Patent ID: 12244492

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

There currently exist certain challenge(s). One problem is the lack of observability in the exact network location handling the function to be optimized provided in the existing MRO solutions in LTE if applied to NR. That comes from new issues that may occur in NR such as: misconfiguration of RLM, misconfiguration of cell quality derivation and beam reporting parameters, misconfiguration of beam failure detection and beam recovery and, in more general terms, the effects of beam-based monitoring (i.e., based on beam measurements) in NR in different procedures.

Misconfiguration of RLM

Differently from LTE, RLM is a highly configurable procedure in NR. First, the network may choose between two different RLM mechanisms (i.e., either explicit configuration of RSs to be monitored (i.e., downlink beams to be monitored, and RS resources signals, like SSBs and/or CSI-RSs), or an implicit configuration based on TCI states and QCLs RSs according to the UE's CORESET configuration(s)), which in turn have their own configuration. Other different parameters are also configurable, regardless of the method above, such as the BLER threshold for the generation of OOS and IS indication from L1 to upper layers so that RLF may be triggered when a radio link problem is detected.

Related to that, the first problem that the present disclosure aims to solve is the lack of observability when an RLF is triggered due to a problem related to a misconfigured RLM functionality such as the usage of a method not suitable for some scenarios (e.g., network uses a TCI state based method, while it could have used an explicit configuration of RSs, the network has configured too few RLM resources to save UE power, and/or network has configured too many RLM resources unnecessarily and not matching the PDCCH coverage, etc.).

As RLF aims to counter-act failed mobility decisions, RLM shall detect issues in the serving cell when L1 does not perform mobility properly. However, with an RLM misconfiguration the opposite may occur: the UE may have a very good cell coverage (e.g., because cell quality is derived from its whole cell set of SSBs and best beams/SSB is quite good), but, if the proper resources are not configured for RLM (e.g., because beam management is not operating as expected), the UE may not trigger measurement reports (and network may not trigger handovers, because serving cell is actually good), but the UE may trigger RLF. In other words, there may be an RLF even if the UE is still under cell coverage if RLM is not properly configured.

Such issue could be named an RLF from good cell or a too early RLF.FIG.10illustrates an example of such a scenario.

Currently, for MRO related problems, the network may be assisted by RLF reports, where the UE logs information when a failure has occurred and a cause value (i.e., what has caused the failure), which may include measurements performed for RRM purposes, as shown below:

RLF-Report-r9 ::=SEQUENCE {measResultLastServCell-r9SEQUENCE {rsrpResult-r9RSRP-Range,rsrqResult-r9RSRQ-RangeOPTIONAL},measResultNeighCells-r9SEQUENCE{measResultListEUTRA-r9MeasResultList2EUTRA-r9OPTIONAL,measResultListUTRA-r9MeasResultList2UTRA-r9OPTIONAL,measResultListGERAN-r9MeasResultListGERANOPTIONAL,measResultsCDMA2000-r9MeasResultList2CDMA2000-r9OPTIONAL} OPTIONAL,...,[[ locationInfo-r10LocationInfo-r10OPTIONAL,failedPCellId-r10CHOICE {cellGlobalId-r10CellGloballdEUTRA,pci-arfcn-r10SEQUENCE {physCellId-r10PhysCellId,carrierFreq-r10ARFCN-ValueEUTRA}}OPTIONAL,reestablishmentCellId-r10CellGloballdEUTRAOPTIONAL,timeConnFailure-r10INTEGER (0..1023)OPTIONAL,connectionFailureType-r10ENUMERATED {rlf, hof}OPTIONAL,previousPCellId-r10CellGloballdEUTRAOPTIONAL]],[[ failedPCellId-v1090SEQUENCE {carrierFreq-v1090ARFCN-ValueEUTRA-v9e0}OPTIONAL]],[[ basicFields-r11SEQUENCE {c-RNTI-r11C-RNTI,rlf-Cause-r11ENUMERATED {t310-Expiry, randomAccessProblem,rlc-MaxNumRetx, t312-Expiry-r12},timeSinceFailure-r11TimeSinceFailure-r11}OPTIONAL,previousUTRA-CellId-r11SEQUENCE {carrierFreq-r11ARFCN-ValueUTRA,physCellId-r11CHOICE {fdd-r11PhysCellIdUTRA-FDD,tdd-r11PhysCellIdUTRA-TDD},cellGlobalId-r11CellGlobalIdUTRAOPTIONAL}OPTIONAL,selectedUTRA-CellId-r11SEQUENCE {carrierFreq-r11ARFCN-ValueUTRA,physCellId-r11CHOICE {fdd-r11PhysCellIdUTRA-FDD,tdd-r11PhysCellIdUTRA-TDD}}OPTIONAL]],[[ failedPCellId-v1250SEQUENCE {tac-FailedPCell-rl2TrackingAreaCode}OPTIONAL,measResultLastServCell-v1250 RSRQ-Range-v1250OPTIONAL,lastServCellRSRQ-Type-r12RSRQ-Type-r12OPTIONAL,measResultListEUTRA-v1250MeasResultList2EUTRA-v1250OPTIONAL]],[[ drb-EstablishedWithQCI-1-rl3ENUMERATED {qci1}OPTIONAL]],[[ measResultLastServCell-v1360RSRP-Range-v1360OPTIONAL]],[[ logMeasResultListBT-r15LogMeasResultListBT-r15OPTIONAL,logMeasResultListWLAN-r15LogMeasResultListWLAN-r15OPTIONAL]]}RLF-Report-v9e0 ::=SEQUENCE {measResultListEUTRA-v9e0MeasResultList2EUTRA-v9e0}MeasResultList2EUTRA-r9 ::=SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxFreq)) OFMeasResult2EUTRA-r9MeasResultList2EUTRA-v9e0 ::=SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxFreq)) OFMeasResult2EUTRA-v9e0MeasResultList2EUTRA-v1250 ::=SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxFreq)) OFMeasResult2EUTRA-v1250MeasResult2EUTRA-r9 ::=SEQUENCE {carrierFreq-r9ARFCN-ValueEUTRA,measResultList-r9MeasResultListEUTRA}MeasResult2EUTRA-v9e0 ::=SEQUENCE {carrierFreq-v9e0ARFCN-ValueEUTRA-v9e0OPTIONAL}MeasResult2EUTRA-v1250 ::=SEQUENCE {rsrq-Type-r12RSRQ-Type-r12OPTIONAL}MeasResultList2UTRA-r9 ::=SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxFreq)) OFMeasResult2UTRA-r9MeasResult2UTRA-r9 ::=SEQUENCE {carrierFreq-r9ARFCN-ValueUTRA,measResultList-r9MeasResultListUTRA}MeasResultList2CDMA2000-r9 ::=SEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxFreq)) OFMeasResult2CDMA2000-r9MeasResult2CDMA2000-r9 ::=SEQUENCE {carrierFreq-r9CarrierFreqCDMA2000,measResultList-r9MeasResultsCDMA2000}

Notice that one information that is logged is the RRM measurements performed at the serving cell (and neighbour cells). That allows the source receiving that report to understand the serving cell quality compared to the neighbors and how it could later adjust its settings so that under certain conditions a measurement report would have been triggered. However, with the new RLM scheme in NR only informing latest RRM measurements when the failure occurred (e.g., serving cell quality) does not reveal at all failures that may be caused by misconfigured RLM parameters e.g. RLM resources.

Misconfiguration of Cell Quality Derivation (CQD) and Beam Reporting Parameters

One difference in NR compared to LTE is the possible usage of different reference signals (SSBs and/or CSI-RSs) for handover decisions (while in LTE only cell-specific reference signals are used for cell quality derivation). Also, the way the UE computes cell quality in NR (Cell Quality derivation procedure) is quite configurable.

In NR, these reference signals for CQD are transmitted in different beams and when more than one beam is used for the transmission of these reference signals, the UE receives these reference signals in different time instances. There are also other parameters as in LTE, but possibly configurable per beam (e.g. filter parameters). In RRC, cell quality derivation is described as follows:

5.3.3 Derivation of Cell Measurement Results

The network may configure the UE to derive RSRP, RSRQ and SINR measurement results per cell associated to NR measurement objects based on parameters configured in the measObject (e.g. maximum number of beams to be averaged and beam consolidation thresholds) and in the reportConfig (rsType to be measured, SS/PBCH block or CSI-RS).

The UE shall:

1> for each cell measurement quantity to be derived based on SS/PBCH block:2> if nrofSS-BlocksToAverage in the associated measObject is not configured; or2> if absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation in the associated measObject is not configured; or2> if the highest beam measurement quantity value is below or equal to absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation:3> derive each cell measurement quantity based on SS/PBCH block as the highest beam measurement quantity value, where each beam measurement quantity is described in TS 38.215 [9];2> else:3> derive each cell measurement quantity based on SS/PBCH block as the linear power scale average of the highest beam measurement quantity values above absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation where the total number of averaged beams shall not exceed nrofSS-BlocksToAverage;2> apply layer 3 cell filtering as described in 5.5.3.2;1> for each cell measurement quantity to be derived based on CSI-RS:2> consider a CSI-RS resource to be applicable for deriving cell measurements when the concerned CSI-RS resource is included in the csi-rs-CellMobility including the physCellId of the cell in the CSI-RS-ResourceConfigMobility in the associated measObject;2> if nrofCSI-RS-ResourcesToAverage in the associated measObject is not configured; or2> if absThreshCSI-RS-Consolidation in the associated measObject is not configured; or2> if the highest beam measurement quantity value is below or equal to absThreshCSI-RS-Consolidation:3> derive each cell measurement quantity based on applicable CSI-RS resources for the cell as the highest beam measurement quantity value, where each beam measurement quantity is described in TS 38.215 [9];2> else:3> derive each cell measurement quantity based on CSI-RS as the linear power scale average of the highest beam measurement quantity values above absThreshCSI-RS-Consolidation where the total number of averaged beams shall not exceed nrofCSI-RS-ResourcesToAverage;2> apply layer 3 cell filtering as described in 5.5.3.2.

In the example ofFIG.11, the cell-A's coverage is identified based on the coverage area of SSB beams A1and A2whereas the coverage area of cell-B's is identified based on the coverage area of SSB beams B1, B2and B3. When the UE computes the cell quality of these cells, then the UE needs to consider the additional configuration as to how to combine these beam level measurements into a cell level measurement. This is captured in the section 5.5.3.3 of the NR RRC specification TS 38.321 [3], as shown above. In a nut shell, the cell quality can be derived either based on the strongest beam or based on the average of up to ‘X’ strongest beams that are above a threshold ‘T’. These options were introduced to prevent potential ping-pong handover related issues that can arise when only the strongest beam is used for cell quality derivation. It was also discussed that having an averaging based configuration can result in a UE being in a sub optimal cell due to the process of averaging. In the end, both options were supported stating that the network can configure the UE with any of these options depending on which option suits best in terms of the radio condition within the cell's coverage area. Therefore, depending how CQD parameter are set, measurement reports may be triggered later or earlier. Triggering too early may lead to too early or pingo-pong handover, while triggering too late may lead to RLF.

Notice also that beam reporting based on L3 filtered beam measurements in connected mode has also been introduced to possibly improve ping-pong handover rate, especially if one trigger measurement reports on best beam quality. In other words, the network would benefit in getting early measurement reports based on best beam cell quality, but also knowing the quality of individual beams (e.g., SSBs and/or CSI-RS) in neighbour cells before taking mobility decisions. For example, a good candidate may be the one with very good best beam, but also where multiple other beams may be detected (known thanks to the reported information). On the other hand, beam report may not always be activated. Hence, the mistuning of beam reporting parameters (together with the mistuning of CQD parameters) may lead to either a solution where the UE unnecessarily has more efforts (in case beam reporting is activated) and larger measurement reports needs to be transmitted; or the network lacks beam observability to take handover decisions. Hence, current MRO solution only based on the existing measurements is not suitable to solve these potential issues. Beam reporting parameters may be number of beams to report (e.g. per cell), thresholds for beam reporting, reporting quantities per beam, etc.

Misconfiguration of Beam Failure Detection and Beam Recovery

In LTE, a RACH failure indicated from lower layers may trigger RLF. The baseline solution for MRO assistance is an indication in the RLF report that RLF was triggered due to RACH failure. However, as described in the background, for NR random access is used when beam failure detection is triggered, in a procedure called Beam Failure Recovery (BFR). Before that is triggered the UE is monitoring a set of configured RLM/BFD resource and, when a condition is fulfilled the UE triggers BFR, which consists of a flavor of random access, where the network needs to configure a set of RSs (i.e., a set of beams) that the UE may select before mapping to a RACH resource and send the preamble.

RACH failure due to BFR happens when the UE reaches the maximum number of RACH attempts, but many things depending on configurable parameters, contention, etc. Only knowing that RACH failure occurred limits quite a lot the root cause analyses possibilities on the network side (i.e., limited observability).

Examples of misconfigurations related to BFD and BR may be the resource for BFD, its relation to RLM resources, or the resources for candidate beams when BFR is triggered. In the case of misconfigured candidate beams resource, upon BFD, the UE starts to search on a configured candidate set and may not find a candidate beam in the configured set, which would lead to an RLF. However, it might be the case that the UE is still under cell coverage (i.e. CQD of serving cell is still quite good and measurement reports/mobility is not triggered by the network), something that would be quite bad.

Provision of MRO Assistance Information to the Correct Network Function

In the current handling of the RLF, upon receiving the RLF report from the UE the reestablishment cell forwards the RLF report (along with other parameters as captured in section 0) to the last serving cell of the UE. This communication happens on the interface between two RRC entities. In legacy LTE this interface has been the X2. However, if such communication had to happen in the NG RAN, it might happen over the Xn interface (between two CU-CPs or between a CU-CP and an eNB) or it might happen over the NG interface, in cases where the RLF report needs to be forwarded to nodes not connected via the Xn interface.

The current information exchange upon RLF declaration is between CU-CPs or CU-CP and eNB i.e., those units that handle RRC in respective nodes. The information exchanged is via either new or existing Xn messages. For example, new RLF indication message or Handover report message could be defined.

In LTE this information exchange was sufficient to identify the too late HO, too early HO and handover to wrong cell scenarios. However, in NR, as described above, there can be other issues that lead to RLF from the UE. One of them is the sub-optimal configuration of radio link monitoring related parameters, the BFD (beam failure detection) and BFR (beam failure recovery) parameters such as the RS resources, CQD and beam reporting parameters, misconfiguration of beam management procedures in general, etc. These resources are configured by the RRC. However, the exact way of managing these resources is up to the DUs that are handling the beam management and the beamforming functionalities.

In NR, there are new causes for RLF declaration via sub-optimal BFD and BFR resources.

The reference signals (e.g. SSBs and/or CSI-RSs) configured as part of the BFD and BFR could be beamformed dynamically and this dynamicity is controlled by the DUs

The RLF report upon failure to perform BFR is sent to RRC (CU) and thus the DU is unaware of the failure cause and cannot tune its beamforming parameters associated to RSs that are used for BFD and BFR.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. As one example, the present disclosure addresses the issue related to CU/DU split and the lack of observability in the correct functions handling certain related functionality (e.g., beamforming related functionality in the DU).

There are, proposed herein, various embodiments which address one or more of the issues disclosed herein.

According to one example embodiment, a method performed by a first Centralized Unit (CU) in the network side (e.g., implemented in a node, in the cloud, etc.) for Mobility Robustness Optimization is disclosed. In certain embodiments, the method may comprise:Receiving from a wireless terminal/user equipment (UE) assistance information from a UE for mobility robustness optimization (MRO), such as an RLF report and/or a Handover report (or any other assistance information for MRO);Determining the failure cause (e.g., by checking what is indicated in the assistance information reported by the UE). In certain embodiments, failure causes that may be in the assistance information (e.g., RLF report) may be one or more of the following: T310 expiry, Random Access Problem (possibly including additional information that this was triggered by Beam Failure Recovery, and further details about the procedure), maximum number of RLC retransmissions, Expiry of timer T312, RLM problem, Beam Failure Detection problem, Beam Management problem, cell quality derivation problem, etc.;Determining the location where the failure may be originated (e.g., its own CU, one of its associated DUs, another CU, or a DU associated to another CU). In certain embodiments, that determination may be performed based on the failure cause described in the previous step and/or location information also provided in the assistance report (e.g., RLF report) like a cell/node/DU/CU identifier. In certain embodiments, this may also be done at the network side by a look-up function where the CU receiving the report from the UE looks up a mapping between a reported identifier known by the UE (e.g., cell identifier) and CU/DU addressing information.Forwarding assistance information for MRO (e.g., an RLF report) or configuration changes related to MRO to the location where the failure may be originated, upon (or in response to) the previous determination step (e.g., its own CU, one of its associated DUs, another CU, or a DU associated to another CU).In certain embodiments, the location may be a DU associated to the CU receiving the assistance information from the UE (e.g. RLF report). This is shown inFIG.12(for the case where assistance information is provided).FIG.13shows an arrangement of a CU, a DU, and a UE that may perform the steps ofFIG.12.In certain embodiments, the location may be a second CU (and, in that case the second CU is responsible to forward the assistance information to a second DU where the failure was originated, in case the function that led to RLF is handled by the second DU). This is shown inFIG.14(for the case where assistance information is provided).FIG.15shows an arrangement of a CUs, DUs, and a UE that may perform the steps ofFIG.14.

According to another example embodiment, a method performed by a second Centralized Unit (CU) in the network side (e.g., implemented in a node, in the cloud, etc.) for Mobility Robustness Optimization is disclosed. In certain embodiments, the method comprises:Receiving assistance information for MRO (e.g., a RLF report) indicating that a failure may be originated in a cell of a DU associated to the second CU; andForwarding assistance information for MRO (e.g., the RLF report) or configuration changes related to MRO to the DU where the failure may be originated upon determining a mapping between a cell identifier and the DU.

According to another example embodiment, a method performed by a Distributed Unit (DU) in the network side (e.g., implemented in a node, in the cloud, etc.) for Mobility Robustness Optimization is disclosed. In certain embodiments, the method comprises:Receiving assistance information for MRO (e.g., a RLF report) indicating that a failure may be originated in a cell of that DU (e.g., that may be received from a CU, as described above);Performing one or more parameter changes in at least one of the functions handled by that DU (possibly using forwarded assistance information). In certain embodiments, these functions may include one or more of Random-Access, BFD, BFR, RLM, cell quality derivation, beam management, or any other function affected by beamforming parameters handled by that DU;Indicating to the DU any parameter changes performed in at least one of the functions handled by that DU. In certain embodiments, these functions may include one or more of Random-Access, BFD, BFR, RLM, cell quality derivation, beam management, or any other function affected by beamforming parameters handled by that DU.

Some examples of how the various embodiments described herein may be implemented are described below.

In certain embodiments, if the cell in which the UE performs re-establishment is the same as the last serving cell indicated in the assistance information (e.g., the RLF report), and if the failure cause is associated to RLF caused by procedures handled by the DU (which is the same DU since both cells are the same), such as sub optimum beam configuration for procedures like cell quality derivation, RLM parameters, contention free random-access resources, BFD, BFR, beam reporting, etc., the CU may perform one or more of the following actions:Indicate the beam configuration related issues to DU (e.g., possibly forwarding assistance information to the DU, like the RLF report or parts of it);Indicate one or more changes in the beam configuration related parameters for at least one of the described procedures (e.g., resources for BFR, BFD, RLM, CQD settings, activation of beam reporting, etc.); andConfigure one or more beam related parameters for at least one of the described procedures (e.g., resources for BFR, BFD, RLM, CQD settings, activation of beam reporting, etc.).

In certain embodiments, if the cell in which the UE performs re-establishment is not the same as the last serving cell indicated in the assistance information (e.g., the RLF report), and if the failure cause is associated to RLF caused by procedures handled by a DU (and, the re-establishment cell is associated to the same DU as the last serving cell), such as sub optimum beam configuration for procedures like cell quality derivation, RLM parameters, contention free random-access resources, BFD, BFR, beam reporting, etc., the CU may perform one or more of the following actions:Indicate the beam configuration related issues to DU (e.g., possibly forwarding assistance information to the DU, like the RLF report or parts of it);Indicate one or more changes in the beam configuration related parameters for at least one of the described procedures (e.g., resources for BFR, BFD, RLM, CQD settings, activation of beam reporting, etc.); andConfigure one or more beam related parameters for at least one of the described procedures (e.g., resources for BFR, BFD, RLM, CQD settings, activation of beam reporting, etc.).

In certain embodiments, if the cell in which the UE performs re-establishment is not the same as the last serving cell, and they are associated to different DUs (but under the same CU), forward the RLF report (including, for example, RLM/BFD-BFR related info) via an available interface such as the Xn interface to DU associated to the last serving cell indicated in the assistance information where RLF is declared.

In certain embodiments, the DU may either receive an indication of the issue detected by the CU (e.g., the indication may suggest that a reconfiguration of BDF and/or BFR is needed). Alternatively, in certain embodiments the CU may send to the DU the RLF and/or handover report. In certain embodiments, upon receiving (or in response to receiving) such information concerning failure cases or cases where a reconfiguration for the purpose of mobility optimization is needed, the DU may change the beamforming configuration(s) associated to BFD and/or BFR resources and beam configuration associated to cell quality derivation, RACH resource allocation and handover.

FIG.16is a flow chart of an embodiment for CU-CP associated to using RLF report for RLM/BFD-BFR resource beamforming modifications. The method inFIG.16comprises receiving an RLF report (step1.1), determining an RLF due to beam failure reasons (step1.2a) and/or determining re-establishment is in the same cell as the last serving cell (step1.2b), and indicating to the DU about the RM/BFD-BFR issues (step1.3a) and/or changing the RLM or BFD-BFR resources based on the contents of the RLF report (step1.3b).

FIG.17is a flow chart of an embodiment for DU associated to using RLF report for RLM/BFD-BFR resource beamforming modifications. The method comprises receiving an RLM/BFD-BFR indication (step2.1) and changing a beamforming configuration associated to RLM/BFD-BFR resources (step2.2).

In addition to the above-described communication from CU to DU, in certain embodiments there can be scenarios where DU might do the learning based on the statistics associated to successful BFR attempts and thus indicate to the CU about the optimal RLM or BFD/BFR resource configurations that shall be used for the UEs in that area in the future.

FIG.18is a flow chart of an embodiment for DU associated to using BFR attempts-based BFD/BFR resource configurations. The method comprises collecting statistics associated to the usage of RLM/BFD-BFR related resources (step3.1) and performing an optimality check (threshold based or ML based) for the RLM/BFD-BFR associated resources' usage (step3.2). The method further comprises determining changes required for RLM/BFD-BFR resources (step3.3) and informing CU of the changes related to RLM/BFD-BFR resources' allocation (step3.4).

FIG.19is a flow chart of an embodiment for CU associated to using BFR attempts-based RLM/BFD-BFR resource reconfigurations. The method comprises receiving RLM/BFD-BFR reconfiguration request from DU (step4.1) and changing BFD/BFR configuration associated to BFD and/or BFR resources (step4.2).

In addition to the above-described communications, there can be scenarios where the CU might do the learning based on the statistics associated to successful BFR attempts as well as other beam measurement/configuration of the neighboring cells, and thus via leveraging a more thorough information (including nonboring cells information) the CU may reconfigure the DU with the optimal BFD/BFR resource configurations that shall be used for the UEs in that area in the future.

FIG.20is a flow chart of an embodiment for CU associated to using BFR attempts' based RLM/BFD-BFR resource reconfigurations. The method comprises collecting statistics associated to the usage of RLM/BFD-BFR related resources, including the source cells and the neighboring cells (step3.1) and performing optimality check (threshold based or ML based) for BFD/BFR associated resources' usage (step3.2). The method further comprises determining changes required for BFD/BFR resources (step3.3) and informing DU the new configuration for RLM/BFD-BFR resources' allocation (step3.4).

Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). As one example, certain embodiments may enable the CU and DU to exchange the information associated to RLF, Handover reports-based learning (from CU to DU) and the successful BFR, cell quality derivation and RACH resource allocation related learning (from DU to CU). This may advantageously enable fine tuning tuning of the BFD and/or BFR resources configurations as well as the configuration of beam configuration for cell quality derivation, dedicated RACH resource allocation (CFRA) and beams configuration for handovers. This fine tuning may advantageously reduce the network overhead by using only the ‘optimal’ RLM/BFD-BFR resources and also reduce the RLF declaration from the UE thus reducing the UE interruption times due to RLFs along with ensuring optimum beams for cell quality derivation, dedicated RACH resource allocation and beam configuration for handovers.

Additional Explanation

Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

2.1 RLF Report Related Information from CU to DU

In certain embodiments, the CU can inform the DU about the statistics derived from the intra cell RLF reports and RLF reports contained in Handover reports associated to the beam failure related aspects that led to RLF. The flow charts associated to this feature are provided inFIGS.16-17.

2.1.1 Step1.1(CU Receives RLF Report)

In certain embodiments, the CU receives the RLF report associated to a UE that was served by a cell connected to this CU before declaring RLF.

2.1.2 Step1.2(CU Determines if the RLF Occurred Due to RLM/BFD/FR or Beam Related Configurations)

In this step, the CU identifies that the RLF was declared by the UE due to the beam failure related reasons.

In certain embodiments, the identification may be performed based on the contents of the RLF report. In some cases, the reason for RLF may be a maximum number of RACH attempts being reached.

In certain embodiments, the identification may be based on the fact that the cell in which the UE performed the re-establishment is the same cell which was the last serving cell of the UE. In certain embodiments, the identification may be further based on the beam through which the UE performs the RA as part of the reestablishment and comparing this beam with the UEs configured and lastly activated beam failure recovery resources (the active BWP of the UE). In certain embodiments, the DU may be mandated to inform the CU about the changes in the active BWP of the UE. In certain embodiments, if the CU is not aware of these activated beam failure recovery resources, then the CU may request the DU to provide the last active BWP of the UE (in such a scenario, the DU is expected to retain the UE's active BWP history for a “duration” even after the UE becomes non-reachable from the network side). In certain embodiments, the CU declares that the previously configured RLM/BFD-BFR resources are sub-optimal if the beam from which the UE re-establishes is not amongst the beams assigned to be used for the RLM/BFD-BFR purposes.

In certain embodiments, both of the above conditions may be taken into consideration to realize that the issues are related to RLM/BFDBFR resource allocations. In some cases, this could be based on statistics from a single UE's RLM/BFDBFR related RLF or based on the statistics from multiple UEs' RLM/BFD-BFR related RLF declarations.

In certain embodiments, the CU may determine that the RLF occurred since beams configured to measure the cell quality were not optimum since the UE reports alternative better beams. For example, this could happen due to two reasons:Case 1: UE is configured to base the cell quality on specific beam which is below the required threshold for an acceptable cell but there are other strong beams available.Case 2: UE is configured to base the cell quality based on the average of multiple configured or strongest beams, but the average of the beams is below the required threshold for an acceptable cell.

In certain embodiments, the DU uses the RLF report from the CU and performs the following actions.Case 1: DU configured the UE with alternative strong beam reported from the UE or the UE is configured to base the cell quality on the average of multiple beams.Case 2: DU configured the UE with specific strong beam instead of utilizing the average of multiple beams for cell quality derivation.

In certain embodiments, the CU may determine that the UE reports RLF since the beams allocated as CFRA resources were not optimum. In some cases, the RLF report could also be included inside the Handover report in case of handover failure scenarios. In such a scenario, the CU may then report its finding to the DU.

In certain embodiments, the DU may determine from the RLF report that the CFRA resources were not optimum but the UE reports alternative beams that could have been optimum. In such a scenario, the DU may then reconfigure the UE with CFRA resources based on strong beam reported by the UE.

2.1.3 Step1.3(Step2.1and2.2as Well) (Informing DU about the Change in the RLM/BFD-BFR, Cell Quality Beam, Beam for RACH Configurations and/or Informing DU about the Possible Need to Change Beamforming Configurations Associated to RLM/BFD-BFR RSs, Cell Quality Beam, Beams for CFRA)

In certain embodiments, the CU may decide to change the RLM/BFD-BFR resources (e.g., new beam addition, some beams removal, etc.) associated to certain BWPs and use the new configuration to the UEs that will come to connected in the cell in which the UE had declared RLF.

In certain embodiments, the CU may inform the DU about the beam through which the UE performed the reestablishment so that this information can be used by the DU to modify the beamforming configurations of the RLM/BFD-BFR related beams or cell quality beams or beams for CFRA.

2.2 BFR (and RLM) Related Information from DU to CU

When there is a successful beam failure recovery, there is no notification given to CU as to which beams are mostly used for BFR and which beams are not used at all. This is what is proposed inFIGS.18-19and the steps captured in these figures.

2.2.1 Step3.1(Collection of BFR Associated Statistics)

In certain embodiments, the DU may use the beam which was used by the UE for BFR as part of the statistics.

In certain embodiments, upon (or in response to) BFR the UE sends a measurement report associated to the successful BFR. This report can be obtained from the UE upon request from the network (e.g., something similar to UEInformationRequest and UEInformationResponse framework but from the lower layer like L1 reporting used in CSI framework). In such a report, the UE may include the RSRP measurements associated to one or more of the configured BFD and/or BFR RSs. Additionally, the UE may also include the beams that are measured to be better than the configured BFD related RSs (these additional beams might be related to BFR related RSs and/or those RSs that were blindly detected by the UE and/or those RSs that were configured for RRM measurements). Additionally, in certain embodiments the collected information may include the L1 RSRP reporting included as part of the CSI framework. Moreover, in certain embodiments the UE can include measurements of the resources associated to the RLM in parallel with the measurement associated to the resources used for BFD-BFR

In certain embodiments, both of the above-described embodiments' associated information may be collected.

In certain embodiments, the above-mentioned statistics may be collected in DU. In certain embodiments, these statistics may be collected in a centralized storage (as shown inFIG.20, this centralized storage can be CU and in that case the step3.4may be more of execution of the decision obtained from step3.3and a communication from CU to DU rather than communication from DU to CU).

2.2.2 Step3.2(Checking Whether the Configured BFD/BFR Resources are Optimal)

In certain embodiments, the usage of certain BFR resources can be checked based on:How often a beam has been used for BFR?Whether any other beam was available at the time of using a particular beam for BFR?Based on both above statistics.Other suitable criteria

In certain embodiments, the statistics so collected may be checked against a predefined threshold. In certain embodiments, the statistics may be compared relatively against one another to decide which beams are most beneficial for BFR purposes and which beams are least beneficial. In certain embodiments, the statistics so collected may be given to a machine learning algorithm that can output most suitable ‘X’ beams for BFR.

In certain embodiments, as part of the BFD related configuration enhancement, based on the UEs reported beams that were part of the measurement report sent by the UE after BFR, the need for adding new BFD resources to the existing BFD resources can be checked. For example, if an RS that is not currently included in the BFD configuration but is reported by UEs as an RS that was audible (e.g., beams above certain threshold), then it can be a candidate for addition for BFD resources in the future.

2.2.3 Step3.3(Check if there is a Need for Changing the BFD/BFR Resources)

In certain embodiments, based on the already available BFD/BFR resource configurations and comparing it with the optimality information obtained from step3.2, the DU may decide if the current list of BFR resources can be updated or not.

2.2.4 Step3.4(Informing CU about the Changes Related to BFD/BFR Resource Allocation)

In certain embodiments, if the decision in Step3.3was to change the BFD/BFR resources, then this may be informed to the CU

2.3 Handover Report Related Information from CU to DU

In certain embodiments, the CU may inform the DU about the statistics derived from the handover reports associated to the beam failure related aspects that led to handover failure or could potentially avoid future handover failures.

2.3.1 Step1.1(CU Receives Handover Report)

In certain embodiments, the CU may receive the Handover report associated to a UE that was served by a cell connected to this CU before declaring RLF or handover failure or even after successful handover.

2.3.2 Step1.2(CU Determines if the Handover Report Contains Possibilities for Beam Configuration Optimization)

In this step, the CU may identify that the Handover report contains RLF reports which were caused by beam-related reasons or in case of successful handover CU may notice there is a possibility for beam configuration improvement as indicated by UE.

In certain embodiments, the target DU for a handover may use the successful handover report from CU which includes UE report of alternative better beams to adjust the handover configuration including selection of target beams for UE in cell edge situations.

In certain embodiments, the CU may determine and inform the source DU that the RLF indicator in handover reports indicates that there were stronger beams available during Handover other than the ones configured for this purpose in source DU.

2.4 RLM/BFD Parameters that May be Tuned Based on Assistance Information

In certain of the example embodiments disclosed herein, it has been described that assistance information reported by the UE and forwarded to the DU where the failure has been originated may be used to optimize RLM parameters. In certain embodiments, these parameters may be one or more of the following:

RadioLinkMonitoringConfig Information Element

-- ASN1START-- TAG-RADIOLINKMONITORINGCONFIG-STARTRadioLinkMonitoringConfig ::=SEQUENCE {failureDetectionResourcesToAddModList SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxNrofFailureDetectionResources)) OF RadioLinkMonitoringRSOPTIONAL, -- Need NfailureDetectionResourcesToReleaseList SEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxNrofFailureDetectionResources)) OF RadioLinkMonitoringRS-IdOPTIONAL, -- Need NbeamFailureInstanceMaxCountENUMERATED {n1, n2, n3, n4, n5, n6,n8, n10}OPTIONAL, -- Need RbeamFailureDetectionTimerENUMERATED {pbfd1, pbfd2, pbfd3,pbfd4, pbfd5, pbfd6, pbfd8, pbfd10}OPTIONAL, -- Need R...}RadioLinkMonitoringRS ::=SEQUENCE {radioLinkMonitoringRS-IdRadioLinkMonitoringRS-Id,purposeENUMERATED {beamFailure, rlf, both},detectionResourceCHOICE {ssb-IndexSSB-Index,csi-RS-IndexNZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId},...}-- TAG-RADIOLINKMONITORINGCONFIG-STOP-- ASN1STOP

beamFailureDetectionTimer: This is the timer for beam failure detection as defined in TS 38.321, clause 5.17. The value is in number of “Qout,LRreporting periods of Beam Failure Detection” Reference Signal. Value pbfd1 corresponds to 1 Qout,LRreporting period of Beam Failure Detection Reference Signal, value pbfd2 corresponds to 2 Qout,LRreporting periods of Beam Failure Detection Reference Signal and so on.

The usage of the timer is described in the MAC specifications as follows:

The MAC entity shall:

1> if beam failure instance indication has been received from lower layers:2> start or restart the beamFailureDetectionTimer;2> increment BFI_COUNTER by 1;2> if BFI_COUNTER>=beamFailureInstanceMaxCount:3> initiate a Random Access procedure (see subclause 5.1) on the SpCell.1> if the beamFailureDetectionTimer expires; or1> if beamFailureDetectionTimer, beamFailureInstanceMaxCount, or any of the reference signals used for beam failure detection is reconfigured by upper layers:2> set BFI_COUNTER to 0.1> if the Random Access procedure is successfully completed (see subclause 5.1):2> set BFI_COUNTER to 0;2> stop the beamFailureRecoveryTimer, if configured;2> consider the Beam Failure Recovery procedure successfully completed.

This is somehow equivalent to the in-sync indications in RLF handling that indicates that after the reception of an OSS event the link is getting recovered. In BFD, the absence of an OOS indication is somehow an indication that beam(s) monitored are getting better and beam recovery shall not be triggered.

If the timer is too short (e.g., a single OSS event received), the UE triggers BFR upon a single OOS event. That may possibly be due to fast fading effect and, network may not really want the UE to trigger BFR (i.e. random access) every time it happens, since that might be fixed by the network via ordinary beam management procedures. The consequence of a too short timer value is a higher than necessary number of BFR attempts, which may lead to RLF due to the maximum number of retransmissions in RACH being reached.

Else, if the timer is too long, for example BFR is only triggered when a high number of OOS events come in a quite short window, there could be a misdetection of problems if here and there the link gets recovered (and OOS events are absent just sometimes), which may possibly happen due to fast fading effect. Hence, BFR may not be triggered, even when needed, even though RLM may anyway trigger RLF, depending how the RLF parameters for the IS and OSS counter thresholds are set.

According to certain of the embodiments described herein, information regarding OSS events for BFD and RLM and beam measurements on reference signals configured for RLM may assist the network to either increase the timer value when too many BFRs are happening (e.g. based on collected statistics from one or multiple UEs). That may be known thanks to the reported assistance information (e.g., RLF report) containing information that RACH failure occurred due to BFR being triggered and reaching a maximum number of retransmissions.

beamFailureInstanceMaxCount: This field determines after how many beam failure events the UE triggers beam failure recovery (see TS 38.321, clause 5.17). Value n1 corresponds to 1 beam failure instance, n2 corresponds to 2 beam failure instances and so on. This is basically the number of OOS events within the time window that triggers BFR.

If this value is too low, there may be too many BFRs triggered due to a fast fading event and/or blocking, which will trigger the UE to perform random access and possibly lead to RLF if maximum number of attempts is reached. Notice that the risk here is to trigger BFR due to a fast fading and/or blockage effect that may likely be recovered anyway. The content of RLF report including beam measurements on BFD resources (and event measurements beyond that) may assist the network to understand that too many BFRs may be happening due to too low values for this counter.

Else, if this value is too high, UE may not trigger BFRs even though the situation is not very good.

The risk is that RLM is being performed anyway and RLF is triggered, even though there is still some good coverage in the cell that was not really detected since UE has not triggered BFR and has not had the chance to find a candidate beam (assuming a correct configuration of candidate beams). Hence, too high value may lead to too late BFR.

The reported information in the RLF report may assist the network to detect RLF due to RACH failure (maximum number of retransmissions) due to too many BFR attempts, possibly due to a too low value of the counter. Or, RLF due to expiry of timer T310 due to the fact BFR is not being triggered (or is slower than RLF) due to the fact that the counter is set too high.

failureDetectionResourcesToAddModList: This field is a list of reference signals for detecting beam failure and/or cell level radio link failure (RLF). The limits of the reference signals that the network can configure are specified in TS 38.213, in Table 5-1. The network configures at most two detectionResources per BWP for the purpose “beamFailure” or “both”. If no RSs are provided for the purpose of beam failure detection, the UE performs beam monitoring based on the activated TCI-State for PDCCH as described in TS 38.213, clause 6. If no RSs are provided in this list for the purpose of RLF detection, the UE performs Cell-RLM based on the activated TCI-State of PDCCH as described in TS 38.213, clause 5. The network ensures that the UE has a suitable set of reference signals for performing cell-RLM.

Basically, this list determines the exact resources for BFD and/or RLM, but also the exact RLM/BFD method to be used (implicitly based on TCI states configurations or explicitly based on RS configurations).

If a UE is configured with sub optimum of RS resources for BFD or RLM, RLF may either be triggered too early or never be triggered. That is especially important in the case the resources monitored for RLM/BFD are not the same ones used for cell quality derivation. In that case, the network may not trigger handovers (because UE does not trigger measurements reports taken based on SSBs, which have good coverage) but triggers RLF due to the expiry of timer T310 due to misconfigured RS resources for RLM, in the sense that they may not really translate that the UE is still under cell coverage (but monitoring resources/beams that are not the best ones covering the UE). Hence, when an RLF happens due to timer T310 and UE logs BFD/RLM information, such as beam measurements of BFD/RLM resources, but possibly other beams from the serving cell (e.g. available SSB measurements, or CSI-RS measurements) the UE basically indicates to the network that the UE was under cell coverage but it was monitoring resources with not so good coverage (hence, RLF happened).

Similar issues may occur in BFR triggered by a misconfiguration of BFD resources. If the network detects RLF due to RACH failure due to too many RACH retransmissions due to too many BFR procedures, it may be a sign of too many BFD events, due to misconfigured BFD resources.

Possible network actions based on an enhanced RLF report with information regarding beam measurements on serving cell of BFD/RLM resources, and possibly including beam measurements on serving cell of other resources not configured for BFD/RLM, such as serving cell SSB measurements for RRM, may be taken. For example, the network may know that it should have configured other BFD/RLM resources/beams, and even change the method being used from the one based on TCIs to something that matches the reference signals used for cell quality derivation (e.g., use the same RS and instruct the UE to do RLM/BFD based on SSBs, as in the case of RRM measurements).

Another possible optimization is the activation of BFR itself. It might be the case the network starts its operation without BFR until it starts to detect RLFs and realize that something may be done. For example, when the UE declares RLFs and RLF report indicates that these could be avoided with BFR e.g. the RLF report shows that there were other good beams not configured for RLM that could have been configured as candidate beams for BFR. Hence, based on that information, network activates BFR and knows which beam it may configure as candidate beams.

2.5 BFR Parameters that May be Tuned Based on Assistance Information

In certain of the example embodiments disclosed herein, it has been described that assistance information reported by the UE and forwarded to the DU where the failure has been originated may be used to optimize BFR parameters. In certain embodiments, these parameters may be one or more of the following:

BeamFailureRecoveryConfig Information Element

-- ASN1START-- TAG-BEAM-FAILURE-RECOVERY-CONFIG-STARTBeamFailureRecoveryConfig ::=SEQUENCE {rootSequenceIndex-BFRINTEGER (0 .137)OPTIONAL, -- Need Mrach-ConfigBFRRACH-ConfigGenericOPTIONAL, -- Need Mrsrp-ThresholdSSBRSRP-RangeOPTIONAL, -- Need McandidateBeamRSListSEQUENCE(SIZE(1..maxNrofCandidateBeams)) OF PRACH-ResourceDedicatedBFROPTIONAL, -- Need Mssb-perRACH-OccasionENUMERATED {oneEighth, oneFourth,oneHalf, one, two, four, eight, sixteen} OPTIONAL, -- Need Mra-ssb-OccasionMaskIndexINTEGER (0 .15)OPTIONAL, -- Need MrecoverySearchSpaceIdSearchSpaceIdOPTIONAL, -- Cond CF-BFRra-PrioritizationRA-PrioritizationOPTIONAL, -- Need RbeamFailureRecoveryTimerENUMERATED {ms10, ms20, ms40, ms60,ms80, ms100, ms150, ms200}OPTIONAL, -- Need M...,[[msg1-SubcarrierSpacing-v1520SubcarrierSpacingOPTIONAL -- Need M]]}PRACH-ResourceDedicatedBFR ::=CHOICE {ssbBFR-SSB-Resource,csi-RSBFR-CSIRS-Resource}BFR-SSB-Resource ::=SEQUENCE {ssbSSB-Index,ra-PreambleIndexINTEGER (0..63),...}BFR-CSIRS-Resource ::=SEQUENCE {csi-RSNZP-CSI-RS-ResourceId,ra-OccasionListSEQUENCE (SIZE(1..maxRA-OccasionsPerC SIRS))OF INTEGER (0..maxRA-Occasions−1) OPTIONAL, -- Need Rra-PreambleIndexINTEGER (0..63)OPTIONAL, -- Need R...}-- TAG-BEAM-FAILURE-RECOVERY-CONFIG-START-- ASN1STOP

beamFailureRecoveryTimer: Timer for beam failure recovery timer that starts when BFR is triggered (i.e. when random access due to BFR is started and stops if things are successful. Upon expiration of the timer the UE does not use CFRA for BFR. Value in ms. ms10 corresponds to 10 ms, ms20 to 20 ms, and so on.

Hence, upon the expiry of the timer the UE may still perform beam selection for Beam Failure Recovery (BFR) (i.e., RACH resource selection), but for contention-free random access resources. Longer this timer is, longer is the amount of time the UE is allowed to use CFRA. Hence, based on beam measurement information reported in RLF report when RLF happens (e.g., due to RACH failure (due to maximum number of attempts reached)) the network may know what beams the UE has tried to select, for example, whether these were CFRA or CBRA resources and, possibly increase the value of this timer so the UE may take more time to select a CFRA resource. Else, if failure occurs even if that time is set with a quite high value.

candidateBeamRSList: This is a list of reference signals (CSI-RS and/or SSB) identifying the candidate beams for recovery and the associated RA parameters. The network configures these reference signals to be within the linked DL BWP (i.e., within the DL BWP with the same bwp-Id) of the UL BWP in which the BeamFailureRecoveryConfig is provided.

Upon BFD, the UE needs to select one of the configured beams. If upon BFD the UE is under the coverage of beams that are not in the list of these resources, the UE is not able to perform BFR, which may lead to RLF. Hence, RLF report may include beam measurements (e.g., based on SSBs and CSI-RSs) to indicate the network that these resources are possibly misconfigured.

Hence, based on these reports, the network may add and/or replace resources in that configuration. For example, if in RLF report the UE indicates the RLF due to expiry of timer T310, even though it indicates that BFD was triggered (e.g., thanks to a flag in RLF report for BFD or other information enabling network to detect that), but no BFR was triggered because the lack of resources, and network also has beam measurements for beams that were not configured as candidate resources, network knows that these reported beams, if providing good measurements (e.g., high RSRP, RSRQ or SINR values), are good to be configured as candidates for beam recovery so that RLF may be avoided next time thanks to the fact that the UE would have an opportunity to select a beam of the cell that is providing good coverage to the UE so the UE can try to perform BFR. Notice that these beams measurements may be RRM measurements based on SSBs.

msg1-SubcarrierSpacing: Subcarrier spacing for contention free beam failure recovery. Only the values 15 or 30 kHz (<6 GHz), 60 or 120 kHz (>6 GHz) are applicable. See TS 38.211, clause 5.3.2.

rsrp-ThresholdSSB: This is a L1-RSRP threshold used for determining whether a candidate beam may be used by the UE to attempt contention free Random Access to recover from beam failure (see TS 38.213, clause 6). By receiving an RLF report including beam measurements at the moment the failure has occurred, the network knows which beams are above or below a threshold. Notice that in this sense, the UE may report beams in RLF report regardless of their quality (i.e., possibly including beams below that threshold). That would allow the network to possibly lower that threshold in case it is set too high.

ra-prioritization: These are parameters which apply for prioritized random access procedure for BFR. They comprise the following parameters:powerRampingStepHighPrioritiy: Power ramping step applied for prioritized random access procedure; This is to be used in case prioritization is used for BFR.scalingFactorBI: Scaling factor for the backoff indicator (BI) for the prioritized random access procedure. (see TS 38.321 [3], clause 5.1.4). Value zero corresponds to 0, value dot25 corresponds to 0.25 and so on.

Upon the reception of an RLF report including information that BFR failure has occurred (e.g., maximum number of RACH attempts) and beam measurements when the procedure occurs, the network is able to understand that prioritization of BFR could have make the procedure succeed. Then, upon receiving an RLF report with that information the network may turn on the prioritization feature (i.e., configure UEs with that configuration) and provide parameter accordingly, such as power ramping step high priority and scaling factor.

ra-ssb-OccasionMaskIndex: Explicitly signalled PRACH Mask Index for RA Resource selection in TS 38.321 [3]. The mask is valid for all SSB resources.

rach-ConfigBFR: This is the configuration of contention free random access occasions for BFR. If the network receives an RLF report including information that RLF is triggered due to RACH failure, and that this occurred due to BFR and that contention is detected, the network may configure CFRA resources.

recoverySearchSpaceId: Search space to use for BFR RAR. The network configures this search space to be within the linked DL BWP (i.e., within the DL BWP with the same bwp-Id) of the UL BWP in which the BeamFailureRecoveryConfig is provided. The CORESET associated with the recovery search space cannot be associated with another search space.

ssb-perRACH-Occasion: This is defining the number of SSBs per RACH occasion for CF-BFR (L1 parameter ‘SSB-per-rach-occasion’). If the network receives an RLF report including information that RLF is triggered due to RACH failure, and that this occurred due to BFR and that contention is detected, the network may reconfigure the distribution of SSBs per RACH occasion and/or configure more CBRA resources to avoid the RLFs.

Similar parameters may be tuned for CSI-RS related configurations.

2.6 CQD Parameters that May be Tuned Based on Assistance Information

In certain of the example embodiments disclosed herein, it has been described that assistance information reported by the UE and forwarded to the DU where the failure has been originated may be used to optimize CQD parameters. These parameters may be one or more of the following bolded ones in the measurement object:

MeasObjectNR Information Element

-- ASN1START-- TAG-MEAS-OBJECT-NR-STARTMeasObjectNR ::=SEQUENCE {ssbFrequencyARFCN-ValueNROPTIONAL, -- Cond SSBorAssociatedSSBssbSubcarrierSpacingSubcarrierSpacingOPTIONAL, -- Cond SSBorAssociatedSSBsmtc1SSB-MTCOPTIONAL, -- Cond SSBorAssociatedSSBsmtc2SSB-MTC2OPTIONAL, -- Cond IntraFreqConnectedrefFreqCSI-RSARFCN-ValueNROPTIONAL, -- Cond CSI-RSreferenceSignalConfigReferenceSignalConfig,absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidationThresholdNROPTIONAL,--Need RabsThreshCSI-RS-ConsolidationThresholdNROPTIONAL,--Need RnrofSS-BlocksToAverageINTEGER(2..maxNrofSS-BlocksToAverage)OPTIONAL,--Need RnrofCSI-RS-ResourcesToAverageINTEGER(2..maxNrofCSI-RS-ResourcesToAverage)OPTIONAL,--Need RquantityConfigIndexINTEGER (1..maxNrofQuantityConfig),offsetMOQ-OffsetRangeList,cellsToRemoveListPCI-ListOPTIONAL, -- Need NcellsToAddModListCellsToAddModListOPTIONAL, -- Need NblackCellsToRemoveListPCI-RangeIndexListOPTIONAL, -- Need NblackCellsToAddModListSEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofPCI-Ranges))OF PCI-RangeElementOPTIONAL, -- Need NwhiteCellsToRemoveListPCI-RangeIndexListOPTIONAL, -- Need NwhiteCellsToAddModListSEQUENCE (SIZE (1..maxNrofPCI-Ranges))OF PCI-RangeElementOPTIONAL, -- Need N... ,[[freqBandIndicatorNR-v1530FreqBandIndicatorNROPTIONAL, -- Need RmeasCycleSCell-v1530ENUMERATED {sf160, sf256, sf320, sf512,sf640, sf1024, sf1280} OPTIONAL -- Need R]]}

absThreshCSI-RS-Consolidation: This is the absolute threshold for the consolidation of measurement results per CSI-RS resource(s) from L1 filter(s). The field is used for the derivation of cell measurement results as described in 5.5.3.3 and the reporting of beam measurement information per CSI-RS resource as described in 5.5.5.2 of TS 38.331.

absThreshSS-BlocksConsolidation: Absolute threshold for the consolidation of measurement results per SS/PBCH block(s) from L1 filter(s). The field is used for the derivation of cell measurement results as described in 5.5.3.3 and the reporting of beam measurement information per SS/PBCH block index as described in 5.5.5.2 of TS 38.331.

nrofCSInrofCSI-RS-ResourcesToAverage: Indicates the maximum number of measurement results per beam based on CSI-RS resources to be averaged. The same value applies for each detected cell associated with this MeasObjectNR.

nrofSS-BlocksToAverage: Indicates the maximum number of measurement results per beam based on SS/PBCH blocks to be averaged. The same value applies for each detected cell associated with this MeasObject.

These parameters define per RS how the UE uses beams to compute cell quality. Averaging multiple beams has the potential to reduce handover ping-pong rate but may delay the triggering of measurement reports in case the UE detects multiple beams per cell. Hence, if the network receives an RLF reporting including information that RLF has happened and additional beam measurements (with beams not necessarily used for CQD), network may figure out that RLF has occurred due to too late measurement reports due to CQD based on averages. Hence, receiving these reports may lead the network to disable averaging and/or reduce the number of averaged beams and/or raising the consolidation thresholds so that less beams are used for averaging.

2.7 Beam Reporting Parameters that May be Tuned Based on Assistance Information

RLFs may be happening (e.g., due to too early handovers) because the network hands over the UE to cells with a very good beam (e.g., CQD was very strong) but a very unstable beam, for example in cells with many narrow beams but not very stable. Hence, UE may drop right after performing the handover. That could be avoided by beam reporting for triggered cells. Hence, upon receiving an RLF report containing beam measurements, for example for the serving cell, the network may activate beam reporting, or possibly increase number of beams to be reported or lower consolidation thresholds so more beam measurements are included in measurement reports. These parameters are included in the reportConfig, as shown below:

ReportConfigNR Information Element

-- ASN1START-- TAG-REPORT-CONFIG-STARTReportConfigNR ::=SEQUENCE {reportTypeCHOICE {periodicalPeriodicalReportConfig,eventTriggeredEventTriggerConfig,...,reportCGIReportCGI}}ReportCGI ::=SEQUENCE {cellForWhichToReportCGIPhysCellId,...}EventTriggerConfig::=SEQUENCE {eventIdCHOICE {eventA1SEQUENCE {a1-ThresholdMeasTriggerQuantity,reportOnLeaveBOOLEAN,hysteresisHysteresis,timeToTriggerTimeToTrigger},eventA2SEQUENCE {a2-ThresholdMeasTriggerQuantity,reportOnLeaveBOOLEAN,hysteresisHysteresis,timeToTriggerTimeToTrigger},eventA3SEQUENCE {a3-OffsetMeasTriggerQuantityOffset,reportOnLeaveBOOLEAN,hysteresisHysteresis,timeToTriggerTimeToTrigger,useWhiteCellListBOOLEAN},eventA4SEQUENCE {a4-ThresholdMeasTriggerQuantity,reportOnLeaveBOOLEAN,hysteresisHysteresis,timeToTriggerTimeToTrigger,useWhiteCellListBOOLEAN},eventA5SEQUENCE {a5-ThresholdlMeasTriggerQuantity,a5-Threshold2MeasTriggerQuantity,reportOnLeaveBOOLEAN,hysteresisHysteresis,timeToTriggerTimeToTrigger,useWhiteCellListBOOLEAN},eventA6SEQUENCE {a6-OffsetMeasTriggerQuantityOffset,reportOnLeaveBOOLEAN,hysteresisHysteresis,timeToTriggerTimeToTrigger,useWhiteCellListBOOLEAN},...},rsTypeNR-RS-Type,reportIntervalReportInterval,reportAmountENUMERATED {r1, r2, r4, r8, r16, r32, r64,infinity},reportQuantityCellMeasReportQuantity,maxReportCellsINTEGER (1..maxCellReport),reportQuantityRS-IndexesMeasReportQuantityOPTIONAL,--Need RmaxNrofRS-IndexesToReportINTEGER(1..maxNrofIndexesToReport)OPTIONAL,--Need RincludeBeamMeasurementsBOOLEAN,reportAddNeighMeasENUMERATED {setup}OPTIONAL, -- Need R...}PeriodicalReportConfig ::=SEQUENCE {rsTypeNR-RS-Type,reportIntervalReportInterval,reportAmountENUMERATED {r1, r2, r4, r8, r16, r32, r64,infinity},reportQuantityCellMeasReportQuantity,maxReportCellsINTEGER (1..maxCellReport),reportQuantityRS-IndexesMeasReportQuantityOPTIONAL, -- Need RmaxNrofRS-IndexesToReportINTEGER(1..maxNrofIndexesToReport)OPTIONAL, -- Need RincludeBeamMeasurementsBOOLEAN,useWhiteCellListBOOLEAN,...}NR-RS-Type ::=ENUMERATED {ssb, csi-rs}MeasTriggerQuantity ::=CHOICE {rsrpRSRP-Range,rsrqRSRQ-Range,sinrSINR-Range}MeasTriggerQuantityOffset ::=CHOICE {rsrpINTEGER (−30..30),rsrqINTEGER (−30..30),sinrINTEGER (−30..30)}MeasReportQuantity ::=SEQUENCE {rsrpBOOLEAN,rsrqBOOLEAN,sinrBOOLEAN}-- TAG-REPORT-CONFIG-STOP-- ASN1STOP

maxNrofRS-IndexesToReport: This indicates to the UE the maximum number of RS indexes to include in the measurement report for A1-A6 events. This value may be increased in case RLFs are being triggered due to the network deciding to perform handovers to cells with too few good beams (i.e., providing good cell coverage due to best beam, but not so stable).

FIG.21illustrates an example of a method performed by a network node comprising a Centralized Unit, in accordance with certain embodiments. Examples of a network node, in general, are further described below with respect toFIGS.24-30(see e.g., network node160, which comprises processing circuitry170and power circuitry187, in accordance with certain embodiments). As described above, a network node may be arranged in a split-architecture comprising one or more CUs and one or more DUs (see e.g.,FIGS.1,9, and12-15).

At step2110, the method comprises receiving assistance information for mobility robustness optimization. Examples of assistance information may include a radio link failure report or a handover report. In certain embodiments, the assistance information is received from a wireless device, an example of which is shown inFIGS.12-13. In certain other embodiments, the assistance information is received from another CU, an example of which is shown inFIGS.14-15. The CUs may be part of the same network node or different network nodes, depending on the embodiment.

At step2120, the method comprises forwarding the assistance information, configuration changes related to mobility robustness optimization, or both to a DU or to a second CU. For example, in certain embodiments, the first CU determines a location where a failure may have originated and forwards the assistance information and/or configuration changes to the location where the failure may have originated. In certain embodiments, the location where the failure may have originated may comprise a location within a network, such as a network node (e.g., gNB), a CU, a DU, and/or a cell where the failure may have originated. If the failure may have originated in a cell of a DU associated with the first CU, the first CU forwards the assistance information and/or configuration changes to the DU comprising the cell where the failure may have originated. If the failure may have originated in a cell of DU associated with the second CU, the first CU forward the assistance information and/or configuration changes to the second CU (and the second CU may then forward the assistance information to its DU comprising the cell where the failure may have originated). In certain embodiments, the first CU determines the location where the failure originated is determined based on the assistance information. For example, the first CU determines the location where the failure originated one or more of: a failure cause determined based on the received assistance information; and location information provided in the assistance information.

In certain embodiments, the first CU determines a mapping between a cell identifier the DU. As an example, in certain embodiments, the assistance information indicates a cell identifier of a cell where the failure may have originated, and the first CU determines the DU associated with that cell. The first CU may use the mapping to determine where to forward the assistance information and/or configuration changes.

The first CU may determine the assistance information and/or configuration changes to forward in step2120in any suitable manner. In certain embodiments, the first CU selects a portion of the assistance information received in step2110to forward and then forwards the selected portion to the DU or the second CU in step2120. In certain embodiments, the first CU uses the assistance information received in step2110to determine the configuration changes related to mobility robustness optimization. As an example, the first CU may determine a failure cause based on the assistance information received in step2110, and may then determine the configuration changes that may reduce the likelihood of a similar failure occurring in the future. The first CU may then forward the configuration changes in step2120, for example, so that the configuration changes can be applied in the cell where the failure may have originated.

In the examples described above, the network node comprising the first CU may also comprise the second CU, or another network node may comprise the second CU, depending on the embodiment.

Although certain embodiments have described the location where the failure may have originated as comprising a location in a network, in other embodiments, the location where the failure may have originated may comprise a physical or geographical location where the failure may have originated. The physical or geographical location may be in addition to or as an alternative to the location in the network. In certain embodiments, a location where the failure may have originated generally refers to a location that satisfies one or more criteria indicating a likelihood that the failure originated in that location. As an example, a failure within a coverage area of a cell may indicate a likelihood that the failure originated in a DU associated with that cell, which may in turn indicate a likelihood that the failure originated in a CU associated with that DU.

FIG.22illustrates an example of a method performed by a network node comprising a Distributed Unit, in accordance with certain embodiments. Examples of a network node, in general, are further described below with respect toFIGS.24-30(see e.g., network node160, which comprises processing circuitry170and power circuitry187, in accordance with certain embodiments). As described above, a network node may be arranged in a split-architecture comprising one or more CUs and one or more DUs (see e.g.,FIGS.1,9, and12-15).

At step2210, the method comprises receiving assistance information for mobility robustness optimization. The assistance information indicates that a failure may have originated in a cell of the DU. For example, in certain embodiments, the assistance information comprises a radio link failure report. In certain embodiments, the DU receives the assistance information from a CU.FIGS.12-13illustrate an example where the DU receives the assistance information from a first CU (a CU that receives the assistance information from a wireless device).FIGS.14-15illustrate an example where the DU receives the assistance information from a second CU (a CU that receives the assistance information from another CU).

At step2220, the method comprises performing one or more parameter changes in one or more functions handled by the DU. Examples of functions handled by the DU include one or more of: random access; beam failure detection; beam failure recovery; radio link monitoring; cell quality derivation; beam management; and one or more other functions affected by beamforming parameters.

In certain embodiments, the DU may determine the one or more parameter changes to perform based at least in part on the assistance information. As an example, the DU may determine a failure cause based on the received assistance information. In certain embodiments, the DU may determine the one or more parameter changes to perform based at least in part on the determined failure cause (e.g., changing one or more parameters that are determined based on the failure cause may reduce the likelihood of a similar failure happening in the future). As another example, in certain embodiments, the DU may determine a location where a failure originated based on the received assistance information. In certain embodiments, the location where the failure may have originated may comprise a location within a network, such as a network node (e.g., gNB), a CU, a DU, and/or a cell where the failure may have originated. In certain embodiments, the location where the failure originated is determined based on one or more of the failure cause determined based on the received assistance information and location information provided in the assistance information. The DU may then determine a location (e.g., a cell) where to perform the parameter change based on the location where the failure originated.

In certain embodiments, the DU may determine a mapping between a cell identifier and the Distributed Unit. The DU may use the mapping when determining the location of the failure. As an example, the DU may receive assistance information indicating a cell identifier of a cell where a failure occurred, map the cell identifier to a cell associated with the DU, and perform a parameter change in the cell.

In certain embodiments, the method further comprises indicating to a CU any parameter changes performed in the one or more functions handled by the DU. In this manner, the CU may be kept informed of parameter changes in the network.

Although certain embodiments have described the location where the failure may have originated as comprising a location in a network, in other embodiments, the location where the failure may have originated may comprise a physical or geographical location where the failure may have originated. The physical or geographical location may be in addition to or as an alternative to the location in the network. In certain embodiments, a location where the failure may have originated generally refers to a location that satisfies one or more criteria indicating a likelihood that the failure originated in that location. As an example, a failure within a coverage area of a cell may indicate a likelihood that the failure originated in a DU associated with that cell, which may in turn indicate a likelihood that the failure originated in a CU associated with that DU.

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 inFIG.23. For simplicity, the wireless network ofFIG.23only depicts network106, network nodes160and160b, and WDs110,110b, and110c. 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 node160and wireless device (WD)110are 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' 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 (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.

Network106may 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 node160and WD110comprise various components described in more detail below. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections.

As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the wireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NRNodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and may then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Yet further examples of network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities (MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&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.

InFIG.23, network node160includes processing circuitry170, device readable medium180, interface190, auxiliary equipment184, power source186, power circuitry187, and antenna162. Although network node160illustrated in the example wireless network ofFIG.23may 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 node160are 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 medium180may comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

Similarly, network node160may 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 node160comprises 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'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 node160may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium180for the different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna162may be shared by the RATs). Network node160may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node160, 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 node160.

Processing circuitry170is 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 circuitry170may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry170by, 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 circuitry170may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node160components, such as device readable medium180, network node160functionality. For example, processing circuitry170may execute instructions stored in device readable medium180or in memory within processing circuitry170. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry170may include a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, processing circuitry170may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry172and baseband processing circuitry174. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry172and baseband processing circuitry174may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry172and baseband processing circuitry174may 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 circuitry170executing instructions stored on device readable medium180or memory within processing circuitry170. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry170without 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 circuitry170can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry170alone or to other components of network node160, but are enjoyed by network node160as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Device readable medium180may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry170. Device readable medium180may 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 circuitry170and, utilized by network node160. Device readable medium180may be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry170and/or any data received via interface190. In some embodiments, processing circuitry170and device readable medium180may be considered to be integrated.

Interface190is used in the wired or wireless communication of signalling and/or data between network node160, network106, and/or WDs110. As illustrated, interface190comprises port(s)/terminal(s)194to send and receive data, for example to and from network106over a wired connection. Interface190also includes radio front end circuitry192that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna162. Radio front end circuitry192comprises filters198and amplifiers196. Radio front end circuitry192may be connected to antenna162and processing circuitry170. Radio front end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna162and processing circuitry170. Radio front end circuitry192may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry192may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters198and/or amplifiers196. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna162. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna162may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry192. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry170. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, network node160may not include separate radio front end circuitry192, instead, processing circuitry170may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna162without separate radio front end circuitry192. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry172may be considered a part of interface190. In still other embodiments, interface190may include one or more ports or terminals194, radio front end circuitry192, and RF transceiver circuitry172, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface190may communicate with baseband processing circuitry174, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

Antenna162may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna162may be coupled to radio front end circuitry190and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna162may 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, antenna162may be separate from network node160and may be connectable to network node160through an interface or port.

Antenna162, interface190, and/or processing circuitry170may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna162, interface190, and/or processing circuitry170may 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 circuitry187may comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node160with power for performing the functionality described herein. Power circuitry187may receive power from power source186. Power source186and/or power circuitry187may be configured to provide power to the various components of network node160in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source186may either be included in, or external to, power circuitry187and/or network node160. For example, network node160may 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 circuitry187. As a further example, power source186may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry187. 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 node160may include additional components beyond those shown inFIG.23that may be responsible for providing certain aspects of the network node's functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node160may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into network node160and to allow output of information from network node160. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node160.

As used herein, wireless device (WD) refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, the term WD may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE). Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air. In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a WD may be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the network. Examples of a WD include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, a gaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback appliance, a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a tablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE). a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, etc. A WD may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and may in this case be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another WD and/or a network node. The WD may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the WD may be a UE implementing the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, a WD may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation. A WD as described above may represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

As illustrated, wireless device110includes antenna111, interface114, processing circuitry120, device readable medium130, user interface equipment132, auxiliary equipment134, power source136and power circuitry137. WD110may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by WD110, such as, for example, GSM, 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 WD110.

Antenna111may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface114. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna111may be separate from WD110and be connectable to WD110through an interface or port. Antenna111, interface114, and/or processing circuitry120may 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 antenna111may be considered an interface.

As illustrated, interface114comprises radio front end circuitry112and antenna111. Radio front end circuitry112comprise one or more filters118and amplifiers116. Radio front end circuitry114is connected to antenna111and processing circuitry120, and is configured to condition signals communicated between antenna111and processing circuitry120. Radio front end circuitry112may be coupled to or a part of antenna111. In some embodiments, WD110may not include separate radio front end circuitry112; rather, processing circuitry120may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna111. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry122may be considered a part of interface114. Radio front end circuitry112may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry112may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters118and/or amplifiers116. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna111. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna111may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry112. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry120. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

Processing circuitry120may 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 WD110components, such as device readable medium130, WD110functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry120may execute instructions stored in device readable medium130or in memory within processing circuitry120to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

As illustrated, processing circuitry120includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry122, baseband processing circuitry124, and application processing circuitry126. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry120of WD110may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry122, baseband processing circuitry124, and application processing circuitry126may be on separate chips or sets of chips. In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry124and application processing circuitry126may be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry122may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry122and baseband processing circuitry124may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processing circuitry126may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry122, baseband processing circuitry124, and application processing circuitry126may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry122may be a part of interface114. RF transceiver circuitry122may condition RF signals for processing circuitry120.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by a WD may be provided by processing circuitry120executing instructions stored on device readable medium130, 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 circuitry120without 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 circuitry120can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry120alone or to other components of WD110, but are enjoyed by WD110as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Processing circuitry120may 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 circuitry120, may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry120by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by WD110, 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 medium130may be operable to store a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry120. Device readable medium130may 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 circuitry120. In some embodiments, processing circuitry120and device readable medium130may be considered to be integrated.

User interface equipment132may provide components that allow for a human user to interact with WD110. Such interaction may be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment132may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the user to provide input to WD110. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface equipment132installed in WD110. For example, if WD110is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if WD110is a smart meter, the interaction may be through a screen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected). User interface equipment132may include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interface equipment132is configured to allow input of information into WD110, and is connected to processing circuitry120to allow processing circuitry120to process the input information. User interface equipment132may 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 equipment132is also configured to allow output of information from WD110, and to allow processing circuitry120to output information from WD110. User interface equipment132may include, for example, a speaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, of user interface equipment132, WD110may communicate with end users and/or the wireless network, and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein.

Auxiliary equipment134is 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 equipment134may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.

Power source136may, 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. WD110may further comprise power circuitry137for delivering power from power source136to the various parts of WD110which need power from power source136to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry137may in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry137may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case WD110may 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 circuitry137may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source136. This may be, for example, for the charging of power source136. Power circuitry137may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source136to make the power suitable for the respective components of WD110to which power is supplied.

FIG.24illustrates 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). UE2200may be any UE identified by the 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. UE200, as illustrated inFIG.24, is one example of a WD configured for communication in accordance with one or more communication standards promulgated by the 3rdGeneration Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP's GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards. As mentioned previously, the term WD and UE may be used interchangeable. Accordingly, althoughFIG.24is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a WD, and vice-versa.

InFIG.24, UE200includes processing circuitry201that is operatively coupled to input/output interface205, radio frequency (RF) interface209, network connection interface211, memory215including random access memory (RAM)217, read-only memory (ROM)219, and storage medium221or the like, communication subsystem231, power source233, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Storage medium221includes operating system223, application program225, and data227. In other embodiments, storage medium221may include other similar types of information. Certain UEs may utilize all of the components shown inFIG.24, 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.

InFIG.24, processing circuitry201may be configured to process computer instructions and data. Processing circuitry201may 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 circuitry201may 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 interface205may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, output device, or input and output device. UE200may be configured to use an output device via input/output interface205. 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 UE200. 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. UE200may be configured to use an input device via input/output interface205to allow a user to capture information into UE200. The input device may include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another like sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

InFIG.24, RF interface209may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface211may be configured to provide a communication interface to network243a. Network243amay 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, network243amay comprise a Wi-Fi network. Network connection interface211may 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 interface211may 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.

RAM217may be configured to interface via bus202to processing circuitry201to 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. ROM219may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuitry201. For example, ROM219may 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 medium221may 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 medium221may be configured to include operating system223, application program225such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application, and data file227. Storage medium221may store, for use by UE200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

Storage medium221may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppy disk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storage medium221may allow UE200to 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 medium221, which may comprise a device readable medium.

InFIG.24, processing circuitry201may be configured to communicate with network243busing communication subsystem231. Network243aand network243bmay be the same network or networks or different network or networks. Communication subsystem231may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with network243b. For example, communication subsystem231may 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 transmitter233and/or receiver235to implement transmitter or receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links (e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter233and receiver235of each transceiver may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of communication subsystem231may 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 subsystem231may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. Network243bmay 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, network243bmay be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-field network. Power source213may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE200.

The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of UE200or partitioned across multiple components of UE200. Further, the features, benefits, and/or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example, communication subsystem231may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Further, processing circuitry201may be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus202. In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry201perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any of such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry201and communication subsystem231. 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.25is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment300in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or to a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device or any other type of communication device) or components thereof and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines or containers executing on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments300hosted by one or more of hardware nodes330. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node), then the network node may be entirely virtualized.

The functions may be implemented by one or more applications320(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. Applications320are run in virtualization environment300which provides hardware330comprising processing circuitry360and memory390. Memory390contains instructions395executable by processing circuitry360whereby application320is operative to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

Virtualization environment300, comprises general-purpose or special-purpose network hardware devices330comprising a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry360, 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 memory390-1which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions395or software executed by processing circuitry360. Each hardware device may comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs)370, also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interface380. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media390-2having stored therein software395and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry360. Software395may include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers350(also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines340as well as software allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein.

Virtual machines340, comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer350or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual appliance320may be implemented on one or more of virtual machines340, and the implementations may be made in different ways.

During operation, processing circuitry360executes software395to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer350, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer350may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine340.

As shown inFIG.25, hardware330may be a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware330may comprise antenna3225and may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware330may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE)) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration (MANO)3100, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications320.

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 machine340may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of virtual machines340, and that part of hardware330that 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 machines340, 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 machines340on top of hardware networking infrastructure330and corresponds to application320inFIG.25.

In some embodiments, one or more radio units3200that each include one or more transmitters3220and one or more receivers3210may be coupled to one or more antennas3225. Radio units3200may communicate directly with hardware nodes330via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station.

In some embodiments, some signalling can be effected with the use of control system3230which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes330and radio units3200.

With reference toFIG.26, in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes telecommunication network410, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises access network411, such as a radio access network, and core network414. Access network411comprises a plurality of base stations412a,412b,412c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area413a,413b,413c. Each base station412a,412b,412cis connectable to core network414over a wired or wireless connection415. A first UE491located in coverage area413cis configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station412c. A second UE492in coverage area413ais wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station412a. While a plurality of UEs491,492are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station412.

Telecommunication network410is itself connected to host computer430, 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 computer430may 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. Connections421and422between telecommunication network410and host computer430may extend directly from core network414to host computer430or may go via an optional intermediate network420. Intermediate network420may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network420, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network420may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

The communication system ofFIG.26as a whole enables connectivity between the connected UEs491,492and host computer430. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection450. Host computer430and the connected UEs491,492are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection450, using access network411, core network414, any intermediate network420and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection450may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which OTT connection450passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, base station412may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from host computer430to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE491. Similarly, base station412need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE491towards the host computer430.

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 toFIG.27. In communication system500, host computer510comprises hardware515including communication interface516configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system500. Host computer510further comprises processing circuitry518, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry518may 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 computer510further comprises software511, which is stored in or accessible by host computer510and executable by processing circuitry518. Software511includes host application512. Host application512may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE530connecting via OTT connection550terminating at UE530and host computer510. In providing the service to the remote user, host application512may provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection550.

Communication system500further includes base station520provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware525enabling it to communicate with host computer510and with UE530. Hardware525may include communication interface526for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system500, as well as radio interface527for setting up and maintaining at least wireless connection570with UE530located in a coverage area (not shown inFIG.27) served by base station520. Communication interface526may be configured to facilitate connection560to host computer510. Connection560may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown inFIG.27) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, hardware525of base station520further includes processing circuitry528, 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 station520further has software521stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

Communication system500further includes UE530already referred to. Its hardware535may include radio interface537configured to set up and maintain wireless connection570with a base station serving a coverage area in which UE530is currently located. Hardware535of UE530further includes processing circuitry538, 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. UE530further comprises software531, which is stored in or accessible by UE530and executable by processing circuitry538. Software531includes client application532. Client application532may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE530, with the support of host computer510. In host computer510, an executing host application512may communicate with the executing client application532via OTT connection550terminating at UE530and host computer510. In providing the service to the user, client application532may receive request data from host application512and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection550may transfer both the request data and the user data. Client application532may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.

It is noted that host computer510, base station520and UE530illustrated inFIG.27may be similar or identical to host computer430, one of base stations412a,412b,412cand one of UEs491,492ofFIG.26, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown inFIG.27and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that ofFIG.26.

InFIG.27, OTT connection550has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host computer510and UE530via base station520, 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 UE530or from the service provider operating host computer510, or both. While OTT connection550is 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 connection570between UE530and base station520is 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 UE530using OTT connection550, in which wireless connection570forms the last segment.

A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection550between host computer510and UE530, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection550may be implemented in software511and hardware515of host computer510or in software531and hardware535of UE530, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which OTT connection550passes; 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 software511,531may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection550may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station520, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to base station520. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating host computer510's measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that software511and531causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection550while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

FIG.28is 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 toFIGS.26and27. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references toFIG.28will be included in this section. In step610, the host computer provides user data. In substep611(which may be optional) of step610, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step620, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step630(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 step640(which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

FIG.29is 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 toFIGS.26and27. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references toFIG.29will be included in this section. In step710of 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 step720, 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 step730(which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

FIG.30is 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 toFIGS.26and27. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references toFIG.30will be included in this section. In step810(which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step820, the UE provides user data. In substep821(which may be optional) of step820, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In substep811(which may be optional) of step810, 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 substep830(which may be optional), transmission of the user data to the host computer. In step840of 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.31is 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 toFIGS.26and27. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references toFIG.31will be included in this section. In step910(which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In step920(which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step930(which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unit to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may include, for example, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are described herein.

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:generating assistance information for mobility robustness operation;sending, to a network node, the generated assistance information for mobility robustness operation.2. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the assistance information comprises a radio link failure report.3. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the assistance information comprises a handover report.4. The method of any of embodiments 1-3, wherein the network node is a Centralized Unit.5. The method of any of embodiments 1-3, wherein the network node is a Distributed Unit.6. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising:providing user data; andforwarding the user data to a host computer via the transmission to the base station.

Group B Embodiments

7. A method performed by a network node for mobility robustness optimization, the network node comprising a first Centralized Unit, the method comprising:receiving, from a wireless device, assistance information for mobility robustness optimization;determining a failure cause based on the received assistance information;determining a location where the failure originated;forwarding one or more of the assistance information and configuration changes related to mobility robustness optimization to one or more of:i. a Centralized Unit of the network node;ii. an associated Distributed Unit;iii. another Centralized Unit;iv. a Distributed Unit associated with another Centralized Unit.8. The method of embodiment 7, wherein the assistance information comprises a radio link failure report.9. The method of embodiment 7, wherein the assistance information comprises a handover report.10. The method of any of embodiments 7-9, wherein the location of the failure is determined based on one or more of:the failure cause; andlocation information provided in the assistance information.11. The method of any of embodiments 7-10, wherein the one or more of the assistance information and the configuration changes are forwarded to the location where the failure originated.12. A method performed by a network node for mobility robustness optimization, the network node comprising a second Centralized Unit, the method comprising:receiving assistance information for mobility robustness optimization, the assistance information indicating that a failure may have originated in a cell of a Distributed Unit associated with the second Centralized Unit; andforwarding one or more of the received assistance information and configuration changes related to mobility robustness optimization to the Distributed Unit where the failure may have originated.13. The method of embodiment 12, wherein the assistance information comprises a radio link failure report.14. The method of any of embodiments 12-13, further comprising determining a mapping between a cell identifier and the Distributed Unit.15. A method performed by a network node for mobility robustness optimization, the network node comprising a Distributed Unit, the method comprising:receiving assistance information for mobility robustness optimization, the assistance information indicating that a failure may have originated in a cell of the Distributed Unit;performing one or more parameter changes in one or more functions handled by the Distributed Unit; andindicating to the Distributed Unit any parameter changes performed in the one or more functions handled by the Distributed Unit.16. The method of embodiment 15, wherein the assistance information is received from a Centralized Unit.17. The method of any of embodiments 15-16, wherein the assistance information comprises a radio link failure report.18. The method of any of embodiments 15-17, wherein the one or more functions may comprise one or more of:random access;beam failure detection;beam failure recovery;radio link monitoring;cell quality derivation;beam management; andone or more other functions affected by beamforming parameters.19. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising:obtaining user data; andforwarding the user data to a host computer or a wireless device.

Group C Embodiments

20. A wireless device, the wireless device comprising:processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments; andpower supply circuitry configured to supply power to the wireless device.21. A network node, the network node 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 network node.22. 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; anda battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE.23. A computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.24. A computer program product comprising a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.25. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or carrier comprising a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.26. A computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.27. A computer program product comprising a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.28. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or carrier comprising a computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.29. A communication system including a host computer comprising:processing circuitry configured to provide user data; anda 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 network node having a radio interface and processing circuitry, the network node's processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.30. The communication system of the pervious embodiment further including the network node.31. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the network node.32. 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; andthe UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.33. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:at the host computer, providing user data; andat the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the network node performs any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.34. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the network node, transmitting the user data.35. 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.36. A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a network node, the UE comprising a radio interface and processing circuitry configured to performs the of the previous 3 embodiments.37. A communication system including a host computer comprising:processing circuitry configured to provide user data; anda 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's components configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.38. The communication system of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a network node configured to communicate with the UE.39. 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; andthe UE's processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.40. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:at the host computer, providing user data; andat the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.41. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the UE, receiving the user data from the network node.42. A communication system including a host computer comprising:communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a network node,wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the UE's processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.43. The communication system of the previous embodiment, further including the UE.44. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the network node, wherein the network node comprises a radio interface configured to communicate with the UE and a communication interface configured to forward to the host computer the user data carried by a transmission from the UE to the network node.45. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein:the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; andthe UE's processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data.46. 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; andthe UE'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.47. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:at the host computer, receiving user data transmitted to the network node from the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.48. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the UE, providing the user data to the network node.49. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising:at the UE, executing a client application, thereby providing the user data to be transmitted; andat the host computer, executing a host application associated with the client application.50. The method of the previous 3 embodiments, further comprising:at the UE, executing a client application; andat 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 data to be transmitted is provided by the client application in response to the input data.51. 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 network node, wherein the network node comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the network node's processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group B embodiments.52. The communication system of the previous embodiment further including the network node.53. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the network node.54. 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 client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data to be received by the host computer.55. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:at the host computer, receiving, from the network node, user data originating from a transmission which the network node has received from the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the steps of any of the Group A embodiments.56. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the network node, receiving the user data from the UE.57. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising at the network node, initiating a transmission of the received user data to the host computer.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the systems and apparatuses described herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The components of the systems and apparatuses may be integrated or separated. Moreover, the operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performed by more, fewer, or other components. Additionally, operations of the systems and apparatuses may be performed using any suitable logic comprising software, hardware, and/or other logic. As used in this document, “each” refers to each member of a set or each member of a subset of a set.

Modifications, additions, or omissions may be made to the methods described herein without departing from the scope of the disclosure. The methods may include more, fewer, or other steps. Additionally, steps may be performed in any suitable order.

Although this disclosure has been described in terms of certain embodiments, alterations and permutations of the embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the above description of the embodiments does not constrain this disclosure. Other changes, substitutions, and alterations are possible without departing from the scope of this disclosure, as defined by the following claims.