Patent Publication Number: US-2023149802-A1

Title: Methods of Transmitting and Receiving Additional SIB1-NB Subframes in a NB-IoT Network

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     Certain embodiments of the present disclosure relate, in general, to wireless communications, and more particularly to methods of transmitting and receiving additional System Information Block Type 1-Narrowband (SIB1-NB) subframes in a Narrowband Internet-of-Things Network. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) is a narrowband system introduced in 2016 by the third generation partnership project (3GPP) for a cellular Internet of things. The system provides access to network services using a physical layer optimized for very low device power consumption. Additionally, the system is designed to achieve deployment flexibility, only requiring a system bandwidth of 180 kHz, and robust coverage, supporting up to 164 dB coupling loss. The system coexists well with long term evolution (LTE) systems. For example, the system can be deployed inside an LIE carrier using one of the LTE Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs), or it can be deployed in the LTE guard band. Thanks to its fairly small system bandwidth, it can also be deployed using reformed GSM spectrum.  FIG.  1    gives an illustration for the three NB-IoT operation modes. 
     NB-IoT has the following characteristics:
         low throughput devices (e.g., 2 kbps)   low delay sensitivity (˜10 seconds)   ultra-low device cost (below $5 dollars)   low device power consumption (battery life of 10 years)       

     It is envisioned that each cell (˜1 km 2 ) in this system will serve tens of thousands (˜50,000) of devices such as sensors, meters, actuators, and the like. 
     Since its introduction in 2016, many further enhancements have been introduced to NO-IoT. Currently, 3GPP is working on improving the system acquisition performance. One of the steps of system acquisition is for a device to acquire NB-IoT system information type 1 (SIB1-NB). SIB1-NB carries information such as the scheduling information for other system information blocks, SIB2-NB, SIB3-NB, SIB4-NB, SIB5-NB, SIB14-NB, and SIB16-NB. With such information, the device knows how to acquire these additional system information blocks. 
     SIB1-NB can be repeated up to 16 times, and in that case a SIB1-NB codeword is transmitted in 8 subframes and each of these subframes is transmitted in the subframe #4 of every other frame. A radio frame has 10 subframes. An illustration is given in  FIG.  2   . Here, only 2 of the 16 repetitions are shown. Let N be the length of SIB1-NB codeword. A SIB1-NB codeword is scrambled based a scrambling sequence of length N. Let w(n) and c(n) be the nth coded bit and nth element of the scrambling sequence, respectively. The nth scrambled coded bit is therefore: 
         w ′( n )= w ( n )+ c ( n ), n= 0,1, . . . , N− 1.
 
     Here the summation is a modulo-2 sum. The scrambling sequence is re-initialized at the start of each repetition. 
     SUMMARY 
     There currently exist certain challenger(s). It has been found that, in certain deployment scenarios, a device in bad coverage may experience long system acquisition time, in release 15, 3GPP has decided to use additional subframes for SIB1-NB transmissions. It has been agreed that subframe #3 in the same frame where legacy SIB1-NB is transmitted may be used as additional SIB1-NB subframes. 
     One important issue is how to generate the coded bits and scrambling sequences for the additional SIB1-NB subframes. A desirable design shall satisfy the following criteria:
         It should be backward compatible.   It should achieve a good processing gain for suppressing inter-cell interference. To achieve this, it is desirable that the scrambling sequence uses in the additional SIB1-NB subframes (i.e., subframe #3) are different from the legacy SIB1-NB subframes (i.e., subframe #4).   It should not increase storage requirement significantly.       

     Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. There are, proposed herein, various embodiments which address one or more of the issues disclosed herein. For example, the embodiments include: 
     (1) Determining the number of additional SIB1-NB subframes based on the transport block sizes of SIB1-NB. 
     (2) A method of generating the coded bits that will be transmitted in the additional SIB1-NB subframes. 
     (3) A method of generating the scrambling sequences that will be used to scramble the coded bits to be transmitted in the additional SIB1-NB subframes. 
     According to certain embodiments, a method performed by a network node comprises transmitting a transmission of system information. The transmission comprises coded bits obtained by reading from a circular buffer. The transmission is transmitted in a first set of subframes corresponding to subframes #4 of a plurality of radio frames. The method further comprises transmitting an additional transmission of the system information. The additional transmission comprises additional coded bits obtained by continuing reading from the circular butter. The additional transmission is transmitted in a second set of subframes corresponding to subframes of the plurality of radio frames other than subframes #4. 
     According to certain embodiments, a base station comprises power supply circuitry and processing circuitry. The power supply circuitry is configured to surly power to the network node. The processing circuitry is configured to transmit a transmission of system information. The transmission comprises coded bits obtained by reading from a circular buffer. The transmission is transmitted in a first set of subframes corresponding to subframes #4 of a plurality of radio frames. The processing circuitry is further configured to transmit an additional transmission of the system information. The additional transmission comprises additional coded bits obtained by continuing reading from the circular buffer. The additional transmission is transmitted in a second set of subframes corresponding to subframes of the plurality of radio frames other than subframes #4. 
     According to certain embodiments, a computer program product comprises instructions which, when executed by a network node, cause the network node to transmit a transmission of system information. The transmission comprises coded bits obtained by reading from a circular buffer. The transmission is transmitted in a first set of subframes corresponding to subframes #4 of a plurality of radio frames. The instructions, when executed by the network node, further cause the network node to transmit an additional transmission of the system information. The additional transmission comprises additional coded bits obtained by continuing reading from the circular buffer. The additional transmission is transmitted in a second set of subframes corresponding to subframes of the plurality of radio frames other than subframes #4. 
     The above-described method, base station, and computer program may include one or more additional features, such as any one or more of the following: 
     In some embodiments, the second set of subframes correspond to subframes #3. 
     In some embodiments, sixteen repetitions of the first set of subframes are configured and the second set of subframes are configured based on having configured the sixteen repetitions of the first sat of subframes. 
     In some embodiments, the first set of subframes comprises eight subframes transmitted in every other subframe #4. 
     In some embodiments, sixteen repetitions of the first set of subframes are transmitted. 
     Ins soma embodiments, a starting index for reading from the circular buffer is obtained using a modulo function based on a number of coded bits that can be mapped to the system information and the size of the circular buffer. 
     In some embodiments, the system information comprises SIB1-NB information. 
     According to certain embodiments, a method performed by a wireless device comprises receiving a transmission of system information. The transmission comprises coded bits received in a first set of subframes corresponding to subframes #4 of a plurality of radio frames. The method further comprises receiving an additional transmission of the system information. The additional transmission comprises additional coded bits. The additional transmission is received in a second set of subframes corresponding to subframes of the plurality of radio frames other than subframes #4. The additional coded bits are associated with starting indexes continuing from starting indexes associated with the coded bits. 
     According to certain embodiments, a wireless device comprises power supply circuitry and processing circuitry. The power supply circuitry is configured to supply power to the wireless device. The processing circuitry is configured to receive a transmission of system information. The transmission comprises coded bits received in a first set of subframes corresponding to subframes #4 of a plurality of radio frames. The processing circuitry is further configured to receive an additional transmission of the system information. The additional transmission comprises additional coded bits. The additional transmission is received in a second set of subframes corresponding to subframes of the plurality of radio frames other than subframes #4. The additional coded bits are associated with starting, indexes continuing from starting indexes associated with the coded bits. 
     According to certain embodiments, a computer program product comprises instructions which, when executed by a wireless device, cause the wireless device to receive a transmission of system information. The transmission comprises coded bits received in a first set of subframes corresponding to subframes #4 of a plurality of radio frames. The instructions, when executed by a wireless device, further cause the wireless device to receive an additional transmission of the system information. The additional transmission comprises additional coded bits. The additional transmission is received in a second set of subframes corresponding to subframes of the plurality of radio frames other than subframes #4. The additional coded bits are associated with starting indexes continuing from starling indexes associated with the coded bits. 
     The above-described method, wireless device, and computer program may include one or more additional features, such as any one or more of the following: 
     In smite embodiments, the second set of subframes correspond to subframes #3. 
     In some embodiments, the first set of subframes comprises eight subframes received in every other subframe #4. 
     In some embodiments, at least a portion of the system information is received in one or more repetitions of the first set of subframes. 
     In some embodiments, the coded bits are stored in a circular buffer according to the starting indexes associated with the coded bits and the additional coded bits are stored in the circular buffer according to the starting indexes that continue from the starting indexes associated with the coded bits. 
     In some embodiments, a first starting index is obtained using a module function based on a number of coded bits that can be mapped to the system information and the size of the circular buffer. 
     In some embodiments, the system information comprises SIB1-NB information. 
     According to certain embodiments, the usage of the uplink pilot time slot (UpPTS) and downlink pilot time slot (DwPTS) fields are carried on the special subframes for NB-IoT transmissions in time division duplex (TDD) mode. For downlink (DL), the re-mapping over the DwPTS fields of some of the orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols are carried in the DL subframe preceding the special subframe. For uplink (UL), the pre-mapping over the UpPTS fields of some of the OFDM symbols are carried in the UL subframe to be transmitted right after the special subframe. 
     Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). Embodiments of the present disclosure satisfy the aforementioned criteria.
         It is backward compatible.   It achieves a good processing gain for suppressing inter-cell interference. To achieve this, it is desirable that the scrambling sequence used in the additional SIB1-NB subframes (i.e., subframe #3) are different from the legacy SIB1-NB subframes (i.e., subframe #4).   It does not increase storage requirement significantly.       

    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         FIG.  1    illustrates an example of NB-IoT operating modes, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  2    illustrates example of SIB1-NB repetitions, in accordance with some embodiments, 
         FIG.  3    illustrates an example of an extended SIB1-NB codeword, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  4    illustrates an example of offset values for the start of a scrambling sequence, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  5    illustrates an example of a sequence shifting operation, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  6    illustrates an example of a method that may be performed by a network node, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  7    illustrates an example of a method that may be performed by a wireless device, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  8    illustrates an example of a wireless network, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  9    illustrates an example of User Equipment, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  10    illustrates an example tit a virtualization environment, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  11    illustrates an example of a telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  12    illustrates an example of a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  13    illustrates an example of methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  14    illustrates an example of methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  15    illustrates an example of methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment, in accordance with some embodiments. 
         FIG.  16    illustrates an example of methods implemented. In a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment, in accordance with some embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
     Generally, at terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is deafly 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 following description. 
     Some of the embodiments contemplated herein wilt now be described rove 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. 
     Number of Additional SIB1-NB Subframes 
     Each SIB1-NB codeword is transmitted in B SIB1-NB subframes and can be configured for up to 16 repetitions in a transmission interval of 256 frames. Notice that it only makes sense to configure additional SIB1-NB repetitions it the use of 16 is not enough. When it is configured for 16 repetitions, every other subframe #4 is used for SIB1-NB transmissions, as shown in  FIG.  2   . If subframe #3 is additionally used for SIB1-NB transmissions, three options may be considered.
         Option 1: use every other subframe #3   Option 2: use every 4th subframe #3   Option 3: use every 8th subframe #3       

     Option 3, using every 8 th  subframe #3, is expected to improve the performance by approximately 10 log 10(20/16)=1 dB. This improvement may be too small for certain applications. Options 1 and 2 improve the performance by 3 or 1.8 dB, respectively, at the cost of 5% and 2.5% overhead on NB-IoT anchor carrier. 
     There are four different transport block sizes (TBSs) that are supported for SIB1-NB, i.e., 208, 328, 440 and 580. When the TBS is small, the coding gain is relatively larger, therefore we can configure a small amount of repetitions. When the TBS is larger, more repetitions are foreseeable to be more useful. For example, for TBS 208 and 328, option 2 can be used, and for TBS 440 and 680, option 1 can be used. 
     Coded Bits-to-Subframe Allocation of Additional SIB1-NB Transmission 
     The tail-biting convolutional code (TBCC) coded bits are generated by reading from the virtual buffer. Let E be the length of the SIB1-NB codeword. Following the rate matching operation of subclause 5.1.4.2.2 in 3GPP Technical Specification 36.212, the TBCC codeword for SIB1-NB w 4 =(c 0 , c 1 , . . . , c E−1 ) can be obtained. Here, we use subscript ‘4’ to denote that codeword w 4  is mapped to subframes #4 used for legacy SIB1-NB transmissions. When SIB1-NB is configured for 16 repetitions, the codeword w 4  is transmitted in 16 frames, as shown in  FIG.  2   . Assume K is the number of subframe #3 used for additional SIB1-NB transmissions in a 16 frame interval. The number of coded bits that can be fit into these additional subframes is 
     
       
         
           
             
               E 
               ′ 
             
             = 
             
               
                 EK 
                 8 
               
               . 
             
           
         
       
     
     Note that if every subframe #3 is used for SIB1-NB, K=8, and therefor E′=E. The present disclosure proposes that the coded bits that are mapped to subframe #3 used for additional SIB1-NB transmissions are generated by continuing reading from the virtual circular buffer, w=(w 4 , w 3 )=(c 0 , c 1 , . . . , c E−1 , c E , c E+1 , . . . , c E+E′−1 ), i.e., w 3 =(c E , c E+1 , . . . , c E+E′−1 ). The codeword w can be thought of as an extended SIB1-NB codeword expected by a Release 15 user equipment (UE). It consists of a first part, the original Release 14 SIB1-NB codeword expected by a Release 13 or Release 14 UE, and a second part, codeword extension mapped to additional Release 15 SIB1-NB subframes. Mapping of these additional coded bits to resource elements in subframe #3 used for SIB1-NB transmission follows the exact same method of mapping SIB1-NB coded bits to subframe #4 used for SIB1-NB transmissions. An illustration is provided in  FIG.  3    (illustration of mapping the Rel-15 extended codeword to SIB1-NB subframes). For each SIB1-NB subframe, the coded bits can be obtained by using a proper starting index for reading out the virtual circular buffer. 
     Given a TBS=S, the size of the virtual circular buffer is 3S. Here the factor 3 is due to the use of a rate-1/3 TBC as the mother code. 
     The starting index for reading out the virtual circular buffer for obtaining the coded bits for the i th  legacy SIB1-NB subframe (i.e., transmitted in subframe #4), i=0, 1, . . . , 7, is mod(iN, 3S), where N is the number coded bits that can be mapped to one SIB1-NB subframe. 
     Certain embodiments of the present disclosure use the same virtual circular buffer as was employed for generating the coded bits for legacy SIB1-NB subframes in order to generate the coded bits for the additional SIB1-NB subframes. Thus, there is no increase in the virtual circular buffer size. The starting index for reading out the virtual circular buffer for obtaining the coded bits for the i th  additional SIB1-NB subframe (i.e., transmitted in subframe #3), i=0, 1, . . . , L, is mod(iN+6N, 3S), where L is 6 for option 1 and 4 for option 2. 
     The examples above have described the operation at the transmitter. At the receiver, a virtual circular buffer is used to store the received soft values. In this case, the virtual circular butter is a decoder soft buffer, which is initialized to all zero values at the start of SIB1-NB reception. Each received soft value is then added to the correctly addressed decoder soft butter position. The starting indexes described earlier are then the starting indexes tor adding the received soft values of each SIB1-NB subframe to the circular decoder soft butter. 
     Generation of Scrambling Mask 
     According to 3GPP Technical Specification 36.211, the scrambling sequence generator for generating the scrambling mask for SIB1-NB subframes shall be reinitialized according to the expression below for each repetition. 
         c   init   =n   RNTI ·2 15 +( N   ID   Ncell +1)(( n   f  mod 61)+1),  Eq. (1)
 
     where 
     n RNTI  Radio network temporary identifier 
     N ID   cell  Physical layer net identity 
     n f  System frame number. 
     The LIE scrambling sequence is based on the Gold sequence, which is generated using two m-sequence generators. Upon re-initialization of the scrambling sequence, the first m-sequence is initialized with x 1 (0)=1, x 1 (n)=0, n=1, 2, . . . , 30. The initialization of the second m-sequence denoted by c init =Σ i=0   30 x 2 (i)·2 i  with the value determined based on Eq. (1). 
     Certain embodiments of the present disclosure use the same reinitialization scheme based on the Release 13 and Release 14 specifications. However, the scrambling sequence is extended to cover the additional encoded bits. An illustration is shown in  FIG.  4    (illustration of SIB1-NB scrambling sequence re-initialization and generation). One option uses every other subframe #3. The scrambling sequence generator is re-initialized according to (1) at the first subframe of a SIB1-NB repetition according to the Release 14 scheme. After the re-initialization, the scrambling sequence is generated in serial-fashion to mask the Release 14 SIB1-NB codeword. Afterwards, an extended scrambling sequence is generated to mask the extended part of the extended codeword. However it is not desirable for the evolved node B (eNB, base station) or UE to need to store the entire scrambling mask. It is highly desirable that the scrambling sequence can be generated on-the-fly. To achieve this, certain embodiments of the present disclosure generate the scrambling sequence for each one of the additional SIB1-NB subframe with 2560 shifts relative to the scrambling sequence used in the legacy SIB1-NB subframe in the same frame. An illustration is given in  FIG.  4   , where N is the number of SIB1-NB coded bits carried in a SIB1-NB subframe. The offset of the start of scrambling sequence for each of the SIB1-NB subframe is relative to the first element of the scrambling sequence generated after the re-initialization of the scrambling sequence generator. The value 2560 is chosen as the number of coded bits in a SIB1-NB subframe can be at most 320 bits and thus the maximum length of the legacy SIB1-NB codeword is 320*8=2560 bits. A fixed offset value that works for all configurations is desirable for simplifying the determination of the starting state of the scrambling sequence generator in each subframe. To this end, we use a well-known m-sequence generator property; let x(i) be the m-sequence generator slate at time i, x(i)=(x(i), x(i+1), . . . , x(i+30)) T , the evolution of the sequence generator stale can be described by 
         x ( i+ 1)= Mx ( i ), 
     where matrix M is determined by the sequence generator polynomial. Thus, 
         x ( k )= M   k   x (0).  Eq. (2)
 
     According subclause 7.2 in 3GPP TS36.211, the n th  element of the scrambling sequence after reinitialization is 
         c ( n )= g ( n+ 1600),  Eq. (3)
 
     where g(n), x 1 (n) and x 2 (n) are the n th  element of the God sequence, 1 st  component and 2 nd  component m-sequences, respectively, after re-initialization. 
         g ( n )= x   1 ( n )+ x   2 ( n ). 
     Since the sequence is taken from the end of shift register, in essence only the first row of M k  is needed. Note also that according to subclause 7.2 of 3GPP TS36.211, there is already a 1600 shift applied after the re-initialization (see Eq. (3)), thus a vector of length 31 corresponding to y i   1600 =[M i   1600 ] 1  is needed for generating the i th  component m-sequence for the original SIB1-NB subframes, i=1 or 2. Here, the notation [X] 1  is used to denote the first row of matrix X. To this end, the n-th element of the scrambling sequence is generated as c(n)=y 1   1600 x 1 (n)+y 2   1600 x 2 (n). Since according to certain embodiments herein there are additional 2560 shifts between the scrambling sequence in subframe #3 (immediately before the original SIB1-NB subframe in subframe #4), the n-th element of the scrambling sequence in the additional subframe can be generated as c′(n)=y 1   4160 x 1 (n)+y 2   4160 x 2 (n), where y i   4160 =[M i   4160 ] 1 . Both y i   1600  and y i   4160  can be tare-calculated. 
     The operation of shifting x 1 (n) by 1600 shifts using y 1   1600 x 1  (n) is illustrated in  FIG.  5   . In the illustration the length-31 vector y 1   1600  is represented by y 1   1600 =(y(0), y(1), . . . , y(30)). 
     The operation of generating the scrambling sequences detailed below. The below example assumes option 1 is used (see  FIG.  4   ).
         (1) For the subframe #3 used for SIB1-NB in  FIG.  4   : reinitialize the scrambling code generator based on Eq. (1). And store the initial states of the two m-sequence generators. Generate the scrambling sequence based on c′ (n) =y 1   4160 x 1 (n)+y 2   4160 x 2 (n), n=0, 1, . . . , N−1.   (2) For the 1 st  subframe #4 used for SIB1-NB in  FIG.  4   : Load the saved initial states of the two m-sequence generators from the previous step. Generate the scrambling sequence based on c(n)=y 1   1600 x 1 (n)+y 2   1600 x 2 (n), n=0, 1, . . . , N−1.   (3) For the 2 nd  subframe #3 used for SIB1-NB in  FIG.  4   : Save the ending states of the two m-sequence generators. Generate the scrambling sequence based on c′ (n) =y 1   4160 x 1 (n)+y 2   4160 x 2 (n), N=N, N+1, . . . , 2N−1.   (4) For the 2nd subframe #4 used for SIB1-NB in  FIG.  4   : Load the saved initial states of the two m-sequence generators from the previous step. Generate the scrambling sequence based on c(n)=y 1   1600 x 1 (n)+y 2   1600 x 2 (n), n=N, N+1, . . . , 2N−1.       

     Repeal steps (3) and (4) to generate the scrambling sequences for the remaining SIB1-NB subframes in  FIG.  4   . The only difference is the range of n is incremented by N each repetition of steps 3 and 4. 
       FIG.  6    illustrates an example of a method that may be performed by a network node, such as network node  160 ,  412 , or  520  described below, in accordance with certain embodiments. For example, in some embodiments, a network node may include processing circuitry  170  or  528  configured to perform the method of  FIG.  6   . In some embodiments, the method may begin at step  62  with transmitting a transmission of system information, such as SIB-1NB information. The transmission comprises coded bits obtained by reading from a circular buffer. In some embodiments, a starting index for reading from the circular buffer is obtained using a modulo function based on a number of coded bits that can be mapped to the system information and the size of the circular buffer. For purposes of example and explanation, suppose the circular buffer has a buffer size of 300 bits (e.g., A 0 -A 299 ) and suppose the system information comprises a 400-bit long codeword (e.g., B 0 -B 399 ). The method may begin reading coded bits from the circular buffer such that B 0  is obtained from butter position A 0 , B 1  is obtained from buffer position A 1 , B 2  is obtained from butter position A 2 , and so on until reaching the lost position in the circular buffer (e.g., B 299  is obtained from buffer position A 299 ). The method may then continue reading coded bits from the circular buffer beginning with buffer position A 0  to obtain B 300 , buffer position A 1  to obtain B 301 , and so on until the end of the codeword has been reached (e.g., B 399  is obtained from buffer position A 99 ). The transmission comprising the coded bits is transmitted in a first set of subframes corresponding to subframes #4 of a plurality of radio frames. As described above with respect to  FIGS.  2 - 4   , in some embodiments, the first set of subframes comprises eight subframes, such that each of the eight subframes may include ⅛ of the codeword (e.g., 50 bits for a 400-bit long codeword). In some embodiments, the eight subframes may be transmitted in every other subframe #4. 
     The method proceeds to step  63  with transmitting an additional transmission of the system information. The additional transmission comprises additional coded bits obtained by continuing reading from the circular buffer. Referring to the example in the previous paragraph, suppose that the network node obtained the coded bits transmitted in the first set of subframes by reading through buffer position A 99 . The network node may then continue reading from buffer position MOO to obtain the additional coded bits. The additional transmission comprising the additional coded bits is transmitted in a second set of subframes corresponding to subframes of the plurality of radio frames other than subframes #4. For example, the second set of subframes may correspond to subframes #3 of the plurality of radio frames.  FIGS.  3 - 4    illustrate an embodiment in which the second set of subframes comprises eight subframes, such that each of the eight subframes may include ⅛ of the codeword comprised of the additional coded bits. In some embodiments, the eight subframes may be transmitted in every other subframe #3. 
     In some embodiments, the method may further include step  60  in which the method configures sixteen repetitions of the first set of subframes, step  61  in which the method configures the second set of subframes based on having configured the sixteen repetitions of the first set of subframes (e.g., the second set of subframes may be configured when sixteen repetitions are not enough), and step  64  in which the method transmits the sixteen repetitions of the first set of subframes during the transmission interval. As discussed above, in some embodiments, the first set of subframes comprise a codeword that has been split into eight subframes, in the example, the set of eight subframes containing the codeword may be transmitted in sixteen repetitions. Certain embodiments may also transmit repetitions of the second set of subframes (e.g., subframes #3 comprising the additional coded bits), such as sixteen repetitions of the second set of subframes. 
     Certain embodiments of the method shown in  FIG.  6    may use a scrambling mask for the system information, such as a scrambling mask described with respect to  FIG.  4   . 
     Flame  7  illustrates an example of a method that may be performed by a wireless device, such as wireless device  110 ,  200 ,  491 ,  492 , or  530  described below, in accordance with certain embodiments. For example, in some embodiments, a wireless device may include processing circuitry  120 ,  201 , or  538  configured to perform the method of  FIG.  7   . In some embodiments, the method may begin at step  70  with receiving a transmission of system information (e.g., SIB-1NB) comp sing coded bits in a first set of subframes corresponding to subframes #4 of a plurality of radio frames. In some embodiments, the first set of subframes comprises eight subframes, such that each of the eight subframes may include ⅛ of a codeword. In some embodiments, the eight subframes may be received in every other subframe #4. At least a portion of the system information may be received in one or more repetitions of the first set of subframes (such as up to sixteen repetitions). 
     The method proceeds to step  71  with receiving an additional transmission of the system information in a second set of subframes. The second set of subframes correspond to subframes of the plurality of radio frames other than subframes #4. For example, the second set of subframes may correspond to subframes #3 of the plurality of radio frames. The additional transmission comprises additional coded bits associated with starling indexes continuing from starting indexes associated with the coded bits. In some embodiments, the second set of subframes comprises eight subframes, such that each of the eight subframes may include ⅛ of a codeword. In some embodiments, the eight subframes may be received in every other subframe #3. At least a portion of the system information may be received in one or more repetitions of the second set of subframes (such as up to sixteen repetitions). 
     At step  72 , the method stores the coded bits in a circular buffer according to the starting indexes associated with the coded bits. In some embodiments, a first starting index is obtained using a modulo function based on e number of coded bits that can be mapped to the system information and the size of the circular buffer. As an example, suppose the circular buffer has a buffer size of 300 bits (e.g., A 0 -A 299 ) and suppose the system information comprises a 400-bit long codeword (e.g., B 0 -B 399 ). The method may begin storing coded bits in the circular buffer such that B 0  is stored in buffer position A 0 , B 1  is stored in buffer position A 1 , B 2  is stored in buffer position A 2 , and so on until reaching the last position in the circular buffer (e.g., B 299  is stored in buffer position A 299 ). The method may then continue storing coded bits in the circular butter beginning with buffer position A 0  to store B 300 , buffer position A 1  to store B 301 , and so on until the end of the codeword has been reached (e.g., B 399  is stored in buffer position A 99 ). 
     At step  73 , the method stores the additional coded bits in the circular buffer according to the starting indexes that continue from the starting indexes associated with the coded bits. Referring to the example in the previous paragraph, suppose that the wireless device stored the coded bits received in the first set of subframes by storing through buffer position A 99 . The wireless device may then continue storing the additional coded bits from buffer position A 100 . In some embodiments, the method combines each of the values stored in the same buffer position to obtain information from which the system information may be decoded. 
     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.  8   . For simplicity, the wireless network of  FIG.  8    only depicts network  106 , network nodes  160  and  160   b , and WDs  110 ,  110   b , and  110   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  160  and wireless device (WD)  110  are depicted with additional detail. 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), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network PLAN) 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  106  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  160  and WD  110  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 (BBs) (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 (DAB). Yet further examples of network nodes. Include multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BBs, 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), D&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.  8   , network node  160  includes processing circuitry  170 , device readable medium  180 , interlace  190 , auxiliary equipment  184 , power source  186 , power circuitry  187 , and antenna  162 . Although network node  160  illustrated in the example wireless network of  FIG.  8    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  160  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  180  may comprise multiple separate hard drives as welt as multiple RAM modules). 
     Similarly, network node  160  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  160  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  160  may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium  180  for the different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna  162  may be shared by the RATs). Network node  160  may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node  160 , 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  160 . 
     Processing circuitry  170  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  170  may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry  170  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  170  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 atone or in conjunction with other network node  160  components, such as device readable medium  160 , network node  160  functionality. For example, processing circuitry  170  may execute instructions stored in device readable medium  180  or in memory within processing circuitry  170 . Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry  170  may include a system on a chip (SOC). 
     In some embodiments, processing circuitry  170  may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry  172  and baseband processing circuitry  174 , in some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry  172  and baseband processing circuitry  174  may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such EES radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or ail of RF transceiver circuitry  172  and baseband processing circuitry  174  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  170  executing instructions stored on device readable medium  180  or memory within processing circuitry  170 , in alternative embodiments, some or ail of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry  170  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  170  can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry  170  atone or to other components of network node  160 , but are enjoyed by network node  160  as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally. 
     Device readable medium  180  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), head-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  170 . Device readable medium  180  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  170  and, utilized by network node  160 . Device readable medium  180  may be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry  170  and/or any data received via interface  190 . In some embodiments, processing circuitry  170  and device readable medium  180  may be considered to be integrated. 
     Interface  190  is used in the wired or wireless communication of signalling and/or data between network node  160 , network  106 , and/or WDs  110 . As illustrated, interface  190  comprises port(s)/terminal(s)  194  to send and receive data, for example to and from network  106  over a wired connection. Interface  190  also includes radio front end circuitry  192  that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a pad of, antenna  162 . Radio front end circuitry  192  comprises filters  198  and amplifiers  196 . Radio front end circuitry  192  may be connected to antenna  162  and processing circuitry  170 . Radio front end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna  162  and processing circuitry  170 . Radio front end circuitry  192  may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Redo front end circuitry  192  may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters  198  and/or amplifiers  196 . The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna  162 . Similarly, when receiving data, antenna  162  may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry  192 . The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry  170 . In other embodiments, the interface rosy comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. 
     In certain alternative embodiments, network node  160  may not include separate radio front end circuitry  102 , instead, processing circuitry  170  may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna  152  without separate radio front end circuitry  192 . Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry  172  may be considered a part of interface  190 . In Stall other embodiments, interface  190  may include one or more ports or terminals  194 , radio front end circuitry  192 , and RF transceiver circuitry  172 , as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interlace  190  may communicate with baseband processing circuitry  174 , which is part of a digital unit (not shown). 
     Antenna  162  may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna  162  may be coupled to radio front end circuitry  190  and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna  162  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  162  may be separate from network note  160  and may be connectable to network node  160  through an interface or port. 
     Antenna  162 , interface  120 , and/or processing circuitry  170  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 end/or signals may be received from a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna  152 , interface  190 , and/or processing circuitry  170  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  187  may comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node  160  with power for performing the functionality described herein. Power circuitry  187  may receive power from power source  186 . Power source  166  and/or power circuitry  187  may be configured to provide power to the various components of network node  150  in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source  186  may either be included in, or external to, power circuitry  167  and/or network node  160 . Far example, network node  160  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  187 . As a further example, power source  166  may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry  187 . 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  160  may include additional components beyond those shown in  FIG.  8    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  160  may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into network node  150  and to allow output of information from network node  160 . This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node  160 . 
     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 signets 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 WU 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 (FDA), 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 ether 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  110  includes antenna  111 , interlace  114 , processing circuitry  120 , device readable medium  130 , user interface equipment  132 , auxiliary equipment  134 , power source  136  and power circuitry  137 . WD  110  may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by WD  110 , such as, for example, GEM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, 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  110 . 
     Antenna  111  may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interlace  114 . In certain alternative embodiments, antenna  111  may be separate from WD  110  and be connectable to WD  110  through an interface or port. Antenna  111 , interface  114 , and/or processing circuitry  120  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  111  may be considered an interface. 
     As illustrated, interface  114  comprises radio front end circuitry  112  and antenna  111 . Radio front end circuitry  112  comprise one or more filters  118  and amplifiers  116 . Radio front end circuitry  114  is connected to antenna  111  and processing circuitry  120 , and is configured to condition signals communicated between antenna  111  and processing circuitry  120 . Radio front end circuitry  112  may be coupled to or a pad, of antenna  111 . In some embodiments, WD  110  may not include separate radio front end circuitry  112 ; rather, processing circuitry  120  may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna  111 . Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of RE transceiver circuitry  122  may be considered a part of interface  114 . Radio front end circuitry  112  may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry  112  may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters  118  and/or amplifiers  116 . The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna  111 . Similarly, when receiving data, antenna  111  may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital dale by radio front end circuitry  112 . The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry  120 , in other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. 
     Processing circuitry  120  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  110  components, such as device readable medium  130 , WD  110  functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry  121 ) may execute instructions stored in device readable medium  130  or in memory within processing circuitry  120  to provide the functionality disclosed herein. 
     As illustrated, processing circuitry  120  includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry  122 , baseband processing circuitry  124 , and application processing circuitry  126 , in other embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry  120  of WD  110  may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry  122 , baseband processing circuitry  124 , and application processing circuitry  126  may be on separate chips or sets of chips, in alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry  124  and application processing circuitry  126  may be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry  122  may be on a separate chip or set of chips, in stilt alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry  122  and baseband processing circuitry  124  may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processing circuitry  126  may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry  122 , baseband processing circuitry  124 , and application processing circuitry  126  may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry  122  may be a part of interlace  114 . RF transceiver circuitry  122  may condition RE signals for processing circuitry  120 . 
     In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by a WD may be provided by processing circuitry  120  executing instructions stored on device readable medium  130 , 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  120  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  120  can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry  120  alone or to other components of WD  110 , but are enjoyed by WD  110  as a whole, and/or by end User&#39;s and the wireless network generally. 
     Processing circuitry  120  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  120 , may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry  120  by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by WD  110 , 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  130  may be operable to store a computer program, software, an application inducting one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry  120 . Device readable medium  130  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  120 . In some embodiments, processing circuitry  120  and device readable medium  130  may be considered to be integrated. 
     User interface equipment  132  may provide components that allow for a human user to interact with WD  110 . Such interaction may be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment  132  may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the user to provide input to WD  110 . The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface equipment  132  installed in WD  110 . For example, if WD  110  is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if WD  110  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., it smoke is detected). User interface equipment  132  may include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuit % User interlace equipment  132  is configured to allow input of information into WD  110 , and is connected to processing circuitry  120  to allow processing circuitry  120  to process the input intonation. User interlace equipment  132  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  132  is also configured to allow output of information from WD  110 , and to allow processing circuitry  120  to output information from WD  110 . User interlace equipment  132  may include, to 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  132 , WD  110  may communicate with end users and/or the wireless network, and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein. 
     Auxiliary equipment  134  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  134  may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario. 
     Power source  136  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  110  may further comprise power circuitry  137  for delivering power from power source  136  to the various parts of WD  110  which need power from power source  136  to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry  137  may in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry  137  may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case WD  110  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  137  may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source  136 . This may be, for example, for the charging of power source  136 . Power circuitry  137  may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source  135  to make the power suitable for the respective components of WD  110  to which power is supplied. 
       FIG.  9    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  2200  may be any UE identified by the 3 rd  Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NP-IoT UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. UE  200 , as illustrated in  FIG.  9   , 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.  9    is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a WD, and vice-versa. 
     In  FIG.  9   , UE  200  includes processing circuitry  201  that is operatively coupled to input/output interface  205 , radio frequency (FT) interface  209 , network connection interface  211 , memory  215  including random access memory (RAM)  217 , read-only memory (ROM)  219 , and storage medium  221  or the like, communication subsystem  231 , power source  233 , and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Storage medium  221  includes operating system  223 , application program  225 , and data  227 . In other embodiments, storage medium  221  may include other similar types of information. Certain UEs may utilize all of the components shown in  FIG.  9   , 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.  9   , processing circuitry  201  may be configured to process computer instructions and data. Processing circuitry  201  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  201  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  205  may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, output device, or input and output device, UE  200  may be configured to use an output device via input/output interface  205 . 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  200 . 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  200  may be configured to use an input device via input/output interface  205  to allow a user to capture information into UE  200 . The input device may include 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.  9   , RF interface  209  may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface  211  may be configured to provide a communication interface to network  243   a . Network  243   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  243   a  may comprise a Wi-Fi network. Network connection interface  211  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  211  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  217  may be configured to interface via bus  202  to processing circuitry  201  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  219  may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuitry  201 . For example, ROM  219  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  221  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  221  may be configured to include operating system  223 , application program  225  such as a web browser application, widget or gadget engine or another application, and data file  227 . Storage medium  221  may store, for use by UE  200 , any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems. 
     Storage medium  221  may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppy disk drive, flash memory, USE flash drive, external hard disk dries, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, did-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  221  may allow UE  200  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  221 , which may comprise a device readable medium. 
     In  FIG.  9   , processing circuitry  201  may be configured to communicate with network  243   b  using communication subsystem  231 . Network  243   a  and network  243   b  may be the same network or networks or different network or networks. Communication subsystem  231  may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with network  243   b . For example, communication subsystem  231  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 802.2, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver may include transmitter  233  and/or receiver  235  to implement transmitter or receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links (e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter  233  and receiver  235  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  231  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  231  may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. Network  243   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  243   b  may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-field network. Power source  213  may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE  200 . 
     The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of UE  200  or partitioned across multiple components of UE  200 . 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  231  may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Further, processing circuitry  201  may be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus  202 . In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry  201  perform the corresponding functions described herein In another example, the functionality of any of such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry  201  and communication subsystem  231 . 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.  10    is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment  300  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 visualizing 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  300  hosted by one or more of hardware nodes  330 . 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 entirety virtualized. 
     The functions may be implemented by one or more applications  320  (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  320  are run in virtualization environment  300  which provides hardware  330  comprising processing circuitry  360  and memory  390 . Memory  390  contains instructions  395  executable by processing circuitry  360  whereby application  320  is operative to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein. 
     Virtualization environment  300 , comprises general-purpose or special-purpose network hardware devices  330  comprising a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry  360 , 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  390 - 1  which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions  395  or software executed by processing circuitry  360 . Each hardware device may comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs)  370 , also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interface  380 . Each hardware device may also include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media  390 - 2  having stored therein software  395  and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry  360 . Software  395  may include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers  350  (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines  340  as well as software allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. 
     Virtual machines  340 , comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer  350  or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual appliance  320  may be implemented on one or more of virtual machines  340 , and the implementations may be made in different ways. 
     During, operation, processing circuitry  360  executes software  355  to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer  350 , which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VW). Virtualization layer  350  may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine  340 . 
     As shown in  FIG.  10   , hardware  330  may be a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware  330  may comprise antenna  3225  and may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware  330  may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (ea, 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)  3100 , which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications  320 . 
     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  340  may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as it they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of virtual machines  340 , and that part of hardware  330  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  340 , 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  340  on top of hardware networking infrastructure  330  and corresponds to application  320  in  FIG.  10   . 
     In some embodiments, one or more radio units  3200  that each include one or more transmitters  3220  and one or more receivers  3210  may be coupled to one or more antennas  3225 . Radio units  3200  may communicate directly with hardware nodes  330  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, signalling can be effected with the use of control system  3230  which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes  330  and radio units  3200 . 
     With reference to  FIG.  11   , in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes telecommunication network  410 , such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises access network  411 , such as a radio access network, and core network  414 . Access network  411  comprises a plurality of base stations  412   a ,  412   b ,  412   c , such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area  413   a ,  413   b ,  413   c . Each base station  412   a ,  412   b ,  412   c  is connectable to core network  414  over a wired or wireless connection  415 . A first UE  491  located in coverage area  413   c  is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station  412   c . A second UE  492  in coverage area  413   a  is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station  412   a . White a plurality of UEs  491 ,  492  are illustrated in this exam pie, 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 curses ponding base station  412 . 
     Telecommunication network  410  is itself connected to host computer  430 , 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  430  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  421  and  422  between telecommunication network  410  and host computer  430  may extend directly from core network  414  to host computer  430  or may go via an optional intermediate network  420 . Intermediate network  420  may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network  420 , if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network  420  may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown). 
     The communication system of  FIG.  11    as a whole enables connectivity between the connected UEs  491 ,  492  and host computer  430 . The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection  450 . Host computer  430  and the connected UEs  491 ,  492  are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection  450 , using access network  411 , core network  414 , any intermediate network  420  and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection  450  may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which OTT connection  450  passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, base station  412  may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from host computer  430  to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected USS  491 . Similarly, base station  412  need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE  491  towards the host computer  430 . 
     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.  12   , in communication system  500 , host computer  510  comprises hardware  515  including communication interface  516  configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system  500 . Host computer  510  further composes processing circuitry  518 , which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry  518  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  510  further comprises software  511 , which is stored in or accessible by host computer  510  and executable by processing circuitry  518 . Software  511  includes host application  512 . Host application  512  may be operable to provide a service to a emote user, such as UE  530  connecting via OTT connection  550  terminating at UE  530  and host computer  510 . In providing the to the remote user, host application  512  may provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection  550 . 
     Communication system  500  further includes base station  520  provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware  525  enabling it to communicate with host computer  510  and with UE  530 . Hardware  525  may include communication interface  526  for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system  500 , as wet as radio interlace  527  for setting up and maintaining at least wireless connection  570  with UE  530  located in a coverage area (not shown in  FIG.  12   ) served by base station  520 . Communication interface  526  may be configured to facilitate connection  560  to host computer  510 . Connection  560  may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in  FIG.  12   ) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, hardware  525  of base station  520  further includes processing circuitry  528 , 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  520  further has software  521  stored internally or accessible via an external connection. 
     Communication system  500  further includes UE  530  already referred to. Its hardware  535  may include radio interface  537  configured to set up and maintain wireless connection  570  with a base station serving a coverage area in which UE  530  is currently located. Hardware  535  of UE  530  further includes processing circuitry  538 , 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  530  further comprises software  531 , which is stored in or accessible by LIE  530  and executable by processing circuitry  538 . Software  531  includes client application  532 . Client application  532  may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE  530 , with the support of host computer  510 . In host computer  510 , an executing host application  512  may communicate with the executing client application  532  via OTT connection  550  terminating at UE  530  and host computer  510 . In providing the service to the user, client application  532  may receive request data from host application  512  and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection  550  may transfer both the request data and the user data. Client application  532  may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides. 
     It is noted that host computer  510 , base station  520  and UE  530  illustrated in  FIG.  12    may be similar or identical to host computer  430 , one of base stations  412   a ,  412   b ,  412   c  and one of UEs  491 ,  492  of  FIG.  11   , respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in  FIG.  12    and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of  FIG.  11   . 
     In  FIG.  12   , OTT connection  550  has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host computer  510  and UE  530  via base station  520 , 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  530  or from the service provider operating host computer  510 , or both. While OTT connection  550  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  570  between UE  530  and base station  520  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  530  using OTT connection  550 , in which wireless connection  570  forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the latency and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user waiting time. 
     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  550  between host computer  510  and UE  530 , in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection  550  may be implemented in software  511  and hardware  515  of host computer  510  or in software  531  and hardware  535  of UE  530 , or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which OTT connection  550  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  511 ,  531  may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection  550  may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station  520 , and it may be unknown or imperceptible to base station  520 . Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating host computer  510 &#39;s, measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that software  511  and  531  causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection  550  while it monitors propagation times, errors etc. 
       FIG.  13    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.  11  and  12   . For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to  FIG.  13    will be included in this section. In step  610 , the host computer provides user data, substep  611  (which may be optional) of step  610 , the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step  620 , the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step  630  (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  640  (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer. 
       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.  11  and  12   . For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to  FIG.  14    will be included in this section. In step  710  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  720 , 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  730  (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission. 
       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.  11  and  12   . For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to  FIG.  15    will be included in this section. In step  810  (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step  820 , the UE provides user data. In substep  821  (which may be optional) of step  820 , the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In substep  811  (which may be optional) of step  810 , 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  830  (which may be optional), transmission of the user data to the host computer, in step  840  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.  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.  11  and  12   . For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to  FIG.  16    will be included in lies section. In step  910  (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the SE. In step  920  (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step  930  (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initialed 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 e 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 some embodiments a computer program, computer program product or computer readable storage medium comprises instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the embodiments disclosed herein. In further examples the instructions are carried on a signal or carrier and which are executable on a computer wherein when executed perform any of the embodiments disclosed herein. 
     EMBODIMENTS 
     Group A Embodiments 
     
         
         
           
             1. A method performed by a wireless device, the method comprising:
           receiving, by a receiver configured to receive SIB1-NB subframes from a transmitter configured according to any of the embodiments Group B, a number of legacy SIB1-NB subframes and a number of additional SIB1-NB subframes,   
         
             2. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising:
           providing user data; and   forwarding the user data to a host computer via the transmission to the base station.   
         
           
         
       
    
     Group B Embodiments 
     
         
         
           
             3. A method performed by a base station, the method comprising:
           transmitting a number of SIB1-NB subframes according to a legacy configuration;   determining a number of additional SIB1-NB subframes to transmit based on the transport block size of SIB1-NB;   transmitting the additional number of SIB1-NB subframes.   
         
             4. The method of the previous embodiment, wherein the number of SIB1-NB subframes transmitted according to the legacy configuration are transmitted on subframe #4 (e.g., according to Rel-13 or Rel-14). 
             5. The method of any of the previous embodiments, wherein the additional number of SIB1-NB subframes are transmitted on subframe #3 (e.g., according to Rel-15). 
             6. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising increasing the number of additional SIB1-NB subframes for a larger transport block size of SIB1-NB. 
             7. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising reducing the number of additional SIB1-NB subframes for a smatter transport block size of SIB1-NB. 
             8. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising using every 4th subframe #3 for transmitting the additional SIB1-NB subframes when the transport block size of SIB1-NB is 208 or 328, and using every 8th subframe #3 for transmitting the additional SIB1-NB subframes when the transport block size of SIB1-NB is 440 or 680. 
             9. A method comprising:
           generating coded bits that will be transmitted in legacy SIB1-NB subframes by reading torn a virtual circular buffer, and   generating coded bits that will be transmitted in additional SIB1-NB subframes by continuing to read from the virtual circular butter,   
         
             10. The method of the previous embodiment, wherein, for each SIB1-NB subframe, the coded bits are obtained booed on a corresponding starting index for reading from the virtual circular buffer. 
             11. A method comprising:
           generating a scrambling sequence that will be used to scramble coded bits to be transmitted in additional SIB1-NB subframes, wherein the scrambling sequence uses a reinitialization scheme based on a legacy scrambling sequence, wherein the legacy scrambling sequence is extended to cover additional encoded bits.   
         
             12. The method of the previous embodiment, wherein the scrambling sequence for each one of the additional SIB1-NB subframes is generated with 2560 shifts relative to the scrambling sequence used in the legacy SIB1-NB subframe in the same frame. 
             13. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising:
           obtaining user data; and   forwarding the user data to a hoot computer or a wireless device.   
         
           
         
       
    
     Group C Embodiments 
     
         
         
           
             14. A wireless device, the wireless device comprising:
           processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; and   power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the wireless device.   
         
             15. A base station, the base station comprising:
           processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments;   power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the wireless device.   
         
             18. A user equipment (UE), the UE comprising:
           an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals;   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 being configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments;   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;   an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and   a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.   
         
             17. A communication system including a host computer comprising:
           processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and   a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE),   wherein the cellular network comprises 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 Group B embodiments.   
         
             18. The communication system of the pervious embodiment further including the base station. 
             19. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station. 
             20. the communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein:
           the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and   the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.   
         
             21. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
           at the host computer, providing user data; and   at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base station, wherein the base station performs any of the steps of any of the Group 8 embodiments,   
         
             22. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the base station, transmitting the user data. 
             23. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application, the method further comprising, at the UE, executing a client application associated with the host application. 
             24. A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate wed a base station; the UE comprising a radio interface and processing circuitry configured to performs the of the previous 3 embodiments. 
             25. A communication system including a host computer comprising:
           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),   wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the UE&#39;s components configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.   
         
             26. The communication system of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes base station configured to communicate with the UE. 
             27. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein:
           the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and   the UE&#39;s processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.   
         
             28. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
           at the host computer, providing user data; and   at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base station, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.   
         
             29. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the UE, receiving the user data from the base station. 
             30. A communication system including a host computer comprising:
           communication interlace configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station,   wherein the UE comprises a radio interlace and processing circuitry, the UE&#39;s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of cry of the Group A embodiments.   
         
             31. The communication system of the previous embodiment, further including the UE. 
             32. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio interface configured to communicate, with the UE and a communication interface configured to forward to be host computer the user data carried by a transmission from the UE to the base station. 
             33. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein:
           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 e client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data.   
         
             34. The communication system of the previous 4 embodiments, wherein:
           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.   
         
             35. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a bass station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
           at the host computer, receiving user data transmitted to the base station from the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.   
         
             36. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the UE, providing the user data to the base station. 
             37. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising:
           at the UE, executing a client application, thereby providing the user data to be transmitted; and   at the host computer, executing a host application associated with the client application.   
         
             38. The method of the previous 3 embodiments, further comprising:
           the UE, executing a client application; and   at the UE, receiving input data to the client application, the input data being provided at the host computer by executing a host application associated with the client application,   wherein the user date to be transmitted is provided by the client application in response to the input data.   
         
             39. A communication system including a host computer comprising a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the base station&#39;s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group 5 embodiments, 
             40. The communication system of the previous embodiment further including the base station. 
             41. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station. 
             42. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein:
           the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application;   the UE is configured to execute a dent application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data to be received by the host computer.   
         
             43. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:
           at the host computer, receiving, from the base station, user data originating from a transmission which the base station has received from the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.   
         
             44. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the base station, receiving the user data from the UE. 
             45. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising at the base station, initiating a transmission of the received user data to the host computer.