Patent Application
20240334248
The present disclosure relates, in general, to wireless communications and, more particularly, systems and methods for temporary and adaptive load balancing for integrated and wireless access backhaul.
3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has completed the integrated access and wireless access backhaul in New Radio (IAB) Rel-16 and is currently standardizing the IAB Rel-17.
The usage of short range mmWave spectrum in New Radio (NR) creates a need for densified deployment with multi-hop backhauling. However, optical fiber to every base station will be too costly and sometimes not even possible (e.g. historical sites). The main IAB principle is the use of wireless links for the backhaul (instead of fiber) to enable flexible and very dense deployment of cells without the need for densifying the transport network. Use case scenarios for IAB may include coverage extension, deployment of massive number of small cells and fixed wireless access (FWA) (e.g. to residential/office buildings). The larger bandwidth available for NR in mmWave spectrum provides opportunity for self-backhauling, without limiting the spectrum to be used for the access links. On top of that, the inherent multi-beam and Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) support in NR reduce cross-link interference between backhaul and access links allowing higher densification.
During the study item phase of the IAB work, it has been agreed to adopt a solution that leverages the Central Unit (CU)/Distributed Unit (DU) split architecture of NR, where the IAB node will be hosting a DU part that is controlled by a central unit. See, 3GPP TR 38.874. The IAB nodes also have a Mobile Termination (MT) that is used to communicate with parent nodes.
The specifications for IAB strives to reuse existing functions and interfaces defined in NR. In particular, MT, gNodeB-Distributed Unit (gNB-DU), gNodeB-Central Unit (gNB-CU), User Plane Function (UPF), Applications Management Function (AMF), and Session Management Function (SMF) as well as the corresponding interfaces NR Uu (between MT and gNB), F1, NG, X2 and N4 are used as baseline for the IAB architectures. Modifications or enhancements to these functions and interfaces for the support of IAB will be explained in the context of the architecture discussion. Additional functionality such as multi-hop forwarding is included in the architecture discussion as it is necessary for the understanding of IAB operation and since certain aspects may require standardization.
The MT function has been defined as a component of the IAB node. In the context of this study, MT is referred to as a function residing on an IAB-node that terminates the radio interface layers of the backhaul Uu interface toward the IAB-donor or other IAB-nodes.
As shown above, the chosen protocol stacks reuse the current CU-DU split specification in Rel-15, where the full user plane F1-U (GTP-U/UDP/IP) is terminated at the IAB node (like a normal DU) and the full control plane F1-C (F1-AP/SCTP/IP) is also terminated at the IAB node (like a normal DU). In the above cases, Network Domain Security (NDS) has been employed to protect both UP and CP traffic (IPsec in the case of UP, and Datagram Transport Layer Security (DTLS) in the case of CP). IPsec could also be used for the CP protection instead of DTLS (in this case no DTLS layer would be used).
A new protocol layer called Backhaul Adaptation Protocol (BAP) has been introduced in the IAB nodes and the IAB donor, which is used for routing of packets to the appropriate downstream/upstream node and also mapping the user equipment (UE) bearer data to the proper backhaul Radio Link Control (RLC) channel (and also between ingress and egress backhaul RLC channels in intermediate IAB nodes) to satisfy the end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS) requirements of bearers. Therefore, the BAP layer is in charge of handling the backhaul (BH) RLC channel such as, for example, to map an ingress BH RLC channel from a parent/child IAB node to an egress BH RLC channel in the link towards a child/parent IAB node. In particular, one BH RLC channel may convey end-user traffic for several Data Radio Bearers (DRBs) and for different user equipments (UEs) which could be connected to different IAB nodes in the network.
In 3GPP, two possible configurations of BH RLC channel have been provided. The first configuration includes a 1:1 mapping between BH RLC channel and a specific user's DRB. The second configuration includes a N: 1 bearer mapping where N DRBs possibly associated to different UEs are mapped to 1 BH RLC channel. The first case can be easily handled by the IAB node's scheduler since there is a 1:1 mapping between the QoS requirements of the BH RLC channel and the QoS requirements of the associated DRB. However, this type of 1:1 configuration is not easily scalable in case an IAB node is serving many UEs/DRBs. On the other hand, the N:1 configuration is more flexible/scalable, but ensuring fairness across the various served BH RLC channels might be trickier, because the amount of DRBs/UEs served by a given BH RLC channel might be different from the amount of DRBs/UEs served by another BH RLC channel.
On the IAB-node, the BAP sublayer contains one BAP entity at the MT function and a separate co-located BAP entity at the DU function. On the IAB-donor-DU, the BAP sublayer contains only one BAP entity. Each BAP entity has a transmitting part and a receiving part. The transmitting part of the BAP entity has a corresponding receiving part of a BAP entity at the IAB-node or IAB-donor-DU across the backhaul link.
The following services are provided by the BAP sublayer to upper layers:
A BAP sublayer expects the following services from lower layers per RLC entity (for a detailed description sec 3GPP TS 38.322):
The BAP sublayer supports the following functions:
Therefore, the BAP layer is fundamental to determine how to route a received packet. For the downstream that implies determining whether the packet has reached its final destination, in which case the packet will be transmitted to UEs that are connected to this IAB node as access node, or to forward it to another IAB node in the right path. In the first case, the BAP layer passes the packet to higher layers in the IAB node which are in charge of mapping the packet to the various QoS flows and hence DRBs which are included in the packet. In the second case instead, the BAP layer determines the proper egress BH RLC channel on the basis of the BAP destination, path IDs and ingress BH RLC channel. Same as the above applies also to the upstream, with the only difference that the final destination is always one specific donor DU/CU. In order to achieve the above tasks, the BAP layer of the IAB node has to be configured with a routing table mapping ingress RLC channels to egress RLC channels which may be different depending on the specific BAP destination and path of the packet. Hence, the BAP destination and path identifier (ID) are included in the header of the BAP packet so that the BAP layer can determine where to forward the packet.
Additionally, the BAP layer has an important role in the hop-by-hop flow control. In particular a child node can inform the parent node about possible congestions experienced locally at the child node, so that the parent node can throttle the traffic towards the child node. The parent node can also use the BAP layer to inform the child a node in case of Radio Link Failure (RLF) issues experienced by the parent, so that the child can possibly reestablish its connection to another parent node.
Topology adaptation in IAB networks may be needed for various reasons, e.g. changes in the radio conditions, changes to the load under the serving CU, radio link failures, etc. The consequence of an IAB topology adaptation could be that an IAB node is migrated (i.e. handed-over) to a new parent (which can be controlled by the same or different CU) or that some traffic currently served by such IAB node is offloaded via a new route (which can be controlled by the same or different CU). If the new parent of the IAB node is under the same CU or a different CU, the migration is intra-donor and inter-donor one, respectively (herein also referred to as the intra-CU and inter-CU migration).
In Intra-CU Case (A), the IAB-node (c) along with it serving UEs is moved to a new parent node (IAB-node (b)) under the same donor-DU (1). The successful intra-donor DU migration requires establishing UE context setup for the IAB-node (e) MT in the DU of the new parent node (IAB-node (b)), updating routing tables of IAB nodes along the path to IAB-node (e) and allocating resources on the new path. The IP address for IAB-node (c) will not change, while the F1-U tunnel/connection between donor-CU (1) and IAB-node (e) DU will be redirected through IAB-node (b).
The procedural requirements/complexity of the Intra-CU Case (B) are the same as that of Case (A). Also, since the new IAB-donor DU (i.e., DU2) is connected to the same L2 network, the IAB-node (e) can use the same IP address under the new donor DU. However, the new donor DU (i.e. DU2) will need to inform the network using IAB-node (e) L2 address in order to get/keep the same IP address for IAB-node (e) by employing some mechanism such as Address Resolution Protocol (ARP).
The Intra-CU Case (C) is more complex than Case (A) as it also needs allocation of new IP address for IAB-node (c). In case, IPsec is used for securing the F1-U tunnel/connection between the Donor-CU (1) and IAB-node (e) DU, then it might be possible to use existing IP address along the path segment between the Donor-CU (1) and Security Gateway (SeGW), and new IP address for the IPsec tunnel between SeGW and IAB-node (c) DU.
Inter-CU Case (D) is the most complicated case in terms of procedural requirements and may needs new specification procedures (such as enhancement of RRC, F1AP, XnAP, Ng signaling) that are beyond the scope of 3GPP Rel-16.
3GPP Rel-16 specifications only consider procedures for intra-CU migration. Inter-CU migration requires new signalling procedures between source and target CU in order to migrate the IAB node contexts and its traffic to the target CU, such that the IAB node operations can continue in the target CU and the QoS is not degraded. Inter-CU migration will be specified in the context of 3GPP Rel17.
During the intra-CU topology adaptation, both the source and the target parent node are served by the same IAB-donor-CU. The target parent node may use a different IAB-donor-DU than the source parent node. The source path may further have common nodes with the target path.
As mentioned above, 3GPP Rel-16 has standardized only intra-CU topology adaptation procedure. Considering that inter-CU migration will be an important feature of IAB Rel-17 Work Item enhancements to existing procedure are required for reducing service interruption (due to IAB-node migration) and signaling load.
Some use cases for inter-donor topology adaptation (aka inter-CU migration) are:
The above cases assume that the top-level node's IAB-MT can connect to only one donor at a time. However, Rel-17 work will also consider the case where the top-level IAB-MT can simultaneously connect to two donors, in which case:
With respect to inter-donor topology adaptation, the 3GPP Rel-17 specifications will allow two alternatives:
The details of both solutions are currently under discussion in 3GPP.
One drawback of the full migration-based solution for inter-CU migration is that a new F1 connection is set up from IAB-node E to the new CU (i.e. CU (2)) and the old F1 connection to the old CU (i.e. CU (1)) is released.
Releasing and relocating the F1 connection will impact all UEs (i.e., UEc, UEd, and UEe) and any descendant IAB nodes (and their served UEs) by causing:
2. A signaling storm, since a large number of UEs, IAB-MTs and IAB-DUs have to perform re-establishment or handover at the same time.
In addition, according to certain embodiments, it may be preferred that any reconfiguration of the descendant nodes of the top-level node is avoided. This means that the descendant nodes should preferably be unaware of the fact that the traffic is proxied via CU2.
To address the above problems, a proxy-based mechanism has been proposed where the inter-CU migration is done without handing over the UEs or IAB nodes directly or indirectly being served by the top-level IAB node, thereby making the handover of the directly and indirectly served UEs transparent to the target CU. In particular, only the Radio Resource Control (RRC) connection of the top-level IAB node is migrated to the target CU, while the CU-side termination of its F1 connection as well as the CU-side terminations of the F1 and RRC connections of its directly and indirectly served IAB nodes and UEs are kept at the source CU—in this case, the target CU serves as the proxy for these F1 and RRC connections that are kept at the source CU. Hence in this case, the target CU just needs to ensure that the ancestor node of the top-level IAB node are properly configured to handle the traffic from the top-level node to the target donor, and from the target donor to the top-level node. Meanwhile, the configuration of the descendant IAB node of the said top-level node are still under the control of the source donor. Hence, in this case the target donor does not need to know the network topology and the QoS requirements or the configuration of the descendant IAB nodes and UEs.
Applied to the scenario from
So, the traffic previously sent from the source donor (i.e., CU1 in
Herein, the assumption is that direct routing between CU1 and Donor DU_2 is applied (i.e. CU1-Donor DU1—and so on . . . ), rather than the indirect routing case CU1-CU2-Donor DU1—and so on . . . ). The direct routing can e.g. be supported via IP routing between (source donor) CU1 and donor DU2 (target donor DU) or via an Xn connection between the two. In indirect routing, data can be sent between CU1 and CU2 via Xn interface, and between CU2 and Donor DU_2 via F1 or via IP routing. Both direct and indirect routing are applicable to the embodiments described herein. The advantage of direct routing is that the latency is likely smaller.
3GPP has defined the Dual Active Protocol Stack (DAPS) Handover procedure that maintains the source gNB connection after reception of RRC message (HO Command) for handover and until releasing the source cell after successful random access to the target gNB.
A DAPS handover may be used for an RLC-AM or RLC-UM bearer. For a DRB configured with DAPS, the following principles are additionally applied.
With regard to the Downlink:
With regard to the Uplink:
At the RAN3#110-e meeting, RAN3 agreed that potential solutions for simultaneous connectivity to two donors may include a “DAPS-like” solution. In that respect, a solution herein referred to as the Dual IAB Protocol Stack (DIPS), has been proposed in 3GPP.
DIPS is based on:
In essence, the solution comprises two protocol stacks as in DAPS, with the difference being the BAP entity (-ies) instead of a PDCP layer. A set of BAP functions could be common, and another set of functions could be independent for each parent node.
This type of solution reduces the complexity to the minimum and achieves all the goals of the Work Item, since:
When the CU determines that load balancing is needed, the CU starts the procedure requesting to a second CU resources to offload part of the traffic of a certain (i.e. top-level) IAB node. The CUs will negotiate the configuration and the second CU will prepare the configuration to apply in the second protocol stack of the IAB-MT, the RLC backhaul channel(s), BAP address(es), etc.
The top-level IAB-MT will use routing rules provided by the CU to route certain traffic to the first or the second CU. In the DL, the IAB-MT will translate the BAP addresses from the second CU to the BAP addresses from the first CU to reach the nodes under the control of the first CU.
All this means that only the top-level IAB node (i.e. the IAB node from which traffic is offloaded) is affected and no other node or UE is aware of this situation. All this procedure can be performed with current signalling, with some minor changes.
There currently exist certain challenge(s), however. For example, as explained above, topology adaptation can be accomplished by using the proxy-based solution (currently referred to as partial inter-donor migration in 3GPP), where, with respect to the scenario shown in
Nevertheless, the following should be considered:
Previous methods have included revoking the proxy-based load balancing to another CU. The following scenarios have been addressed:
Nevertheless, it is still unclear how to, after offloading is set up and becomes functional, to enable:
Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges. For example, certain embodiments disclosed herein relate to methods and systems for the CU1 to request to the CU2 that one or more parameters of the configuration of a previously executed migration (full migration or proxy-based migration) needs to be updated. As another example, certain embodiments relate to methods and systems for the CU2 to request to the CU1 that one or more parameters of the configuration of a previously executed migration (full migration or proxy-based migration) needs to be updated.
According to certain embodiments, a method by a CU1 in an IAB network includes transmitting a first message to a CU2 or receiving a first message from the CU2. The first message includes information indicating that a portion of offloaded traffic is to be returned to the CU1. The offloaded traffic was previously offloaded from the CU1 to the CU2.
According to certain embodiments, a CU1 in an IAB network is adapted to transmit a first message to a CU2 or receiving a first message from the CU2. The first message includes information indicating that a portion of offloaded traffic is to be returned to the CU1. The offloaded traffic was previously offloaded from the CU1 to the CU2.
According to certain embodiments, a method by a CU2 in an IAB network includes transmitting a first message to a CU1 or receiving a first message from the CU1, The first message comprises information indicating that a portion of offloaded traffic is to be returned to the CU1. The offloaded traffic was previously offloaded from the CU1 to the CU2.
According to certain embodiments, a CU2 in an IAB network is adapted to transmit a first message to a CU1 or receiving a first message from the CU1, The first message comprises information indicating that a portion of offloaded traffic is to be returned to the CU1. The offloaded traffic was previously offloaded from the CU1 to the CU2.
Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). For example, certain embodiments may provide a technical advantage of allowing for dynamic control of the network resources for traffic load balancing when two CUs are involved in the procedure.
Other advantages may be readily apparent to one having skill in the art. Certain embodiments may have none, some, or all of the recited advantages.
For a more complete understanding of the disclosed embodiments and their features and advantages, reference is now made to the following description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:
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.
In some embodiments, a more general term “network node” may be used and may correspond to any type of radio network node or any network node, which communicates with a UE (directly or via another node) and/or with another network node. Examples of network nodes are NodeB, MeNB, ENB, a network node belonging to MCG or SCG, base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB, gNodeB, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, RRU, RRH, nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node (e.g. MSC, MME, etc.), O&M, OSS, SON, positioning node (e.g. E-SMLC), MDT, test equipment (physical node or software), etc.
In some embodiments, the non-limiting term user equipment (UE) or wireless device may be used and may refer to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and/or with another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, device to device (D2D) UE, machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, PDA, PAD, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, UE category M1, UE category M2, ProSe UE, V2V UE, V2X UE, etc.
Additionally, terminologies such as base station/gNodeB and UE should be considered non-limiting and do in particular not imply a certain hierarchical relation between the two; in general, “gNodeB” could be considered as device 1 and “UE” could be considered as device 2 and these two devices communicate with each other over some radio channel. And in the following the transmitter or receiver could be either gNB, or UE.
Although certain embodiments are described as being exemplified on the case of proxy-based inter-donor migration, the methods and techniques described herein are equally applicable to the full migration based solution in case the network decides or realizes that it may need to fully migrate back from CU2 to CU1 the devices previously fully migrated from CU1 to CU2.
The terms “inter-donor traffic offloading” and “inter-donor migration” and “inter-donor topology adaptation” are used interchangeably.
The term “single-connected top-level node” refers to the top-level IAB-MT that connects to only one donor at a time.
The term “dual-connected top-level node” refers to the top-level IAB-MT that simultaneously connects to two donors, or a IAB with two MTs each of the MTs connected to one donor.
The term “descendant node” may refer to both the child node and the child of the child and so on.
The terms “CU1”, “source donor” and “old donor” are used interchangeably.
The terms “CU_2”, “target donor” and “new donor” are used interchangeably.
The terms “Donor DU1”, “source donor DU” and “old donor DU” are used interchangeably.
The terms “Donor DU2”, “target donor DU” and “new donor DU” are used interchangeably.
The term “parent” may refer to an IAB node or an IAB-donor DU.
The terms “migrating IAB node” and “top-level IAB node” are used interchangeably:
Some non-limiting examples of scenarios that certain embodiments are based on are given below:
According to certain embodiments, top-level IAB node consists of top-level IAB-MT and its collocated IAB-DU (sometimes referred to as the “collocated DU” or the “top-level DU”). In certain scenarios, it may also consist of top-level IAB with two MTs and one collocated IAB-DU. Certain aspects of the embodiments described herein refer to the proxy-based solution for inter-donor topology adaptation, and certain refer to the full migration-based solution, described above.
According to certain embodiments, the terms “RRC/F1 connections of descendant devices” refers to the RRC connections of descendant IAB-MTs and UEs with the donor (source donor in this case), and the F1 connections of the top-level IAB-DU and IAB-DUs of descendant IAB nodes of the top-level IAB node with the donor (source donor).
According to certain embodiments, traffic between the CU1 and the top-level IAB node and/or its descendant nodes (also referred to as the proxied traffic) refers to the traffic between the CU1 and:
According to certain embodiments, the assumption is that, for traffic offloading, direct routing between CU1 and Donor DU2 is applied (i.e. CU1-Donor DU2—and so on . . . ), rather than the indirect routing case, where the traffic goes first to CU2, i.e. CU1-CU2-Donor DU2—and so on. . . . The direct routing may, for example, be supported via IP routing between (source donor) CU1 and donor DU2 (target donor DU) or via an Xn connection between the two. In indirect routing, data is sent between CU1 and CU2 via Xn interface, and between CU2 and Donor DU2 via F1 or via IP routing. Both direct and indirect routing are applicable in to the embodiments described herein. The advantage of direct routing is that the latency is likely smaller.
According to certain embodiments, it is assumed that, both user plane and control plane traffic are sent from/to the source donor via target donor to/from the top-level node and its descendants by means of direct and indirect routing.
The term “destination is IAB-DU”, comprises both the traffic whose final destination is either the said IAB-DU or a UE or IAB-MT served by the said IAB-DU, and that includes top-level IAB-DU as well.
The term “data” refers to both user plane, control plane traffic and non-F1 traffic.
The considerations described herein are equally applicable for both static and mobile IAB nodes.
Herein, the terms “old donor” and “CU1” refer to the donor that has previously offloaded traffic to the “new donor”/“CU2”. The starting point is that the connection from CU1 and CU2 towards the migrating IAB node is already established.
As depicted in
According to certain embodiments, a method including a dynamic offloading request by CU1 includes:
According to certain embodiments, a method including a dynamic offloading request by CU2 includes:
Step 2.3: Based on the response from CU1 in step 2.2. or 2.2′, CU1 may update the IAB nodes routing tables for the affected IAB nodes and UEs. The resulting outcome is that additional traffic is now offloaded via CU2.
References to a portion of offloaded traffic returned to the originating CU (e.g. CU1) or retrieving some of the traffic previously offloaded may be considered as referring to only a portion of the offloaded traffic, or retrieving only a portion of the offloaded traffic. As such, the “portion” or “some” of the traffic refers to less than the full amount of the traffic previously offloaded, i.e. only a part of the traffic previously offloaded.
According to certain embodiments, when multiple CUs are involved for load sharing (traffic offloading) (e.g. CU1 and CU2 as provided in examples in above sections), the CU which has the F1 connection (CU1) may configure a timer towards the CU2 and/or top-level IAB node. Upon expiry of such timer, the polled network entity would provide the traffic congestion status. This status may be indicated by a simple flag (loaded/unloaded i.e. do not have capacity, has capacity). Alternatively, this can be indicated by providing bit rate; how much traffic the new CU (e.g. CU2) can handle from the CU which needs to offload the traffic (CU1).
Based upon such feedback on a pre-configured time-based poling, CU1 determines whether it can offload additional traffic or if it needs to revoke some of the traffic from CU2, according to certain embodiments. The timer may be explicitly signaled or may be an implicit default value when multiple CUs are involved for load sharing.
According to certain embodiments, the polling may also be independent of a timer whereby CU1 or CU2 performs the status check on-demand. However, the trigger or event of such status check may be pre-configured, in certain embodiments, in order to avoid too much signaling that may occur between multiple CUs if the trigger conditions are not well defined.
According to particular embodiments, example of such triggers may be:
According to certain embodiments, the initiation of such polling information can be indicated by using a new light weight Xn signaling message or appending it to existing signaling such as part of handover preparation procedure or Secondary Node setup procedure (Master-Node, Secondary Node Dual connectivity procedure).
According to certain embodiments, the response of such poll (e.g. traffic load status response flag) is a new light weight signaling message.
Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 100 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections. The communication system 100 may include and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and/or other similar type of system.
The UEs 112 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 110 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 110 are arranged, capable, configured, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 112 and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 102 to enable and/or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and/or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 102.
In the depicted example, the core network 106 connects the network nodes 110 to one or more hosts, such as host 116. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 106 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 108) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and/or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 108. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDF), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and/or a User Plane Function (UPF).
The host 116 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 104 and/or the telecommunication network 102, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 116 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio/video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.
As a whole, the communication system 100 of
In some examples, the telecommunication network 102 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 102 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 102. For example, the telecommunications network 102 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and/or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)/Massive IT services to yet further UEs.
In some examples, the UEs 112 are configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 104 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 104. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single-or multi-RAT or multi-standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved-UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio-Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).
In the example, the hub 114 communicates with the access network 104 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 112c and/or 112d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 110b). In some examples, the hub 114 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 114 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 106 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 114 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 110, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 114. As another example, the hub 114 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 114 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 114 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 114 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and/or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 114 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular in if one or more of the UEs are low energy IoT devices.
The hub 114 may have a constant/persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 110b. The hub 114 may also allow for a different communication scheme and/or schedule between the hub 114 and UEs (e.g., UE 112c and/or 112d), and between the hub 114 and the core network 106. In other examples, the hub 114 is connected to the core network 106 and/or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 114 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 104 and/or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 110 while still connected via the hub 114 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 114 may be a dedicated hub-that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to/from the UEs from/to the network node 110b. In other embodiments, the hub 114 may be a non-dedicated hub-that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 110b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and/or end point for certain data channels.
A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle-to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE may represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter).
The UE 200 includes processing circuitry 202 that is operatively coupled via a bus 204 to an input/output interface 206, a power source 208, a memory 210, a communication interface 212, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in
The processing circuitry 202 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 210. The processing circuitry 202 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or digital signal processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 202 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).
In the example, the input/output interface 206 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and/or output devices. Examples of an output device include 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. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 200. Examples of an input device include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.
In some embodiments, the power source 208 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 208 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 208 itself, and/or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 200 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 208. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 208 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 200 to which power is supplied.
The memory 210 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 210 includes one or more application programs 214, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 216. The memory 210 may store, for use by the UE 200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.
The memory 210 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), 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 tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and/or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 210 may allow the UE 200 to access instructions, application programs and the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied as or in the memory 210, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.
The processing circuitry 202 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 212. The communication interface 212 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 222. The communication interface 212 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 218 and/or a receiver 220 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 218 and receiver 220 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 222) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.
In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 212 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, 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. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and/or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth.
Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 212, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).
As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.
A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (IoT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an IoT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door/window sensor, a flood/moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an IoT device comprises circuitry and/or software in dependence of the intended application of the IoT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 200 shown in
In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone's speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone's speed. The first and/or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.
Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).
Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, 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), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and/or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).
The network node 300 includes a processing circuitry 302, a memory 304, a communication interface 306, and a power source 308. The network node 300 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which the network node 300 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 300 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 304 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 310 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 300 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 300, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 300.
The processing circuitry 302 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, cither alone or in conjunction with other network node 300 components, such as the memory 304, to provide network node 300 functionality.
In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 302 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 302 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 312 and baseband processing circuitry 314. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 312 and the baseband processing circuitry 314 may be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 312 and baseband processing circuitry 314 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.
The memory 304 may comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer-readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device-readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by the processing circuitry 302. The memory 304 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and/or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 302 and utilized by the network node 300. The memory 304 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 302 and/or any data received via the communication interface 306. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 302 and memory 304 is integrated.
The communication interface 306 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and/or data between a network node, access network, and/or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 306 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 316 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 306 also includes radio front-end circuitry 318 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 310. Radio front-end circuitry 318 comprises filters 320 and amplifiers 322. The radio front-end circuitry 318 may be connected to an antenna 310 and processing circuitry 302. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 310 and processing circuitry 302. The radio front-end circuitry 318 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 318 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 320 and/or amplifiers 322. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 310. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 310 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 318. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 302. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.
In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 300 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 318, instead, the processing circuitry 302 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 310. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 312 is part of the communication interface 306. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 306 includes one or more ports or terminals 316, the radio front-end circuitry 318, and the RF transceiver circuitry 312, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 306 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 314, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).
The antenna 310 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. The antenna 310 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 318 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 310 is separate from the network node 300 and connectable to the network node 300 through an interface or port.
The antenna 310, communication interface 306, and/or the processing circuitry 302 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 310, the communication interface 306, and/or the processing circuitry 302 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment.
The power source 308 provides power to the various components of network node 300 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 308 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 300 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 300 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 308. As a further example, the power source 308 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.
Embodiments of the network node 300 may include additional components beyond those shown in
The host 400 includes processing circuitry 402 that is operatively coupled via a bus 404 to an input/output interface 406, a network interface 408, a power source 410, and a memory 412. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as
The memory 412 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 414 and data 416, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host 400 or data generated by the host 400 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 400 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 414 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application programs 414 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 400 may select and/or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs 414 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.
In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to any device described herein, or components thereof, and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 500 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized.
Applications 502 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.
Hardware 504 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and/or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and/or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input/output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 506 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 508a and 508b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 508), and/or perform any of the functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 506 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 508.
The VMs 508 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 506. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 502 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 508, and the implementations may be made in different ways. Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.
In the context of NFV, a VM 508 may be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of the VMs 508, and that part of hardware 504 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and/or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 508 on top of the hardware 504 and corresponds to the application 502.
Hardware 504 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 504 may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 504 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 510, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 502. In some embodiments, hardware 504 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 512 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units.
Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE 112a of
Like host 400, embodiments of host 602 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 602 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host 602 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 606 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 650 extending between the UE 606 and host 602. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 650.
The network node 604 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 602 and UE 606. The connection 660 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network 106 of
The UE 606 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 606 and executable by the UE's processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 606 with the support of the host 602. In the host 602, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 650 terminating at the UE 606 and host 602. In providing the service to the user, the UE's client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 650 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE's client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 650.
The OTT connection 650 may extend via a connection 660 between the host 602 and the network node 604 and via a wireless connection 670 between the network node 604 and the UE 606 to provide the connection between the host 602 and the UE 606. The connection 660 and wireless connection 670, over which the OTT connection 650 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 602 and the UE 606 via the network node 604, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.
As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 650, in step 608, the host 602 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 606. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 606 that shares data with the host 602 without explicit human interaction. In step 610, the host 602 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 606. The host 602 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 606. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 606 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 606. The transmission may pass via the network node 604, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 612, the network node 604 transmits to the UE 606 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 602 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 614, the UE 606 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 606 associated with the host application executed by the host 602.
In some examples, the UE 606 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 602. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 602. Accordingly, in step 616, the UE 606 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input/output interface of the UE 606. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 606 initiates, in step 618, transmission of the user data towards the host 602 via the network node 604. In step 620, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 604 receives user data from the UE 606 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 602. In step 622, the host 602 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 606.
One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 606 using the OTT connection 650, in which the wireless connection 670 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve one or more of, for example, data rate, latency, and/or power consumption and, thereby, provide benefits such as, for example, reduced user waiting time, relaxed restriction on file size, improved content resolution, better responsiveness, and/or extended battery lifetime.
In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 602. As another example, the host 602 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 602 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 602 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 602 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 602 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and/or transmitting data.
In some examples, a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 650 between the host 602 and UE 606, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 602 and/or UE 606. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 650 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 650 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 604. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host 602. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 650 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc.
Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein. Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information 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. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and/or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.
In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry 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 non-transitory computer-readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and/or by end users and a wireless network generally.
In a particular embodiment, prior to transmitting the first message, the CU1 offloads the offloaded traffic from the first CU1 to the CU2.
In a particular embodiment, the offloaded traffic is terminated at a migrating IAB node.
In a particular embodiment, the CU1 receives the portion of the offloaded traffic that was previously offloaded from the CU1 to the CU2.
In a particular embodiment, the CU1 comprises a F1 termination node, and the CU2 comprises a F1 non-termination node.
In a particular embodiment, the first message indicates an amount traffic associated with the portion of the offloaded traffic to be returned to the CU1.
In a particular embodiment, the CU1 determines, prior to transmitting the first message, that the CU1 has a capacity to handle the portion of offloaded traffic to be returned to the CU1.
In a particular embodiment, the CU1 determines that a condition has been fulfilled, and the first message is transmitted to the CU2 in response to determining that the condition has been fulfilled, wherein the condition comprises at least one of: determining that a timer has expired; identifying a traffic load increase at the target donor node; identifying that traffic at the target donor node has increased more than a threshold amount; identifying a traffic load decrease at the source donor node; and identifying that traffic at the source donor node has decreased more than a threshold amount.
In a particular embodiment, the CU1 receives, from the CU2, a second message indicating at least one resource to be released by the CU2.
In a particular embodiment, the first message from the CU2 initiates the portion of offloaded traffic being returned to the CU1, and the method includes transmitting, to the CU2, a second message acknowledging the portion of the offloaded traffic being returned to the CU1.
In a particular embodiment, the first message indicates at least one granted resource associated with the portion of the offloaded traffic to be returned to the CU1.
In a particular embodiment, the at least one granted resource comprises at least one of: a downlink resource, and/or an uplink resource.
In a particular embodiment, the CU1 transmits, to at least one IAB node, information associated with the portion of the offloaded traffic to be returned to the CU1.
In a further particular embodiment, the information transmitted to the at least one IAB node comprises a routing table.
In a particular embodiment, prior to transmitting the first message or receiving the first message, the CU2 receives the offloaded traffic.
In a further particular embodiment, the offloaded traffic is terminated at a migrating IAB node.
In a particular embodiment, the CU1 comprises a F1 termination node, and the CU2 comprises a F1 non-termination node.
In a particular embodiment, the first message indicates an amount traffic associated with the portion of the offloaded traffic to be returned to the CU1.
In a particular embodiment, the CU2 determines that the CU2 does not have a capacity to handle the portion of offloaded traffic to be returned to the CU1.
In a particular embodiment, the CU2 determines that a condition has been fulfilled, and the first message is transmitted to the CU1 in response to determining that the condition has been fulfilled. The condition comprises at least one of: determining that a timer has expired; identifying a traffic load increase at the target donor node; identifying that traffic at the target donor node has increased more than a threshold amount; identifying a traffic load decrease at the source donor node; and identifying that traffic at the source donor node has decreased more than a threshold amount.
In a particular embodiment, the CU2 receives, from the CU1, a second message indicating at least one resource to be released by the CU2.
In a particular embodiment, receiving the first message from the CU1 initiates the portion of offloaded traffic being returned to the CU1, and the CU2 transmits, to the CU1, a second message acknowledging the portion of the offloaded traffic being returned to the CU1.
In a particular embodiment, the first message indicates at least one granted resource associated with the portion of the offloaded traffic to be returned to the CU1.
In a particular embodiment, the at least one granted resource comprises at least one of: a downlink resource, and/or an uplink resource.
In a particular embodiment, the CU2 transmits, to at least one IAB node, information associated with the portion of the offloaded traffic to be returned to the CU1.
In a further particular embodiment, the information transmitted to the at least one IAB node comprises a routing table.
Example Embodiment A1. A method by a user equipment for temporary and/or adaptive load balancing in an Integrated Access and Backhaul, IAB, network, the method comprising: any of the user equipment steps, features, or functions described above, either alone or in combination with other steps, features, or functions described above.
Example Embodiment A2. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising one or more additional user equipment steps, features or functions described above.
Example Embodiment A3. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host computer via the transmission to the network node.
Example Embodiment B1. A method performed by a network node for temporary and/or adaptive load balancing in an Integrated Access and Backhaul, IAB, network, the method comprising: any of the network node steps, features, or functions described above, either alone or in combination with other steps, features, or functions described above.
Example Embodiment B2. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising one or more additional network node steps, features or functions described above.
Example Embodiment B3. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising: obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host or a user equipment.
Example Embodiment C1. A method by a source donor node for temporary and/or adaptive load balancing in an Integrated Access and Backhaul, IAB, network, the method comprising: determining traffic to be offloaded from the source donor node and/or traffic to be offloaded from a target donor node; and transmitting, to the target donor node, information associated with the traffic to be offloaded from the source donor node and/or the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node.
Example Embodiment C2. The method of Example Emboidment C1, wherein the traffic is associated with a migrating IAB node.
Example Embodiment C3. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C2, wherein the traffic is determined for offloading from the source donor node to the target donor node.
Example Embodiment C4. The method of Example Emboidment C3, further comprising determining that the source donor node cannot handle the traffic to be offloaded from the source donor node to the target donor node.
Example Emboidment C5. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C3 to C4, further comprising determining an amount of traffic that the source donor cannot handle for offloading from the source donor node to the target node, and wherein the information indicates the amount of traffic for offloading from the source donor node to the target donor node.
Example Embodiment C6. The method of Example Embodiment C3 to C5, wherein the information comprises at least one requested resource for the traffic to be offloaded from the source node to the target node.
Example Embodiment C7. The method of Example Embodiment C6, wherein the at least one requested resource comprising at least one of: a downlink resource, and/or an uplink resource.
Example Embodiment C8. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C5 to C7, further comprising receiving, from the target donor node, a response message indicating at least one granted resource.
Example Embodiment C9. The method of Example Embodiment C8, wherein the at least one granted resource includes at least one requested resource indicated in the information transmitted to the target donor node.
Example Embodiment C10. The method of Example Embodiment C8, wherein the at least one granted resource does not include any resources requested in the information transmitted to the target donor node.
Example Embodiment C11. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C5 to C7, further comprising receiving, from the target donor node, a response message indicating that no resources are available from the target donor node.
Example Embodiment C12. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C3 to C11, further comprising offloading the traffic to the target donor node.
Example Embodiment C13. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C3 to C12, further comprising transmitting, to at least one IAB node, information associated with the traffic to be offloaded to the target donor node.
Example Embodiment C14. The method of Example Embodiment C13, wherein the information transmitted to the at least one IAB node comprises a routing table.
Example Embodiment C15. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C2, wherein the traffic is determined for offloading from the target donor node to the source donor node.
Example Embodiment C16. The method of Example Embodiment C15, wherein the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node to the source donor node comprises traffic that was previously offloaded from the source donor node to the target donor node.
Example Embodiment C17.The method of any one of Example Embodiments C15 to C16, further comprising determining that the source donor node can handle the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node to the source donor node.
Example Emboidment C18. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C15 to C17, further comprising receiving a message from the target donor node indicating an amount of traffic for offloading from the target donor node to the source donor node.
Example Embodiment C19. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C15 to C18, wherein the information transmitted to the target donor node indicates at least one granted resource associated with the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node to the source donor node.
Example Embodiment C20.The method of Example Embodiment C119 wherein the at least one granted resource comprising at least one of: a downlink resource, and/or an uplink resource.
Example Embodiment C21. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C15 to C20, further comprising receiving, from the target donor node, a response message indicating at least one released resource to be released by the target donor node.
Example Embodiment C22. The method of Example Embodiment C21, wherein the at least one released resource includes the at least one granted resource identified in the information transmitted to the target donor node.
Example Embodiment C23. The method of Example Embodiment C21, wherein the at least one released resource does not include any granted resource identified in the information transmitted to the target donor node.
Example Embodiment C24. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C15 to C20, further comprising receiving, from the target donor node, a response message indicating that no resources are to be released by the target donor node.
Example Embodiment C25. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C15 to C23, further comprising receiving at least a portion of the traffic offloaded from the target donor node to the source donor node.
Example Embodiment C26. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C15 to C25, further comprising transmitting, to at least one IAB node, information associated with the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node to the source donor node.
Example Embodiment C27.The method of Example Embodiment C26, wherein the information transmitted to the at least one IAB node comprises a routing table.
Example Embodiment C28. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C27, further maintaining a timer by the source donor node, and wherein the step of determining is performed upon expiration of the timer.
Example Embodiment C29. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C28, further comprising maintaining a timer by the source donor node, and wherein the information is transmitted to the target donor node upon expiration of the timer.
Example Embodiment C30 The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C29, wherein the information transmitted to the target donor node comprises a traffic congestion status indicating whether the source donor node has capacity to handle the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node and/or the traffic to be offloaded from the source donor node to the target donor node.
Example Emboidment C31. The method of Example Emboidment C30, further comprising maintaining a timer by the source donor node, and wherein the traffic congestion status is transmitted to the target donor node upon expiration of the timer.
Example Embodiment C32. The method of Example Embodiment C30, further comprising determining that a condition has been fulfilled, and wherein the traffic congestion status is transmitted to the target donor node in response to determining that the condition has been fulfilled.
Example Embodiment C33. The method of Example Embodiment C32, wherein the condition comprises at least one of: identifying a traffic load increase; identifying that traffic has increased more than a threshold amount; identifying a traffic load decrease; and identifying that traffic has decreased more than a threshold amount.
Example Emboidment C34. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C1 to C33, further comprising receiving a traffic congestion status from the target donor node, the traffic congestion status indicating whether the target donor node has capacity to handle traffic to be offloaded to from the source donor node and/or the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node to the source donor node.
Example Embodiment C35. The method of Example Embodiment C34, further comprising transmitting, to the target donor node, a request for the traffic congestion status of the target donor node.
Example Embodiment C36. The method of Example Embodiment C35, further comprising maintaining a timer, and wherein the request for the traffic congestion status is transmitted to the target donor node upon expiration of the timer.
Example Emboidment C37. The method of any one of Example Embodiments C30 to C36, wherein the traffic congestion status indicates an amount of traffic that the source donor node and/or target donor node has capacity to handle.
Example Embodiment C38. The method of Example Embodiments C1 to C37, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host via the transmission to the network node.
Example Embodiment C39. A source donor node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments C1 to C38.
Example Embodiment C40. A source donor node adapted to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments C1 to C38.
Example Embodiment C41. A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments C1 to C38.
Example Embodiment C42. A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments C1 to C38.
Example Embodiment C43. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments C1 to C38.
Example Embodiment D1. A method by a target donor node for temporary and/or adaptive load balancing in an Integrated Access and Backhaul, IAB, network, the method comprising: determining traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node and/or traffic to be offloaded from a source donor node; and transmitting, to the source donor node, information associated with the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node and/or the traffic to be offloaded from the source donor node.
Example Embodiment D2. The method of Example Emboidment D1, wherein the traffic is associated with a migrating IAB node.
Example Embodiment D3. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D2, wherein the traffic is determined for offloading from the source donor node to the target donor node.
Example Embodiment D4. The method of Example Embodiment D3, wherein determining the traffic to be offloaded from the source donor node comprises receiving a request from the source donor node, the request identifying an amount of the traffic to be offloaded from the source donor node.
Example Embodiment D5. The method of Example Emboidment D3 to D4, further comprising determining that the target donor node can handle the traffic to be offloaded from the source donor node.
Example Emboidment D6. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D3 to D5, further comprising determining an amount of traffic that the target donor can handle for offloading from the source donor node to the target node, and wherein the information indicates the amount of traffic that the target donor can handle for offloading from the source donor node to the target donor node.
Example Embodiment D7. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D3 to D6, wherein the information comprises at least one granted resource for the traffic to be offloaded from the source donor node to the target donor node.
Example Embodiment D8. The method of Example Embodiment D7, wherein the at least one granted resource comprising at least one of: a downlink resource, and/or an uplink resource.
Example Embodiment D9. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D7 to D8, further comprising receiving, from the source donor node, a response message accepting the at least one granted resource.
Example Embodiment D10. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D7 to D8, further comprising receiving, from the source donor node, a response message indicating that the source donor node does not need to offload the traffic to the target donor node.
Example Embodiment D11. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D3 to D10, further comprising receiving at least a portion of the traffic offloaded to the target donor node.
Example Embodiment D12. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D3 to D11, further comprising transmitting, to at least one IAB node, information associated with the traffic to be offloaded to the target donor node.
Example Embodiment D13. The method of Example Embodiment D12, wherein the information transmitted to the at least one IAB node comprises a routing table.
Example Embodiment D14. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D2, wherein the traffic is determined for offloading from the target donor node to the source donor node.
Example Embodiment D15. The method of Example Embodiment D14, wherein determining the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node comprises receiving a message from the source donor node indicating that the source donor node can handle the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node.
Example Embodiment D16. The method of Example Embodiment D15, wherein the message from the source donor node indicates an amount of the traffic that the source donor node can handle.
Example Embodiment D17. The method of Example Emboidment D14 to D16, further comprising determining that the target donor node cannot handle the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node.
Example Emboidment D18. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D14 to D17, further comprising determining an amount of traffic for offloading from the target donor node to the source node, and wherein the information indicates the amount of traffic for offloading from the target donor node to the source donor node.
Example Embodiment D19. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D14 to D18, wherein the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node to the source donor node comprises traffic that was previously offloaded from the source donor node to the target donor node.
Example Embodiment D20. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D14 to D19, wherein the information indicates at least one released resource associated with the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node to the source donor node.
Example Embodiment D21. The method of Example Embodiment D20, wherein the at least one released resource comprising at least one of: a downlink resource, and/or an uplink resource.
Example Embodiment D22. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D20 to D22, further comprising receiving, from the source donor node, a response message indicating at least one granted resource associated with the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node to the source target node.
Example Embodiment D23. The method of Example Embodiment D22, wherein the at least one granted resource in the response message includes the at least one released resource identified in the information transmitted to the source donor node.
Example Embodiment D24. The method of Example Embodiment D22, wherein the at least one granted resource in the response message does not include any of the released resources identified in the information transmitted by the target donor node to the source network node.
Example Embodiment D25. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D20 to D21, further comprising receiving, from the source donor node, a response message indicating that no resources are to be accepted by the source donor node.
Example Embodiment D26. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D14 to D25, further comprising offloading at least a portion of the traffic to the source donor node.
Example Embodiment D27. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D14 to D26, further comprising transmitting, to at least one IAB node, information associated with the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node to the source donor node.
Example Embodiment D28. The method of Example Embodiment D27, wherein the information transmitted to the at least one IAB node comprises a routing table.
Example Embodiment D29. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D28, further maintaining a timer by the target donor node, and wherein the step of determining is performed upon expiration of the timer.
Example Embodiment D30. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D29, further comprising maintaining a timer by the target donor node, and wherein the information is transmitted to the source donor node upon expiration of the timer.
Example Embodiment D31. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D30, wherein the information transmitted to the source donor node comprises a traffic congestion status indicating whether the target donor node has capacity to handle the traffic to be offloaded from the source donor node and/or the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node to the source donor node.
Example Emboidment D32. The method of Example Emboidment D31, further comprising maintaining a timer by the target donor node, and wherein the traffic congestion status is transmitted to the source donor node upon expiration of the timer.
Example Embodiment D33. The method of Example Embodiment D31, further comprising determining that a condition has been fulfilled, and wherein the traffic congestion status is transmitted to the source donor node in response to determining that the condition has been fulfilled.
Example Embodiment D34. The method of Example Embodiment D33, wherein the condition comprises at least one of: identifying a traffic load increase; identifying that traffic has increased more than a threshold amount; identifying a traffic load decrease; and identifying that traffic has decreased more than a threshold amount.
Example Emboidment D35. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D1 to D34, further comprising receiving a traffic congestion status from the source donor node, the traffic congestion status indicating whether the source donor node has capacity to handle traffic to be offloaded from the source donor node to the target donor node and/or the traffic to be offloaded from the target donor node to the source donor node.
Example Embodiment D36. The method of Example Embodiment D35, further comprising transmitting, to the source donor node, a request for the traffic congestion status of the source donor node.
Example Embodiment D37. The method of Example Embodiment D36, further comprising maintaining a timer, and wherein the request for the traffic congestion status is transmitted to the source donor node upon expiration of the timer.
Example Emboidment D38. The method of any one of Example Embodiments D31 to D37, wherein the traffic congestion status indicates an amount of traffic that the source donor node and/or target donor node has capacity to handle.
Example Embodiment D39. The method of Example Embodiments D1 to D38, further comprising: providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host via the transmission to the network node.
Example Embodiment D40. A target donor node comprising processing circuitry configured to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D39.
Example Embodiment D41. A target donor node adapted to perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D39.
Example Embodiment D42. A computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D39.
Example Embodiment D43. A computer program product comprising computer program, the computer program comprising instructions which when executed on a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D39.
Example Embodiment D44. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing instructions which when executed by a computer perform any of the methods of Example Embodiments D1 to D39.
Example Embodiment E1. A network node for temporary and/or adaptive load balancing in an Integrated Access and Backhaul, IAB, network, the network node comprising: processing circuitry configured to perform any of the steps of any of the Group A and B Example Embodiments; power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the processing circuitry.
Example Embodiment E2. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data to a network node in a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE), the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group A and B Example Embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.
Example Embodiment E3. The host of the previous Example Embodiment, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application that provides the user data; and the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application to receive the transmission of user data from the host.
Example Embodiment E4. A method implemented in a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: providing user data for the UE; and initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the network node, wherein the network node performs any of the operations of any of the Group A and B Example Embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.
Example Embodiment E5. The method of the previous Example Embodiment, further comprising, at the network node, transmitting the user data provided by the host for the UE.
Example Emboidment E6. The method of any of the previous 2 Example Embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host by executing a host application that interacts with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.
Example Embodiment E7. A communication system configured to provide an over-the-top service, the communication system comprising: a host comprising: processing circuitry configured to provide user data for a user equipment (UE), the user data being associated with the over-the-top service; and a network interface configured to initiate transmission of the user data toward a cellular network node for transmission to the UE, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group A and B Example Embodiments to transmit the user data from the host to the UE.
Example Embodiment E8. The communication system of the previous Example Embodiment, further comprising: the network node; and/or the user equipment.
Example Embodiment E9. A host configured to operate in a communication system to provide an over-the-top (OTT) service, the host comprising: processing circuitry configured to initiate receipt of user data; and a network interface configured to receive the user data from a network node in a cellular network, the network node having a communication interface and processing circuitry, the processing circuitry of the network node configured to perform any of the operations of any of the Group A and B Example Embodiments to receive the user data from a user equipment (UE) for the host.
Example Embodiment E10. The host of the previous 2 Example Embodiments, wherein: the processing circuitry of the host is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and the host application is configured to interact with a client application executing on the UE, the client application being associated with the host application.
Example Embodiment E11. The host of the any of the previous 2 Example Embodiments, wherein the initiating receipt of the user data comprises requesting the user data.
Example Embodiment E12. A method implemented by a host configured to operate in a communication system that further includes a network node and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising: at the host, initiating receipt of user data from the UE, the user data originating from a transmission which the network node has received from the UE, wherein the network node performs any of the steps of any of the Group A and B Example Embodiments to receive the user data from the UE for the host.
Example Embodiment E13. The method of the previous Example Embodiment, further comprising at the network node, transmitting the received user data to the host.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2022/069688 | 7/13/2022 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63221207 | Jul 2021 | US |
