Patent Application
20230164582
Embodiments herein relate to a first and a second radio network node, and methods performed therein regarding communication in a wireless communication network. Furthermore, a computer program product and a computer-readable storage medium are also provided herein. Especially, embodiments herein relate to handling or enabling communication, e.g. handling access to the radio network node, in the wireless communication network.
In a typical wireless communication network, user equipments (UE), also known as wireless communication devices, mobile stations, stations (STA) and/or wireless devices, communicate via a Radio access Network (RAN) to one or more core networks (CN). The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into service areas or cells, with each service area or cell being served by a radio network node such as an access node e.g. a Wi-Fi access point or a radio base station (RBS), which in some radio access technologies (RAT) may also be called, for example, a NodeB, an evolved NodeB (eNodeB) and a gNodeB (gNB). The service area or cell area is a geographical area where radio coverage is provided by the radio network node. The radio network node operates on radio frequencies to communicate over an air interface with the UEs within range of the access node. The radio network node communicates over a downlink (DL) to the UE and the UE communicates over an uplink (UL) to the radio network node. The radio network node may be a distributed node comprising a remote radio unit and a separated baseband unit.
A Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a third generation telecommunication network, which evolved from the second generation (2G) Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM). The UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN) is essentially a RAN using wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) and/or High-Speed Packet Access (HSPA) for communication with UEs. In a forum known as the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), telecommunications suppliers propose and agree upon standards for present and future generation networks and UTRAN specifically, and investigate enhanced data rate and radio capacity. In some RANs, e.g. as in UMTS, several radio network nodes may be connected, e.g., by landlines or microwave, to a controller node, such as a radio network controller (RNC) or a base station controller (BSC), which supervises and coordinates various activities of the plural radio network nodes connected thereto. The RNCs are typically connected to one or more core networks.
Specifications for the Evolved Packet System (EPS) have been completed within the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and this work continues in the coming 3GPP releases, such as 5G networks. The EPS comprises the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN), also known as the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) radio access network, and the Evolved Packet Core (EPC), also known as System Architecture Evolution (SAE) core network. E-UTRAN/LTE is a 3GPP radio access technology wherein the radio network nodes are directly connected to the EPC core network. As such, the Radio Access Network (RAN) of an EPS has an essentially “flat” architecture comprising radio network nodes connected directly to one or more core networks.
With the emerging 5G technologies also known as new radio (NR), the use of very many transmit- and receive-antenna elements is of great interest as it makes it possible to utilize beamforming, such as transmit-side and receive-side beamforming. Transmit-side beamforming means that the transmitter can amplify the transmitted signals in a selected direction or directions, while suppressing the transmitted signals in other directions. Similarly, on the receive-side, a receiver can amplify signals from a selected direction or directions, while suppressing unwanted signals from other directions.
Beamforming allows the signal to be stronger for an individual connection. On the transmit-side this may be achieved by a concentration of the transmitted power in the desired direction(s), and on the receive-side this may be achieved by an increased receiver sensitivity in the desired direction(s). This beamforming enhances throughput and coverage of the connection. It also allows reducing the interference from unwanted signals, thereby enabling several simultaneous transmissions over multiple individual connections using the same resources in the time-frequency grid, so-called multi-user Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO).
5G is the fifth generation of cellular technology and was introduced in Release 15 of the 3GPP standard. It is designed to increase speed, reduce latency, and improve flexibility of wireless services. The 5G system (5GS) includes both a new radio access network (NG-RAN) and a new core network (5GC).
5G is designed to support new use case requiring ultra-reliable low-latency communication (URLLC) such as factory automation and autonomous driving. To be able to meet the stringent requirements on reliability and latency also during mobility, two new handover types are introduced in 5G Release 16 called make-before-break handover and conditional handover. These will be described in more detail below after a review of the NG-RAN architecture and the legacy handover procedure.
Overview of the NG-RAN architecture.
Similar to E-UTRAN in 4G, the NG-RAN uses a flat architecture and consists of base stations, called gNBs, which are interconnected with each other by means of the Xn-interface. The gNBs are also connected by means of the NG interface to the 5GC, more specifically to the Access and Mobility Function (AMF) by the NG-C interface and to the User Plane Function (UPF) by means of the NG-U interface. The gNB in turn supports one or more cells which provides the radio access to the UE. The radio access technology, called NR, is orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) based like in LTE and offers high data transfer speeds and low latency. Note that NR is sometimes used to refer to the whole 5G system although it is strictly speaking only the 5G radio access technology (RAT). The current 5G RAN (NG-RAN) architecture is depicted and described in TS 38.401 v15.5.0 and is shown in
The NG architecture can be further described as follows:
NOTE: For resiliency, a gNB-DU may be connected to multiple gNB-CU by appropriate implementation.
NG, Xn and F1 are logical interfaces. The NG-RAN is layered into a Radio Network Layer (RNL) and a Transport Network Layer (TNL). The NG-RAN architecture, i.e. the NG-RAN logical nodes and interfaces between them, is defined as part of the RNL. For each NG-RAN interface (e.g. NG, Xn, F1) the related TNL protocol and the functionality are specified. The TNL provides services for user plane transport, and signalling transport. If security protection for control plane and user plane data on TNL of NG-RAN interfaces have to be supported, Network Domain Security (NDS) and/or IP network layer security, see 3GPP TS 33.401 v.15.10.0, shall be applied.
A gNB may also be connected to an LTE eNB via the X2 interface. Another architectural option is that where an LTE eNB connected to the Evolved Packet Core network is connected over the X2 interface with a so called en-gNB. The latter is a gNB not connected directly to a CN and connected via X2 to an eNB for the sole purpose of performing dual connectivity.
The architecture in
The E1 interface is a logical interface. It supports the exchange of signalling information between the endpoints. From a logical standpoint, the E1 interface is a point-to-point interface between a gNB-CU-CP and a gNB-CU-UP. The E1 interface enables exchange of UE associated information and non-UE associated information. The E1 interface is a control interface and is not used for user data forwarding.
Optimization of the random access channel (RACH) configuration in cells is a Release 9 self-organizing network (SON) feature that is key to optimizing the system performance of a mobile network. A poorly configured RACH may result in higher call setup and handover delays due to frequent RACH collisions, or low preamble-detection probability and limited coverage. The amount of uplink resource reserved for RACH also affects the system capacity. Therefore, a network operator should carefully monitor that the RACH parameters are appropriately set, considering factors such as the RACH load, the uplink interference, the traffic patterns and the population under the cell coverage.
The RACH optimization feature facilitates automatic configuration of physical random access channel (PRACH) parameters, including the PRACH resource configuration, preamble root sequence and cyclic shift configuration, to avoid preamble collisions with neighbouring cells. The principle of this automatic configuration is similar to the automatic Physical cell ID (PCI) configuration SON feature: the PRACH configuration information is included in the ‘X2 Setup’ and ‘eNB Configuration Update’ procedures. Therefore, whenever a new eNodeB is initialized and learns about its neighbours via the automatic neighbour relationship (ANR) function, it can at the same time learn the neighbouring PRACH configurations. It can then select its own PRACH configuration to avoid conflicts with the neighbouring ones.
Whenever a conflict is identified, one of the cells should change its configuration, but the algorithm for selecting which cell should change and in what manner is not specified. The network operator may also combine PRACH self-optimization with manual configuration if necessary, but this is typically more prone to errors and more time consuming than automatic RACH optimization.
Reporting of RACH information and failures.
RACH resources configuration and allocation among different cells may be performed at network planning phase in a centralized fashion, e.g., by operations, administration and maintenance (OAM), or in a distributed fashion, e.g., by RAN node at gNB-CU and/or gNB-DU. Network may use UE assistance information in terms of RACH report for a performed RACH procedure.
However, the task becomes more complicated given that these factors may change dynamically. For example, if the antenna tilt is changed in a cell, it will affect the rates of call arrival and handover in this cell and the surrounding cells, and therefore the RACH load per preamble in all those cells. A change in transmission power settings or handover thresholds may have similar effects.
Whenever such a network configuration change happens, the RACH self-optimization feature should automatically make appropriate measurements of the RACH performance and usage in all the affected cells and determine any necessary updates of the RACH parameters.
RACH parameters that may then be adjusted are typically the following:
In the following, the signalling designed for RACH optimization over X2 logical interface will be discussed as well as RACH UE assistance information reporting mechanism in LTE. In addition, different types of the RACH procedures in NR will be described and some details on how the RACH procedure works will be explained.
RACH related signalling over X2 interface in LTE system.
Generally, a RAN node may trigger an analysis of the information reported by the UE internally or in coordination in other RAN nodes. In this regards, as a part of LTE solution, eNB PRACH configuration may be exchanged over X2 interface by leveraging eNB X2 Setup Request and eNB Configuration update signalling, where the PRACH Configuration information element (IE), shown in the following table, is contained in the Served Cell Information IE. This IE indicates the PRACH resources used in neighbour cell.
Note that such information will be exchanged between RAN nodes with cells identified as neighbouring cells. Neighbouring cells may be identified by radio resource monitoring (RRM) measurements provided by UEs. Upon detection of a new neighbour a RAN node may request to set up an X2 interface or later update the configurations if changed. This will be accomplished as part of X2 Setup Request or eNB Configuration signalling which includes PRACH configuration as part of Served Cell Information information element (IE).
In addition to the above-mentioned mechanism to exchange RACH related configuration over X2 interface as part of X2 Setup and eNB Configuration update signals, a Uu based signalling has been defined to use a UE assistance information to detect the potential issues, and further enhance the RACH performance by performing finer optimization relying on the provided UE assistance information.
Log and reporting of UE assistance RACH information in LTE.
In LTE the report of RACH information when random access procedure is performed may be requested by the network via the UE Information procedure in RRC (see below), in the case where a RACH procedure was successful. That procedure is summarized below, as described in RRC specifications:
The UE information procedure is used by E-UTRAN to request the UE to report information.
E-UTRAN initiates the procedure by sending the UEInformationRequest message. E-UTRAN should initiate this procedure only after successful security activation.
5.6.5.3 Reception of the UEInformationRequest message
Upon receiving the UEInformationRequest message, the UE shall, only after successful security activation:
As in LTE, random access procedure is described in the NR MAC specifications and parameters are configured by RRC e.g. in system information or handover (RRCReconfiguration with reconfigurationWithSync). Random access is triggered in many different scenarios, for example, when the UE is in RRC_IDLE or RRC_INACTIVE and want to access a cell that is camping on (i.e. transition to RRC_CONNECTED).
In NR, RACH configuration is broadcasted in system information block 1 (SIB1), as part of the servingCellConfigCommon (with both DL and UL configurations), where the RACH configuration is within the uplinkConfigCommon. The exact RACH parameters are within what is called initialUplinkBWP, since this is the part of the UL frequency the UE shall access and search for RACH resources.
In LTE, the RACH report to assist the network to perform RACH optimization, contains an indication that collision was detected. With that information it is clear that at some point before that RACH procedure that has succeeded that same UE tried to access the network and happened to have a collision. In NR, a mechanism also exists for contention resolution for contention-based random access.
In NR, random access resource selection needs to be performed within a cell depending on measurements performed on synchronization signal blocks (SSB) or channel state information-reference signals (CSI-RS). A cell in NR is basically defined by a set of these SSBs that may be transmitted in one, typical implementation for lower frequencies e.g. below 6 GHz, or multiple downlink beams, typical implementation for lower frequencies e.g. below 6 GHz. For the same cell, these SSBs carry the same physical cell identifier (PCI) and a master information block (MIB). For standalone operation, i.e., to support UEs camping on an NR cell, they also carry in system information block one (SIB1) the RACH configuration, which comprises a mapping between the detected SSB covering the UE at a given point in time and the PRACH configuration (e.g. time, frequency, preamble, etc.) to be used. For that, each of these beams may transmit its own SSB which may be distinguished by an SSB index.
The mapping between RACH resources and SSBs (or CSI-RS) is also provided as part of the RACH configuration, in RACH-ConfigCommon. Two parameters are relevant here:
In a first example, if the number of SSBs per RACH occasion is 1, and if the UE is under the coverage of a specific SSB e.g. SSB index 2, there will be a RACH occasion for that SSB index 2. If the UE moves and is now under the coverage of another specific SSB e.g. SSB index 5, there will be another RACH occasion for that SSB index 5 i.e. each SSB detected by a given UE would have its own RACH occasion. Hence, at the network side, upon detecting a preamble in a particular RACH occasion the network knows exactly which SSB the UE has selected and, consequently, which downlink beam is covering the UE, so that the network can continue the downlink transmission e.g. random access response (RAR), etc. That factor 1 is an indication that each SSB has its own RACH resource. i.e., a preamble detected there indicates to the network which SSB the UE has selection i.e. which DL beam the network should use to communicate with the UE, such as the one to send the RAR.
The contention resolution in NR is shown below as described in the MAC specifications, TS 38.321 v.15.6.0:
Once Msg3 is transmitted, the MAC entity shall:
The MAC entity shall:
The MAC entity shall, for each Random Access Preamble:
RA-RNTI=1+s_id+14×t_id+14×80×f_id+14×80×8×ul_carrier_id
where s_id is the index of the first OFDM symbol of the PRACH occasion (0≤s_id<14), t_id is the index of the first slot of the PRACH occasion in a system frame (0≤t_id<80), f_id is the index of the PRACH occasion in the frequency domain (0≤f_id<8), and ul_carrier_id is the UL carrier used for Random Access Preamble transmission (0 for NUL carrier, and 1 for SUL carrier).
Once the Random Access Preamble is transmitted and regardless of the possible occurrence of a measurement gap, the MAC entity shall:
One first different shown above, that is already highlighted in the section 2.1.5 is that RACH resources may be mapped to beams, e.g. SSBs or CSI-RS resources that may be measured by the UE. Hence, when CFRA resources are provided they are also mapped to beams and there may be done only for a subset of beams in a given target cell.
The consequence is that to use CFRA resources the UE needs to select a beam for which it has CFRA resources configured in the dedicated configuration. In the case of SSBs, for example, that may be found in the ssb-ResourceList which is a SEQUENCE (SIZE(1 . . . maxRA-SSB-Resources)) OF CFRA-SSB-Resource.
In an analogy with LTE, i.e., if the NR solution would have been the same as LTE, upon selecting a beam with CFRA resource, e.g. a beam from the configured list, and not receiving the RAR, the UE would keep selecting the same resource and ramp the power before retransmitting the preamble. However, as in the case of NR CBRA, the UE has the option upon every failed attempt to select another beam. And, that another beam may either be in the list of beams for CFRA or it may not. In the case the selected beam is not, the UE performs CBRA.
Also notice that there is a fallback between CSI-RS selection to SSB selection, in case CFRA is provided for CSI-RS resources.
That is shown below, as captured in the MAC specifications (TS 38.331 v.15.10.0):
The MAC entity shall:
The NR RAT, part of the NG RAN system, has a new structure for the configuration of RACH resources and processes when compared to LTE. In NR RACH resources and processes can be configured on a per beam basis. Cell beams are characterized by specific reference signals and communication channels. Typically, beams signals and channels are not always available in time for a given coverage area. The reason for this is that beams “sweep”, namely their availability in terms of reference signal (RS) and communication channels changes in the time and spatial domain given that the beam orientation is swept across a pre-set coverage area. Furthermore, the split architecture followed in NR and in other RATs such as E-UTRAN, implies that information needed to perform RACH optimization, such as RACH configurations of cells within a neighbourhood, indications on whether a possible RACH configuration conflict exists, indication of changes of RACH configuration to solve a RACH configuration conflict, need to be exchanged between e.g. the gNB-CU and gNB-DU, in the specific example of NR, or in general between the CU and the DU of the specific high layer split architecture for that RAT.
Exchanging RACH configuration information of the neighbouring cells in particular in frequency range 2 (FR2) with more than hundreds of neighbouring cells may come with a cumbersome effort for the DUs to decode the abstract syntax notation (ASN.1) and store/process such information in their own memory. Therefore, any solution that could limit the amount of the exchange information among the neighbouring cells may be beneficial for the radio network nodes.
An object of embodiments herein is to provide a mechanism that handles communication in the wireless communication network in an efficient and improved manner.
According to an aspect the object is achieved by providing a method performed by a first radio network node for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The first radio network node changes an order of beam sweeping for a served cell based on a detection of a RACH configuration conflict.
According to another aspect the object is achieved by providing a method performed by a second radio network node for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The second radio network node receives, from a first radio network node, an indication of a new order of beam sweeping for a served cell of the first radio network node. The second radio network node further performs a communication action based on the received indication.
According to yet another aspect the object is achieved by providing a first radio network node for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The first radio network node is configured to change an order of beam sweeping for a served cell based on a detection of a RACH configuration conflict.
According to still another aspect the object is achieved by providing a second radio network node for handling communication in a wireless communication network. The second radio network node is configured to receive a new order of beam sweeping for a served cell of a first radio network node. The second radio network node is configured to perform a communication action based on the received indication.
It is furthermore provided herein a computer program product comprising instructions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out any of the methods above, as performed by the first or second radio network node, respectively. It is additionally provided herein a computer-readable storage medium, having stored thereon a computer program product comprising instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the method according to any of the methods above, as performed by the first or second radio network node, respectively.
Embodiments herein disclose a method resolving RACH configuration conflicts between neighbouring cells, potentially without PRACH configuration information of neighbouring cells, in, for example, a split RAN architecture wherein a gNB central unit (gNB-CU), i.e. the second radio network node, is connected to multiple gNB distributed units (gNB-DUs) i.e. the first radio network node and a third radio network node, and each gNB-DU serves or controls one or more cells. Multiple gNB-CUs may also be connected to each other via Xn or NG interfaces. A RACH configuration conflict may occur either between two cells served by different gNB-DUs connected to the same gNB-CU or between two cells served by different gNB-DUs connected to different gNB-CUs. By changing the order of beam sweeping the conflict is avoided and communication is improved in the wireless communication network.
Embodiments will now be described in more detail in relation to the enclosed drawings, in which:
Embodiments herein are described in the context of 5G/NR but the same concept can also be applied to other wireless communication system such as 4G/LTE. Embodiments herein may be described within the context of 3GPP NR radio technology (3GPP TS 38.300 V15.2.0 (2018-06)), e.g. using gNB as the radio network node. It is understood, that the problems and solutions described herein are equally applicable to wireless access networks and UEs implementing other access technologies and standards. NR is used as an example technology where embodiments are suitable, and using NR in the description therefore is particularly useful for understanding the problem and solutions solving the problem. In particular, embodiments are applicable also to 3GPP LTE, or 3GPP LTE and NR integration, also denoted as non-standalone NR.
Embodiments herein relate to wireless communication networks in general.
In the wireless communication network 1, wireless devices e.g. a UE 10 such as a mobile station, a non-access point (non-AP) station (STA), a STA, a user equipment and/or a wireless terminal, communicate via one or more Access Networks (AN), e.g. RAN, to one or more core networks (CN). It should be understood by the skilled in the art that “UE” is a non-limiting term which means any terminal, wireless communication terminal, user equipment, Machine Type Communication (MTC) device, Device to Device (D2D) terminal, internet of things (IoT) operable device, or node e.g. smart phone, laptop, mobile phone, sensor, relay, mobile tablets or even a small base station capable of communicating using radio communication with a network node within an area served by the network node.
The communication network 1 comprises a first radio network node 12 providing e.g. radio coverage over a geographical area, a first service area 11 i.e. a first cell, of a radio access technology (RAT), such as NR, LTE, Wi-Fi, WiMAX or similar. The first radio network node 12 may be a transmission and reception point, a computational server, a base station e.g. a network node such as a satellite, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), an access node, an access controller, a radio base station such as a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNB, eNodeB), a gNodeB (gNB), a base transceiver station, a baseband unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point or any other network unit or node depending e.g. on the radio access technology and terminology used. The first radio network node 12 may alternatively or additionally be a controller node or a packet processing node or similar. The first radio network node 12 may be referred to as source access node or a serving network node wherein the first service area 11 may be referred to as a serving cell, source cell or primary cell, and the first radio network node communicates with the UE 10 in form of DL transmissions to the UE 10 and UL transmissions from the UE 10. The first radio network node may be a distributed node comprising a baseband unit and one or more remote radio units. The first radio network node 12 is herein exemplified as a distributed unit of base station such as a DU.
The communication network 1 comprises a second radio network node 13 of a radio access technology (RAT), such as NR, LTE, Wi-Fi, WiMAX or similar. The second radio network node 13 may be a central unit of a base station a so called CU, a transmission and reception point, a computational server, a base station e.g. a network node such as a satellite, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), an access node, an access controller, a radio base station such as a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNB, eNodeB), a gNodeB (gNB), a base transceiver station, a baseband unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point or any other network unit or node depending e.g. on the radio access technology and terminology used.
The communication network 1 comprises a third radio network node 15 providing e.g. radio coverage over the geographical area, a second service area 14 i.e. a second cell, of a radio access technology (RAT), such as NR, LTE, Wi-Fi, WiMAX or similar. The third radio network node 12 may be a transmission and reception point, a computational server, a base station e.g. a network node such as a satellite, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access point or an Access Point Station (AP STA), an access node, an access controller, a radio base station such as a NodeB, an evolved Node B (eNB, eNodeB), a gNodeB (gNB), a base transceiver station, a baseband unit, an Access Point Base Station, a base station router, a transmission arrangement of a radio base station, a stand-alone access point or any other network unit or node depending e.g. on the radio access technology and terminology used. The third radio network node 15 may be a DU of a same or different base station such as another DU, and/or another CU.
It should be noted that a service area may be denoted as cell, beam, beam group or similar to define an area of radio coverage. It should further be noted that the first and second cell may be provided by the same first radio network node 12.
According to embodiments herein to cover the whole serving area, multiple transmissions with narrow beams differently steered in time domain are performed at the first radio network node 12. The provision of multiple narrow coverage beams for this purpose is also called “beam sweeping”.
Embodiments herein relate to that the first radio network node 12 e.g. a first DU, upon detection of a RACH conflict for a served cell or beam from another cell or beam, changes an order of performing the beam sweep denoted as order of beam sweeping or beam sweeping order. This new changed order of beam sweeping may be indicated to the second radio network node 13, e.g. a CU. The second radio network node 13 performs a communication action based on the received indication, for example, initiates a request to allocate some resources either at the third or the first radio network node based on the received indication, and/or the second radio network node 13 indicates, in its turn, the changed order to a different radio network node, i.e. to the third radio network node 15, e.g. a second DU.
The proposed method by leveraging changes in the beam sweeping order allows a gNB-DU such as the first radio network node 12, to efficiently and autonomously resolve PRACH configuration conflict for the served cell potentially without any assistance from the gNB-CU such as the second radio network node 13, and without changing PRACH configuration. Hence there is no need to exchange all the PRACH configuration of all the neighbouring cells over network interfaces, e.g., over Xn and F1 interface, thus, resulting in a resource efficient solution.
In addition, exchanging beam sweeping order among the neighbouring nodes, may help the neighbouring cells to build up a more precise neighbouring relations not only taking into account the spatial location of the beams, but also the temporal location of the neighbouring beams. This information can be used for coverage optimization as well as inter cell interference optimization.
Embodiments herein relate to methods, for example in case of an NR, wherein the architecture taken into consideration is a split architecture between the second radio network node 13 such as a central unit, and the first radio network node such as a distributed unit, for example, where a gNB-CU hosts high layers such as RRC and where the gNB-DU hosts lower layers such as PHY, MAC and RLC. The methods described herein can be applied to any RAT that follows the same split architecture. For example, they can be applied to the E-UTRAN split architecture or to the E-UTRA split architecture (or CU-CU and CU-UP split architecture).
Embodiments herein relates to a method executed by the first radio network node 12 such as a gNB-DU, for resolving the RACH configuration of at least a served cell, see
Action 101: The first radio network node 12 may detect the RACH configuration conflict between the RACH configuration of the served cell 11 and the RACH configuration of a neighbouring cell 14, for example, same SSB in same time slot. The first radio network node 12 may detect or obtain an indication that a RACH configuration of a neighbouring cell is in conflict with the RACH configuration of the served cell. Embodiments herein may regard e.g. RACH conflict detection and resolution at the first radio network node 12 such as the DU. The first radio network node 12 may detect a (potential) RACH configuration conflict between the served cell and the neighbouring cell based on statistic information associated to failed random access attempts of UEs to the served cell. In one implementation, a random access attempt of the UE 10 is declared failed if the RACH msg-1 transmitted by the UE 10 is received by the first radio network node 12 according to the RACH configuration of the served cell, a RACH msg-2 is transmitted by the first radio network node 12 to the UE 10 to grant uplink resources to the UE for transmitting a RACH msg-3 according to the RACH configuration of the served cell, but the RACH msg-3 transmitted by the UE 10 is not received by the first radio network node 12 in the reserved resources.
Thus, the first radio network node 12 may detect a RACH configuration conflict.
The first radio network node 12 may, for instance, collect statistics associated to the number of failed RACH attempts, the frequency of the failed RACH attempts, the RACH resources wherein the RACH msg-1 is received from a UE during a failed RACH attempt, such as RACH preamble used, time-frequency location of the RACH msg-1 transmission, etc. The first radio network node 12 may then determine a RACH configuration conflict if, for instance, the number of failed RACH attempts exceeds a predefined threshold. In an alternative implementation, the first radio network node 12 may determine a RACH configuration conflict if the number of failed RACH attempts within a part of the RACH resources used by the served cell exceeds a predefined threshold. A part of the RACH resources could be defined, for instance, as the Random Access Resources associated by the serving cell with one or more SSB beams. This could comprise, for instance, the SSB beam sweeping pattern in time and/or frequency domain.
Action 102: The first radio network node 12 changes the beam sweeping order for the served cell 11 based on the detection of the RACH configuration conflict. The first radio network node 12 may change the beam sweeping order of the served cell 11 based on the detection of the RACH configuration conflict to resolve the RACH configuration conflict. Once the first radio network node 12 determines that a RACH configuration conflict has occurred, the first radio network node 12 may resolve the RACH configuration conflict via changing beam sweeping order. In fact, changing beam sweeping order will change the temporal location of the SSB beams and hence will potentially create orthogonality for RACH resources (that are configured equally among the neighbouring/conflicting cells) resolving the existing RACH conflict. When changing the PRACH configuration, the first radio network node 12 may take into account the PRACH configuration of neighbouring cells. For example, the hosting gNB-CU, for example, the second radio network node 12, may signal over the F1 interface a list of PRACH configurations already in use by neighbouring cells and the first radio network node 12 may take such information into account to select the appropriate new beam sweeping configuration, i.e. the new order of beam sweeping, that would resolve the RACH configuration conflict.
Action 103: The first radio network node 12 may signal the new beam sweeping order to the second radio network node 13 (e.g., a gNB-CU). Upon detection and resolution of RACH configuration conflict, as shown in action 301 in
In an embodiment, the first radio network node 12 may wait for a confirmation signal, received from the second radio network node 14 before applying the new configuration or order, as shown at step 304 in
In another embodiment, the gNB-CU may signal the beam sweeping order received from the gNB-DU (and maybe the new beam relations) to the other neighbouring gNB-CU owning the conflicting cell (in
Upon receiving the above information, the neighbouring gNB-CU may perform a communication action based on the received indication e.g. be able to update the associated features such as mobility towards the cell for which the beam sweeping order has been changed, beam relation, inter-cell interference cancellation as well as coverage optimization.
In yet another embodiment, the gNB-CU may signal to the neighbouring gNB-DU owning the conflicting cell (e.g., in
Thus it is herein disclosed a method executed by the first radio network node (a gNB-DU) for resolving the RACH configuration of at least the served cell.
Embodiments herein disclose a method executed by the second radio network node 13 (i.e., a gNB-CU), see
Action 201. The second radio network node 13 receives a new beam sweeping order from the first radio network node 12, e.g., from a gNB-DU over the F1 interface, upon any change of beam sweeping order of the cell owned by the first radio network node 12.
Action 202. The second radio network node 13 may signal the new beam sweeping order to the third radio network node, e.g., another gNB-CU owning neighbouring cells e.g., over Xn or NG interface and/or a gNB-DU connected to the second network via an F1 interface.
Action 301. The first radio network node 12 may detect a possible RACH configuration conflict by, for example, detect failed RACH attempts by one or more UEs.
Action 302. The first radio network node 12 may further transmit an indication of a new order of beam sweeping, for example, an indication of RACH configuration conflict such as a request to resolve the RACH configuration conflict and/or bits defining the new order of beam sweeping.
Action 303. The second radio network node 13 may determine or check the new order of beam sweeping. For example, check if the order is used at a different neighbouring DU.
Action 304. The second radio network node 13 may then confirm the new order of beam sweeping back to the first radio network node 12.
Action 305. The first radio network node 13 then changes the order of beam sweeping, for example, upon confirmation or upon detection.
Action 306. Alternatively, or additionally, the second radio network node 13 may transmit the new order of beam sweeping to the third radio network node 15.
Action 307. The third radio network node 15 may then update associated features based on the received new order of beam sweeping of the first radio network node 12.
A random access attempt of the UE 10 may be declared failed if: the RACH msg-1 transmitted by the UE 10, action 311, is received by the first radio network node 12, action 312, according to the RACH configuration of the served cell; a RACH msg-2 is transmitted by the first radio network node 12 to the UE 10, action 313, to grant uplink resources to the UE 10 for transmitting a RACH msg-3 according to the RACH configuration of the served cell; and the UE 10 cannot decode the msg2, action 314, and thus a RACH msg-3 is not received by the first radio network node 12 in the reserved resources, action 315. Thus, the first radio network node 12 may fail to receive Msg3 that prompts the first radio network node 12 to build up statistics for potential occurrence of RACH configuration conflict. The first radio network node 12 may try and resolve the issue by itself by changing the order of beam sweeping, action 316. The first radio network node may further transmit an indication of RACH configuration conflict to the second radio network node 13, action 317.
The second radio network node 13 receives the indication of RACH configuration conflict and may update associated features such as, beam relations, interference cancellations, and/or coverage optimization, action 318. The second radio network node 13 may then confirm the changed order of beam sweeping by sending a confirmation of changes in beam sweeping order to the first radio network node 12, action 319. The second radio network node 13 may additionally signal the new order of beam sweeping for the first cell, to the third radio network node 15, action 320.
The third radio network node 15 may receive the new order of beam sweeping of the first radio network node 12 and may update associated features such as beam relations, interference cancellation, and/or coverage optimization, action 321. The third radio network node 15 may then signal the updated order of beam sweeping to neighbouring cells, action 322.
While the example taken to describe embodiments herein is the one of an NG RAN system, it is obvious to the person skilled in the art that the techniques described apply to also other systems where a beam-based cell structure is adopted and where RACH resources availability have specific time and special patterns based on the beam structure of the cell. One other example where the proposed solutions may apply is the one of an E-UTRAN system where an en-gNB connects to an eNB and where communication of PRACH configurations for the en-gNB happens via the X2 interface towards the eNB.
In embodiments, the two cells with conflicting RACH configurations are owned by gNB-DUs, i.e. the first and third radio network node, connected to the same gNB-CU i.e. the second radio network node 13, as illustrated in
A random access attempt of the UE 10 may be declared failed if: the RACH msg-1 transmitted by the UE 10, action 331, is received by the first radio network node 12, action 332, according to the RACH configuration of the served cell; a RACH msg-2 is transmitted by the first radio network node 12 to the UE 10, action 333, to grant uplink resources to the UE 10 for transmitting a RACH msg-3 according to the RACH configuration of the served cell; and the UE 10 cannot decode the msg2, action 334, and thus a RACH msg-3 is not received by the first radio network node 12 in the reserved resources, action 335. Thus, the first radio network node 12 may fail to receive Msg3 that prompts the first radio network node 12 to build up statistics for potential occurrence of RACH configuration conflict. The first radio network node 12 may try and resolve the issue by itself by changing the order of beam sweeping, action 336. The first radio network node may further transmit an indication of RACH configuration conflict to the second radio network node 13, action 337. For example, the first radio network node may transmit the changed order of beam sweeping.
The second radio network node 13 receives the new order of beam sweeping and may update associated features such as, beam relations, interference cancellations, and/or coverage optimization, action 338. The second radio network node 13 may then confirm the changed order of beam sweeping by sending a confirmation of changes in beam sweeping order to the first radio network node 12, action 339. In this case, upon receiving an updated beam sweeping patter i.e. the new order from one of the gNB-DUs, the gNB-CU may signal the new beam sweeping order (and maybe the new beam relations) to a second gNB-DU, i.e. the third radio network node 15, owning the conflicting cell see action 340. Therefore, the second gNB-DU would be able to update the associated features such as beam relation, inter-cell interference cancellation as well as coverage optimization.
RACH conflict detection at gNB-DU and resolution at gNB-CU.
Upon detection of RACH configuration conflict, as shown in action 301 in
Alternatively, the second radio network node 13 may signal to the first radio network node 12 to select a new beam sweeping order. The second radio network node 13 may also signal information about PRACH configurations of neighbour cells of the cell in RACH configuration conflict. This latter would allow the first radio network node 12 to take a more precise decision on the type of new beam sweeping order to select to resolve the RACH configuration conflict. Alternatively, if no neighbour cell information is provided to the first radio network node 12, the first radio network node 12 may trigger a self-determined change of beam sweeping order. If a RACH configuration conflict still persists the procedure between the second radio network node 13 and the first radio network node 12 can be re-iterated.
In addition, the second radio network node 13 may determine a time at which (or after which) the first radio network node 12 may apply the new beam sweeping order to the served cell 11 for which the RACH configuration conflict was detected. Postponing the resolution of the RACH conflict at the first radio network node 12 may be necessary to allow the second radio network node 13 to coordinate with the neighbouring gNB-CU, i.e. third radio network node 15, hosting the conflicting cell about the new beam sweeping order determined to resolve the RACH configuration conflict. In one example, the second radio network node 13 may transmit to the neighbouring third radio network node 15 hosting the conflicting cell a message comprising the information associated to RACH conflict resolution, such as the new beam sweeping order determined to resolve the RACH configuration conflict. In another example, the first radio network node 12 may wait to receive a confirmation message associated to RACH conflict resolution from the neighbouring third radio network node 15, gNB-CU, hosting the conflicting cell.
A random access attempt of the UE 10 may be declared failed if: the RACH msg-1 transmitted by the UE 10, action 351, is received by the first radio network node 12, action 352, according to the RACH configuration of the served cell; a RACH msg-2 is transmitted by the first radio network node 12 to the UE 10, action 353, to grant uplink resources to the UE 10 for transmitting a RACH msg-3 according to the RACH configuration of the served cell; and the UE 10 cannot decode the msg2, action 354, and thus a RACH msg-3 is not received by the first radio network node 12 in the reserved resources, action 355. Thus, the first radio network node 12 may fail to receive Msg3 that prompts the first radio network node 12 to build up statistics for potential occurrence of RACH configuration conflict. The first radio network node may further transmit an indication of RACH configuration conflict to the second radio network node 13, action 356.
The second radio network node 13 may then determine, action 357, a new order of beam sweeping for the cell controlled by the first radio network node 12 in such a way to resolve the RACH configuration conflict and updates the associated features affected by beam sweeping order such as beam relation, inter-cell interference cancellation as well as coverage optimization. This operation may be done by the second radio network node 13 taking into account information previously received from the third radio network node such as a neighbouring gNB-CU, i.e. excluding PRACH resources and related beam sweeping order already in use by neighbouring cells.
As shown in action 358 of
In another embodiment, as shown in action 359 of
In yet another embodiment, as shown at action 361 in
The two cells with conflicting RACH configurations may be owned by gNB-DUs connected to the same gNB-CU, as illustrated in
The second radio network node 13 may then determine, action 377, the new order of beam sweeping for the cell controlled by the first radio network node 12 in such a way to resolve the RACH configuration conflict and updates the associated features affected by beam sweeping order such as beam relation, inter-cell interference cancellation as well as coverage optimization. This operation may be done by the second radio network node 13 taking into account information previously received from the third radio network node such as a neighbouring gNB-CU, i.e. excluding PRACH resources and related beam sweeping order already in use by neighbouring cells.
In this case, upon changing beam sweeping pattern for one of the gNB-DUs, upon request from the first radio network node 12 see action 378, the second radio network node 13 may signal the new beam sweeping order (and maybe the new beam relations) to the second gNB-DU, i.e. the third radio network node, action 379, owning the conflicting cell. Therefore, the second gNB-DU would be able to update the associated features such as beam relation, inter-cell interference cancellation as well as coverage optimization.
Embodiments herein relates to a method executed by the first radio network node 12 (e.g., a gNB-DU) for handling communication in the wireless communication network, for example, for resolving the RACH configuration of at least a served cell, see
Action 1001: The first radio network node 12 may detect the RACH configuration conflict between the RACH configuration of a served cell and the RACH configuration of a neighbouring cell, for example, based on statistic information associated to failed random access attempts of UEs to the served cell.
Action 1002: The first radio network node 12 may transmit to the second radio network node, the indication of the new order of beam sweeping for the served cell of the first radio network node 12. The indication may be the request to resolve the RACH configuration conflict at the second radio network node 13 possibly by changing order of beam sweeping, or defines the new order of beam sweeping for a served cell of the first radio network node.
Action 1003: The first radio network node 12 may receive a signal from the second radio network node 13 to select a new order of beam sweeping and/or the confirmation from the second radio network node 13 to change to the new order of beam sweeping. The first radio network node 12 may receive indication from the second radio network node, indicating the RACH configuration conflict with conflicting cells related information.
Action 1004: The first radio network node 12 may receive from the second radio network node 13, the indication of the new order of beam sweeping.
Action 1005: The first radio network node 12 may receive from the second radio network node 13 the indication of the time when to apply the new order of beam sweeping.
Action 1006: The first radio network node 12 may postpone to change the order of beam sweeping to a time.
Action 1007: The first radio network node 12 changes the order of beam sweeping for the served cell based on the detection of the RACH configuration conflict. The first radio network node 12 may change the beam sweeping order of the served cell based on the detection of the RACH configuration conflict to resolve the RACH configuration conflict. Once the first radio network node 12 determines that a RACH configuration conflict has occurred, the first radio network node 12 may resolve the RACH configuration conflict via changing beam sweeping order. The first radio network node 12 may change the order of beam sweeping to the received new order of beam sweeping. PRACH configurations of neighbouring cells may be taken into account when changing the order of beam sweeping.
Action 1008: The first radio network node 12 may signal the new beam sweeping order to the second radio network node 13 (e.g., a gNB-CU). Upon detection and resolution of RACH configuration conflict, as shown in action 317 in
Embodiments herein disclose a method executed by the second network node 13 (i.e., a gNB-CU) for handling communication in the wireless communication network see
Action 1101. The second radio network node 13 receives from the first radio network node 12, the indication of the new order of beam sweeping for the served cell of the first radio network node 12, e.g., from a gNB-DU over the F1 interface, upon any change of beam sweeping order of a cell owned by the first radio network node 12. The indication may be the request to resolve the RACH configuration conflict at the second radio network node 13 possibly by changing order of beam sweeping, or may define the new order of beam sweeping for the served cell of the first radio network node.
Action 1102. The second radio network node 13 may transmit the signal to the first radio network node 12 to select the new order of beam sweeping, and/or the confirmation back to the first radio network node 12 to change to the new order of beam sweeping.
Action 1103. The second radio network node 13 may transmit to the first radio network node an indication of the time when to apply the new order of beam sweeping.
Action 1104. The second radio network node 13 performs a communication action based on the received indication. For example the second radio network node 13 may signal the new beam sweeping order to the third radio network node, e.g., another gNB-CU owning neighbouring cells e.g., over Xn or NG interface or a gNB-DU connected to the second network via an F1 interface, and/or the second radio network node may perform a communication action based on the received indication. Thus, the second radio network node 13 may transmit the new order of beam sweeping to the third radio network node owning a cell conflicting with the served cell of the first radio network node. Alternatively, or additionally, the second radio network node 13 may allocate radio resources to the first radio network node 12 for changing to the new order of beam sweeping. Alternatively, or additionally, the second radio network node 13 may determine the new order of beam sweeping for the cell controlled by the first radio network node 12 to resolve the RACH configuration conflict and may update the associated features affected by beam sweeping order comprising beam relation, inter-cell interference cancelation, and/or coverage optimization.
Action 1105. The second radio network node 13 may transmit to the first radio network node the indication of the new order of beam sweeping.
The first radio network node 12 may comprise processing circuitry 1401, e.g. one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.
The first radio network node 12 may comprise a detecting unit 1402. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1401 and/or the detecting unit 1402 may be configured to detect the RACH configuration conflict between the served cell and the neighbouring cell based on statistic information associated to failed random access attempts of UEs to the served cell. Thus, the first radio network node 12 may detect the RACH configuration conflict between the RACH configuration of the served cell and the RACH configuration of the neighbouring cell. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1401 and/or the detecting unit 1402 may be configured to receive the indication from the second radio network node, indicating the RACH configuration conflict with conflicting cells related information.
The first radio network node 12 may comprise a changing unit 1403. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1401 and/or the changing unit 1403 is configured to change the order of beam sweeping or the beam sweeping order for the served cell based on the detection of the RACH configuration conflict. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1401 and/or the changing unit 1403 may be configured to take PRACH configurations of neighbouring cells into account when changing the order of beam sweeping. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1401 and/or the changing unit 1403 may be configured to postpone to change the order of beam sweeping to a time.
The first radio network node 12 may comprise a transmitting unit 1404, e.g. a transmitter or transceiver. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1401 and/or the transmitting unit 1404 may be configured to transmit to the second radio network node, the indication of the new order of beam sweeping for the served cell of the first radio network node 12. The indication may be the request to resolve the RACH configuration conflict at the second radio network node possibly by changing order of beam sweeping, or may define a new order of beam sweeping for the served cell of the first radio network node 12.
The first radio network node 12 may comprise a receiving unit 1408, e.g. a receiver or transceiver. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1401 and/or the receiving unit 1408 may be configured to receive from the second radio network node, the indication of the new order of beam sweeping and wherein the first radio network node, the processing circuitry 1401 and/or the changing unit 1403 is configured to change the order of beam sweeping order to the new order of beam sweeping. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1401 and/or the receiving unit 1408 may be configured to receive the signal from the second radio network node to select the new order of beam sweeping and/or the confirmation from the second radio network node to change to the new order of beam sweeping. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1401 and/or the receiving unit 1408 may be configured to receive from the second radio network node the indication of the time when to apply the new order of beam sweeping. The first radio network node 12, the processing circuitry 1401 and/or the receiving unit 1408 may be configured to receive the indication from the second radio network node, indicating the RACH configuration conflict with conflicting cells related information.
The first radio network node 12 further comprises a memory 1405. The memory comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as indications, strengths or qualities, RACH configurations, orders of beam sweeping, grants, messages, execution conditions, user data, reconfiguration, configurations, scheduling information, timers, applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. The first radio network node 12 comprises a communication interface 1409 comprising transmitter, receiver, transceiver and/or one or more antennas. Thus, it is herein disclosed a first radio network node for handling communication in the wireless communication network, wherein the first radio network node comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said first radio network node is operative to perform the method disclosed herein.
The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the first radio network node 12 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 1406 or a computer program product, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the first radio network node 12. The computer program product 1406 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 1407, e.g. a universal serial bus (USB) stick, a disc or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 1407, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the first radio network node 12. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a non-transitory or transitory computer-readable storage medium.
The second radio network node 13 may comprise processing circuitry 1601, e.g. one or more processors, configured to perform the methods herein.
The second radio network node 13 may comprise a receiving unit 1602, e.g. a receiver or a transceiver. The second radio network node 13, the processing circuitry 1601 and/or the receiving unit 1602 is configured to receive, from a first radio network node, an indication of a new order of beam sweeping for a served cell of the first radio network node e.g. receive, from the first radio network node 12 serving the UE 10 in the first cell, the indication of the changed order of beam sweeping. The indication may be the request to resolve the RACH configuration conflict at the second radio network node possibly by changing order of beam sweeping, or may define the new order of beam sweeping for a served cell of the first radio network node
The second radio network node 13 may comprise a performing unit 1603. The second radio network node 13, the processing circuitry 1601 and/or the performing unit 1603 is configured to perform the communication action based on the received indication.
The second radio network node 13 may comprise a transmitting unit 1604, e.g. a transmitter or a transceiver. The second radio network node 13, the processing circuitry 1601 and/or the transmitting unit 1604 may be configured to transmit the new order of beam sweeping to the third radio network node owning a cell conflicting with the served cell of the first radio network node, e.g. transmit the new beam sweeping order to the third radio network node. The second radio network node 13, the processing circuitry 1601 and/or the performing unit 1603 may configured to perform the communication action by allocating radio resources to the first radio network node for changing to the new order of beam sweeping. The second radio network node 13, the processing circuitry 1601 and/or the performing unit 1603 may configured to perform the communication action by determining the new order of beam sweeping for the cell controlled by the first radio network node to resolve the RACH configuration conflict and updating the associated features affected by beam sweeping order comprising beam relation, inter-cell interference cancelation, and/or coverage optimization. The second radio network node 13, the processing circuitry 1601 and/or the transmitting unit 1604 may be configured to transmit to the first radio network node the indication of the new order of beam sweeping. The second radio network node 13, the processing circuitry 1601 and/or the transmitting unit 1604 may be configured to transmit the signal to the first radio network node to select the new order of beam sweeping, and/or the confirmation back to the first radio network node to change to the new order of beam sweeping. The second radio network node 13, the processing circuitry 1601 and/or the transmitting unit 1604 may be configured to transmit to the first radio network node an indication of a time when to apply the new order of beam sweeping.
The second radio network node further comprises a memory 1605. The memory comprises one or more units to be used to store data on, such as indications, strengths or qualities, orders of beam sweeping (i.e. beam sweeping configurations), grants, indications, reconfiguration, configuration, values, scheduling information, timers, applications to perform the methods disclosed herein when being executed, and similar. The second radio network node comprises a communication interface 1608 comprising transmitter, receiver, transceiver and/or one or more antennas. 1. Thus, it is herein disclosed a second radio network node for handling communication in the wireless communication network, wherein the second radio network node comprises processing circuitry and a memory, said memory comprising instructions executable by said processing circuitry whereby said second radio network node is operative to perform the method disclosed herein.
The methods according to the embodiments described herein for the second radio network node 13 are respectively implemented by means of e.g. a computer program product 1606 or a computer program product, comprising instructions, i.e., software code portions, which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the second radio network node. The computer program product 1606 may be stored on a computer-readable storage medium 1607, e.g. a universal serial bus (USB) stick, a disc or similar. The computer-readable storage medium 1607, having stored thereon the computer program product, may comprise the instructions which, when executed on at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out the actions described herein, as performed by the second radio network node. In some embodiments, the computer-readable storage medium may be a non-transitory or transitory computer-readable storage medium.
In some embodiments a more general term “radio network node” is used and it can correspond to any type of radio network node or any network node, which communicates with a wireless device and/or with another network node. Examples of network nodes are NodeB, Master eNB, Secondary eNB, a network node belonging to Master cell group (MCG) or Secondary Cell Group (SCG), base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, Remote Radio Unit (RRU), Remote Radio Head (RRH), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node e.g. Mobility Switching Centre (MSC), Mobile Management Entity (MME) etc., Operation and Maintenance (O&M), Operation Support System (OSS), Self-Organizing Network (SON), positioning node e.g. Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centre (E-SMLC), Minimizing Drive Test (MDT) etc.
In some embodiments the non-limiting term wireless device or user equipment (UE) is used and it refers to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and/or with another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, device-to-device (D2D) UE, proximity capable UE (aka ProSe UE), machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, PDA, PAD, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles etc.
The embodiments are described for 5G. However the embodiments are applicable to any RAT or multi-RAT systems, where the UE receives and/or transmit signals (e.g. data) e.g. LTE, LTE FDD/TDD, WCDMA/HSPA, GSM/GERAN, Wi Fi, WLAN, CDMA2000 etc.
As will be readily understood by those familiar with communications design, that functions means or modules may be implemented using digital logic and/or one or more microcontrollers, microprocessors, or other digital hardware. In some embodiments, several or all of the various functions may be implemented together, such as in a single application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or in two or more separate devices with appropriate hardware and/or software interfaces between them. Several of the functions may be implemented on a processor shared with other functional components of a wireless device or network node, for example.
Alternatively, several of the functional elements of the processing means discussed may be provided through the use of dedicated hardware, while others are provided with hardware for executing software, in association with the appropriate software or firmware. Thus, the term “processor” or “controller” as used herein does not exclusively refer to hardware capable of executing software and may implicitly include, without limitation, digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, read-only memory (ROM) for storing software, random-access memory for storing software and/or program or application data, and non-volatile memory. Other hardware, conventional and/or custom, may also be included. Designers of communications devices will appreciate the cost, performance, and maintenance trade-offs inherent in these design choices. Embodiments herein may configure the block error rate (BLER) target for a communication session between a network node and a UE.
With reference to
The telecommunication network 3210 is itself connected to a host computer 3230, 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. The host computer 3230 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The connections 3221, 3222 between the telecommunication network 3210 and the host computer 3230 may extend directly from the core network 3214 to the host computer 3230 or may go via an optional intermediate network 3220. The intermediate network 3220 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; the intermediate network 3220, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 3220 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).
The communication system of
Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE, base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to
The communication system 3300 further includes a base station 3320 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 3325 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 3310 and with the UE 3330. The hardware 3325 may include a communication interface 3326 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 3300, as well as a radio interface 3327 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 3370 with a UE 3330 located in a coverage area (not shown in
The communication system 3300 further includes the UE 3330 already referred to. Its hardware 3335 may include a radio interface 3337 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 3370 with a base station serving a coverage area in which the UE 3330 is currently located. The hardware 3335 of the UE 3330 further includes processing circuitry 3338, 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. The UE 3330 further comprises software 3331, which is stored in or accessible by the UE 3330 and executable by the processing circuitry 3338. The software 3331 includes a client application 3332. The client application 3332 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the UE 3330, with the support of the host computer 3310. In the host computer 3310, an executing host application 3312 may communicate with the executing client application 3332 via the OTT connection 3350 terminating at the UE 3330 and the host computer 3310. In providing the service to the user, the client application 3332 may receive request data from the host application 3312 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 3350 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The client application 3332 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.
It is noted that the host computer 3310, base station 3320 and UE 3330 illustrated in
In
The wireless connection 3370 between the UE 3330 and the base station 3320 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 3330 using the OTT connection 3350, in which the wireless connection 3370 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may achieve an efficient RACH process resolving RACH configuration conflicts and thereby provide benefits such as improved battery time, and better responsiveness.
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 the OTT connection 3350 between the host computer 3310 and UE 3330, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 3350 may be implemented in the software 3311 of the host computer 3310 or in the software 3331 of the UE 3330, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which the OTT connection 3350 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software 3311, 3331 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 3350 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect the base station 3320, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 3320. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signalling facilitating the host computer's 3310 measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that the software 3311, 3331 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 3350 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.
It will be appreciated that the foregoing description and the accompanying drawings represent non-limiting examples of the methods and apparatus taught herein. As such, the apparatus and techniques taught herein are not limited by the foregoing description and accompanying drawings. Instead, the embodiments herein are limited only by the following claims and their legal equivalents.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/SE2021/050126 | 2/14/2021 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62975783 | Feb 2020 | US |
