the respective processing described above. A computer program in this regard may comprise one or more code modules corresponding to the means or units described above. 
     Embodiments further include a carrier containing such a computer program. This carrier may comprise one of an electronic signal, optical signal, radio signal, or computer readable storage medium. 
     In this regard, embodiments herein also include a computer program product stored on a non-transitory computer readable (storage or recording) medium and comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor of an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform as described above. 
     Embodiments further include a computer program product comprising program code portions for performing the steps of any of the embodiments herein when the computer program product is executed by a computing device. This computer program product may be stored on a computer readable recording medium. 
     Additional embodiments will now be described. At least some of these embodiments may be described as applicable in certain contexts and/or wireless network types for illustrative purposes, but the embodiments are similarly applicable in other contexts and/or wireless network types not explicitly described. 
     Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in any appropriate type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wireless network, such as the example wireless network illustrated in  FIG.  9   . For simplicity, the wireless network of  FIG.  9    only depicts network  906 , network nodes  960  and  960   b , and WDs  910 ,  910   b , and  910   c . In practice, a wireless network may further include any additional elements suitable to support communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, a service provider, or any other network node or end device. Of the illustrated components, network node  960  and wireless device (WD)  910  are depicted with additional detail. The wireless device  910  may be one example of the wireless device  14  herein, and the network node  960  may be one example of the radio network node  12  herein. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate the wireless devices&#39; access to and/or use of the services provided by, or via, the wireless network. 
     The wireless network may comprise and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio network or other similar type of system. In some embodiments, the wireless network may be configured to operate according to specific standards or other types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particular embodiments of the wireless network may implement communication standards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards. 
     Network  906  may comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet data networks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices. 
     Network node  960  and WD  910  comprise various components described in more detail below. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, 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. 
     As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the wireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the wireless network. 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)). Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and may then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units 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). Yet further examples of network nodes include 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), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&amp;M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or MDTs. As another example, a network node may be a virtual network node as described in more detail below. More generally, however, network nodes may represent any suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to enable and/or provide a wireless device with access to the wireless network or to provide some service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network. 
     In  FIG.  9   , network node  960  includes processing circuitry  970 , device readable medium  980 , interface  990 , auxiliary equipment  984 , power source  986 , power circuitry  987 , and antenna  962 . Although network node  960  illustrated in the example wireless network of  FIG.  9    may represent a device that includes the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise network nodes with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that a network node comprises any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Moreover, while the components of network node  960  are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, a network node may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g., device readable medium  980  may comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules). 
     Similarly, network node  960  may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which network node  960  comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeB&#39;s. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, network node  960  may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium  980  for the different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna  962  may be shared by the RATs). Network node  960  may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node  960 , such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, 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  960 . 
     Processing circuitry  970  is configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by a network node. These operations performed by processing circuitry  970  may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry  970  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. 
     Processing circuitry  970  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 network node  960  components, such as device readable medium  980 , network node  960  functionality. For example, processing circuitry  970  may execute instructions stored in device readable medium  980  or in memory within processing circuitry  970 . Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry  970  may include a system on a chip (SOC). 
     In some embodiments, processing circuitry  970  may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry  972  and baseband processing circuitry  974 . In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry  972  and baseband processing circuitry  974  may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry  972  and baseband processing circuitry  974  may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units 
     In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB or other such network device may be performed by processing circuitry  970  executing instructions stored on device readable medium  980  or memory within processing circuitry  970 . In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry  970  without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry  970  can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry  970  alone or to other components of network node  960 , but are enjoyed by network node  960  as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally. 
     Device readable medium  980  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 processing circuitry  970 . Device readable medium  980  may store any suitable instructions, data or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry  970  and, utilized by network node  960 . Device readable medium  980  may be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry  970  and/or any data received via interface  990 . In some embodiments, processing circuitry  970  and device readable medium  980  may be considered to be integrated. 
     Interface  990  is used in the wired or wireless communication of signalling and/or data between network node  960 , network  906 , and/or WDs  910 . As illustrated, interface  990  comprises port(s)/terminal(s)  994  to send and receive data, for example to and from network  906  over a wired connection. Interface  990  also includes radio front end circuitry  992  that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna  962 . Radio front end circuitry  992  comprises filters  998  and amplifiers  996 . Radio front end circuitry  992  may be connected to antenna  962  and processing circuitry  970 . Radio front end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna  962  and processing circuitry  970 . Radio front end circuitry  992  may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry  992  may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters  998  and/or amplifiers  996 . The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna  962 . Similarly, when receiving data, antenna  962  may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry  992 . The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry  970 . In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. 
     In certain alternative embodiments, network node  960  may not include separate radio front end circuitry  992 , instead, processing circuitry  970  may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna  962  without separate radio front end circuitry  992 . Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry  972  may be considered a part of interface  990 . In still other embodiments, interface  990  may include one or more ports or terminals  994 , radio front end circuitry  992 , and RF transceiver circuitry  972 , as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface  990  may communicate with baseband processing circuitry  974 , which is part of a digital unit (not shown). 
     Antenna  962  may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna  962  may be coupled to radio front end circuitry  990  and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna  962  may comprise one or more omni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to transmit/receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. An omni-directional antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals in any direction, a sector antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals from devices within a particular area, and a panel antenna may be a line of sight antenna used to transmit/receive radio signals in a relatively straight line. In some instances, the use of more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna  962  may be separate from network node  960  and may be connectable to network node  960  through an interface or port. 
     Antenna  962 , interface  990 , and/or processing circuitry  970  may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna  962 , interface  990 , and/or processing circuitry  970  may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment. 
     Power circuitry  987  may comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node  960  with power for performing the functionality described herein. Power circuitry  987  may receive power from power source  986 . Power source  986  and/or power circuitry  987  may be configured to provide power to the various components of network node  960  in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source  986  may either be included in, or external to, power circuitry  987  and/or network node  960 . For example, network node  960  may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry  987 . As a further example, power source  986  may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry  987 . The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used. 
     Alternative embodiments of network node  960  may include additional components beyond those shown in  FIG.  9    that may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the network node&#39;s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node  960  may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into network node  960  and to allow output of information from network node  960 . This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node  960 . 
     As used herein, wireless device (WD) refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, the term WD may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE). Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air. In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a WD may be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the network. Examples of a WD include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, a gaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback appliance, a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a tablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE). a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, etc. A WD may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and may in this case be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD 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 WD and/or a network node. The WD may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the WD may be a UE implementing the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, a WD may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation. A WD as described above may represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal. 
     As illustrated, wireless device  910  includes antenna  911 , interface  914 , processing circuitry  920 , device readable medium  930 , user interface equipment  932 , auxiliary equipment  934 , power source  936  and power circuitry  937 . WD  910  may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by WD  910 , such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, NB-IoT, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or set of chips as other components within WD  910 . 
     Antenna  911  may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface  914 . In certain alternative embodiments, antenna  911  may be separate from WD  910  and be connectable to WD  910  through an interface or port. Antenna  911 , interface  914 , and/or processing circuitry  920  may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a network node and/or another WD. In some embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna  911  may be considered an interface. 
     As illustrated, interface  914  comprises radio front end circuitry  912  and antenna  911 . Radio front end circuitry  912  comprise one or more filters  918  and amplifiers  916 . Radio front end circuitry  914  is connected to antenna  911  and processing circuitry  920 , and is configured to condition signals communicated between antenna  911  and processing circuitry  920 . Radio front end circuitry  912  may be coupled to or a part of antenna  911 . In some embodiments, WD  910  may not include separate radio front end circuitry  912 ; rather, processing circuitry  920  may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna  911 . Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry  922  may be considered a part of interface  914 . Radio front end circuitry  912  may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry  912  may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters  918  and/or amplifiers  916 . The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna  911 . Similarly, when receiving data, antenna  911  may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry  912 . The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry  920 . In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. 
     Processing circuitry  920  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 WD  910  components, such as device readable medium  930 , WD  910  functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry  920  may execute instructions stored in device readable medium  930  or in memory within processing circuitry  920  to provide the functionality disclosed herein. 
     As illustrated, processing circuitry  920  includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry  922 , baseband processing circuitry  924 , and application processing circuitry  926 . In other embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry  920  of WD  910  may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry  922 , baseband processing circuitry  924 , and application processing circuitry  926  may be on separate chips or sets of chips. In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry  924  and application processing circuitry  926  may be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry  922  may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry  922  and baseband processing circuitry  924  may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processing circuitry  926  may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry  922 , baseband processing circuitry  924 , and application processing circuitry  926  may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry  922  may be a part of interface  914 . RF transceiver circuitry  922  may condition RF signals for processing circuitry  920 . 
     In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by a WD may be provided by processing circuitry  920  executing instructions stored on device readable medium  930 , which in certain embodiments may be a computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry  920  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 device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry  920  can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry  920  alone or to other components of WD  910 , but are enjoyed by WD  910  as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally. 
     Processing circuitry  920  may be configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by a WD. These operations, as performed by processing circuitry  920 , may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry  920  by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by WD  910 , 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. 
     Device readable medium  930  may be operable to store a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry  920 . Device readable medium  930  may include computer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., 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 processing circuitry  920 . In some embodiments, processing circuitry  920  and device readable medium  930  may be considered to be integrated. 
     User interface equipment  932  may provide components that allow for a human user to interact with WD  910 . Such interaction may be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment  932  may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the user to provide input to WD  910 . The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface equipment  932  installed in WD  910 . For example, if WD  910  is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if WD  910  is a smart meter, the interaction may be through a screen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected). User interface equipment  932  may include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interface equipment  932  is configured to allow input of information into WD  910 , and is connected to processing circuitry  920  to allow processing circuitry  920  to process the input information. User interface equipment  932  may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity or other sensor, keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuitry. User interface equipment  932  is also configured to allow output of information from WD  910 , and to allow processing circuitry  920  to output information from WD  910 . User interface equipment  932  may include, for example, a speaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, of user interface equipment  932 , WD  910  may communicate with end users and/or the wireless network, and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein. 
     Auxiliary equipment  934  is operable to provide more specific functionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This may comprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliary equipment  934  may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario. 
     Power source  936  may, in some embodiments, be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or power cells, may also be used. WD  910  may further comprise power circuitry  937  for delivering power from power source  936  to the various parts of WD  910  which need power from power source  936  to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry  937  may in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry  937  may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case WD  910  may be connectable to the external power source (such as an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power circuitry  937  may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source  936 . This may be, for example, for the charging of power source  936 . Power circuitry  937  may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source  936  to make the power suitable for the respective components of WD  910  to which power is supplied. 
       FIG.  10    illustrates one embodiment of a UE in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE 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, a UE 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). UE  10200  may be any UE identified by the 3 rd  Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. UE  1000 , as illustrated in  FIG.  10   , is one example of a WD configured for communication in accordance with one or more communication standards promulgated by the 3 rd  Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP&#39;s GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards. As mentioned previously, the term WD and UE may be used interchangeable. Accordingly, although  FIG.  10    is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a WD, and vice-versa. 
     In  FIG.  10   , UE  1000  includes processing circuitry  1001  that is operatively coupled to input/output interface  1005 , radio frequency (RF) interface  1009 , network connection interface  1011 , memory  1015  including random access memory (RAM)  1017 , read-only memory (ROM)  1019 , and storage medium  1021  or the like, communication subsystem  1031 , power source  1033 , and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Storage medium  1021  includes operating system  1023 , application program  1025 , and data  1027 . In other embodiments, storage medium  1021  may include other similar types of information. Certain UEs may utilize all of the components shown in  FIG.  10   , or only a subset of the components. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc. 
     In  FIG.  10   , processing circuitry  1001  may be configured to process computer instructions and data. Processing circuitry  1001  may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute machine instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored program, 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  1001  may include two central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer. 
     In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface  1005  may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, output device, or input and output device. UE  1000  may be configured to use an output device via input/output interface  1005 . An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from UE  1000 . The output device may be 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. UE  1000  may be configured to use an input device via input/output interface  1005  to allow a user to capture information into UE  1000 . The input device may 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, another like sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor. 
     In  FIG.  10   , RF interface  1009  may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface  1011  may be configured to provide a communication interface to network  1043   a . Network  1043   a  may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network  1043   a  may comprise a Wi-Fi network. Network connection interface  1011  may be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface used to communicate with one or more other devices over a communication network according to one or more communication protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, SONET, ATM, or the like. Network connection interface  1011  may implement receiver and transmitter functionality appropriate to the communication network links (e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter and receiver functions may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately. 
     RAM  1017  may be configured to interface via bus  1002  to processing circuitry  1001  to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as the operating system, application programs, and device drivers. ROM  1019  may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuitry  1001 . For example, ROM  1019  may be configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basic input and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory. Storage medium  1021  may be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, or flash drives. In one example, storage medium  1021  may be configured to include operating system  1023 , application program  1025  such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application, and data file  1027 . Storage medium  1021  may store, for use by UE  1000 , any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems. 
     Storage medium  1021  may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppy disk drive, 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 a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storage medium  1021  may allow UE  1000  to access computer-executable instructions, application programs or the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied in storage medium  1021 , which may comprise a device readable medium. 
     In  FIG.  10   , processing circuitry  1001  may be configured to communicate with network  1043   b  using communication subsystem  1031 . Network  1043   a  and network  1043   b  may be the same network or networks or different network or networks. Communication subsystem  1031  may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with network  1043   b . For example, communication subsystem  1031  may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication such as another WD, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN) according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.10, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver may include transmitter  1033  and/or receiver  1035  to implement transmitter or receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links (e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter  1033  and receiver  1035  of each transceiver may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately. 
     In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of communication subsystem  1031  may include 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. For example, communication subsystem  1031  may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. Network  1043   b  may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network  1043   b  may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-field network. Power source  1013  may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE  1000 . 
     The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of UE  1000  or partitioned across multiple components of UE  1000 . Further, the features, benefits, and/or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example, communication subsystem  1031  may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Further, processing circuitry  1001  may be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus  1002 . In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry  1001  perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any of such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry  1001  and communication subsystem  1031 . In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware. 
       FIG.  11    is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment  1100  in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or to a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device or any other type of communication device) 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 (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines or containers executing on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks). 
     In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments  1100  hosted by one or more of hardware nodes  1130 . Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node), then the network node may be entirely virtualized. 
     The functions may be implemented by one or more applications  1120  (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Applications  1120  are run in virtualization environment  1100  which provides hardware  1130  comprising processing circuitry  1160  and memory  1190 . Memory  1190  contains instructions  1195  executable by processing circuitry  1160  whereby application  1120  is operative to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein. 
     Virtualization environment  1100 , comprises general-purpose or special-purpose network hardware devices  1130  comprising a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry  1160 , which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitry including digital or analog hardware components or special purpose processors. Each hardware device may comprise memory  1190 - 1  which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions  1195  or software executed by processing circuitry  1160 . Each hardware device may comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs)  1170 , also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interface  1180 . Each hardware device may also include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media  1190 - 2  having stored therein software  1195  and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry  1160 . Software  1195  may include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers  1150  (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines  1140  as well as software allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. 
     Virtual machines  1140 , comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer  1150  or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual appliance  1120  may be implemented on one or more of virtual machines  1140 , and the implementations may be made in different ways. 
     During operation, processing circuitry  1160  executes software  1195  to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer  1150 , which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer  1150  may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine  1140 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  11   , hardware  1130  may be a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware  1130  may comprise antenna  11225  and may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware  1130  may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE)) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration (MANO)  11100 , which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications  1120 . 
     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. 
     In the context of NFV, virtual machine  1140  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 virtual machines  1140 , and that part of hardware  1130  that executes that virtual machine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and/or hardware shared by that virtual machine with others of the virtual machines  1140 , forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE). 
     Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more virtual machines  1140  on top of hardware networking infrastructure  1130  and corresponds to application  1120  in  FIG.  11   . 
     In some embodiments, one or more radio units  11200  that each include one or more transmitters  11220  and one or more receivers  11210  may be coupled to one or more antennas  11225 . Radio units  11200  may communicate directly with hardware nodes  1130  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 signalling can be effected with the use of control system  11230  which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes  1130  and radio units  11200 . 
       FIG.  12    illustrates a telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer in accordance with some embodiments. In particular, with reference to  FIG.  12   , in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes telecommunication network  1210 , such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises access network  1211 , such as a radio access network, and core network  1214 . Access network  1211  comprises a plurality of base stations  1212   a ,  1212   b ,  1212   c , such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area  1213   a ,  1213   b ,  1213   c . Each base station  1212   a ,  1212   b ,  1212   c  is connectable to core network  1214  over a wired or wireless connection  1215 . A first UE  1291  located in coverage area  1213   c  is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station  1212   c . A second UE  1292  in coverage area  1213   a  is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station  1212   a . While a plurality of UEs  1291 ,  1292  are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station  1212 . 
     Telecommunication network  1210  is itself connected to host computer  1230 , which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. Host computer  1230  may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Connections  1221  and  1222  between telecommunication network  1210  and host computer  1230  may extend directly from core network  1214  to host computer  1230  or may go via an optional intermediate network  1220 . Intermediate network  1220  may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network  1220 , if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network  1220  may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown). 
     The communication system of  FIG.  12    as a whole enables connectivity between the connected UEs  1291 ,  1292  and host computer  1230 . The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection  1250 . Host computer  1230  and the connected UEs  1291 ,  1292  are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection  1250 , using access network  1211 , core network  1214 , any intermediate network  1220  and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection  1250  may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which OTT connection  1250  passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, base station  1212  may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from host computer  1230  to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE  1291 . Similarly, base station  1212  need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE  1291  towards the host computer  1230 . 
     Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE, base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to  FIG.  13   .  FIG.  13    illustrates host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments In communication system  1300 , host computer  1310  comprises hardware  1315  including communication interface  1316  configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system  1300 . Host computer  1310  further comprises processing circuitry  1318 , which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry  1318  may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Host computer  1310  further comprises software  1311 , which is stored in or accessible by host computer  1310  and executable by processing circuitry  1318 . Software  1311  includes host application  1312 . Host application  1312  may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE  1330  connecting via OTT connection  1350  terminating at UE  1330  and host computer  1310 . In providing the service to the remote user, host application  1312  may provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection  1350 . 
     Communication system  1300  further includes base station  1320  provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware  1325  enabling it to communicate with host computer  1310  and with UE  1330 . Hardware  1325  may include communication interface  1326  for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system  1300 , as well as radio interface  1327  for setting up and maintaining at least wireless connection  1370  with UE  1330  located in a coverage area (not shown in  FIG.  13   ) served by base station  1320 . Communication interface  1326  may be configured to facilitate connection  1360  to host computer  1310 . Connection  1360  may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in  FIG.  13   ) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, hardware  1325  of base station  1320  further includes processing circuitry  1328 , which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Base station  1320  further has software  1321  stored internally or accessible via an external connection. 
     Communication system  1300  further includes UE  1330  already referred to. Its hardware  1335  may include radio interface  1337  configured to set up and maintain wireless connection  1370  with a base station serving a coverage area in which UE  1330  is currently located. Hardware  1335  of UE  1330  further includes processing circuitry  1338 , which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. UE  1330  further comprises software  1331 , which is stored in or accessible by UE  1330  and executable by processing circuitry  1338 . Software  1331  includes client application  1332 . Client application  1332  may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE  1330 , with the support of host computer  1310 . In host computer  1310 , an executing host application  1312  may communicate with the executing client application  1332  via OTT connection  1350  terminating at UE  1330  and host computer  1310 . In providing the service to the user, client application  1332  may receive request data from host application  1312  and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection  1350  may transfer both the request data and the user data. Client application  1332  may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides. 
     It is noted that host computer  1310 , base station  1320  and UE  1330  illustrated in  FIG.  13    may be similar or identical to host computer  1230 , one of base stations  1212   a ,  1212   b ,  1212   c  and one of UEs  1291 ,  1292  of  FIG.  12   , respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in  FIG.  13    and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of  FIG.  12   . 
     In  FIG.  13   , OTT connection  1350  has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host computer  1310  and UE  1330  via base station  1320 , without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from UE  1330  or from the service provider operating host computer  1310 , or both. While OTT connection  1350  is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network). 
     Wireless connection  1370  between UE  1330  and base station  1320  is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE  1330  using OTT connection  1350 , in which wireless connection  1370  forms the last segment. 
     A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection  1350  between host computer  1310  and UE  1330 , in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection  1350  may be implemented in software  1311  and hardware  1315  of host computer  1310  or in software  1331  and hardware  1335  of UE  1330 , or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which OTT connection  1350  passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software  1311 ,  1331  may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection  1350  may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station  1320 , and it may be unknown or imperceptible to base station  1320 . Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating host computer  1310 &#39;s measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that software  1311  and  1331  causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection  1350  while it monitors propagation times, errors etc. 
       FIG.  14    is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to  FIGS.  12  and  13   . For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to  FIG.  14    will be included in this section. In step  1410 , the host computer provides user data. In substep  1411  (which may be optional) of step  1410 , the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step  1420 , the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step  1430  (which may be optional), the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step  1440  (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer. 
       FIG.  15    is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to  FIGS.  12  and  13   . For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to  FIG.  15    will be included in this section. In step  1510  of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown) the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step  1520 , the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step  1530  (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission. 
       FIG.  16    is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to  FIGS.  12  and  13   . For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to  FIG.  16    will be included in this section. In step  1610  (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step  1620 , the UE provides user data. In substep  1621  (which may be optional) of step  1620 , the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In substep  1611  (which may be optional) of step  1610 , the UE executes a client application which provides the user data in reaction to the received input data provided by the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE initiates, in substep  1630  (which may be optional), transmission of the user data to the host computer. In step  1640  of the method, the host computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. 
       FIG.  17    is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to  FIGS.  12  and  13   . For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to  FIG.  17    will be included in this section. In step  1710  (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In step  1720  (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step  1730  (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station. 
     Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unit to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. 
     In view of the above, then, embodiments herein generally include a communication system including a host computer. The host computer may comprise processing circuitry configured to provide user data. The host computer may also comprise a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE). The cellular network may comprise a base station having a radio interface and processing circuitry, the base station&#39;s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for a base station. 
     In some embodiments, the communication system further includes the base station. 
     In some embodiments, the communication system further includes the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station. 
     In some embodiments, the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data. In this case, the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application. 
     Embodiments herein also include a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE). The method comprises, at the host computer, providing user data. The method may also comprise, at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base station. The base station performs any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for a base station. 
     In some embodiments, the method further comprising, at the base station, transmitting the user data. 
     In some embodiments, the user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application. In this case, the method further comprises, at the UE, executing a client application associated with the host application. 
     Embodiments herein also include a user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a base station. The UE comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry configured to perform any of the embodiments above described for a UE. 
     Embodiments herein further include a communication system including a host computer. The host computer comprises processing circuitry configured to provide user data, and a communication interface configured to forward user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE). The UE comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry. The UE&#39;s components are configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for a UE. 
     In some embodiments, the cellular network further includes a base station configured to communicate with the UE. 
     In some embodiments, the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data. The UE&#39;s processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application. 
     Embodiments also include a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE). The method comprises, at the host computer, providing user data and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base station. The UE performs any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for a UE. 
     In some embodiments, the method further comprises, at the UE, receiving the user data from the base station. 
     Embodiments herein further include a communication system including a host computer. The host computer comprises a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station. The UE comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry. The UE&#39;s processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for a UE. 
     In some embodiments the communication system further includes the UE. 
     In some embodiments, the communication system further including the base station. In this case, the base station comprises a radio interface configured to communicate with the UE and a communication interface configured to forward to the host computer the user data carried by a transmission from the UE to the base station. 
     In some embodiments, the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application. And the UE&#39;s processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data. 
     In some embodiments, the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing request data. And the UE&#39;s processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data in response to the request data. 
     Embodiments herein also include a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE). The method comprises, at the host computer, receiving user data transmitted to the base station from the UE. The UE performs any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for the UE. 
     In some embodiments, the method further comprises, at the UE, providing the user data to the base station. 
     In some embodiments, the method also comprises, at the UE, executing a client application, thereby providing the user data to be transmitted. The method may further comprise, at the host computer, executing a host application associated with the client application. 
     In some embodiments, the method further comprises, at the UE, executing a client application, and, at the UE, receiving input data to the client application. The input data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application associated with the client application. The user data to be transmitted is provided by the client application in response to the input data. 
     Embodiments also include a communication system including a host computer. The host computer comprises a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station. The base station comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry. The base station&#39;s processing circuitry is configured to perform any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for a base station. 
     In some embodiments, the communication system further includes the base station. 
     In some embodiments, the communication system further includes the UE. The UE is configured to communicate with the base station. 
     In some embodiments, the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application. And the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data to be received by the host computer. 
     Embodiments moreover include a method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE). The method comprises, at the host computer, receiving, from the base station, user data originating from a transmission which the base station has received from the UE. The UE performs any of the steps of any of the embodiments described above for a UE. 
     In some embodiments, the method further comprises, at the base station, receiving the user data from the UE. 
     In some embodiments, the method further comprises, at the base station, initiating a transmission of the received user data to the host computer. 
     Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the description. 
     The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may include, for example, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are described herein. 
     The term “A and/or B” as used herein covers embodiments having A alone, B alone, or both A and B together. The term “A and/or B” may therefore equivalently mean “at least one of any one or more of A and B”. 
     Some of the embodiments contemplated herein are described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein. The disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.