The present disclosure relates generally to communications, and more particularly to communication methods and related devices and nodes supporting wireless communications. More specifically, the present disclosure relates methods for adapting radio link procedures to reduce power consumption by a user equipment (UE).
Radio Link Monitoring (RLM) evaluation in New Radio (NR) is performed based on up to 8 RLM reference signal (RLM-RS) resources configured by the network, where:
The SS/PBCH block further comprises channels/signals (e.g., primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), PBCH, demodulation reference signal (DMRS) for PBCH, CSI-RS, etc.) periodically for UE to synchronize with the network and to acquire channel information. Such channels/signals are transmitted at the same transmission burst called discovery reference signals (DRS). DRS is transmitted by the base station periodically with certain periodicity e.g. 20 ms, 40 ms, 80 ms, 160 ms etc. Each synchronization signal block (SSB) or SSB based measurement timing configuration (SMTC) occasion, which occurs periodically contains one or more SSB/PBCH signals. SMTC contains, for example, SS/PBCH blocks or SSB, CSI-RS, PDSCH for transmitting SIBl. The UE is configured with information about SSB on cells of a carrier and called as SMTC, which comprises SMTC periodicity, SMTC occasion length in time or duration, SMTC time offset with respect to reference time (e.g. serving cell's SFN (system frame number)).
The UE is configured with one or more RLM-RS resources for each of which the UE shall estimate the downlink radio link quality (e.g., signal to noise ratio (SNR), signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR), reference signal received power (RSRP)), and compare it to the thresholds Qout and Qin (derived based on a hypothetical physical downlink control channel block error rate (PDCCH BLER)) for the purpose of monitoring downlink radio link quality of the cell. More specifically, the UE shall be able to evaluate whether the downlink radio link quality on the configured RLM-RS resource estimated over the last OOS evaluation period (TEvaluate_out) becomes worse than the threshold Qout within TEvaluate_out evaluation period, and the UE shall be able to evaluate whether the downlink radio link quality on the configured RLM-RS resource estimated over the last IS evaluation period (TEvaluate_in) becomes better than the threshold Qin within TEvaluate_in evaluation period.
In frequency range #2 (FR2) (mmwave e.g. for frequencies between 24 GHz and 52.6 GHz), the RLM evaluation period additionally applies Rx beam sweeping factor, N, where it is assumed UE tries to receive RLM-RS with different Rx beam configuration to measure the RLM-RS. Example of N is 8. This means OOS and IS evaluation periods in FR2 are N times longer than the corresponding OOS and IS evaluation periods in frequency range #1 (FR1) (e.g. frequencies between 400 MHz and 7 GHz).
Beam management (BM) in NR is a procedure to maintain the beam connection for transmission and reception. The beam management is also interchangeably called as link recovery procedure. The beam management broadly comprises one or more of beam related procedures e.g. beam establishment, beam failure recovery, and beam indication (or beam reporting).
Beam establishment is a procedure where UE selects the best (strongest) beam when it connects to the network. In order to identify the beam, the base station (gNB) transmits different SS/PBCH block and/or CSI-RS per beam. The beam establishment is usually performed at the same time UE performs the initial cell search. At the initial cell search, UE searches for the strongest SS/PBCH block and identifies its location in time domain, because it corresponds to the beam ID. After UE has found the beam, UE tries to connect to the network using this beam. While UE connects to the network, UE measure the downlink link quality of connecting beam. If the link quality level below a threshold, UE triggers the beam failure and start the beam recovery procedure.
Beam failure recovery is a procedure when UE updates the beam in the same cell when the current beam becomes weak due to the channel condition changes, e.g., UE location change or rotation. Beam indication is a procedure where UE reports the beam condition (e.g., received signal power on the beam) to the network as CSI reporting.
According to 3GPP TS38.133 V16.5.0, beam management procedure is applicable for:
Beam recovery procedure is a procedure to recover beam connection when the beam UE is monitoring becomes weak. UE measures the channel quality of the periodic SS/PBCH block and/or CSI-RS resources (q0) in a serving cell. If the measured quality is below the threshold Qout_LR, corresponding to hypothetical PDCCH BLER of 10%, UE physical layer indicates beam failure to the medium access control (MAC) layer. This event is called beam failure detection (BFD).
In FR2, the BFD evaluation period additionally applies Rx beam sweeping factor, N, where it is assumed UE tries to receive RLM-RS with different Rx beam configuration to measure the BFD-RS. Example of N is 8. This means BFD evaluation period in FR2 is N times longer than the BFD evaluation period in FR1.
After BFD, UE searches for candidate beams from the configured CSI-RS and/or SS/PBCH block resources for candidate beam detection (q1) in the serving cell. UE determines one of the beams in q1 whose L1-RSRP exceeds the threshold rsrp-Threshold which is signaled from the network. This procedure is called candidate beam detection (CBD).
After determining the new beam in PCell/PSCell, UE reports the selected beam with the random access procedure, where UE transmits random access preamble on the physical random access control channel (PRACH) corresponding to the SS/PBCH block and/or CSI-RS resource. After determining the new beam in SCell, UE reports the selected beam with the Beam failure recovery (BFR) message in a medium access control, MAC, control element MAC CE.
In FR2, the CBD evaluation period additionally applies receiver (Rx) beam sweeping factor, N, where it is assumed UE tries to receive CBD-RS with different Rx beam configuration to measure the CBD-RS. Example of N is 8. N is the scaling factor depending on the configured cells as same ad CBD evaluation in FR1. This means CBD evaluation period in FR2 is N times longer than the CBD evaluation period in FR1.
L1-RSRP reporting in NR is a part of the CSI reporting procedure and UE reports the received power of the configured number of beams. The network uses the information to determine which beam is to be used to transmit data (PDCCH/PDSCH). L1-RSRP reporting is configured as periodic, aperiodic, or semi-persistent. For the periodic reporting, UE shall transmit L1-RSRP on physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) according to the periodicity configured by the network. For the aperiodic L1-RSRP reporting, UE shall transmit L1-RSRP on PUSCH after the UE receives CSI request in downlink control information (DCI). For the semi-persistent L1-RSRP reporting, UE shall transmit L1-RSRP reporting on PUSCH or PUCCH according to the periodicity specified by the higher layer. For the semi-persistent reporting the UE stops L1-RSRP reporting after the configured number of report transmissions. The reporting period is given by TReport.
In FR2, the L1-RSRP measurement period additionally applies Rx beam sweeping factor, N, where it is assumed UE tries to receive SSB with different Rx beam configuration to measure the SSB. Example of N is 8. This means L1-RSRP measurement period in FR2 is N times longer than the L1-RSRP measurement in FR1.
Similar to L1-RSRP reporting, L1-SINR reporting is also a part of the CSI reporting procedure and UE reports the ratio of received power of the channel measurement resources (CMR) and received power of the interference measurement resource (IMR). 3GPP assumes CMR is SSB or CSI-RS, and IMR is Non-zero-power CSI-RS (NZP-CSI-RS) or zero-power CSI-RS (ZP-CSI-RS).
In FR2, the L1-SINR measurement period additionally applies Rx beam sweeping factor, N, where it is assumed UE tries to receive SSB and IMR with different Rx beam configuration to measure the SSB and IMR. Example of N is 8. This means L1-SINR measurement period in FR2 is N times longer than the L1-SINR measurement in FR1. Both L1-RSRP and L1-SINR reporting are part of beam indication or beam reporting.
Two of the fundamental procedures in RRC CONNECTED state to ensure that UE maintains reliable communication with the serving cell(s) are radio link monitoring (RLM) and beam management (BM) as discussed above. Both RLM and BM procedures requires the UE to perform certain steps or activities periodically or at least with certain periodicity e.g. every radio frame, every discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle, every BM/RLM-RS transmission periodicity. Examples of such activities are performing measurement, processing the measurement (e.g. comparing to thresholds), triggering events/indications, triggering new procedures based on the outcome of the evaluations, etc. Such frequent measurement and/or processing activities can significantly increase the UE power consumption. In low mobility or stationary scenario, the UE is expected to have limited or no mobility. In such scenarios the radio conditions experienced by the UE may not change very much over the time. Therefore, performing the measurements for RLM and/or BM procedures with short periodicity all the time in all scenarios will increase UE power consumption and UE processing. Thus, there is a need to enable the UE to perform the RLM and/or BM procedures while decreasing UE power consumption and UE processing.
According to some embodiments of inventive concepts, a method, performed by a communication device, includes obtaining criteria associated with a first mode of operation and a second mode of operation of a Radio Link Procedure (RLP) to be performed by the communication device. The method includes selecting one of the first mode of operation and the second mode of operation to perform the RLP based on the criteria. The method further includes performing the RLP according to the first mode of operation or the second mode of operation based on the selection.
Communication devices and computer programs having analogous operations are also provided.
Advantages that may be achieved include a network radio better utilized as the network (NW) can use reported information for adapting its transmission. For example, when the NW knows that the UE has entered into a relaxation state, then the NW can avoid transmitting signals/channels in occasions where the UE is not likely to receive those. Another advantage includes improved UE power consumption, i.e. UE can enter a relaxed mode and sleep over longer time especially when it has limited mobility and/or when it is not expected to be scheduled frequently. In another example, operation of RLPs in relaxed mode is allowed only in scenarios where there is no or very little performance degradation.
According to other embodiments of inventive concepts, a method, performed by a communication device, includes obtaining criteria associated with a first Radio Link Procedure (RLP) and a second RLP to be performed by the communication device. The method includes determining whether to perform the first RLP and the second RLP according to a first mode of operation or a second mode of operation based on the criteria. The method further includes performing the first RLP and the second RLP according to the first mode of operation or the second mode of operation based on the determination.
Communication devices and computer programs having analogous operations are also provided.
The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate certain non-limiting embodiments of the present disclosure. In the drawings:
Inventive concepts will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which examples of embodiments of inventive concepts are shown. Inventive concepts may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of present inventive concepts to those skilled in the art. It should also be noted that these embodiments are not mutually exclusive. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present/used in another embodiment.
The following description presents various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. These embodiments are presented as teaching examples and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosed subject matter. For example, certain details of the described embodiments may be modified, omitted, or expanded upon without departing from the scope of the described subject matter.
As discussed herein, operations of communication device UE may be performed by processing circuitry 103 and/or transceiver circuitry 101. For example, processing circuitry 103 may control transceiver circuitry 101 to transmit communications through transceiver circuitry 101 over a radio interface to a radio access network node (also referred to as a base station) and/or to receive communications through transceiver circuitry 101 from a RAN node over a radio interface. Moreover, modules may be stored in memory circuitry 105, and these modules may provide instructions so that when instructions of a module are executed by processing circuitry 103, processing circuitry 103 performs respective operations (e.g., operations discussed below with respect to Example Embodiments relating to wireless communication devices).
As discussed herein, operations of the RAN node may be performed by processing circuitry 203, network interface 207, and/or transceiver 201. For example, processing circuitry 203 may control transceiver 201 to transmit downlink communications through transceiver 401 over a radio interface to one or more mobile terminals UEs and/or to receive uplink communications through transceiver 201 from one or more mobile terminals UEs over a radio interface. Similarly, processing circuitry 203 may control network interface 207 to transmit communications through network interface 207 to one or more other network nodes and/or to receive communications through network interface from one or more other network nodes. Moreover, modules may be stored in memory 205, and these modules may provide instructions so that when instructions of a module are executed by processing circuitry 203, processing circuitry 203 performs respective operations (e.g., operations discussed below with respect to Example Embodiments relating to RAN nodes).
According to some other embodiments, a network node may be implemented as a core network CN node without a transceiver. In such embodiments, transmission to a wireless communication device UE may be initiated by the network node so that transmission to the wireless communication device UE is provided through a network node including a transceiver (e.g., through a base station or RAN node). According to embodiments where the network node is a RAN node including a transceiver, initiating transmission may include transmitting through the transceiver.
As discussed herein, operations of the CN node may be performed by processing circuitry 303 and/or network interface circuitry 307. For example, processing circuitry 303 may control network interface circuitry 307 to transmit communications through network interface circuitry 307 to one or more other network nodes and/or to receive communications through network interface circuitry from one or more other network nodes. Moreover, modules may be stored in memory 305, and these modules may provide instructions so that when instructions of a module are executed by processing circuitry 303, processing circuitry 303 performs respective operations (e.g., operations discussed below with respect to Example Embodiments relating to core network nodes).
According to a first embodiment the UE obtains information about first set (S1) of criteria and a second set (S2) of criteria, for determining whether the UE can operate one or more radio link procedures (RLPs) (e.g. RLM based on SSB, RLM based on CSI-RS, BM based on SSB, BM based on CSI-RS, RLM based on any RS, BM based on any RS, etc) in certain operational mode e.g. relaxed mode or in normal mode. For example, the UE evaluates the criteria and based on the evaluation performs RLP in relaxed mode provided that at least one criterion in set S1 and at least one criterion in set S2 are met. Otherwise the UE performs RLP in normal mode if RLP was being performed in relaxed mode before the evaluation or continue performing the RLP in normal mode if RLP was being already performed in normal mode before the evaluation.
According to a second embodiment the scenario comprising a UE configured to perform at least two RLPs on the same cell (e.g. on PCell) and meets the criteria for at least one of the RLPs (e.g. RLP1 such as RLM) to perform that RLP (e.g. RLP1 such as RLM) in relaxed mode but does not meet the criteria for at least one of the RLPs (e.g. RLP2 such as BM) to perform that RLP (e.g. RLP2 such as BM) in relaxed mode. According to the embodiment, whether the UE can also perform the RLPs (e.g. RLP2), which do not meet the relaxation criteria, in relaxed mode is governed by one or more rules. The rules can be pre-defined or configured by the network node.
The evaluation of the criteria (in S1 and/or in S2) may comprise UE performing measurements on the signals operating between the UE and a cell (e.g. serving cell) and comparing it to one or more thresholds. As a result of the evaluation, the UE may remain in the current operational mode (e.g. first operational mode (OM1)), or it may switch to a new operational mode (e.g. a second operational mode (OM2)) different than the current operational mode (e.g. OM1), where:
The criteria in S1 are related to conditions or scenarios under which the UE can perform RLPs in relaxed mode. Examples of criteria in set S1 comprising one or combination of the following:
The criteria in S2 are related to conditions which impact the performance of RLPs in relaxed mode. Examples of criteria in set S2 comprising one or combination of the following:
Examples of the operational modes are:
Each exemplary operational mode is associated with at least one set of requirements. Examples of requirements are IS evaluation period in RLM, OOS evaluation period in RLM etc. The UE obtains information related to one or more criteria using one or more following ways:
There are multiple advantages to the solutions described herein. For example, network radio better utilized as the network (NW) can use the reported information for adapting its transmission. For example, when NW knows that the UE has entered into a relaxation state, then the NW can avoid transmitting signals/channels in occasions where the UE is not likely to receive those. Another advantage includes improved UE power consumption, i.e. UE can enter a relaxed mode and sleep over longer time especially when it has limited mobility and/or when it is not expected to be scheduled frequently. In another example, operation of RLPs in relaxed mode is allowed only in scenarios where there is no or very little performance degradation.
In some embodiments a more general term “network node” is used and it can correspond to any type of radio network node or any network node, which communicates with a UE and/or with another network node. Examples of network nodes are radio network node, gNodeB (gNB), ng-eNB, base station (BS), NR base station, TRP (transmission reception point), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, remote radio unit (RRU), remote radio head (RRH), nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node (e.g. mobile switching center (MSC), mobility management entity (MME), etc), operations and management (O&M), operations support system (OSS), self-organizing network (SON), positioning node or location server (e.g. evolved-serving mobile location centre E-SMLC), minimization of drive tests (MDT), test equipment (physical node or software), etc.
In some embodiments the non-limiting term user equipment (UE) or wireless device is used, and it refers to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and/or with another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are wireless device supporting NR, target device, device to device (D2D) UE, machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, personal digital assistant (PDA), personal access device (PAD), Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), drone, universal serial bus (USB) dongles, proximity services (ProSe) UE, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) UE, vehicle to anything (V2X) UE, etc.
The term “radio node” may refer to radio network node or UE capable of transmitting radio signals or receiving radio signals or both. The term radio access technology, or RAT, may refer to any RAT e.g. universal terrestrial radio access (UTRA), evolved-UTRA (E-UTRA), narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT), WiFi, Bluetooth, next generation RAT, New Radio (NR), 4G, 5G, etc. Any of the equipment denoted by the term node, network node or radio network node may be capable of supporting a single or multiple RATs.
The UE performs measurements on reference signal (RS). Examples of RS are discovery signal or discovery reference signal (DRS), synchronization and signal block (SSB), CSI-RS, cell specific reference signal (CRS), demodulation reference signal (DMRS), primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS) etc. Examples of measurements are cell identification (e.g. PCI acquisition, cell detection), Reference Symbol Received Power (RSRP), Reference Symbol Received Quality (RSRQ), secondary synchronization RSRP (SS-RSRP), SS-RSRQ, SINR, RS-SINR, SS-SINR, CSI-RSRP, CSI-RSRQ, acquisition of system information (SI), cell global ID (CGI) acquisition, Reference Signal Time Difference (RSTD), UE RX-TX time difference measurement, radio link quality, Radio Link Monitoring (RLM), which consists of Out of Synchronization (out of sync) detection and In Synchronization (in-sync) detection, Layer-1 RSRP (L1-RSRP), Layer-1 SINR (L1-SINR) etc.
The term radio link procedure (RLP) used herein may refer to any procedure performed by the UE on radio signals operating between UE and a cell e.g. between UE and special cell (SpCell), between UE and secondary cell (SCell) etc. In one example RLPs may differ based on their functionality or purpose. In another example RLPs may differ based on the type of reference signal used by the RLP e.g. SSB, CSI-RS etc. Examples of RLP performing different functions are RLM, BM, one or more procedures related to RLM (e.g. out of sync and/or in-sync evaluation, radio link failure detection), one or more procedures related to BM (e.g. BFD, CBD, L1-RSRP reporting, L1-SINR reporting etc), etc. Another set of examples of RLPs using different RS are RLM based on SSB, RLM based on CSI-RS, RLM based on both SSB and CSI-RS etc. Another set of examples of RLPs using different RS are BM on based on SSB, BM based on CSI-RS etc.
The term relaxed mode or relaxed operational mode used herein refer to performing certain RLP, which is associated with one or more relaxed requirements compared to those associated with the normal mode of operation of the RLP. The normal mode (NM) is interchangeably called as legacy mode, mode without any relaxation etc. The corresponding requirements associated with NM are also called as reference requirements, legacy requirements, normal requirements etc. Examples of requirements are measurement time, measurement accuracy, measurement reporting periodicity, measurement etc. Examples of measurement time are evaluation period or measurement period e.g. L1 measurement period, L1-RSRP measurement period, L1-SINR measurement period, OOS evaluation period, IS evaluation period, BFD evaluation period, BFD evaluation period, L1 indication interval, IS indication interval, OOS indication interval, BFD indication interval etc. Examples of measurement accuracy are L1-RSRP accuracy (e.g. within ±X1 dB wrt reference L1-RSRP value), L1-SINR accuracy (e.g. within ±X2 dB wrt reference L1-SINR value).
The scenario comprises at least one UE (UE1) which is operating in a first cell (cell1) served by a network node (NW1). The UE may also be served by cell1. The UE may further be served by one or more additional cells (e.g. a second cell (cell2), a third cell (cell3) etc) in multicarrier scenarios such as in carrier aggregation, multi-connectivity, dual connectivity etc. The UE is performing one or more radio link procedures in one or more cells (e.g. cell1, cell2, cell3 etc) based on one or more reference signals (RS) transmitted by NW1. Examples of operating cells (cell1) are SCells, SpCells etc. Examples of SpCell are PCell and PSCell. Examples of radio link procedures carried out by the UE are RLM and BM which are described herein. Examples of RS used by the UE for performing the RLPs are SSBs, CSI-RS, a mix of SSBs, and other examples of RSs are also described, for example, herein above. The present disclosure describes methods performed by the UE for obtaining and applying criteria for performing RLP in a relaxed mode according to some embodiments. The steps involved in the UE, for example, includes:
In Step 1, the UE obtains information related to two or more criteria for determining whether the UE can perform one or more radio link procedures in the first operational mode (OM1) or in the second operational mode (OM2) e.g. in a relaxed mode if currently operating in a normal mode (NM) or in a normal mode if currently operating in the relaxed mode. The step of obtaining this information can be performed by the UE anytime e.g.
The UE may obtain the information related to the two or more criteria by one or more mechanisms, which include at least one of following:
The information obtained in this step indicates whether the UE is allowed to enter in a relaxed mode for operating one or more RLPs. Typically, such relaxed mode operation is allowed for UEs operating in low mobility scenarios (e.g. stationary UEs, UE speed below a certain threshold, Doppler frequency below a certain threshold) etc. The obtained information comprising the criteria can be of two types. More specifically the criteria are characterized into two groups:
The UE enters into a relaxed mode for operating one or more RLPs provided that at least one criterion in set S1 and at least one criterion in set S2 are met. This mechanism ensures that the performance of the RLP is not degraded when the UE operates in the relaxed mode.
In Step 2, the UE evaluates the criteria (e.g. set S1) obtained in previous step for determining whether to operate RLPs in the relaxed mode or in the normal mode. The purpose of the first set of criteria is to determine whether the UE is operating in a state or conditions or environment in which the UE can be allowed to perform RLPs in a relaxed mode. Examples of such criteria comprising: UE speed, UE location in a cell, UE speed and UE location in a cell, variation in radio conditions, cell changes etc. They are explained below:
The above criteria can be evaluated by the UE autonomously or by the network node. In the latter case the UE can be informed whether the UE meets one or more criteria for applying RLPs in relaxed mode or not. This is described below:
The purpose of the second set of criteria (e.g., set S2) is to determine whether the UE operation in relaxed mode will impact the performance of the RLP or not. For example the UE is allowed to perform one or more RLPs in relaxed mode provided that the UE meets at least one criterion in set S2 (in addition to one in set S1) that would ensure that the performance of RLP is not degraded beyond an acceptable level e.g. UE does not lose the radio link, UE is able to detect beam failure etc. The criteria further depend on the type of RLP (e.g. RLM or BM) being performed. The criteria further depend on whether the UE is configured with two or more RLPs (e.g. RLM, BM etc) to be performed on the same cell. For example, the UE may be configured to operate only BM on SCell, only RLM on SpCell (e.g. in FR1) or both RLM and BM on SpCell etc. Examples of these criteria belonging to set S2 for determining whether the UE is allowed to perform one or more RLPs in relaxed mode are described below. At least one of the following criteria (in S2) needs to be met for allowing the UE to operate certain RLPs (e.g. RLM, BM etc.) in relaxed mode (provided at least one criterion in set S1 is also met):
An example is shown in FIG. 4, where the UE is evaluating RLM and different RLM indications are triggered and sent to the higher layers. In this example, the UE is allowed to enter the relaxed mode during time period A because only in-sync evaluations have been triggered and this is an indication that the radio conditions (e.g. SNR level is good or SNR level is larger than a threshold) is good and link is reliable. However, the UE shall stay in normal mode and operate the RLPs according the normal procedures during time period B and C since out-of-syncs indications are triggered and RLF timer is running. This is an indication that the radio conditions are poor (e.g. SNR level has decreased or decreased more than a certain threshold).
Otherwise the UE is not allowed to enter in a relaxed mode for operating that RLP or is now allowed to continue operating that RLP in the relaxed mode.
Examples of switching between different modes according to embodiments are also described. Based on the above criteria (at least one in S1 and one in S2) the UE will switch operation of certain RLP (or combination of RLPs) in one of the two modes and perform the RLP(s) in the new mode. A generic example comprising UE switching between the current operational mode, OM1 and the new operational mode, OM2 is shown in
The method of switching from OM1 to OM2 assuming OM1 and OM2 are normal mode and relaxed mode are explained using few specific examples. In this case the UE in normal mode evaluates one or more criteria in S1 and one or more criteria in S2. The UE is allowed to enter in relaxed mode only when one or more criteria is met in S1 and one or more criteria is met in S2.
The difference between the normal operational mode (e.g. legacy mode) and the relaxed operating mode is that the latter mode is associated with one or more relaxed requirements compared to the corresponding requirements associated with the former mode. The term ‘relaxed requirements’ or ‘more relaxed requirements’ may also be called as less stringent requirement. In one example relaxed measurement period or relaxed evaluation period of the RLP is longer wrt reference period. The reference period is one of the requirements to be met by the UE when performing RLP in normal operational mode. For example, OOS evaluation period for RLM procedure under relaxed mode and normal mode comprising T1′ and T1 time resources respectively; where T1′=K*T1 and K is a scaling factor. As an example, K=4. In another example the absolute value of the measurement accuracy of the RLP related measurement (e.g. L1-RSRP or L1-SINR) can be larger wrt magnitude of reference accuracy level etc. The reference accuracy is one of the requirements to be met by the UE when performing RLP in normal mode. For example, L1-RSRP accuracy for BM procedure under relaxed mode and normal mode comprising ±4 dB and ±2 dB wrt the correct L1-RSRP value, respectively. In a third example, the periodicity for sending the RLP indications (e.g. in-sync indication, out-of-sync indication) to the higher layers can be relaxed. Example of such periodicity is TIndication_interval. In one specific example related to RLM, if the UE is operating RLPs in a relaxed mode, then UE can be required to send RLM indications to the higher layers, such indications are separated by 4×TIndication_interval when operating in relaxed mode compared to every TIndication_interval when operating in normal mode.
For example, the relaxation of the evaluation period can be realized by scaling (e.g. extending) the reference evaluation period with a scaling factor which may depend on several factors such as UE mobility, wake-up-signal (WUS) configuration, DRX configurations etc. The criteria may also interchangeably be called as rules or conditions. Specific examples of switching from the normal mode to the relaxed mode for different RLPs are described below. Example 1 below describes one example of the method that can be specified in a specification for performing RLM in a relaxed mode where the criteria for operating in a relaxed mode is evaluated and determined by the NW node. In this example condition #1 belongs to set S1 and other conditions (conditions #2-7) belong to set S2.
The requirements in this clause apply for each SSB based RLM-RS resource configured for PCell or PSCell, provided that the SSB configured for RLM is actually transmitted within UE active DL BWP during the entire evaluation period specified in clause 8.1.2.2 in TS 38.133 and provided the following conditions are fulfilled:
The requirements defined in clause 8.1.2.2 in TS 38.133 apply for this section except that:
Example 2 below describes one example of the method that can be specified in a specification (e.g. 3GPP TS38.133) for performing RLM in a relaxed mode where the criteria for operating in a relaxed mode is evaluated and determined by the UE. The difference between example 1 and example 2 is that in the latter case, UE is evaluating and determining whether it is operating in low mobility scenario while it was done by the NW node itself in the former example. This determination can be based on one or more configured or pre-defined criteria (e.g. it could depend on Srxlev, Squal, relative changes of Srxlev, Squal, or comparison of Srlev and Squal to different thresholds). In this example conditions #1 and #2 belong to set S1 and other conditions (conditions #3-8) belong to set S2.
The requirements in this clause apply for each SSB based RLM-RS resource configured for PCell or PSCell, provided that the SSB configured for RLM is actually transmitted within UE active DL BWP during the entire evaluation period specified in clause 8.1.2.2 in TS 38.133 and provided the following conditions are fulfilled:
The requirements defined in clause 8.1.2.2 in TS 38.133 apply for this section except that:
Example 3 below describes one example of the method that can be specified in a specification for performing BM in a relaxed mode where the criteria for operating in a relaxed mode is evaluated and determined by the NW node. In this example condition #1 belongs to set S1 and other conditions (conditions #2-3) belong to set S2.
The UE shall assess the downlink radio link quality of a serving cell based on the reference signal in the set
This relaxed link recovery procedures specified in this clause apply provided that:
The requirements defined in clause 8.5.2.2 in TS 38.133 apply for this section except that:
Example 4 below describes one example of the method that can be specified in a specification for performing BM in a relaxed mode where the criteria for operating in a relaxed mode is evaluated and determined by the UE. The difference between example 3 and example 4 is that in the latter case, UE is evaluating and determining whether it is operating in low mobility scenario while it was done by the NW node itself in the former example. This determination can be based on one or more configured or pre-defined criteria (e.g. it could depend on Srxlev, Squal, relative changes of Srxlev, Squal, or comparison of Srlev and Squal to different thresholds). In this example conditions #1 and #2 belong to set S1 and other conditions (conditions #3-4) belong to set S2.
The UE shall assess the downlink radio link quality of a serving cell based on the reference signal in the set
This relaxed link recovery procedures specified in this clause apply provided that:
The requirements defined in clause 8.5.2.2 and in clause 8.1.5.2 in TS 38.133 apply for this section except that:
Example 5 below describes one example of the method that can be specified in a specification for performing BM in a relaxed mode where the criteria for operating in a relaxed mode is evaluated and determined by the UE. Compared to previous examples, it contains more criteria in set S2. In this example conditions #1 and #2 belong to set S1 and other conditions (conditions #3-8) belong to set S2.
The UE shall assess the downlink radio link quality of a serving cell based on the reference signal in the set
This relaxed link recovery procedures specified in this clause apply provided that:
The requirements defined in clause 8.5.2.2 and in clause 8.1.5.2 in TS 38.133 apply for this section except that:
As discussed above, the UE uses the result of the evaluation for operating tasks. In some embodiments, the UE uses the result of the evaluation for operating tasks which comprise one or more of the following:
The present disclosure also describes methods performed by the UE for performing RLPs in a relaxed mode when subset of RLPs meet criteria according to some embodiments. This embodiment is applicable for the scenario when the UE is configured to perform two or more RLPs (e.g. RLM, BM etc) on the same cell (e.g. on SpCell such as PCell) but the UE meets criteria (e.g. one criterion in S1 and one criterion in S2) only for subset of the configured RLPs in the relaxed mode. For example, the UE may meet criteria for performing RLM in relaxed mode but not for BM on the same cell e.g. on SpCell. In another example the UE may meet criteria for performing BM in relaxed mode but not for RLM on the same cell e.g. on SpCell.
For simplicity the RLPs configured on the same cell may be called as conjoint RLPs or conjoint set, associated RLPs, related RLPs etc. Furthermore, the RLPs among the conjoint RLPs meeting criteria for relaxed mode may be called as ‘qualified’ RLPs while those in the conjoint set not meeting the criteria for relaxed mode may be called as ‘unqualified’ RLPs. This embodiment provides rules according to which the UE may further be allowed to perform ‘unqualified’ RLPs in relaxed mode. This may be allowed to enable sufficient UE power saving or when the UE is not expected to be served. For example the UE may be configured (e.g. pre-defined or configured by NW node) with low mobility criterion in S1 for two RLPs (e.g. RLM and BM) but different criterion in S2 e.g. OOS detection related criterion for RLP1 (e.g. RLM) and beam failure indication related criterion for RLP2 (e.g. BM). In this example S1 criterion is met for both RLPs for operating in relaxed mode but S2 criterion is met only for RLP1 (e.g. RLM) and not for RLP2 (e.g. BM). This means the UE can perform RLP1 in relaxed mode (as explained in embodiment #1), whether the UE can also perform RLP2 in relaxed mode, will depend on the rule. The rules can be pre-defined or configured by the network node. The rules are explained with few examples described below.
R=f(R1,R2);
Based on the relation between R1 and R2, the UE can be allowed to perform both RLM and BM in a relaxed mode even if one of the RLPs does not meet the criteria for the relaxation. Assume that only RLP1 (e.g. RLM) meets the criteria for operating in relaxed mode but not RLP2 (e.g. BM). In one example, the UE can be allowed to perform both RLM and BM in relaxed mode when the resources are fully overlapping (as in third example); otherwise the UE is not allowed to perform RLP2 in relaxed mode. As a special case, UE can be allowed to enter the relaxed mode for both RLM and BM in the second example where only some of the resources are overlapping; otherwise the UE is not allowed to perform RLP2 in relaxed mode. In another example, the UE can be allowed to perform both RLPs (e.g. RLM and BM) in relaxed mode if P1 and P2 are the same periodicities or are within certain margin (4th example); otherwise the UE is not allowed to perform RLP2 in relaxed mode. In yet another example, the UE can be allowed to perform both RLM and BM in relaxed mode if P1 is longer than P2 by certain margin (e.g. 40 ms); otherwise the UE is not allowed to perform RLP2 in relaxed mode.
The principle is exemplified for two RLPs where one meets the criteria for entering a relaxed operation mode, but not the other. It shall be noted that the same principle can be applied for any number of RLPs.
The UE may further operate the conjoint RLPs according to the determined modes while meeting the UE requirements for all the RLPs associated with their respective modes. For example, if the UE is operates the RLP1 and RLP2 in a relaxed mode then the UE measures, evaluates and/or report measurement results less frequently and/or over longer period compared to the case when the UE performs those RLPs in the normal mode. The UE may further inform the network node about OM1 and/or OM2 (current/new) operational mode(s) for the conjoint RLPs, e.g. when switching from one mode to another.
Operations of the communication device 100 (implemented using the structure of the block diagram of
In some embodiments, the criteria comprises a first set of criteria that is associated with a scenario in which the communication device is able to perform the RLP according to the first mode of operation. The scenario in which the communication device is able to perform the RLP according to the first mode of operation comprises one or more of a speed of the communication device and a location of the communication device in a cell of a wireless network. The criteria also a second set of criteria that is associated with a condition that impacts performance of the RLP when operating the RLP according to the first mode of operation in some embodiments. The condition that impacts performance of the RLP when operating the RLP according to the first mode of operation comprises one or more of a beam failure detection, an in-sync (IS) detection, an out-of-sync (OOS) detection, a candidate beam detection, and a radio link failure trigger. Additional examples and embodiments of conditions and scenarios associated with the criteria are described herein above.
The method includes obtaining the criteria from a network node via higher layer signaling according to some embodiments. For example, communication device 100 obtains the criteria from one of RAN node 200 or CN node 300, or a combination thereof. In some other embodiments, the communication device is pre-configured with the criteria and the criteria is obtained from a storage device of the communication device. For example, communication device 100 is pre-configured with the criteria and obtains the criteria from memory 105. In some embodiments, memory 105 may comprise SIM device as discussed herein above.
In some embodiments, the method includes obtaining the criteria in response to the communication device one of entering a cell of a wireless network for the first time or performing a cell change in the wireless network. For example, communication device 100 may obtain the criteria in response to communication device 100 one of entering a cell of a wireless network for the first time or performing a cell change in the wireless network. In another embodiment, the method includes obtaining the criteria in response to the communication device switching between Radio Resource Control (RRC) states. In another example, communication device 100 may obtain the criteria in response to communication device 100 switching between RRC states. In yet another embodiment, the method includes obtaining the criteria upon receiving an explicit request from a network node or based on an internal trigger within the communication device. For example, communication device 100 obtains the criteria upon receiving an explicit request from one of RAN node 200 or CN node 300. In another example, communication device 100 obtains the criteria based on an internal trigger within communication device 100.
According to embodiments, the first mode of operation comprises a relaxed mode of operation to perform the RLP and the second mode of operation comprises a normal mode of operation to perform the RLP. In some embodiments, the relaxed mode of operation comprises one or more of a relaxed measurement period that exceeds a normal measurement period of the normal mode of operation, a relaxed reference signal measurement accuracy level that exceeds a reference signal measurement accuracy level of the normal mode of operation, a relaxed periodicity for sending RLP indications that exceeds a normal periodicity for sending RLP indications of the normal mode operation, and/or a relaxed evaluation period that extends the normal evaluation period of the normal mode of operation. Additional examples of relaxed modes of operation and normal modes of operation of an RLP are discussed herein above. In some embodiments, the RLP comprises one of Radio Link Monitoring (RLM) procedure and a Beam Management (BM) procedure. Additional examples of Radio Link Procedures are also discussed herein above.
The method includes obtaining information associated with the communication device operating within a cell of a wireless network according to some embodiments. For example, the communication device 100 may obtain information associated with communication device 100 operation within a cell of a wireless network. Different examples of the information obtained by the communication device are also described herein above.
In some embodiments, the information comprises measurement data obtained by the communication device performing one or more measurements on a signal operating between the communication device and the cell. In this embodiment, the method includes selecting one of the first mode of operation or the second mode of operation to perform the RLP based on the criteria and the measurement data. For example, the communication device 100 obtains measurement data by performing one or more measurements on a signal operating between the communication device and the cell. The communication device 100 then selects one of the first mode of operation or the second mode of operation to perform the RLP based on the criteria and the measurement data.
In some embodiments, first RLP comprises a Radio Link Monitoring (RLM) procedure and the second RLP comprises a Beam Management (BM) procedure. In some embodiments, the criteria comprises a first set of criteria that is associated with a scenario in which the communication device is able to perform the first RLP and the second RLP according to the first mode of operation. The scenario in which the communication device is able to perform the first RLP and the second RLP comprises one or more of a speed of the communication device and a location of the communication device in a cell of a wireless network. In some embodiments, the criteria comprises a second set of criteria that is associated with a condition that impacts performance of the first RLP and the second RLP when operating the first RLP and the second RLP according to the first mode of operation. The condition that impacts performance of the first RLP and the second RLP comprises one or more of a beam failure detection, an in-sync (IS) detection, an out-of-sync (OOS) detection, a candidate beam detection, and a radio link failure trigger.
In one embodiment,
In another embodiment,
In some embodiments, the method includes determining to perform the second RLP further based one or more of information received from a network node, a relation between resources configured for performing the first RLP and the second RLP, and a determination on whether the first RLP is configured as the reference RLP and frequency characteristics of the cell on which the first RLP and the second RLP are performed. Additional examples and embodiments regarding determining to perform the second RLP further based on one or more information received from a network node are also discussed herein above.
Additional example embodiments are discussed below.
Explanations are provided below for various abbreviations/acronyms used in the present disclosure.
Additional explanation is provided below.
Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.
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.
Although the subject matter described herein may be implemented in any appropriate type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wireless network, such as the example wireless network illustrated in
The wireless network may comprise and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio network or other similar type of system. In some embodiments, the wireless network may be configured to operate according to specific standards or other types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particular embodiments of the wireless network may implement communication standards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2nd generation (2G), 3rd generation (3G), fourth generation (4G), or fifth generation (5G) standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.
Network 1306 may comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet data networks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.
Network node 1360 and WD 1310 comprise various components described in more detail below. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections.
As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the wireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and may then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Yet further examples of network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities (MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or MDTs. As another example, a network node may be a virtual network node as described in more detail below. More generally, however, network nodes may represent any suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to enable and/or provide a wireless device with access to the wireless network or to provide some service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network.
In
Similarly, network node 1360 may be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which network node 1360 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeB's. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, network node 1360 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium 1380 for the different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 1362 may be shared by the RATs). Network node 1360 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1360, such as, for example, GSM, wide code division multiplexing access (WCDMA), LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 1360.
Processing circuitry 1370 is configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by a network node. These operations performed by processing circuitry 1370 may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 1370 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.
Processing circuitry 1370 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1360 components, such as device readable medium 1380, network node 1360 functionality. For example, processing circuitry 1370 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 1380 or in memory within processing circuitry 1370. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1370 may include a system on a chip (SOC).
In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1370 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1372 and baseband processing circuitry 1374. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1372 and baseband processing circuitry 1374 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 1372 and baseband processing circuitry 1374 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units.
In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB or other such network device may be performed by processing circuitry 1370 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 1380 or memory within processing circuitry 1370. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 1370 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry 1370 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 1370 alone or to other components of network node 1360, but are enjoyed by network node 1360 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.
Device readable medium 1380 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 processing circuitry 1370. Device readable medium 1380 may store any suitable instructions, data or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 1370 and, utilized by network node 1360. Device readable medium 1380 may be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry 1370 and/or any data received via interface 1390. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1370 and device readable medium 1380 may be considered to be integrated.
Interface 1390 is used in the wired or wireless communication of signalling and/or data between network node 1360, network 1306, and/or WDs 1310. As illustrated, interface 1390 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 1394 to send and receive data, for example to and from network 1306 over a wired connection. Interface 1390 also includes radio front end circuitry 1392 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 1362. Radio front end circuitry 1392 comprises filters 1398 and amplifiers 1396. Radio front end circuitry 1392 may be connected to antenna 1362 and processing circuitry 1370. Radio front end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1362 and processing circuitry 1370. Radio front end circuitry 1392 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 1392 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1398 and/or amplifiers 1396. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 1362. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 1362 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 1392. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 1370. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.
In certain alternative embodiments, network node 1360 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 1392, instead, processing circuitry 1370 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 1362 without separate radio front end circuitry 1392. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 1372 may be considered a part of interface 1390. In still other embodiments, interface 1390 may include one or more ports or terminals 1394, radio front end circuitry 1392, and RF transceiver circuitry 1372, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface 1390 may communicate with baseband processing circuitry 1374, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).
Antenna 1362 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna 1362 may be coupled to radio front end circuitry 1392 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna 1362 may comprise one or more omni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to transmit/receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. An omni-directional antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals in any direction, a sector antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals from devices within a particular area, and a panel antenna may be a line of sight antenna used to transmit/receive radio signals in a relatively straight line. In some instances, the use of more than one antenna may be referred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna 1362 may be separate from network node 1360 and may be connectable to network node 1360 through an interface or port.
Antenna 1362, interface 1390, and/or processing circuitry 1370 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 1362, interface 1390, and/or processing circuitry 1370 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment.
Power circuitry 1387 may comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node 1360 with power for performing the functionality described herein. Power circuitry 1387 may receive power from power source 1386. Power source 1386 and/or power circuitry 1387 may be configured to provide power to the various components of network node 1360 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source 1386 may either be included in, or external to, power circuitry 1387 and/or network node 1360. For example, network node 1360 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry 1387. As a further example, power source 1386 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry 1387. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used.
Alternative embodiments of network node 1360 may include additional components beyond those shown in
As used herein, wireless device (WD) refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, the term WD may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE). Communicating wirelessly may involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air. In some embodiments, a WD may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a WD may be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the network. Examples of a WD include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, a gaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback appliance, a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a tablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE). a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, etc. A WD may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and may in this case be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD may represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another WD and/or a network node. The WD may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the WD may be a UE implementing the 3GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, a WD may represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation. A WD as described above may represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.
As illustrated, wireless device 1310 includes antenna 1311, interface 1314, processing circuitry 1320, device readable medium 1330, user interface equipment 1332, auxiliary equipment 1334, power source 1336 and power circuitry 1337. WD 1310 may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by WD 1310, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or set of chips as other components within WD 1310.
Antenna 1311 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface 1314. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna 1311 may be separate from WD 1310 and be connectable to WD 1310 through an interface or port. Antenna 1311, interface 1314, and/or processing circuitry 1320 may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a network node and/or another WD. In some embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 1311 may be considered an interface.
As illustrated, interface 1314 comprises radio front end circuitry 1312 and antenna 1311. Radio front end circuitry 1312 comprise one or more filters 1318 and amplifiers 1316. Radio front end circuitry 1312 is connected to antenna 1311 and processing circuitry 1320, and is configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1311 and processing circuitry 1320. Radio front end circuitry 1312 may be coupled to or a part of antenna 1311. In some embodiments, WD 1310 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 1312; rather, processing circuitry 1320 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 1311. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1322 may be considered a part of interface 1314. Radio front end circuitry 1312 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 1312 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1318 and/or amplifiers 1316. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 1311. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 1311 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 1312. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 1320. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.
Processing circuitry 1320 may comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other WD 1310 components, such as device readable medium 1330, WD 1310 functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry 1320 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 1330 or in memory within processing circuitry 1320 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.
As illustrated, processing circuitry 1320 includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry 1322, baseband processing circuitry 1324, and application processing circuitry 1326. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry 1320 of WD 1310 may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 1322, baseband processing circuitry 1324, and application processing circuitry 1326 may be on separate chips or sets of chips. In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry 1324 and application processing circuitry 1326 may be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry 1322 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1322 and baseband processing circuitry 1324 may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processing circuitry 1326 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1322, baseband processing circuitry 1324, and application processing circuitry 1326 may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 1322 may be a part of interface 1314. RF transceiver circuitry 1322 may condition RF signals for processing circuitry 1320.
In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by a WD may be provided by processing circuitry 1320 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 1330, which in certain embodiments may be a computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 1320 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry 1320 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 1320 alone or to other components of WD 1310, but are enjoyed by WD 1310 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.
Processing circuitry 1320 may be configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by a WD. These operations, as performed by processing circuitry 1320, may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 1320 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by WD 1310, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.
Device readable medium 1330 may be operable to store a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 1320. Device readable medium 1330 may include computer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that may be used by processing circuitry 1320. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 1320 and device readable medium 1330 may be considered to be integrated.
User interface equipment 1332 may provide components that allow for a human user to interact with WD 1310. Such interaction may be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment 1332 may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the user to provide input to WD 1310. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface equipment 1332 installed in WD 1310. For example, if WD 1310 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if WD 1310 is a smart meter, the interaction may be through a screen that provides usage (e.g., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected). User interface equipment 1332 may include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interface equipment 1332 is configured to allow input of information into WD 1310, and is connected to processing circuitry 1320 to allow processing circuitry 1320 to process the input information. User interface equipment 1332 may include, for example, a microphone, a proximity or other sensor, keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuitry. User interface equipment 1332 is also configured to allow output of information from WD 1310, and to allow processing circuitry 1320 to output information from WD 1310. User interface equipment 1332 may include, for example, a speaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, of user interface equipment 1332, WD 1310 may communicate with end users and/or the wireless network, and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein.
Auxiliary equipment 1334 is operable to provide more specific functionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This may comprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliary equipment 1334 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.
Power source 1336 may, in some embodiments, be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or power cells, may also be used. WD 1310 may further comprise power circuitry 1337 for delivering power from power source 1336 to the various parts of WD 1310 which need power from power source 1336 to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry 1337 may in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry 1337 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case WD 1310 may be connectable to the external power source (such as an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power circuitry 1337 may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source 1336. This may be, for example, for the charging of power source 1336. Power circuitry 1337 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source 1336 to make the power suitable for the respective components of WD 1310 to which power is supplied.
In
In
In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface 1405 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, output device, or input and output device. UE 1400 may be configured to use an output device via input/output interface 1405. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from UE 1400. The output device may be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. UE 1400 may be configured to use an input device via input/output interface 1405 to allow a user to capture information into UE 1400. The input device may include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another like sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.
In
RAM 1417 may be configured to interface via bus 1402 to processing circuitry 1401 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as the operating system, application programs, and device drivers. ROM 1419 may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuitry 1401. For example, ROM 1419 may be configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basic input and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory. Storage medium 1421 may be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, or flash drives. In one example, storage medium 1421 may be configured to include operating system 1423, application program 1425 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application, and data file 1427. Storage medium 1421 may store, for use by UE 1400, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.
Storage medium 1421 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppy disk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 1421 may allow UE 1400 to access computer-executable instructions, application programs or the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system may be tangibly embodied in storage medium 1421, which may comprise a device readable medium.
In
In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of communication subsystem 1431 may include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. For example, communication subsystem 1431 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. Network 1443b may encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network 1443b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-field network. Power source 1413 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE 1400.
The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of UE 1400 or partitioned across multiple components of UE 1400. Further, the features, benefits, and/or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example, communication subsystem 1431 may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Further, processing circuitry 1401 may be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus 1402. In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry 1401 perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any of such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry 1401 and communication subsystem 1431. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.
In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 1500 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes 1530. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node), then the network node may be entirely virtualized.
The functions may be implemented by one or more applications 1520 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Applications 1520 are run in virtualization environment 1500 which provides hardware 1530 comprising processing circuitry 1560 and memory 1590. Memory 1590 contains instructions 1595 executable by processing circuitry 1560 whereby application 1520 is operative to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.
Virtualization environment 1500, comprises general-purpose or special-purpose network hardware devices 1530 comprising a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry 1560, which may be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitry including digital or analog hardware components or special purpose processors. Each hardware device may comprise memory 1590-1 which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 1595 or software executed by processing circuitry 1560. Each hardware device may comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 1570, also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interface 1580. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media 1590-2 having stored therein software 1595 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry 1560. Software 1595 may include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 1550 (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines 1540 as well as software allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein.
Virtual machines 1540 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1550 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual appliance 1520 may be implemented on one or more of virtual machines 1540, and the implementations may be made in different ways.
During operation, processing circuitry 1560 executes software 1595 to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 1550, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer 1550 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine 1540.
As shown in
Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.
In the context of NFV, virtual machine 1540 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 virtual machines 1540, and that part of hardware 1530 that executes that virtual machine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and/or hardware shared by that virtual machine with others of the virtual machines 1540, forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE).
Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more virtual machines 1540 on top of hardware networking infrastructure 1530 and corresponds to application 1520 in
In some embodiments, one or more radio units 15200 that each include one or more transmitters 15220 and one or more receivers 15210 may be coupled to one or more antennas 15225. Radio units 15200 may communicate directly with hardware nodes 1530 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 signalling can be effected with the use of control system 15230 which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes 1530 and radio units 15200.
With reference to
Telecommunication network 1610 is itself connected to host computer 1630, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. Host computer 1630 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Connections 1621 and 1622 between telecommunication network 1610 and host computer 1630 may extend directly from core network 1614 to host computer 1630 or may go via an optional intermediate network 1620. Intermediate network 1620 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network 1620, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network 1620 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).
The communication system of
Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE, base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to
Communication system 1700 further includes base station 1720 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 1725 enabling it to communicate with host computer 1710 and with UE 1730. Hardware 1725 may include communication interface 1726 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 1700, as well as radio interface 1727 for setting up and maintaining at least wireless connection 1770 with UE 1730 located in a coverage area (not shown in
Communication system 1700 further includes UE 1730 already referred to. Its hardware 1735 may include radio interface 1737 configured to set up and maintain wireless connection 1770 with a base station serving a coverage area in which UE 1730 is currently located. Hardware 1735 of UE 1730 further includes processing circuitry 1738, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. UE 1730 further comprises software 1731, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1730 and executable by processing circuitry 1738. Software 1731 includes client application 1732. Client application 1732 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1730, with the support of host computer 1710. In host computer 1710, an executing host application 1712 may communicate with the executing client application 1732 via OTT connection 1750 terminating at UE 1730 and host computer 1710. In providing the service to the user, client application 1732 may receive request data from host application 1712 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 1750 may transfer both the request data and the user data. Client application 1732 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.
It is noted that host computer 1710, base station 1720 and UE 1730 illustrated in
In
Wireless connection 1770 between UE 1730 and base station 1720 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments may improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE 1730 using OTT connection 1750, in which wireless connection 1770 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the random access speed and/or reduce random access failure rates and thereby provide benefits such as faster and/or more reliable random access.
A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 1750 between host computer 1710 and UE 1730, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 1750 may be implemented in software 1711 and hardware 1715 of host computer 1710 or in software 1731 and hardware 1735 of UE 1730, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which OTT connection 1750 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 1711, 1731 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 1750 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station 1720, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to base station 1720. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating host computer 1710's measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that software 1711 and 1731 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection 1750 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.
Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unit to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.
The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may include, for example, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are described herein.
Further definitions and embodiments are discussed below.
In the above-description of various embodiments of present inventive concepts, it is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of present inventive concepts. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which present inventive concepts belong. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
When an element is referred to as being “connected”, “coupled”, “responsive”, or variants thereof to another element, it can be directly connected, coupled, or responsive to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly connected”, “directly coupled”, “directly responsive”, or variants thereof to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Furthermore, “coupled”, “connected”, “responsive”, or variants thereof as used herein may include wirelessly coupled, connected, or responsive. As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity. The term “and/or” (abbreviated “/”) includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.
It will be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements/operations, these elements/operations should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element/operation from another element/operation. Thus a first element/operation in some embodiments could be termed a second element/operation in other embodiments without departing from the teachings of present inventive concepts. The same reference numerals or the same reference designators denote the same or similar elements throughout the specification.
As used herein, the terms “comprise”, “comprising”, “comprises”, “include”, “including”, “includes”, “have”, “has”, “having”, or variants thereof are open-ended, and include one or more stated features, integers, elements, steps, components or functions but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, elements, steps, components, functions or groups thereof. Furthermore, as used herein, the common abbreviation “e.g.”, which derives from the Latin phrase “exempli gratia,” may be used to introduce or specify a general example or examples of a previously mentioned item, and is not intended to be limiting of such item. The common abbreviation “i.e.”, which derives from the Latin phrase “id est,” may be used to specify a particular item from a more general recitation.
Example embodiments are described herein with reference to block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of computer-implemented methods, apparatus (systems and/or devices) and/or computer program products. It is understood that a block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer program instructions that are performed by one or more computer circuits. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor circuit of a general purpose computer circuit, special purpose computer circuit, and/or other programmable data processing circuit to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, transform and control transistors, values stored in memory locations, and other hardware components within such circuitry to implement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block or blocks, and thereby create means (functionality) and/or structure for implementing the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block(s).
These computer program instructions may also be stored in a tangible computer-readable medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block or blocks. Accordingly, embodiments of present inventive concepts may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) that runs on a processor such as a digital signal processor, which may collectively be referred to as “circuitry,” “a module” or variants thereof.
It should also be noted that in some alternate implementations, the functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the flowcharts. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved. Moreover, the functionality of a given block of the flowcharts and/or block diagrams may be separated into multiple blocks and/or the functionality of two or more blocks of the flowcharts and/or block diagrams may be at least partially integrated. Finally, other blocks may be added/inserted between the blocks that are illustrated, and/or blocks/operations may be omitted without departing from the scope of inventive concepts. Moreover, although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths to show a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.
Many variations and modifications can be made to the embodiments without substantially departing from the principles of the present inventive concepts. All such variations and modifications are intended to be included herein within the scope of present inventive concepts. Accordingly, the above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the examples of embodiments are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall within the spirit and scope of present inventive concepts. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of present inventive concepts are to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the present disclosure including the examples of embodiments and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/EP2021/079420 | 10/22/2021 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
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63104177 | Oct 2020 | US |