Patent Application
20240179601
The present application relates generally to the field of wireless communications, and more specifically to devices, methods, and computer-readable media that improve mobility operations of wireless devices or user equipment (UEs) in a wireless network.
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, operation, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, operation, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The operations of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless an operation is explicitly described as following or preceding another operation and/or where it is implicit that an operation must follow or precede another operation. 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.
Long-Term Evolution (LTE) is an umbrella term for so-called fourth-generation (4G) radio access technologies developed within the Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and initially standardized in Releases 8 and 9, also known as Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN). LTE is targeted at various licensed frequency bands and is accompanied by improvements to non-radio aspects commonly referred to as System Architecture Evolution (SAE), which includes Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network. LTE continues to evolve through subsequent releases that are developed according to standards-setting processes with 3GPP and its working groups (WGs), including the Radio Access Network (RAN) WG, and sub-working groups (e.g., RAN1, RAN2, etc.).
LTE Release 10 (Rel-10) supports bandwidths larger than 20 MHz. One important requirement on Rel-10 is to assure backward compatibility with LTE Release-8. This should also include spectrum compatibility. As such, a wideband LTE Rel-10 carrier (e.g., wider than 20 MHz) should appear as a number of carriers to an LTE Rel-8 (“legacy”) terminal. Each such carrier can be referred to as a Component Carrier (CC). For an efficient use of a wide carrier also for legacy terminals, legacy terminals can be scheduled in all parts of the wideband LTE Rel-10 carrier. One exemplary way to achieve this is by means of Carrier Aggregation (CA), whereby a Rel-10 terminal can receive multiple CCs, each preferably having the same structure as a Rel-8 carrier. Similarly, one of the enhancements in LTE Rel-11 is an enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (ePDCCH), which has the goals of increasing capacity and improving spatial reuse of control channel resources, improving inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC), and supporting antenna beamforming and/or transmit diversity for control channel.
An overall exemplary architecture of a network comprising LTE and SAE is shown in
As specified by 3GPP, E-UTRAN 100 is responsible for all radio-related functions in the network, including radio bearer control, radio admission control, radio mobility control, scheduling, and dynamic allocation of resources to UEs in uplink (UL) and downlink (DL), as well as security of the communications with the UE. These functions reside in the eNBs, such as eNBs 105, 110, and 115, which communicate with each other via an X1 interface. The eNBs also are responsible for the E-UTRAN interface to EPC 130, specifically the S1 interface to the Mobility Management Entity (MME) and the Serving Gateway (SGW), shown collectively as MME/S-GWs 134 and 138 in
In general, the MME/S-GW handles both the overall control of the UE and data flow between UEs (such as UE 120) and the rest of the EPC. More specifically, the MME processes the signaling (e.g., control plane, CP) protocols between UEs and EPC 130, which are known as the Non-Access Stratum (NAS) protocols. The S-GW handles all Internet Protocol (IP) data packets (e.g., user plane, UP) between UEs and EPC 130, and serves as the local mobility anchor for the data bearers when a UE moves between eNBs, such as eNBs 105, 110, and 115.
EPC 130 can also include a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 131, which manages user- and subscriber-related information. HSS 131 can also provide support functions in mobility management, call and session setup, user authentication and access authorization. The functions of HSS 131 can be related to the functions of legacy Home Location Register (HLR) and Authentication Centre (AuC) functions or operations.
In some embodiments, HSS 131 can communicate with a user data repository (UDR)—labelled EPC-UDR 135 in
Downlink (i.e., network node to UE) physical channels provided by the LTE PHY include Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), Physical Multicast Channel (PMCH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Relay Physical Downlink Control Channel (R-PDCCH), Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), and Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH). In addition, the LTE PHY downlink includes various reference signals, synchronization signals, and discovery signals.
Uplink (i.e., UE to network node) physical channels provided by the LTE PHY include Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and Physical Random-Access Channel (PRACH). In addition, the LTE PHY uplink includes various reference signals including demodulation reference signals (DM-RS), which are transmitted to aid the network node in the reception of an associated PUCCH or PUSCH; and sounding reference signals (SRS), which are not associated with any uplink channel.
The multiple access scheme for the LTE PHY is based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) in the downlink, and on Single-Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) with a cyclic prefix in the uplink. To support transmission in paired and unpaired spectrum, the LTE PHY supports both Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) (including both full- and half-duplex operation) and Time Division Duplexing (TDD). The LTE FDD downlink (DL) radio frame has a fixed duration of 10 ms and consists of 20 slots, labeled 0 through 19, cach with a fixed duration of 0.5 ms. A 1-ms subframe comprises two consecutive slots where subframe i consists of slots 2i and 2i+1. Each exemplary FDD DL slot consists of NDLsymb OFDM symbols, cach of which is comprised of Nsc OFDM subcarriers. Exemplary values of NDLsymb can be 7 (with a normal CP) or 6 (with an extended-length CP) for subcarrier bandwidth of 15 kHz. The value of Nsc is configurable based upon the available channel bandwidth. Since persons of ordinary skill in the art are familiar with the principles of OFDM, further details are omitted in this description.
Furthermore, a combination of a particular subcarrier in a particular symbol is known as a resource clement (RE). Each RE is used to transmit a particular number of bits, depending on the type of modulation and/or bit-mapping constellation used for that RE. For example, some REs may carry two bits using QPSK modulation, while other REs may carry four or six bits using 16- or 64-QAM, respectively. The radio resources of the LTE PHY are also defined in terms of physical resource blocks (PRBs). A PRB spans NRBsc sub-carriers over the duration of a slot (i.e., NDLsymb symbols), where NRBsc is typically either 12 (with a 15-kHz sub-carrier bandwidth) or 24 (7.5-kHz bandwidth). A PRB spanning the same NRBsc subcarriers during an entire subframe (i.e., 2NDLsymb symbols) is known as a PRB pair. Accordingly, the resources available in a subframe of the LTE PHY DL comprise NDLRB PRB pairs, cach of which comprises 2NDLsymb·NRBsc REs. For a normal CP and 15-KHz sub-carrier bandwidth, a PRB pair comprises 168 REs.
The LTE FDD uplink (UL) radio frame is configured in a similar manner as the exemplary FDD DL radio frame discussed above. Using terminology consistent with the above DL description, each UL slot consists of NULsymb OFDM symbols, cach of which is comprised of Nsc OFDM subcarriers.
As discussed above, the LTE PHY maps the various DL and UL physical channels to the PHY resources. For example, the PHICH carries HARQ feedback (e.g., ACK/NAK) for UL transmissions by the UEs. Similarly, PDCCH carries scheduling assignments, channel quality feedback (e.g., CSI) for the UL channel, and other control information. Likewise, a PUCCH carries uplink control information such as scheduling requests, CSI for the downlink channel, HARQ feedback for network node DL transmissions, and other control information. Both PDCCH and PUCCH can be transmitted on aggregations of one or several consecutive control channel elements (CCEs), and a CCE is mapped to the physical resource based on resource clement groups (REGs), each of which is comprised of a plurality of REs. For example, a CCE can comprise nine (9) REGs, cach of which can comprise four (4) REs.
In LTE, RRC is used to configure/setup and maintain the radio connection between the UE and the network node. When the UE receives an RRC message from the network node, it will apply the configuration, and if this succeeds the UE generates an RRC complete message that indicates the transaction ID of the message that triggered this response.
Since LTE-release 8, three Signaling Radio Bearers (SRBs), namely SRB0, SRB1 and SRB2 have been available for the transport of RRC and Non-Access Stratum (NAS) messages between the UE and network node. A new SRB, known as SRB1bis, was also introduced in rel-13 for supporting DoNAS (Data Over NAS) in NB-IOT. SRB0 is for RRC messages using the CCCH logical channel, and it is used for handling RRC connection setup, RRC connection resume and RRC connection re-establishment. Once the UE is connected to the network node (i.e., RRC connection setup or RRC connection reestablishment/resume has succeeded), SRB1 is used for handling RRC messages (which may include a piggybacked NAS message) as well as for NAS messages prior to the establishment of SRB2, all using DCCH logical channel. On the other hand, SRB2 is used for RRC messages which include logged measurement information as well as for NAS messages, all using DCCH logical channel. SRB2 has a lower priority than SRB1, because logged measurement information and NAS messages can be lengthy and could cause the blocking of more urgent and smaller SRB1 messages. SRB2 is always configured by E-UTRAN after security activation.
As briefly mentioned above, the LTE RRC layer (shown in
Some “conditional mobility” techniques have been proposed to address these and other difficulties with handovers and other mobility procedures. Nevertheless, these proposed techniques suffer from various deficiencies—with respect to the UE and/or the network—that make them unsuitable in various use cases and/or conditions.
Exemplary embodiments disclosed herein address these problems, issues, and/or drawbacks of existing solutions by providing a flexible but efficient techniques for configuring a UE not only with a conditional mobility condition (e.g., a threshold) but also with a selection rule for selecting between different conditional mobility operations (e.g., conditional handover or conditional resume) upon the triggering of the conditional mobility condition in a particular candidate target cell (e.g., by UE measurements of at least the candidate target cell).
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure include conditional mobility methods (e.g., procedures) performed by a user equipment (UE, e.g., wireless device, IoT device, MTC device, etc. or component thereof) in a wireless network. These exemplary methods can include receiving, from a network node via a serving cell, a conditional mobility configuration related to a plurality of mobility procedures towards one or more candidate target entities. The plurality of mobility procedures can be of different types. In some embodiments, the plurality of mobility procedures can include at least two of the following: conditional handover, conditional resume, conditional re-establishment, conditional primary secondary cell (PSCell) addition, and conditional PSCell change. The conditional mobility configuration can include one or more triggering conditions for the plurality of mobility procedures.
These exemplary methods can also include monitoring for one or more triggering conditions based on measurements of radio signals associated with the candidate target entities and/or the serving cell. These exemplary methods can also include, based on detecting a particular triggering condition (e.g., while monitoring), performing a particular mobility procedure (i.e., of the plurality) towards a particular candidate target entity (i.e., of the one or more). In addition, these exemplary methods can include selecting the particular candidate target entity and/or the particular mobility procedure based on a selection rule. However, it is not necessary that the UE selects both the particular candidate target entity and the particular mobility procedure based on the selection rule; in some embodiments, the UE can determine or select one of these based on one or more different rules, criteria, configurations, etc.
In various embodiments, the candidate target entities can include any of the following: one or more cells, other than the serving cell; one or more frequencies; one or more beams; and one or more reference signals (RS) associated with respective beams. In some embodiments, the candidate target entities include a plurality of candidate target cells, and the particular triggering condition is that a signal strength of the serving cell is a predetermined amount below a signal strength of a particular candidate target cell.
In some embodiments, the conditional mobility configuration can include one or more first configurations, for conditional handover, corresponding to respective one or more first candidate target entities; and one or more second configurations, for conditional resume, corresponding to respective one or more second candidate target entities. For example, the first candidate target entities can include one or more first cells served by the network node, while the second candidate target entities can include more second cells served by other network nodes. As another example, the first candidate target entities can include one or more first cells associated with a first measurement object, while the second candidate target entities include one or more second cells associated with a second measurement object (i.e., different from the first measurement object in some manner).
Furthermore, in such embodiments, each first configuration can include an RRCReconfiguration message prepared by a target node associated with the corresponding first candidate target entity. Likewise, for each particular second candidate target entity, the second configuration can include an identifier of a UE context (e.g., related to a network node associated with the particular second candidate target entity). In such embodiments, selecting the particular mobility procedure based on the selection rule can include selecting conditional handover if the particular candidate target entity is one of the first candidate target entities, and selecting conditional resume if the particular candidate target entity is one of the second candidate target entities.
In some embodiments, each first configuration can include one or more first triggering conditions, and each second configuration can include one or more second triggering conditions. In such embodiments, selecting the particular mobility procedure based on the selection rule can include selecting conditional handover if the particular triggering condition is one of the first triggering conditions, and selecting conditional resume if the particular triggering condition is one of the second triggering conditions. In some of these embodiments, the first candidate target entities and the second candidate target entities can include a common candidate target entity, and the first and second triggering conditions associated with the common candidate target entity can be different.
In some embodiments, the particular triggering condition can be that a signal strength of the serving cell is a predetermined amount below a first threshold. In such embodiments, the candidate target entities can include a plurality of frequencies arranged in order of priority, and a plurality of candidate target cells. In such embodiments, selecting based on the selection rule can include determining signal strengths of the candidate target cells for the highest-priority frequency, and selecting the candidate target cell with the highest signal strength if any of the determined signal strengths for the candidate target cells is above a second threshold. Otherwise, if none of the determined signal strengths for the candidate target cells is above the second threshold, the UE can repeat these determining and selection operations for the next highest-priority frequency. In some embodiments, the conditional mobility configuration can include one or more validity timers, with each validity timer being associated with one or more of the mobility procedures and/or at least one of the candidate target entities. In such embodiments, the monitoring operations can include initiating the validity timers. Furthermore, in such embodiments, selecting based on the selection rule can be further based on whether a validity timer associated with the particular mobility procedure and the particular candidate target entity has expired.
Other exemplary embodiments include methods (e.g., procedures) for configuring conditional mobility of a user equipment (UE) in a wireless network. These exemplary methods can be performed by a network node (e.g., base stations, eNBs, gNBs, etc. or components thereof) in the wireless network (e.g., E-UTRAN, NG-RAN).
These exemplary methods can include determining, for the UE, a conditional mobility configuration related to a plurality of mobility procedures towards one or more candidate target entities. The plurality of mobility procedures can be of different types. In some embodiments, the plurality of mobility procedures can include at least two of the following: conditional handover, conditional resume, conditional re-establishment, conditional primary secondary cell (PSCell) addition, and conditional PSCell change. The conditional mobility configuration can also include one or more triggering conditions for the plurality of mobility procedures.
These exemplary methods can also include sending the conditional mobility configuration to the UE via a serving cell.
In various embodiments, the candidate target entities can include any of the following: one or more cells, other than the serving cell; one or more frequencies; one or more beams; and one or more reference signals (RS) associated with respective beams. In some embodiments, the candidate target entities can include a plurality of candidate target cells, and one of the triggering conditions is that a signal strength of the serving cell is a predetermined amount below a signal strength of a particular candidate target cell.
In some embodiments, the conditional mobility configuration can include one or more first configurations, for conditional handover, corresponding to respective one or more first candidate target entities; and one or more second configurations, for conditional resume, corresponding to respective one or more second candidate target entities. For example, the first candidate target entities can include one or more first cells served by the network node, while the second candidate target entities can include more second cells served by other network nodes. As another example, the first candidate target entities can include one or more first cells associated with a first measurement object, while the second candidate target entities include one or more second cells associated with a second measurement object (i.e., different from the first measurement object in some manner).
Furthermore, in such embodiments, cach first configuration can include an RRCReconfiguration message prepared by a target node associated with the corresponding first candidate target entity. Likewise, for each particular second candidate target entity, the second configuration can include an identifier of a UE context (e.g., related to a network node associated with the particular second candidate target entity). In some embodiments, the first configuration can include one or more first triggering conditions, and the second configuration can include one or more second triggering conditions. In such embodiments, the first candidate target entities and the second candidate target entities can include a common candidate target entity, and the first and second triggering conditions associated with the common candidate target entity can be different.
In some embodiments, one of the triggering conditions can be that a signal strength of the serving cell is a predetermined amount below a first threshold. In such embodiments, the candidate target entities can include a plurality of frequencies arranged in order of priority, and a plurality of candidate target cells. In some embodiments, the conditional mobility configuration can include one or more validity timers, with each validity timer being associated with one or more of the mobility procedures and/or at least one of the candidate target entities.
Other exemplary embodiments include UEs (e.g., wireless devices, IoT devices, MTC devices, etc. or component thereof) or network nodes (e.g., base stations, eNBs, gNBs, etc. or components thereof) configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the exemplary methods described herein. Other exemplary embodiments include non-transitory, computer-readable media storing program instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry, configure such UEs or network nodes to perform operations corresponding to any of the exemplary methods described herein.
These and other objects, features and advantages of exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will become apparent upon reading the following Detailed Description in view of the Drawings briefly described below.
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. Furthermore, the following terms are used throughout the description given below:
Note that the description given herein focuses on a 3GPP cellular communications system and, as such, 3GPP terminology or terminology similar to 3GPP terminology is oftentimes used. However, the concepts disclosed herein are not limited to a 3GPP system. Other wireless systems, including without limitation Wide Band Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), World wide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB) and Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), may also benefit from the concepts, principles, and/or embodiments described herein.
In addition, functions and/or operations described herein as being performed by a wireless device or a network node may be distributed over a plurality of wireless devices and/or network nodes. Furthermore, although the term “cell” is used herein, it should be understood that (particularly with respect to 5G NR) beams may be used instead of cells and, as such, concepts described herein apply equally to both cells and beams.
As briefly mentioned above, UE mobility procedures (e.g., handover) can have various problems related to robustness. For example, a HO command is normally sent when the radio conditions for the UE are already quite bad. As such, the HO command may need to be segmented (e.g., to allow for redundancy to protect against errors) and/or retransmitted (e.g., using HARQ) one or more times before it reaches the UE. In such case, the HO command may not reach the UE in time (or at all) before the degraded connection with the source node (e.g., the node hosting the UE's current serving cell) is dropped. Some “conditional mobility” techniques have been proposed to address these and other difficulties with handovers and other mobility procedures. Nevertheless, these proposed techniques suffer from various deficiencies with respect to the UE and/or the network that make them unsuitable in various scenarios. These issues are discussed in more detail below.
Prior to Rel-13, there were two RRC states defined for a UE. More specifically, after a UE is powered ON it will be in the RRC_IDLE state until an RRC connection is established, at which time it will transition to RRC_CONNECTED state (e.g., where data transfer can occur). After a connection is released, the UE returns to RRC_IDLE. In RRC_IDLE state, the UE's radio is active on a discontinuous reception (DRX) schedule configured by upper layers. During DRX active periods, an RRC_IDLE UE receives system information (SI) broadcast by a serving cell, performs measurements of neighbor cells to support cell reselection, and monitors a paging channel on PDCCH for pages from the EPC via eNB. An RRC_IDLE UE is known in the EPC and has an assigned IP address, but is not known to the serving eNB (e.g., there is no stored context).
In LTE Rel-13, a mechanism was introduced for the UE to be suspended by the network in a suspended state similar to RRC_IDLE but with some important differences. First, the suspended state is not a third RRC “state” alongside RRC_IDLE and RRC_CONNECTED; rather it can be viewed as a “substate” of RRC_IDLE. Second, both the UE and the serving eNB store the UE's AS (e.g., S1-AP) context and RRC context after suspension. When the suspended UE needs to resume a connection (e.g., to send UL data), instead of going through the conventional service request procedure, the suspended UE merely sends an RRCConnectionResumeRequest message to the eNB. The CNB resumes the S1AP context and responds with a RRCConnectionResume message. There is no elaborate exchange of security context between MME and eNB and no setup of AS security context. The preserved AS and RRC contexts are merely resumed from where they were suspended earlier. Reducing the signaling can provide reduced UE latency (e.g., for smart phones accessing Internet) and reduced UE signaling, which can lead to reduced UE energy consumption, particularly for machine type communication (MTC) devices that send very little data (i.e., signaling being a primary consumer of energy).
To support mobility (e.g., handover or reselection) between cells and/or beams, a UE can perform periodic cell search and measurements of signal power and quality (e.g., reference signal received power, RSRP, and reference signal received quality, RSRQ) in both RRC_CONNECTED and RRC_IDLE modes. The UE is responsible for detecting new neighbor cells, and for tracking and monitoring already detected cells. The detected cells and the associated measurement values are reported to the network. An LTE UE can perform such measurements on various downlink reference signals (RS) including, e.g., cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS), MBSFN RS, UE-specific demodulation RS (DM-RS) associated with PDSCH, DM-RS associated with EPDCCH or M/NPDCCH, positioning RS (PRS), and channel state information RS (CSI-RS).
UE measurement reports to the network can be configured to be periodic or aperiodic based a particular event. For example, the network can configure a UE to perform measurements on various carrier frequencies and various RATs corresponding to neighbor cells, as well as for various purposes including, e.g., mobility and/or positioning. The configuration for each of these measurements is referred to as a “measurement object.” Furthermore, the UE can be configured to perform the measurements according to a “measurement gap pattern” (or “gap pattern” for short), which can include a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP) (i.e., how often a regular gap available for measurements occurs) and a measurement gap length (MGL) (i.e., the length of each recurring gap).
In LTE, the concept of Time-To-Trigger (TTT) is used to ensure that the event triggering criterion is satisfied for a long enough duration before a measurement report is sent by the UE. The triggering criterion and TTT are configured in a reportConfig message (or an information clement, IE, of a message) sent by the network to the UE. The value of TTT provided in reportConfig is applicable to all neighbor cells of the UE that could trigger a measurement report based on the specified triggering criterion.
While LTE was primarily designed for user-to-user communications, 5G (also referred to as “NR”) cellular networks are envisioned to support both high single-user data rates (e.g., 1 Gb/s) and large-scale, machine-to-machine communication involving short, bursty transmissions from many different devices that share the frequency bandwidth. The 5G radio standards (also referred to as “New Radio” or “NR”) are currently targeting a wide range of data services including eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broad Band) and URLLC (Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication). These services can have different requirements and objectives. For example, URLLC is intended to provide a data service with extremely strict error and latency requirements, e.g., error probabilities as low as 10−5 or lower and 1 ms end-to-end latency or lower. For eMBB, the requirements on latency and error probability can be less stringent whereas the required supported peak rate and/or spectral efficiency can be higher.
Similar to LTE, the NR PHY uses CP-OFDM (Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) in the DL and both CP-OFDM and DFT-spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the UL. In the time domain, NR DL and UL physical resources are organized into equal-sized, 1-ms subframes. Each subframe includes of one or more slots, and each slot includes 14 (for normal cyclic prefix) or 12 (for extended cyclic prefix) time-domain symbols.
Although not shown, in some deployments 5GC 398 can be replaced by an Evolved Packet Core (EPC), which conventionally has been used together with LTE E-UTRAN. In such deployments, gNBs 300, 350 can connect to one or more Mobility Management Entities (MMEs) in EPC via respective S1-C interfaces. Similarly, gNBs 300, 350 can connect to one or more Serving Gateways (SGWs) in EPC via respective NG-U interfaces.
In addition, the gNBs can be connected to each other via one or more Xn interfaces, such as Xn interface 340 between gNBs 300 and 350. The radio technology for the NG-RAN is often referred to as “New Radio” (NR). For the NR interface to UEs, each of the gNBs can support frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination thereof.
NG-RAN 399 can be partitioned 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 (NG, Xn, F1) the related TNL protocol and the functionality are specified. The TNL provides services for user plane transport and signaling transport. In some exemplary configurations, each gNB is connected to all 5GC nodes within an “AMF Region” which is defined in 3GPP TS 23.501. If security protection for CP and UP data on TNL of NG-RAN interfaces is supported, NDS/IP (3GPP TS 33.401) shall be applied.
The NG-RAN logical nodes shown in
A gNB-CU connects to one or more gNB-DUs over respective F1 logical interfaces, such as interfaces 322 and 332 shown in
Furthermore, a CU can host protocols such as RRC and PDCP, while a DU can host protocols such as RLC, MAC and PHY. Other variants of protocol distributions between CU and DU can exist, however, such as hosting the RRC, PDCP and part of the RLC protocol in the CU (e.g., Automatic Retransmission Request (ARQ) function), while hosting the remaining parts of the RLC protocol in the DU, together with MAC and PHY. In some exemplary embodiments, the CU can host RRC and PDCP, where PDCP is assumed to handle both UP traffic and CP traffic. Nevertheless, other exemplary embodiments may utilize other protocol splits that by hosting certain protocols in the CU and certain others in the DU. Exemplary embodiments can also locate centralized control plane protocols (e.g., PDCP-C and RRC) in a different CU with respect to the centralized UP protocols (e.g., PDCP-U).
First, UE mobility in RRC_CONNECTED is network-based, since the network has the most recent and/or most accurate information regarding load conditions, resources in different nodes, available frequencies, etc. The network can also take into account the situation of many UEs in the network, from a resource allocation perspective.
As illustrated in
Furthermore, to speed up the HO, the source node provides the UE with needed information on how to access the target (e.g., RACH configuration), so the UE does not have to acquire target node system information (SI, e.g., from broadcast) prior to the handover. Both full and delta reconfiguration are supported so that the HO command can be minimized. The UE may be provided with contention-free random-access (CFRA) resources; in that case, the target node can identify the UE from the RACH preamble (also referred to as msg1). More generally, the normal HO procedure can always be optimized with dedicated resources, such as CFRA resources.
The HO process shown in
One way to combat such failures is “conditional handover,” briefly mentioned above. One type of conditional handover solution discussed in 3GPP RAN2 WG is “early HO command” or “conditional HO command”. In order to avoid the undesired dependence of the serving radio link upon the time (and radio conditions) when the UE should execute the handover, RRC signaling for the handover command can be provided carlier to the UE. In such case, the handover command can be associated with a condition that, once fulfilled, enables the UE to execute the handover in accordance with the provided handover command. An example condition could be that a candidate target cell becomes X dB better than a source cell (e.g., based on a particular signal-strength metric), which is similar to a condition associated with an “A3” event.
This procedure involves two different measurement thresholds: a low threshold (“Y”) and a high threshold (“X”). The two thresholds can be expressed as different levels of a particular metric, e.g., signal strength, signal quality, etc. For example, the high threshold could be that the quality of the mobility RS (MRS) of the candidate target cell or beam becomes X dB stronger than the MRS of the serving cell, with the low threshold “Y” being less than “X” (i.e., target exceeds serving by lower amount). As used in this context, MRS denotes a reference signal used for any mobility-related purpose. For example, in NR, MRS can be either SSB (SS/PBCH block) or CSI-RS. As a further example, for NR operating in unlicensed spectrum (referred to as NR-U), MRS can be a discovery reference signal (DRS) in addition to any of the signals mentioned above.
The UE can be provided with a measurement configuration including the low threshold “Y”. Upon performing measurements that meet the low threshold “Y”, the UE can send a measurement report to the serving node. While performing the measurements and evaluating the threshold “Y”, the UE continues operating in its current RRC configuration. Based on this report, the serving node can decide to request an early handover of the UE to the target node (e.g., to a target cell indicated in the measurement report). The target network node performs admission control for the UE and responds with the handover acknowledgement that includes RRC configuration, similar to the basic handover shown in
There are several possible enhancements to the baseline conditional HO shown in
Fourth, it may be possible and/or desirable to provide the UE with HO conditions and configurations for several candidate target cells. Each candidate target cell is associated with (e.g., provided by) a single target node (which can be considered a “candidate target node”), but a target node can be associated with one or more candidate target cells. When receiving conditional HO commands for multiple candidate target cells, the UE evaluates HO conditions for multiple candidate target cell and stores configurations for those individually. In one technique, the network informs the UE that the conditional HO command is applicable for several cells. Alternatively, the network provides conditional HO command with multiple cells and potentially multiple configurations.
In conditional HO, the network provides the UE with a configuration to access a prepared candidate target cell so that the UE may transmit UL data as soon as the UE synchronizes with the target cell, e.g., by multiplexing UL data with an RRCReconfigurationComplete message. The configuration to access a candidate target cell is prepared by the target node controlling the candidate target cell and provided in the conditional HO command. However, conditional HO requires that such a message is prepared and that resources for the UE are allocated in each candidate target cell. In addition, it may be necessary for a serving/source node to contact each previously-configured target node (e.g., associated with the respective candidate target cells) with updates to prepare a new conditional HO message and/or to cancel allocated resources.
As part of the 3GPP standardization work on 5G, it has been decided that NR should support an RRC_INACTIVE state with similar properties as the suspended state in LTE Rel-13. The RRC_INACTIVE state has slightly different properties in that it is a separate RRC state and not part of RRC_IDLE as in LTE. Additionally, the CN/RAN connection (NG or N2 interface) is kept alive during RRC_INACTIVE while it was suspended in LTE.
As shown in
Likewise, a UE can attempt to resume a connection toward a particular gNB (e.g., same or different cell from which the connection was suspended) by sending the gNB an RRCResume Request message including the I-RNTI, a security token (called resumeMAC-I) used to identify and verify the UE at RRC connection resume, and an indication of the resume cause (e.g., mobile originated data). The gNB serving the cell in which the UE attempts to resume is often referred to as “target gNB,” while the gNB serving the cell in which the UE was suspended is often referred to as the “source gNB.” To resume the connection, the target gNB identifies the source gNB (e.g., from a portion of the I-RNTI) and requests that gNB to send the UE's context. In this request, the target gNB provides, among other things, a target cell ID, a UE ID, and security token received from the UE. The NR resume procedure is similar in some ways to the corresponding resume procedure in LTE (e.g., E-UTRAN and EPC) and eLTE (e.g., E-UTRAN and 5GC).
The resume procedure discussed above can also be adapted into another conditional mobility solution called “conditional resume,” which has properties similar to conditional HO shown in
Conditional resume addresses some of the concerns from conditional handover by not requiring each candidate target cell to be prepared. The UE is provided with a UE context identifier (e.g., I-RNTI allocated by source node) that it can send to a target node (e.g., via RRCResumeRequest for NR, RRCConnectionResumeRequest for LTE) whose cell fulfills the conditional resume threshold “X”.
On the other hand, conditional resume involves a longer delay until the UE is fully operational for data transmission/reception. This delay is due to the resume messaging in operation 6 of
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide specific improvements to address these and other problems. Various embodiments include techniques for configuring a UE not only with a conditional mobility condition (e.g., a threshold, X) but also a selection rule for selecting between different conditional mobility operations (e.g., conditional HO or conditional resume) upon the triggering of the conditional mobility condition in a particular target cell (e.g., by UE measurements of at least the target cell). Upon receiving such information, a UE can monitor for the conditional mobility triggering condition (e.g., by performing measurements) and, when the triggering condition occurs for a particular target cell, perform either conditional HO or conditional resume towards the target cell according to the relevant selection rule.
These exemplary embodiments can provide various improvements, benefits, and/or advantages. For example, these embodiments provide flexibility at the UE to choose between conditional HO (where advance context fetching and target candidate preparation is required but with potential to improve latency when UE accesses a target cell) or conditional resume (where advance context fetching during target preparation is NOT required, which makes inter-node signaling easier). In addition, these embodiments provide flexibility in the network to implement, for each UE, a tradeoff between lower complexities at the source node when configuring conditional resume (at the expense of longer latency for access and more signaling during execution) versus reduced signaling over the air for conditional HO due to advance preparation of target candidates (at the expense of more inter-node signaling during preparation, especially when multiple nodes are being prepared).
Due to this flexibility, a network may choose to prepare a limited set of target nodes as candidates, while still minimizing inter-node signaling and avoiding excessively large HO command messages (e.g., RRCReconfiguration including reconfigurationWithSync for NR, RRCConnectionReconfiguration including mobilityControlInfo for LTE). For instance, a source node can configure cells associated with the same node for conditional HO (thereby reducing inter-node signaling) but can configure conditional resume for cells from other nodes. In this manner, the conditional mobility performance can be improved while maintaining a balance between signaling load and latency. Other technical advantages may be readily apparent upon reading the following description.
In general, the term “conditional mobility” is used herein to refer to procedures such as conditional HO, conditional resume, conditional reconfiguration with sync, and/or conditional reconfiguration. A conditional mobility procedure includes a condition, associated with a measurement event, that if triggered causes a UE to perform the corresponding mobility procedure, e.g., resume, HO, reconfiguration with sync, beam switching, reestablishment, beam recovery, etc.
Unless specifically noted, the exemplary embodiments described herein apply to conditional mobility configurations associated with a single cell or with multiple cells. In the case of single cell, a single measurement configuration reference can be provided and associated with a mobility procedure. In the case of multiple cells, a single measurement configuration reference can be provided and associated with the monitoring of multiple cells, e.g., within the same measurement object/frequency. Alternately, multiple measurement configuration references can be provided, one for each target cell.
For the cells to be monitored for conditional HO, the UE may be configured with an RRCReconfiguration with reconfiguration WithSync (for NR) or an with RRCConnectionReconfiguration with mobilityControlInfo (for LTE), e.g., associated with a cell to be accessed when the condition is triggered.
For the cells to be monitored for conditional resume, the UE may be configured with at least one identifier (e.g., I-RNTI for NR, Resume ID for LTE, or another UE identifier) to be included in the RRCResumeRequest (for NR) or RRCConnectionResumeRequest (for LTE) (or similar message). Alternatively, this could be a source C-RNTI+PCI, like in a reestablishment request. For NR, the source node may provide a short or long I-RNTI, for each target cell, depending on the requirements of each target cell.
The UE can also be configured with an RRCReconfiguration with reconfiguration WithSync (for NR) or RRCConnectionReconfiguration with mobilityControlInfo (for LTE) containing some information of the target cells but not a full configuration, together with a UE identifier (e.g., I-RNTI or Resume ID, as discussed above). The target cell information may include information normally transmitted (e.g., broadcast) by the target cell in system information (SI), e.g., RACH configuration to facilitate faster access in the target cell. This information can also be included in a part of the reconfiguration message other than the elements reconfigurationWithSync or mobility ControlInfo.
In general, the term “conditional resume” is used herein to refer to a procedure that includes a condition, associated with a measurement event, that if triggered causes a UE to perform the corresponding resume-like procedure in which the UE transmits a request (e.g., RRCResumeRequest message) containing a UE access-stratum (AS) context identifier allocated by the serving/source node (e.g., an I-RNTI, a source C-RNTI+source PCI identifier) and a security token (e.g., short MAC-I/resume MAC-I). This can also include a reestablishment procedure (e.g., a radio link reestablishment procedure) in which the UE transmits a request (e.g., RRCReestablishmentRequest message) that includes such contents.
In general, the UE and network actions are described herein as being performed in a single RAT, e.g., NR or LTE. For example, the configuration of a conditional HO received in NR is executed in NR while the configuration of a conditional HO received in LTE is executed in LTE. However, the method is also applicable in at least the other following cases:
In general, the UE and network actions are described herein in terms of handover or reconfigurations with sync, which may include the change of a cell. However, similar techniques can be applied when a cell is added or changed during multi-connectivity scenarios such as carrier aggregation (CA), single-RAT dual connectivity (DC), multi-RAT DC, etc. For CA and DC, a Master Cell Group (MCG) is a group of serving cells associated with a master node (MN, e.g., eNB or gNB) and includes a primary cell (PCell) and optionally one or more secondary cells (SCells). Similarly, a Secondary Cell Group (SCG) is a group of serving cells associated with a secondary node (SN, e.g., SeNB or SgNB) and includes a Primary SCell (PSCell) and optionally one or more SCells. In such configurations, the conditional mobility operation can be a conditional SCG addition, PSCell addition, PSCell change, etc. In addition, similar techniques can also be applied to intra-cell conditional mobility procedures, e.g., a reconfiguration with sync with identical target cell and serving cell.
Although the conditional mobility condition (also referred to as “triggering condition”) is described generally herein in terms of cells, the triggering condition can also be related to any of the following:
As a more concrete example, a UE may be configured to monitor the radio conditions of a candidate target cell-X and, once these are fulfilled according to the triggering condition (e.g., cell-X is X dB better than the UE's PCell in terms of RSRP measurements, similar to an A3 event), the UE executes the conditional mobility procedure (e.g., resume or handover) based on the selection rule.
In one embodiment, the UE may be configured by a network node with different types of conditions, each associated with a particular conditional mobility procedure. For example, a UE may be configured with conditional handover configuration(s) and conditional resume configuration(s), or with at least one of these configurations. As such, in this context, type of condition refers to the type of mobility procedure that the UE shall execute upon the fulfillment of the condition.
In some embodiments, the UE can also be provided with type-specific configurations associated with each mobility procedure. For example, when configured for conditional HO the UE can be given a configuration to be used in a candidate target cell (e.g., an RRCReconfiguration message to access a given candidate target cell). As another example, when configured for conditional resume, the UE can be configured with an AS Context identifier (e.g., an I-RNTI or a source C-RNTI+source physical cell identifier). In such embodiments, the UE's selection of the method to be used can be determined implicitly from the type of information provided with the configuration.
In some embodiments, the configuration provided to the UE can also include which cell, list of cells, measurement objects, and/or frequencies should be monitored for the triggering condition(s), as well as the node to be accessed depending on the execution method.
As one example, the UE may be configured with a first candidate target cell (e.g., cell-X) and a first triggering condition for conditional HO, as well as a configuration to access candidate target cell-X (e.g., RRCReconfiguration message prepared by a target node associated with cell-X). Additionally, the UE can be configured with a second candidate target cell (e.g., cell-X′) and a second triggering condition for conditional resume, as well as a configuration to access cell-X′ and to facilitate location of the UE AS context in the source/serving node (e.g., an AS context identifier like an I-RNTI or source C-RNTI+source PCI). Based on these configurations, the UE monitors the first condition in cell-X and the second condition in cell-X′. If the first condition is fulfilled, the UE triggers HO towards cell-X; if the second condition is fulfilled the UE triggers resume towards cell-X′. In this example, the triggering cell provided in the configuration determines the mobility method selected by the UE upon fulfillment of the condition.
As another example, the UE may be configured with a first list of cells (cell-X1, . . . , cell-Xn) and a first set of conditions for conditional HO, as well as a second list of cells (cell-X1′, . . . , cell-Xn′) and a second set of conditions for conditional resume. Based on these configurations, the UE monitors the conditions of the first set in cells of the first list and the conditions of the second set in cells of the second list. If one of the first set of conditions is fulfilled in a cell of the first list, the UE triggers conditional HO towards the cell that fulfills the condition.
As another example, the UE may be configured with a first cell (e.g., cell-X) from a measurement object A along with an associated first condition for conditional HO. The UE may also be configured with a second cell (e.g., cell-X′) from a measurement object B along with an associated second condition for conditional resume. Based on these configurations, the UE monitor the respective conditions in the respective cells. If the first condition is fulfilled, the UE performs handover towards a cell in measurement object A; if the second condition is fulfilled, the UE performs resume towards a cell in measurement object B.
As another example, the UE may be configured with a first cell (e.g., cell-X) having a frequency A along with an associated first condition for conditional HO. The UE may also be configured with a second cell (e.g., cell-X′) having a frequency B along with an associated second condition for conditional resume. Based on these configurations the UE monitors the respective conditions in the respective cells. If the first condition is fulfilled, the UE triggers conditional handover towards the first cell having frequency A; if the second condition is fulfilled the UE triggers resume towards the second cell having frequency B.
As another example, the UE may be configured with a first list of cells (e.g., cell-X1, . . . , cell-Xn) having a frequency A along with an associated first set of conditions for conditional HO. The UE may also be configured with a second list of cells (e.g., cell-X1′, . . . , cell-Xn′) having a frequency B along with an associated second set of conditions conditional resume. Based on these configurations the UE monitors the respective conditions in the respective cells. If the first condition is fulfilled for one of the cells in the first list, the UE triggers conditional handover towards that cell; if the second condition is fulfilled for one of the cells in the second list, the UE triggers resume towards that cell.
As another example, the UE may be configured with a first list of cells (e.g., cell-X1, . . . , cell-Xn) and a first set of conditions for conditional handover associated with these respective cells, and a second condition for conditional resume to be applied to any cell other than those on the first list.
As another example, the UE may be configured with one or more frequencies for conditional resume. For example, the condition can be an A2 type of event in which the serving cell becomes X dB worse than a threshold. When the condition is triggered, the UE searches the configured frequencies and selects the best cell (e.g., highest signal strength) subject to some minimum (e.g., signal strength above a threshold). If the frequencies are configured with an associated priority, the UE evaluates the frequencies in order of priority and select within each frequency the best cell that meets the minimum criterion. If no such cell is found on a carrier, the UE moves to the next carrier, and so on.
In any of the above examples, certain configurations can also include one or more validity timer(s). As one alternative, there could be one validity timer for the entire configuration. As another alternative, there could be one validity timer for the configuration for conditional handover and one validity timer for the configuration of conditional resume. As yet another alternative, there could be one validity timer for the configuration associated with each cell.
In any of the above examples, the same candidate target cell may be linked to multiple triggering conditions, each linked to a particular mobility procedure. For example, one candidate target cell can be associated with a first condition that, if fulfilled, causes the UE to perform conditional HO towards the candidate target cell. The same candidate target cell can be associated with a second condition that, if fulfilled, causes the UE to perform conditional resume towards the same candidate target cell. In that variant, it is not the candidate target cell candidate that really determines the mobility method to be selected, but rather the condition that is fulfilled first. Multiple triggering conditions in this context may be:
One could see the previous example as a result of a configuration that determines specifically which mobility procedure shall be executed depending on the explicit configuration provided to the UE. In these different examples above and other variants described herein, the UE only executes one of the mobility procedures for a particular candidate target cell. As such, the UE can discard configurations associated with the non-selected mobility procedure and/or non-selected candidate cells. For example, if the UE selects a conditional resume procedure for a candidate target cell, the UE can discard a conditional HO configuration for the same candidate target cell, as well as other resume configurations for non-selected candidate target cells.
In some embodiments, the network can provide the configuration to the UE in a new RRC message, referred to herein as RRCConditionalReconfiguration.
Various embodiments of the rules and/or criteria for selecting between conditional mobility procedures for a particular candidate target cell are also envisioned (referred to as “selection rules”). These embodiments can be based on the occurrence of different events while the UE is monitoring for the triggering conditions (e.g., by performing cell measurements), including the following:
For example, if the validityTimer associated with a particular conditional mobility procedure (e.g., with all conditional HO configurations) expires, then the UE discards the conditional mobility configurations of the type for which the validity timer expires. If a single overall validityTimer is associated with the entire conditional mobility configuration, then the UE discards the entire conditional mobility configuration. On the other hand, if a single validity Timer that is associated with all conditional HO procedures expires, the UE may discard all conditional HO configurations, but retain the conditional resume configurations and/or reconfigure itself to use conditional resume also in the cells for which conditional HO was configured but discarded (e.g., due to expired validityTimer).
Note that the exemplary ASN.1 data structures shown in
In some embodiments, the UE can be configured with a list of cells for conditional HO in a certain frequency, e.g., associated with a configured measurement object, along with a triggering condition. The UE then monitors for the triggering condition not only for the configured cells, but for all cells in the associated measurement object. If a cell in the list triggers the condition, the UE performs a HO, but if another cell from that measurement object triggers the condition, the UE performs a resume procedure. Alternately, instead of performing a resume procedure, the UE can perform a re-establishment procedure.
In other embodiments, the UE can be configured for conditional HO with respect to one or more frequencies, along with a triggering condition. In case the triggering condition is fulfilled for the source cell instead of one of the candidate target cell (e.g., A2 type of event where source worse than threshold), the UE can perform a resume procedure on the best cell within the given frequencies with respect to a particular criterion (e.g., signal strength). If priorities are provided, the UE can evaluate the criterion on the various frequencies in order of priority, and within each frequency it tries to resume on the best cell. It may be that no cell is found on a particular frequency (e.g., due to it being too weak), and in this case the UE will continue to search on the remaining frequencies.
Although the above examples have been given in terms of selecting between a HO and a resume procedure, the selection can also be made between two different mobility procedures, or among more than two mobility procedures, according to one or more selection rules. For example, various rules can be applied for selecting between HO and re-establishment procedures, or among HO, resume, and re-establishment.
For example, when a configured trigger condition is fulfilled for cell-X, the UE selects between a HO, a resume procedure, or a reestablishment procedure based on whether the cell that triggered the conditional mobility is included in a configured list of cells for which conditional HO should be performed, or is included in a configured list of cells for which conditional resume should be performed, or is not included in any configured list of cells at all. As another example, if a failure is declared while the UE is monitoring at least one trigger condition associated with HO, the UE performs a re-establishment procedure.
In some embodiments, multiple triggering conditions can be triggered simultaneously, e.g., during the same measurement. If triggering condition for multiple cells are fulfilled simultaneously, there may be several strategies the UE can follow. These can be seen as specification or implementation alternatives, but it is also possible to standardize multiple strategies, and make the strategy to use part of the configuration the UE is provided with. Exemplary embodiments include the following strategies for handling multiple triggering conditions being fulfilled simultaneously:
In some embodiments, if all conditional mobility configurations expire (e.g., validity timer(s)) and the UE is no longer in contact with its serving cell, the UE attempts reestablishment by sending an RRCReesblishmentRequest (for NR) or RRCConnectionReestablishmentRequest (for LTE) message to a detected cell. Alternately, the UE can go to RRC_IDLE state and reinitiates RRC connection establishment.
As a specific example of such embodiments, a specific conditional HO configuration for a candidate target cell (e.g., cell-X) may have a validity timer and an RRCReconfiguration for cell-X, as well as a source AS Context identifier (e.g., at least one I-RNTI) for conditional resume towards cell-X. If the triggering condition is fulfilled while the timer is still running, the UE performs conditional HO. But upon the expiry of the validity timer, the UE discards the conditional HO configuration but continues monitoring the triggering condition and performs resume towards cell-X if the triggering condition is met. Similar techniques can be applied to selecting HO or re-establishment based on a triggering condition occurring before/after the expiry of a validity timer.
Although the above embodiments have been described in terms of UE operations, other embodiments can involve complementary operations performed by a network node (e.g., a source or serving node for a particular UE). In some embodiments, a source node can decide which cells/frequencies (or any other entities described herein) are configured for conditional mobility operations with respect to the UE. For example, the source node may decide to configure conditional HO for cells from the same node so that it does not require any preparation signaling over inter-node interfaces, but also configure the UE with a list of candidate cells from other nodes for conditional resume, so that context fetching may be applied if the cell triggering the condition is from a non-prepared node. The source node may also omit the list of cells for which the UE is configured to perform conditional resume, from which the UE can infer that it if a triggering condition is met in any cell for which there is no configuration for conditional HO, the UE should perform resume in that cell.
In some embodiments, when the source node configures a UE for conditional HO towards a particular inter-node (e.g., inter-gNB or inter-eNB) candidate target cell, the source node sends the relevant portion of the UE context to the target node associated with the candidate target cell. The UE conditional HO configuration also includes reconfiguration information (e.g., including reconfiguration WithSync or mobilityControlInfo) from the candidate target node to be applied in the candidate target cell upon a triggering condition. Subsequently, the source node reconfigures the UE to use conditional resume instead of conditional HO for the candidate target cell. The source node then transfers the updated UE context to the target node associated with the candidate target cell, but without forwarding any reconfiguration information from the target node to the UE. The UE and the target node are now prepared for an optimized conditional resume procedure, where the target node does not have to request the UE context from the source node.
In some embodiments, the source node includes one or more validity timers in the conditional mobility configuration(s) that it provides the UE (e.g., as illustrated in
In some embodiments, the source node decides to configure conditional HO for cell(s) in the same node where the source cell is and conditional resume or reestablishment for cells in neighbor nodes. In this manner, the source node can reduce the need for inter-node signaling during the preparation phase. The only inter-node signaling (i.e., context fetching) occurs after the UE fulfills the triggering condition in a candidate cell associated with a different node and performs a resume procedure towards that candidate cell. In various embodiments, the source node can identify cells as being “in the same node” based on being in the same distributed unit (DU) as the source cell or, alternately, based on being in the same central unit (CU) but possibly in different DU(s).
These embodiments described above can be further illustrated with reference to
In particular,
The exemplary method illustrated in
The exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1120, in which the UE can monitor for the one or more triggering conditions based on measurements of radio signals associated with the candidate target entities and/or the serving cell.
The exemplary method can also include the operations of blocks 1130-1140, which are based on (e.g., performed in response to) detecting a particular triggering condition, e.g., while monitoring in block 1120. In block 1140, the UE can perform a particular one of the mobility procedures towards a particular one of the candidate target entities. In block 1130, the UE can select the particular candidate target entity and/or the particular mobility procedure (e.g., performed in block 1140) based on a selection rule. In other words, the outcome of block 1130 can be an input to the operations of block 1140. However, it is not necessary that the UE selects both the particular candidate target entity and the particular mobility procedure used in block 1140 based on the selection rule; in some embodiments, the UE can determine one of these based on one or more different rules, criteria, configurations, etc.
In various embodiments, the candidate target entities can include any of the following: one or more cells, other than the serving cell; one or more frequencies; one or more beams; and one or more reference signals (RS) associated with respective beams. In some embodiments, the candidate target entities include a plurality of candidate target cells, and the particular triggering condition is that a signal strength of the serving cell is a predetermined amount below a signal strength of a particular candidate target cell.
In some embodiments, the conditional mobility configuration can include one or more first configurations, for conditional handover, corresponding to respective one or more first candidate target entities; and one or more second configurations, for conditional resume, corresponding to respective one or more second candidate target entities. For example, the first candidate target entities can include one or more first cells served by the network node, while the second candidate target entities can include more second cells served by other network nodes. As another example, the first candidate target entities can include one or more first cells associated with a first measurement object, while the second candidate target entities include one or more second cells associated with a second measurement object (i.e., different from the first measurement object in some manner).
Furthermore, in such embodiments, cach first configuration can include an RRCReconfiguration message prepared by a target node associated with the corresponding first candidate target entity. Likewise, for each particular second candidate target entity, the second configuration can include an identifier of a UE context (e.g., related to a network node associated with the particular second candidate target entity). In such embodiments, selecting the particular mobility procedure based on the selection rule (e.g., in block 1130) can include the operations of sub-blocks 1131-1132. In sub-block 1131, the UE can select conditional handover if the particular candidate target entity is one of the first candidate target entities, while in sub-block 1132, the UE can select conditional resume if the particular candidate target entity is one of the second candidate target entities.
In some embodiments, cach first configuration can include one or more first triggering conditions, and each second configuration can include one or more second triggering conditions. In such embodiments, selecting the particular mobility procedure based on the selection rule (e.g., in block 1130) can include the operations of sub-blocks 1133-1134. In sub-block 1133, the UE can select conditional handover if the particular triggering condition is one of the first triggering conditions, while in sub-block 1134, the UE can select conditional resume if the particular triggering condition is one of the second triggering conditions. In some of these embodiments, the first candidate target entities and the second candidate target entities can include a common candidate target entity, and the first and second triggering conditions associated with the common candidate target entity can be different.
In some embodiments, the particular triggering condition can be that a signal strength of the serving cell is a predetermined amount below a threshold. In such embodiments, the candidate target entities can include a plurality of frequencies arranged in order of priority, and a plurality of candidate target cells. Furthermore, in such embodiments, the operations of block 1130 can include the operations of sub-blocks 1135-1137. In sub-block 1135, the UE can determine signal strengths of the candidate target cells for the highest-priority frequency. In sub-block 1136, the UE can select the candidate target cell with the highest signal strength, if any of the determined signal strengths for the candidate target cells is above a threshold. Otherwise (i.e., if none of the determined signal strengths for the candidate target cells is above the threshold), the UE can repeat the operations of sub-blocks 1135-1136 for the next highest-priority frequency.
In some embodiments, the conditional mobility configuration can include one or more validity timers, with cach validity timer being associated with one or more of the mobility procedures and/or at least one of the candidate target entities. In such embodiments, the monitoring operations of block 1120 can include the operations of sub-block 1121, where the UE can initiate the validity timers. Furthermore, in such embodiments, selecting based on the selection rule (e.g., in block 1130) can be further based on whether a validity timer associated with the particular mobility procedure and the particular candidate target entity has expired.
In addition,
The exemplary method illustrated in
The exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1220, in which the network node can send the conditional mobility configuration to the UE via a serving cell.
In various embodiments, the candidate target entities can include any of the following: one or more cells, other than the serving cell; one or more frequencies; one or more beams; and one or more reference signals (RS) associated with respective beams. In some embodiments, the candidate target entities can include a plurality of candidate target cells, and one of the triggering conditions is that a signal strength of the serving cell is a predetermined amount below a signal strength of a particular candidate target cell.
In some embodiments, the conditional mobility configuration can include one or more first configurations, for conditional handover, corresponding to respective one or more first candidate target entities; and one or more second configurations, for conditional resume, corresponding to respective one or more second candidate target entities. For example, the first candidate target entities can include one or more first cells served by the network node, while the second candidate target entities can include more second cells served by other network nodes. As another example, the first candidate target entities can include one or more first cells associated with a first measurement object, while the second candidate target entities include one or more second cells associated with a second measurement object (i.e., different from the first measurement object in some manner).
Furthermore, in such embodiments, cach first configuration can include an RRCReconfiguration message prepared by a target node associated with the corresponding first candidate target entity. Likewise, for each particular second candidate target entity, the second configuration can include an identifier of a UE context (e.g., related to a network node associated with the particular second candidate target entity). In some embodiments, the first configuration can include one or more first triggering conditions, and the second configuration can include one or more second triggering conditions. In such embodiments, the first candidate target entities and the second candidate target entities can include a common candidate target entity, and the first and second triggering conditions associated with the common candidate target entity can be different.
In some embodiments, one of the triggering conditions can be that a signal strength of the serving cell is a predetermined amount below a first threshold. In such embodiments, the candidate target entities can include a plurality of frequencies arranged in order of priority, and a plurality of candidate target cells. In some embodiments, the conditional mobility configuration can include one or more validity timers, with each validity timer being associated with one or more of the mobility procedures and/or at least one of the candidate target entities.
Although the subject matter described herein can be implemented in any appropriate type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wireless network, such as the example wireless network illustrated in
The wireless network can 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 can be configured to operate according to specific standards or other types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particular embodiments of the wireless network can 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.
Network 1306 can comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet data networks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.
Network node 1360 and WD 1310 comprise various components described in more detail below. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network can 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 can facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections.
Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations can be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and can then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station can be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node can 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 can also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).
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 can be a virtual network node as described in more detail below.
In
Similarly, network node 1360 can 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 can each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which network node 1360 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components can be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC can control multiple NodeB's. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, can in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, network node 1360 can be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components can be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium 1380 for the different RATs) and some components can be reused (e.g., the same antenna 1362 can be shared by the RATs). Network node 1360 can also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1360, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies can be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 1360.
Processing circuitry 1370 can be configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by a network node. These operations performed by processing circuitry 1370 can include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 1370 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.
Processing circuitry 1370 can comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1360 components, such as device readable medium 1380, network node 1360 functionality. For example, processing circuitry 1370 can execute instructions stored in device readable medium 1380 or in memory within processing circuitry 1370. Such functionality can include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1370 can include a system on a chip (SOC).
In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1370 can include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1372 and baseband processing circuitry 1374. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1372 and baseband processing circuitry 1374 can be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1372 and baseband processing circuitry 1374 can 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 can be performed by processing circuitry 1370 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 1380 or memory within processing circuitry 1370. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality can be provided by processing circuitry 1370 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry 1370 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 1370 alone or to other components of network node 1360 but are enjoyed by network node 1360 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.
Device readable medium 1380 can 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 can be used by processing circuitry 1370. Device readable medium 1380 can store any suitable instructions, data or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 1370 and, utilized by network node 1360. Device readable medium 1380 can be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry 1370 and/or any data received via interface 1390. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1370 and device readable medium 1380 can be considered to be integrated.
Interface 1390 is used in the wired or wireless communication of signaling and/or data between network node 1360, network 1306, and/or WDs 1310. As illustrated, interface 1390 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 1394 to send and receive data, for example to and from network 1306 over a wired connection. Interface 1390 also includes radio front end circuitry 1392 that can be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 1362. Radio front end circuitry 1392 comprises filters 1398 and amplifiers 1396. Radio front end circuitry 1392 can be connected to antenna 1362 and processing circuitry 1370. Radio front end circuitry can be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1362 and processing circuitry 1370. Radio front end circuitry 1392 can receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 1392 can convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1398 and/or amplifiers 1396. The radio signal can then be transmitted via antenna 1362. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 1362 can collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 1392. The digital data can be passed to processing circuitry 1370. In other embodiments, the interface can comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.
In certain alternative embodiments, network node 1360 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 1392, instead, processing circuitry 1370 can comprise radio front end circuitry and can be connected to antenna 1362 without separate radio front end circuitry 1392. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 1372 can be considered a part of interface 1390. In still other embodiments, interface 1390 can include one or more ports or terminals 1394, radio front end circuitry 1392, and RF transceiver circuitry 1372, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface 1390 can communicate with baseband processing circuitry 1374, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).
Antenna 1362 can include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna 1362 can be coupled to radio front end circuitry 1390 and can be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna 1362 can 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 can be used to transmit/receive radio signals in any direction, a sector antenna can be used to transmit/receive radio signals from devices within a particular area, and a panel antenna can 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 can be referred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna 1362 can be separate from network node 1360 and can be connectable to network node 1360 through an interface or port.
Antenna 1362, interface 1390, and/or processing circuitry 1370 can 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 can be received from a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 1362, interface 1390, and/or processing circuitry 1370 can be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals can be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment.
Power circuitry 1387 can comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry and can be configured to supply the components of network node 1360 with power for performing the functionality described herein. Power circuitry 1387 can receive power from power source 1386. Power source 1386 and/or power circuitry 1387 can be configured to provide power to the various components of network node 1360 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source 1386 can either be included in, or external to, power circuitry 1387 and/or network node 1360. For example, network node 1360 can be connectable to an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry 1387. As a further example, power source 1386 can comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry 1387. The battery can provide backup power should the external power source fail. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, can also be used.
Alternative embodiments of network node 1360 can include additional components beyond those shown in
In some embodiments, a wireless device (WD, e.g., WD 1310) can be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a WD can 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, smart phones, mobile phones, cell phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, gaming consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback appliances, wearable devices, wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablets, laptops, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart devices, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), mobile-type communication (MTC) devices, Internet-of-Things (IOT) devices, vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, etc.
A WD can 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 can 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 can 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 can in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which can in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the WD can 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 can 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 can represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device can be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described above can be mobile, in which case it can also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.
As illustrated, wireless device 1310 includes antenna 1311, interface 1314, processing circuitry 1320, device readable medium 1330, user interface equipment 1332, auxiliary equipment 1334, power source 1336 and power circuitry 1337. WD 1310 can include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by WD 1310, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. These wireless technologies can be integrated into the same or different chips or set of chips as other components within WD 1310.
Antenna 1311 can include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface 1314. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna 1311 can be separate from WD 1310 and be connectable to WD 1310 through an interface or port. Antenna 1311, interface 1314, and/or processing circuitry 1320 can be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, data and/or signals can be received from a network node and/or another WD. In some embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 1311 can be considered an interface.
As illustrated, interface 1314 comprises radio front end circuitry 1312 and antenna 1311. Radio front end circuitry 1312 comprise one or more filters 1318 and amplifiers 1316. Radio front end circuitry 1314 is connected to antenna 1311 and processing circuitry 1320 and can be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1311 and processing circuitry 1320. Radio front end circuitry 1312 can be coupled to or a part of antenna 1311. In some embodiments, WD 1310 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 1312; rather, processing circuitry 1320 can comprise radio front end circuitry and can be connected to antenna 1311. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1322 can be considered a part of interface 1314. Radio front end circuitry 1312 can receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 1312 can convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1318 and/or amplifiers 1316. The radio signal can then be transmitted via antenna 1311. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 1311 can collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 1312. The digital data can be passed to processing circuitry 1320. In other embodiments, the interface can comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.
Processing circuitry 1320 can comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other WD 1310 components, such as device readable medium 1330, WD 1310 functionality. Such functionality can include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry 1320 can execute instructions stored in device readable medium 1330 or in memory within processing circuitry 1320 to provide the functionality disclosed herein. For example, instructions (also referred to as a computer program product) stored in medium 1330 can include instructions that, when executed by processor 1320, can configure wireless device 1310 to perform operations corresponding to various exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) described herein.
As illustrated, processing circuitry 1320 includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry 1322, baseband processing circuitry 1324, and application processing circuitry 1326. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry can comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry 1320 of WD 1310 can comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 1322, baseband processing circuitry 1324, and application processing circuitry 1326 can be on separate chips or sets of chips. In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry 1324 and application processing circuitry 1326 can be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry 1322 can be on a separate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1322 and baseband processing circuitry 1324 can be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processing circuitry 1326 can be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1322, baseband processing circuitry 1324, and application processing circuitry 1326 can be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 1322 can be a part of interface 1314. RF transceiver circuitry 1322 can condition RF signals for processing circuitry 1320.
In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by a WD can be provided by processing circuitry 1320 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 1330, which in certain embodiments can be a computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality can be provided by processing circuitry 1320 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry 1320 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 1320 alone or to other components of WD 1310, but are enjoyed by WD 1310 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.
Processing circuitry 1320 can be configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by a WD. These operations, as performed by processing circuitry 1320, can include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 1320 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by WD 1310, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.
Device readable medium 1330 can be operable to store a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 1320. Device readable medium 1330 can 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 can be used by processing circuitry 1320. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1320 and device readable medium 1330 can be considered to be integrated.
User interface equipment 1332 can include components that allow and/or facilitate a human user to interact with WD 1310. Such interaction can be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment 1332 can be operable to produce output to the user and to allow and/or facilitate the user to provide input to WD 1310. The type of interaction can vary depending on the type of user interface equipment 1332 installed in WD 1310. For example, if WD 1310 is a smart phone, the interaction can be via a touch screen; if WD 1310 is a smart meter, the interaction can be through a screen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected). User interface equipment 1332 can include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interface equipment 1332 can be configured to allow and/or facilitate input of information into WD 1310 and is connected to processing circuitry 1320 to allow and/or facilitate processing circuitry 1320 to process the input information. User interface equipment 1332 can include, for example, a microphone, a proximity or other sensor, keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuitry. User interface equipment 1332 is also configured to allow and/or facilitate output of information from WD 1310, and to allow and/or facilitate processing circuitry 1320 to output information from WD 1310. User interface equipment 1332 can include, for example, a speaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, of user interface equipment 1332, WD 1310 can communicate with end users and/or the wireless network and allow and/or facilitate them to benefit from the functionality described herein.
Auxiliary equipment 1334 is operable to provide more specific functionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This can comprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communications, etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliary equipment 1334 can vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.
Power source 1336 can, 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, can also be used. WD 1310 can further comprise power circuitry 1337 for delivering power from power source 1336 to the various parts of WD 1310 which need power from power source 1336 to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry 1337 can in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry 1337 can additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case WD 1310 can be connectable to the external power source (such as an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power circuitry 1337 can also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source 1336. This can be, for example, for the charging of power source 1336. Power circuitry 1337 can perform any converting or other modification to the power from power source 1336 to make it suitable for supply to the respective components of WD 1310.
In
In
In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface 1405 can be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, output device, or input and output device. UE 1400 can be configured to use an output device via input/output interface 1405. An output device can use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a USB port can be used to provide input to and output from UE 1400. The output device can be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. UE 1400 can be configured to use an input device via input/output interface 1405 to allow and/or facilitate a user to capture information into UE 1400. The input device can 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 can include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor can 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 can be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.
In
RAM 1417 can be configured to interface via bus 1402 to processing circuitry 1401 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as the operating system, application programs, and device drivers. ROM 1419 can be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuitry 1401. For example, ROM 1419 can be configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basic input and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory. Storage medium 1421 can be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), crasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically crasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, or flash drives. In one example, storage medium 1421 can be configured to include operating system 1423; application program 1425 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application; and data file 1427. Storage medium 1421 can store, for use by UE 1400, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems. For example, application program 1425 can include executable program instructions (also referred to as a computer program product) that, when executed by processor 1401, can configure UE 1400 to perform operations corresponding to various exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) described herein.
Storage medium 1421 can be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppy disk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 1421 can allow and/or facilitate UE 1400 to access computer-executable instructions, application programs or the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system can be tangibly embodied in storage medium 1421, which can comprise a device readable medium.
In
In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of communication subsystem 1431 can include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. For example, communication subsystem 1431 can include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. Network 1443b can encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network 1443b can be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-field network. Power source 1413 can be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE 1400.
The features, benefits and/or functions described herein can be implemented in one of the components of UE 1400 or partitioned across multiple components of UE 1400. Further, the features, benefits, and/or functions described herein can be implemented in any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example, communication subsystem 1431 can be configured to include any of the components described herein. Further, processing circuitry 1401 can be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus 1402. In another example, any of such components can be represented by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry 1401 perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any of such components can be partitioned between processing circuitry 1401 and communication subsystem 1431. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components can be implemented in software or firmware and the computationally intensive functions can be implemented in hardware.
In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein can be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 1500 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes 1530. 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 can be entirely virtualized.
The functions can be implemented by one or more applications 1520 (which can alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Applications 1520 are run in virtualization environment 1500 which provides hardware 1530 comprising processing circuitry 1560 and memory 1590. Memory 1590 contains instructions 1595 executable by processing circuitry 1560 whereby application 1520 is operative to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.
Virtualization environment 1500, comprises general-purpose or special-purpose network hardware devices (or nodes) 1530 comprising a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry 1560, which can 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 can comprise memory 1590-1 which can be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 1595 or software executed by processing circuitry 1560. For example, instructions 1595 can include program instructions (also referred to as a computer program product) that, when executed by processing circuitry 1560, can configure hardware node 1520 to perform operations corresponding to various exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) described herein. Such operations can also be attributed to virtual node(s) 1520 that is/are hosted by hardware node 1530.
Each hardware device can comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 1570, also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interface 1580. Each hardware device can also include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media 1590-2 having stored therein software 1595 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry 1560. Software 1595 can include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 1550 (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines 1540 as well as software allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein.
Virtual machines 1540, comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and can be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1550 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual appliance 1520 can be implemented on one or more of virtual machines 1540, and the implementations can be made in different ways.
During operation, processing circuitry 1560 executes software 1595 to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 1550, which can sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer 1550 can present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine 1540.
As shown in
Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV can be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.
In the context of NFV, virtual machine 1540 can be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of virtual machines 1540, and that part of hardware 1530 that executes that virtual machine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and/or hardware shared by that virtual machine with others of the virtual machines 1540, forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE).
Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more virtual machines 1540 on top of hardware networking infrastructure 1530 and corresponds to application 1520 in
In some embodiments, one or more radio units 15200 that each include one or more transmitters 15220 and one or more receivers 15210 can be coupled to one or more antennas 15225. Radio units 15200 can communicate directly with hardware nodes 1530 via one or more appropriate network interfaces and can 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. Nodes arranged in this manner can also communicate with one or more UEs, such as described elsewhere herein.
In some embodiments, some signaling can be performed via control system 15230, which can alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes 1530 and radio units 15200.
With reference to
Telecommunication network 1610 is itself connected to host computer 1630, which can be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. Host computer 1630 can be under the ownership or control of a service provider or can be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Connections 1621 and 1622 between telecommunication network 1610 and host computer 1630 can extend directly from core network 1614 to host computer 1630 or can go via an optional intermediate network 1620. Intermediate network 1620 can be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network 1620, if any, can be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network 1620 can comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).
The communication system of
Similarly, base station 1612 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 1691 towards the host computer 1630.
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
Communication system 1700 can also include base station 1720 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 1725 enabling it to communicate with host computer 1710 and with UE 1730. Hardware 1725 can include communication interface 1726 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 1700, as well as radio interface 1727 for setting up and maintaining at least wireless connection 1770 with UE 1730 located in a coverage area (not shown in
Base station 1720 also includes software 1721 stored internally or accessible via an external connection. For example, software 1721 can include program instructions (also referred to as a computer program product) that, when executed by processing circuitry 1728, can configure base station 1720 to perform operations corresponding to various exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) described herein.
Communication system 1700 can also include UE 1730 already referred to, whose hardware 1735 can include radio interface 1737 configured to set up and maintain wireless connection 1770 with a base station serving a coverage area in which UE 1730 is currently located. Hardware 1735 of UE 1730 can also include processing circuitry 1738, which can comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions.
UE 1730 also includes software 1731, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1730 and executable by processing circuitry 1738. Software 1731 includes client application 1732. Client application 1732 can be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1730, with the support of host computer 1710. In host computer 1710, an executing host application 1712 can communicate with the executing client application 1732 via OTT connection 1750 terminating at UE 1730 and host computer 1710. In providing the service to the user, client application 1732 can receive request data from host application 1712 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 1750 can transfer both the request data and the user data. Client application 1732 can interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides. Software 1731 can also include program instructions (also referred to as a computer program product) that, when executed by processing circuitry 1738, can configure UE 1730 to perform operations corresponding to various exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) described herein.
It is noted that host computer 1710, base station 1720 and UE 1730 illustrated in
In
Wireless connection 1770 between UE 1730 and base station 1720 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE 1730 using OTT connection 1750, in which wireless connection 1770 forms the last segment. More precisely, the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein can improve flexibility for the network to monitor end-to-end quality-of-service (QOS) of data flows, including their corresponding radio bearers, associated with data sessions between a user equipment (UE) and another entity, such as an OTT data application or service external to the 5G network. These and other advantages can facilitate more timely design, implementation, and deployment of 5G/NR solutions. Furthermore, such embodiments can facilitate flexible and timely control of data session QoS, which can lead to improvements in capacity, throughput, latency, etc. that are envisioned by 5G/NR and important for the growth of OTT services.
A measurement procedure can be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other network operational aspects on which the one or more embodiments improve. There can further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 1750 between host computer 1710 and UE 1730, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 1750 can be implemented in software 1711 and hardware 1715 of host computer 1710 or in software 1731 and hardware 1735 of UE 1730, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) can be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which OTT connection 1750 passes; the sensors can participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software 1711, 1731 can compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 1750 can include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station 1720, and it can be unknown or imperceptible to base station 1720. Such procedures and functionalities can be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements can involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating host computer 1710's measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements can be implemented in that software 1711 and 1731 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection 1750 while it monitors propagation times, errors, etc.
As described herein, device and/or apparatus can be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, or a (hardware) module comprising such chip or chipset; this, however, does not exclude the possibility that a functionality of a device or apparatus, instead of being hardware implemented, be implemented as a software module such as a computer program or a computer program product comprising executable software code portions for execution or being run on a processor. Furthermore, functionality of a device or apparatus can be implemented by any combination of hardware and software. A device or apparatus can also be regarded as an assembly of multiple devices and/or apparatuses, whether functionally in cooperation with or independently of each other. Moreover, devices and apparatuses can be implemented in a distributed fashion throughout a system, so long as the functionality of the device or apparatus is preserved. Such and similar principles are considered as known to a skilled person.
Furthermore, functions described herein as being performed by a wireless device or a network node may be distributed over a plurality of wireless devices and/or network nodes. In other words, it is contemplated that the functions of the network node and wireless device described herein are not limited to performance by a single physical device and, in fact, can be distributed among several physical devices.
Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
In addition, certain terms used in the present disclosure, including the specification, drawings and exemplary embodiments thereof, can be used synonymously in certain instances, including, but not limited to, e.g., data and information. It should be understood that, while these words and/or other words that can be synonymous to one another, can be used synonymously herein, that there can be instances when such words can be intended to not be used synonymously. Further, to the extent that the prior art knowledge has not been explicitly incorporated by reference herein above, it is explicitly incorporated herein in its entirety. All publications referenced are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties.
As used herein unless expressly stated to the contrary, the phrases “at least one of” and “one or more of,” followed by a conjunctive list of enumerated items (e.g., “A and B”, “A, B, and C”), are intended to mean “at least one item, with each item selected from the list consisting of” the enumerated items. For example, “at least one of A and B” is intended to mean any of the following: A; B; A and B. Likewise, “one or more of A, B, and C” is intended to mean any of the following: A; B; C; A and B; B and C; A and C; A, B, and C.
As used herein unless expressly stated to the contrary, the phrase “a plurality of” followed by a conjunctive list of enumerated items (e.g., “A and B”, “A, B, and C”) is intended to mean “multiple items, with each item selected from the list consisting of” the enumerated items. For example, “a plurality of A and B” is intended to mean any of the following: more than one A; more than one B; or at least one A and at least one B.
The foregoing merely illustrates the principles of the disclosure. Various modifications and alterations to the described embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the teachings herein. It will thus be appreciated that those skilled in the art will be able to devise numerous systems, arrangements, and procedures that, although not explicitly shown or described herein, embody the principles of the disclosure and can be thus within the spirit and scope of the disclosure. Various exemplary embodiments can be used together with one another, as well as interchangeably therewith, as should be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art.
Example embodiments of the techniques and apparatus described herein include, but are not limited to, the following enumerated examples:
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62781049 | Dec 2018 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 17294875 | May 2021 | US |
| Child | 18429957 | US |
