Quality of Experience Based Handover

Abstract

A method can include communicating, by a wireless device with a first base station, first packets of a service. The method can also include transmitting, by the wireless device to the first base station, a measurement report comprising a received signal strength value. The method can further include receiving, by the wireless device from the first base station, a handover command for a handover to a second base station. The handover can be determined after the transmission of the measurement report and receiving quality-of-experience (QoE) information of the service from the second base station. The method can additionally include communicating, by the wireless device with the second base station, second packets of the service.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Examples of several of the various embodiments of the present disclosure are described herein with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B illustrate example mobile communication networks in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented.

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B respectively illustrate a New Radio (NR) user plane and control plane protocol stack.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of services provided between protocol layers of the NR user plane protocol stack of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example downlink data flow through the NR user plane protocol stack of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example format of a MAC subheader in a MAC PDU.

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B respectively illustrate a mapping between logical channels, transport channels, and physical channels for the downlink and uplink.

FIG. 6 is an example diagram showing RRC state transitions of a UE.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example configuration of an NR frame into which OFDM symbols are grouped.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example configuration of a slot in the time and frequency domain for an NR carrier.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of bandwidth adaptation using three configured BWPs for an NR carrier.

FIG. 10A illustrates three carrier aggregation configurations with two component carriers.

FIG. 10B illustrates an example of how aggregated cells may be configured into one or more PUCCH groups.

FIG. 11A illustrates an example of an SS/PBCH block structure and location.

FIG. 11B illustrates an example of CSI-RSs that are mapped in the time and frequency domains.

FIG. 12A and FIG. 12B respectively illustrate examples of three downlink and uplink beam management procedures.

FIG. 13A, FIG. 13B, and FIG. 13C respectively illustrate a four-step contention-based random access procedure, a two-step contention-free random access procedure, and another two-step random access procedure.

FIG. 14A illustrates an example of CORESET configurations for a bandwidth part.

FIG. 14B illustrates an example of a CCE-to-REG mapping for DCI transmission on a CORESET and PDCCH processing.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a wireless device in communication with a base station.

FIG. 16A, FIG. 16B, FIG. 16C, and FIG. 16D illustrate example structures for uplink and downlink transmission.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example embodiment of a present disclosure.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example embodiment of a present disclosure.

FIG. 19A and FIG. 19B, respectively, illustrate an example embodiment of a present disclosure.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example embodiment of a present disclosure.

FIG. 21 illustrates an example embodiment of a present disclosure.

FIG. 22 illustrates an example embodiment of a present disclosure.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example embodiment of a present disclosure.

FIG. 24 illustrates an example embodiment of a present disclosure.

FIG. 25 illustrates an example embodiment of a present disclosure.

FIG. 26A and FIG. 26B, respectively, illustrate an example embodiment of a present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the present disclosure, various embodiments are presented as examples of how the disclosed techniques may be implemented and/or how the disclosed techniques may be practiced in environments and scenarios. It will be apparent to persons skilled in the relevant art that various changes in form and detail can be made therein without departing from the scope. In fact, after reading the description, it will be apparent to one skilled in the relevant art how to implement alternative embodiments. The present embodiments should not be limited by any of the described exemplary embodiments. The embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. Limitations, features, and/or elements from the disclosed example embodiments may be combined to create further embodiments within the scope of the disclosure. Any figures which highlight the functionality and advantages, are presented for example purposes only. The disclosed architecture is sufficiently flexible and configurable, such that it may be utilized in ways other than that shown. For example, the actions listed in any flowchart may be re-ordered or only optionally used in some embodiments.

Embodiments may be configured to operate as needed. The disclosed mechanism may be performed when certain criteria are met, for example, in a wireless device, a base station, a radio environment, a network, a combination of the above, and/or the like. Example criteria may be based, at least in part, on for example, wireless device or network node configurations, traffic load, initial system set up, packet sizes, traffic characteristics, a combination of the above, and/or the like. When the one or more criteria are met, various example embodiments may be applied. Therefore, it may be possible to implement example embodiments that selectively implement disclosed protocols.

A base station may communicate with a mix of wireless devices. Wireless devices and/or base stations may support multiple technologies, and/or multiple releases of the same technology. Wireless devices may have some specific capability(ies) depending on wireless device category and/or capability(ies). When this disclosure refers to a base station communicating with a plurality of wireless devices, this disclosure may refer to a subset of the total wireless devices in a coverage area. This disclosure may refer to, for example, a plurality of wireless devices of a given LTE or 5G release with a given capability and in a given sector of the base station. The plurality of wireless devices in this disclosure may refer to a selected plurality of wireless devices, and/or a subset of total wireless devices in a coverage area which perform according to disclosed methods, and/or the like. There may be a plurality of base stations or a plurality of wireless devices in a coverage area that may not comply with the disclosed methods, for example, those wireless devices or base stations may perform based on older releases of LTE or 5G technology.

In this disclosure, “a” and “an” and similar phrases are to be interpreted as “at least one” and “one or more.” Similarly, any term that ends with the suffix “(s)” is to be interpreted as “at least one” and “one or more.” In this disclosure, the term “may” is to be interpreted as “may, for example.” In other words, the term “may” is indicative that the phrase following the term “may” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed by one or more of the various embodiments. The terms “comprises” and “consists of”, as used herein, enumerate one or more components of the element being described. The term “comprises” is interchangeable with “includes” and does not exclude unenumerated components from being included in the element being described. By contrast, “consists of” provides a complete enumeration of the one or more components of the element being described. The term “based on”, as used herein, should be interpreted as “based at least in part on” rather than, for example, “based solely on”. The term “and/or” as used herein represents any possible combination of enumerated elements. For example, “A, B, and/or C” may represent A; B; C; A and B; A and C; B and C; or A, B, and C.

If A and B are sets and every element of A is an element of B, A is called a subset of B. In this specification, only non-empty sets and subsets are considered. For example, possible subsets of B={cell1, cell2} are: {cell1}, {cell2}, and {cell1, cell2}. The phrase “based on” (or equally “based at least on”) is indicative that the phrase following the term “based on” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed to one or more of the various embodiments. The phrase “in response to” (or equally “in response at least to”) is indicative that the phrase following the phrase “in response to” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed to one or more of the various embodiments. The phrase “depending on” (or equally “depending at least to”) is indicative that the phrase following the phrase “depending on” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed to one or more of the various embodiments. The phrase “employing/using” (or equally “employing/using at least”) is indicative that the phrase following the phrase “employing/using” is an example of one of a multitude of suitable possibilities that may, or may not, be employed to one or more of the various embodiments.

The term configured may relate to the capacity of a device whether the device is in an operational or non-operational state. Configured may refer to specific settings in a device that affect the operational characteristics of the device whether the device is in an operational or non-operational state. In other words, the hardware, software, firmware, registers, memory values, and/or the like may be “configured” within a device, whether the device is in an operational or nonoperational state, to provide the device with specific characteristics. Terms such as “a control message to cause in a device” may mean that a control message has parameters that may be used to configure specific characteristics or may be used to implement certain actions in the device, whether the device is in an operational or non-operational state.

In this disclosure, parameters (or equally called, fields, or Information elements: IEs) may comprise one or more information objects, and an information object may comprise one or more other objects. For example, if parameter (IE) N comprises parameter (IE) M, and parameter (IE) M comprises parameter (IE) K, and parameter (IE) K comprises parameter (information element) J. Then, for example, N comprises K, and N comprises J. In an example embodiment, when one or more messages comprise a plurality of parameters, it implies that a parameter in the plurality of parameters is in at least one of the one or more messages, but does not have to be in each of the one or more messages.

Many features presented are described as being optional through the use of “may” or the use of parentheses. For the sake of brevity and legibility, the present disclosure does not explicitly recite each and every permutation that may be obtained by choosing from the set of optional features. The present disclosure is to be interpreted as explicitly disclosing all such permutations. For example, a system described as having three optional features may be embodied in seven ways, namely with just one of the three possible features, with any two of the three possible features or with three of the three possible features.

Many of the elements described in the disclosed embodiments may be implemented as modules. A module is defined here as an element that performs a defined function and has a defined interface to other elements. The modules described in this disclosure may be implemented in hardware, software in combination with hardware, firmware, wetware (e.g. hardware with a biological element) or a combination thereof, which may be behaviorally equivalent. For example, modules may be implemented as a software routine written in a computer language configured to be executed by a hardware machine (such as C, C++, Fortran, Java, Basic, Matlab or the like) or a modeling/simulation program such as Simulink, Stateflow, GNU Octave, or LabVIEWMathScript. It may be possible to implement modules using physical hardware that incorporates discrete or programmable analog, digital and/or quantum hardware. Examples of programmable hardware comprise: computers, microcontrollers, microprocessors, application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs); field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs); and complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs). Computers, microcontrollers and microprocessors are programmed using languages such as assembly, C, C++ or the like. FPGAs, ASICs and CPLDs are often programmed using hardware description languages (HDL) such as VHSIC hardware description language (VHDL) or Verilog that configure connections between internal hardware modules with lesser functionality on a programmable device. The mentioned technologies are often used in combination to achieve the result of a functional module.

FIG. 1A illustrates an example of a mobile communication network 100 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. The mobile communication network 100 may be, for example, a public land mobile network (PLMN) run by a network operator. As illustrated in FIG. 1A, the mobile communication network 100 includes a core network (CN) 102, a radio access network (RAN) 104, and a wireless device 106.

The CN 102 may provide the wireless device 106 with an interface to one or more data networks (DNs), such as public DNS (e.g., the Internet), private DNs, and/or intra-operator DNs. As part of the interface functionality, the CN 102 may set up end-to-end connections between the wireless device 106 and the one or more DNs, authenticate the wireless device 106, and provide charging functionality.

The RAN 104 may connect the CN 102 to the wireless device 106 through radio communications over an air interface. As part of the radio communications, the RAN 104 may provide scheduling, radio resource management, and retransmission protocols. The communication direction from the RAN 104 to the wireless device 106 over the air interface is known as the downlink and the communication direction from the wireless device 106 to the RAN 104 over the air interface is known as the uplink. Downlink transmissions may be separated from uplink transmissions using frequency division duplexing (FDD), time-division duplexing (TDD), and/or some combination of the two duplexing techniques.

The term wireless device may be used throughout this disclosure to refer to and encompass any mobile device or fixed (non-mobile) device for which wireless communication is needed or usable. For example, a wireless device may be a telephone, smart phone, tablet, computer, laptop, sensor, meter, wearable device, Internet of Things (IoT) device, vehicle roadside unit (RSU), relay node, automobile, and/or any combination thereof. The term wireless device encompasses other terminology, including user equipment (UE), user terminal (UT), access terminal (AT), mobile station, handset, wireless transmit and receive unit (WTRU), and/or wireless communication device.

The RAN 104 may include one or more base stations (not shown). The term base station may be used throughout this disclosure to refer to and encompass a Node B (associated with UMTS and/or 3G standards), an Evolved Node B (eNB, associated with E-UTRA and/or 4G standards), a remote radio head (RRH), a baseband processing unit coupled to one or more RRHs, a repeater node or relay node used to extend the coverage area of a donor node, a Next Generation Evolved Node B (ng-eNB), a Generation Node B (gNB, associated with NR and/or 5G standards), an access point (AP, associated with, for example, Wi-Fi or any other suitable wireless communication standard), and/or any combination thereof. A base station may comprise at least one gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) and at least one a gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU).

A base station included in the RAN 104 may include one or more sets of antennas for communicating with the wireless device 106 over the air interface. For example, one or more of the base stations may include three sets of antennas to respectively control three cells (or sectors). The size of a cell may be determined by a range at which a receiver (e.g., a base station receiver) can successfully receive the transmissions from a transmitter (e.g., a wireless device transmitter) operating in the cell. Together, the cells of the base stations may provide radio coverage to the wireless device 106 over a wide geographic area to support wireless device mobility.

In addition to three-sector sites, other implementations of base stations are possible. For example, one or more of the base stations in the RAN 104 may be implemented as a sectored site with more or less than three sectors. One or more of the base stations in the RAN 104 may be implemented as an access point, as a baseband processing unit coupled to several remote radio heads (RRHs), and/or as a repeater or relay node used to extend the coverage area of a donor node. A baseband processing unit coupled to RRHs may be part of a centralized or cloud RAN architecture, where the baseband processing unit may be either centralized in a pool of baseband processing units or virtualized. A repeater node may amplify and rebroadcast a radio signal received from a donor node. A relay node may perform the same/similar functions as a repeater node but may decode the radio signal received from the donor node to remove noise before amplifying and rebroadcasting the radio signal.

The RAN 104 may be deployed as a homogenous network of macrocell base stations that have similar antenna patterns and similar high-level transmit powers. The RAN 104 may be deployed as a heterogeneous network. In heterogeneous networks, small cell base stations may be used to provide small coverage areas, for example, coverage areas that overlap with the comparatively larger coverage areas provided by macrocell base stations. The small coverage areas may be provided in areas with high data traffic (or so-called “hotspots”) or in areas with weak macrocell coverage. Examples of small cell base stations include, in order of decreasing coverage area, microcell base stations, picocell base stations, and femtocell base stations or home base stations.

The Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) was formed in 1998 to provide global standardization of specifications for mobile communication networks similar to the mobile communication network 100 in FIG. 1A. To date, 3GPP has produced specifications for three generations of mobile networks: a third generation (3G) network known as Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), a fourth generation (4G) network known as Long-Term Evolution (LTE), and a fifth generation (5G) network known as 5G System (5GS). Embodiments of the present disclosure are described with reference to the RAN of a 3GPP 5G network, referred to as next-generation RAN (NG-RAN). Embodiments may be applicable to RANs of other mobile communication networks, such as the RAN 104 in FIG. 1A, the RANs of earlier 3G and 4G networks, and those of future networks yet to be specified (e.g., a 3GPP 6G network). NG-RAN implements 5G radio access technology known as New Radio (NR) and may be provisioned to implement 4G radio access technology or other radio access technologies, including non-3GPP radio access technologies.

FIG. 1B illustrates another example mobile communication network 150 in which embodiments of the present disclosure may be implemented. Mobile communication network 150 may be, for example, a PLMN run by a network operator. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, mobile communication network 150 includes a 5G core network (5G-CN) 152, an NG-RAN 154, and UEs 156A and 156B (collectively UEs 156). These components may be implemented and operate in the same or similar manner as corresponding components described with respect to FIG. 1A.

The 5G-CN 152 provides the UEs 156 with an interface to one or more DNs, such as public DNS (e.g., the Internet), private DNs, and/or intra-operator DNs. As part of the interface functionality, the 5G-CN 152 may set up end-to-end connections between the UEs 156 and the one or more DNs, authenticate the UEs 156, and provide charging functionality. Compared to the CN of a 3GPP 4G network, the basis of the 5G-CN 152 may be a service-based architecture. This means that the architecture of the nodes making up the 5G-CN 152 may be defined as network functions that offer services via interfaces to other network functions. The network functions of the 5G-CN 152 may be implemented in several ways, including as network elements on dedicated or shared hardware, as software instances running on dedicated or shared hardware, or as virtualized functions instantiated on a platform (e.g., a cloud-based platform).

As illustrated in FIG. 1B, the 5G-CN 152 includes an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) 158A and a User Plane Function (UPF) 158B, which are shown as one component AMF/UPF 158 in FIG. 1B for case of illustration. The UPF 158B may serve as a gateway between the NG-RAN 154 and the one or more DNs. The UPF 158B may perform functions such as packet routing and forwarding, packet inspection and user plane policy rule enforcement, traffic usage reporting, uplink classification to support routing of traffic flows to the one or more DNs, quality of service (QOS) handling for the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, uplink/downlink rate enforcement, and uplink traffic verification), downlink packet buffering, and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF 158B may serve as an anchor point for intra-/inter-Radio Access Technology (RAT) mobility, an external protocol (or packet) data unit (PDU) session point of interconnect to the one or more DNs, and/or a branching point to support a multi-homed PDU session. The UEs 156 may be configured to receive services through a PDU session, which is a logical connection between a UE and a DN.

The AMF 158A may perform functions such as Non-Access Stratum (NAS) signaling termination, NAS signaling security, Access Stratum (AS) security control, inter-CN node signaling for mobility between 3GPP access networks, idle mode UE reachability (e.g., control and execution of paging retransmission), registration area management, intra-system and inter-system mobility support, access authentication, access authorization including checking of roaming rights, mobility management control (subscription and policies), network slicing support, and/or session management function (SMF) selection. NAS may refer to the functionality operating between a CN and a UE, and AS may refer to the functionality operating between the UE and a RAN.

The 5G-CN 152 may include one or more additional network functions that are not shown in FIG. 1B for the sake of clarity. For example, the 5G-CN 152 may include one or more of a Session Management Function (SMF), an NR Repository Function (NRF), a Policy Control Function (PCF), a Network Exposure Function (NEF), a Unified Data Management (UDM), an Application Function (AF), and/or an Authentication Server Function (AUSF).

The NG-RAN 154 may connect the 5G-CN 152 to the UEs 156 through radio communications over the air interface. The NG-RAN 154 may include one or more gNBs, illustrated as gNB 160A and gNB 160B (collectively gNBs 160) and/or one or more ng-eNBs, illustrated as ng-eNB 162A and ng-eNB 162B (collectively ng-eNBs 162). The gNBs 160 and ng-eNBs 162 may be more generically referred to as base stations. The gNBs 160 and ng-eNBs 162 may include one or more sets of antennas for communicating with the UEs 156 over an air interface. For example, one or more of the gNBs 160 and/or one or more of the ng-eNBs 162 may include three sets of antennas to respectively control three cells (or sectors). Together, the cells of the gNBs 160 and the ng-eNBs 162 may provide radio coverage to the UEs 156 over a wide geographic area to support UE mobility.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the gNBs 160 and/or the ng-eNBs 162 may be connected to the 5G-CN 152 by means of an NG interface and to other base stations by an Xn interface. The NG and Xn interfaces may be established using direct physical connections and/or indirect connections over an underlying transport network, such as an internet protocol (IP) transport network. The gNBs 160 and/or the ng-eNBs 162 may be connected to the UEs 156 by means of a Uu interface. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1B, gNB 160A may be connected to the UE 156A by means of a Uu interface. The NG, Xn, and Uu interfaces are associated with a protocol stack. The protocol stacks associated with the interfaces may be used by the network elements in FIG. 1B to exchange data and signaling messages and may include two planes: a user plane and a control plane. The user plane may handle data of interest to a user. The control plane may handle signaling messages of interest to the network elements.

The gNBs 160 and/or the ng-eNBs 162 may be connected to one or more AMF/UPF functions of the 5G-CN 152, such as the AMF/UPF 158, by means of one or more NG interfaces. For example, the gNB 160A may be connected to the UPF 158B of the AMF/UPF 158 by means of an NG-User plane (NG-U) interface. The NG-U interface may provide delivery (e.g., non-guaranteed delivery) of user plane PDUs between the gNB 160A and the UPF 158B. The gNB 160A may be connected to the AMF 158A by means of an NG-Control plane (NG-C) interface. The NG-C interface may provide, for example, NG interface management, UE context management, UE mobility management, transport of NAS messages, paging, PDU session management, and configuration transfer and/or warning message transmission.

The gNBs 160 may provide NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UEs 156 over the Uu interface. For example, the gNB 160A may provide NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations toward the UE 156A over a Uu interface associated with a first protocol stack. The ng-eNBs 162 may provide Evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UEs 156 over a Uu interface, where E-UTRA refers to the 3GPP 4G radio-access technology. For example, the ng-eNB 162B may provide E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE 156B over a Uu interface associated with a second protocol stack.

The 5G-CN 152 was described as being configured to handle NR and 4G radio accesses. It will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art that it may be possible for NR to connect to a 4G core network in a mode known as “non-standalone operation.” In non-standalone operation, a 4G core network is used to provide (or at least support) control-plane functionality (e.g., initial access, mobility, and paging). Although only one AMF/UPF 158 is shown in FIG. 1B, one gNB or ng-eNB may be connected to multiple AMF/UPF nodes to provide redundancy and/or to load share across the multiple AMF/UPF nodes.

As discussed, an interface (e.g., Uu, Xn, and NG interfaces) between the network elements in FIG. 1B may be associated with a protocol stack that the network elements use to exchange data and signaling messages. A protocol stack may include two planes: a user plane and a control plane. The user plane may handle data of interest to a user, and the control plane may handle signaling messages of interest to the network elements.

FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B respectively illustrate examples of NR user plane and NR control plane protocol stacks for the Uu interface that lies between a UE 210 and a gNB 220. The protocol stacks illustrated in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B may be the same or similar to those used for the Uu interface between, for example, the UE 156A and the gNB 160A shown in FIG. 1B.

FIG. 2A illustrates a NR user plane protocol stack comprising five layers implemented in the UE 210 and the gNB 220. At the bottom of the protocol stack, physical layers (PHYs) 211 and 221 may provide transport services to the higher layers of the protocol stack and may correspond to layer 1 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. The next four protocols above PHYs 211 and 221 comprise media access control layers (MACs) 212 and 222, radio link control layers (RLCs) 213 and 223, packet data convergence protocol layers (PDCPs) 214 and 224, and service data application protocol layers (SDAPs) 215 and 225. Together, these four protocols may make up layer 2, or the data link layer, of the OSI model.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of services provided between protocol layers of the NR user plane protocol stack. Starting from the top of FIG. 2A and FIG. 3, the SDAPs 215 and 225 may perform QoS flow handling. The UE 210 may receive services through a PDU session, which may be a logical connection between the UE 210 and a DN. The PDU session may have one or more QoS flows. A UPF of a CN (e.g., the UPF 158B) may map IP packets to the one or more QOS flows of the PDU session based on QoS requirements (e.g., in terms of delay, data rate, and/or error rate). The SDAPs 215 and 225 may perform mapping/de-mapping between the one or more QoS flows and one or more data radio bearers. The mapping/de-mapping between the QoS flows and the data radio bearers may be determined by the SDAP 225 at the gNB 220. The SDAP 215 at the UE 210 may be informed of the mapping between the QoS flows and the data radio bearers through reflective mapping or control signaling received from the gNB 220. For reflective mapping, the SDAP 225 at the gNB 220 may mark the downlink packets with a QoS flow indicator (QFI), which may be observed by the SDAP 215 at the UE 210 to determine the mapping/de-mapping between the QoS flows and the data radio bearers.

The PDCPs 214 and 224 may perform header compression/decompression to reduce the amount of data that needs to be transmitted over the air interface, ciphering/deciphering to prevent unauthorized decoding of data transmitted over the air interface, and integrity protection (to ensure control messages originate from intended sources. The PDCPs 214 and 224 may perform retransmissions of undelivered packets, in-sequence delivery and reordering of packets, and removal of packets received in duplicate due to, for example, an intra-gNB handover. The PDCPs 214 and 224 may perform packet duplication to improve the likelihood of the packet being received and, at the receiver, remove any duplicate packets. Packet duplication may be useful for services that require high reliability.

Although not shown in FIG. 3, PDCPs 214 and 224 may perform mapping/de-mapping between a split radio bearer and RLC channels in a dual connectivity scenario. Dual connectivity is a technique that allows a UE to connect to two cells or, more generally, two cell groups: a master cell group (MCG) and a secondary cell group (SCG). A split bearer is when a single radio bearer, such as one of the radio bearers provided by the PDCPs 214 and 224 as a service to the SDAPs 215 and 225, is handled by cell groups in dual connectivity. The PDCPs 214 and 224 may map/de-map the split radio bearer between RLC channels belonging to cell groups.

The RLCs 213 and 223 may perform segmentation, retransmission through Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ), and removal of duplicate data units received from MACs 212 and 222, respectively. The RLCs 213 and 223 may support three transmission modes: transparent mode (TM); unacknowledged mode (UM); and acknowledged mode (AM). Based on the transmission mode an RLC is operating, the RLC may perform one or more of the noted functions. The RLC configuration may be per logical channel with no dependency on numerologies and/or Transmission Time Interval (TTI) durations. As shown in FIG. 3, the RLCs 213 and 223 may provide RLC channels as a service to PDCPs 214 and 224, respectively.

The MACs 212 and 222 may perform multiplexing/demultiplexing of logical channels and/or mapping between logical channels and transport channels. The multiplexing/demultiplexing may include multiplexing/demultiplexing of data units, belonging to the one or more logical channels, into/from Transport Blocks (TBs) delivered to/from the PHYs 211 and 221. The MAC 222 may be configured to perform scheduling, scheduling information reporting, and priority handling between UEs by means of dynamic scheduling. Scheduling may be performed in the gNB 220 (at the MAC 222) for downlink and uplink. The MACs 212 and 222 may be configured to perform error correction through Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request (HARQ) (e.g., one HARQ entity per carrier in case of Carrier Aggregation (CA)), priority handling between logical channels of the UE 210 by means of logical channel prioritization, and/or padding. The MACs 212 and 222 may support one or more numerologies and/or transmission timings. In an example, mapping restrictions in a logical channel prioritization may control which numerology and/or transmission timing a logical channel may use. As shown in FIG. 3, the MACs 212 and 222 may provide logical channels as a service to the RLCs 213 and 223.

The PHYs 211 and 221 may perform mapping of transport channels to physical channels and digital and analog signal processing functions for sending and receiving information over the air interface. These digital and analog signal processing functions may include, for example, coding/decoding and modulation/demodulation. The PHYs 211 and 221 may perform multi-antenna mapping. As shown in FIG. 3, the PHYs 211 and 221 may provide one or more transport channels as a service to the MACs 212 and 222.

FIG. 4A illustrates an example downlink data flow through the NR user plane protocol stack. FIG. 4A illustrates a downlink data flow of three IP packets (n, n+1, and m) through the NR user plane protocol stack to generate two TBs at the gNB 220. An uplink data flow through the NR user plane protocol stack may be similar to the downlink data flow depicted in FIG. 4A.

The downlink data flow of FIG. 4A begins when SDAP 225 receives the three IP packets from one or more QoS flows and maps the three packets to radio bearers. In FIG. 4A, the SDAP 225 maps IP packets n and n+/to a first radio bearer 402 and maps IP packet m to a second radio bearer 404. An SDAP header (labeled with an “H” in FIG. 4A) is added to an IP packet. The data unit from/to a higher protocol layer is referred to as a service data unit (SDU) of the lower protocol layer and the data unit to/from a lower protocol layer is referred to as a protocol data unit (PDU) of the higher protocol layer. As shown in FIG. 4A, the data unit from the SDAP 225 is an SDU of lower protocol layer PDCP 224 and is a PDU of the SDAP 225.

The remaining protocol layers in FIG. 4A may perform their associated functionality (e.g., with respect to FIG. 3), add corresponding headers, and forward their respective outputs to the next lower layer. For example, the PDCP 224 may perform IP-header compression and ciphering and forward its output to the RLC 223. The RLC 223 may optionally perform segmentation (e.g., as shown for IP packet m in FIG. 4A) and forward its output to the MAC 222. The MAC 222 may multiplex a number of RLC PDUs and may attach a MAC subheader to an RLC PDU to form a transport block. In NR, the MAC subheaders may be distributed across the MAC PDU, as illustrated in FIG. 4A. In LTE, the MAC subheaders may be entirely located at the beginning of the MAC PDU. The NR MAC PDU structure may reduce processing time and associated latency because the MAC PDU subheaders may be computed before the full MAC PDU is assembled.

FIG. 4B illustrates an example format of a MAC subheader in a MAC PDU. The MAC subheader includes: an SDU length field for indicating the length (e.g., in bytes) of the MAC SDU to which the MAC subheader corresponds; a logical channel identifier (LCID) field for identifying the logical channel from which the MAC SDU originated to aid in the demultiplexing process; a flag (F) for indicating the size of the SDU length field; and a reserved bit (R) field for future use.

FIG. 4B further illustrates MAC control elements (CEs) inserted into the MAC PDU by a MAC, such as MAC 223 or MAC 222. For example, FIG. 4B illustrates two MAC CEs inserted into the MAC PDU. MAC CEs may be inserted at the beginning of a MAC PDU for downlink transmissions (as shown in FIG. 4B) and at the end of a MAC PDU for uplink transmissions. MAC CEs may be used for in-band control signaling. Example MAC CEs include: scheduling-related MAC CEs, such as buffer status reports and power headroom reports;

activation/deactivation MAC CEs, such as those for activation/deactivation of PDCP duplication detection, channel state information (CSI) reporting, sounding reference signal (SRS) transmission, and prior configured components; discontinuous reception (DRX) related MAC CEs; timing advance MAC CEs; and random access related MAC CEs. A MAC CE may be preceded by a MAC subheader with a similar format as described for MAC SDUs and may be identified with a reserved value in the LCID field that indicates the type of control information included in the MAC CE.

Before describing the NR control plane protocol stack, logical channels, transport channels, and physical channels are first described as well as a mapping between the channel types. One or more of the channels may be used to carry out functions associated with the NR control plane protocol stack described later below.

FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B illustrate, for downlink and uplink respectively, a mapping between logical channels, transport channels, and physical channels. Information is passed through channels between the RLC, the MAC, and the PHY of the NR protocol stack. A logical channel may be used between the RLC and the MAC and may be classified as a control channel that carries control and configuration information in the NR control plane or as a traffic channel that carries data in the NR user plane. A logical channel may be classified as a dedicated logical channel that is dedicated to a specific UE or as a common logical channel that may be used by more than one UE. A logical channel may also be defined by the type of information it carries. The set of logical channels defined by NR include, for example:

• • a paging control channel (PCCH) for carrying paging messages used to page a UE whose location is not known to the network on a cell level;
  • a broadcast control channel (BCCH) for carrying system information messages in the form of a master information block (MIB) and several system information blocks (SIBs), wherein the system information messages may be used by the UEs to obtain information about how a cell is configured and how to operate within the cell;
  • a common control channel (CCCH) for carrying control messages together with random access;
  • a dedicated control channel (DCCH) for carrying control messages to/from a specific the UE to configure the UE; and
  • a dedicated traffic channel (DTCH) for carrying user data to/from a specific the UE.

Transport channels are used between the MAC and PHY layers and may be defined by how the information they carry is transmitted over the air interface. The set of transport channels defined by NR include, for example:

• • a paging channel (PCH) for carrying paging messages that originated from the PCCH;
  • a broadcast channel (BCH) for carrying the MIB from the BCCH;
  • a downlink shared channel (DL-SCH) for carrying downlink data and signaling messages, including the SIBs from the BCCH;
  • an uplink shared channel (UL-SCH) for carrying uplink data and signaling messages; and
  • a random access channel (RACH) for allowing a UE to contact the network without any prior scheduling.

The PHY may use physical channels to pass information between processing levels of the PHY. A physical channel may have an associated set of time-frequency resources for carrying the information of one or more transport channels. The PHY may generate control information to support the low-level operation of the PHY and provide the control information to the lower levels of the PHY via physical control channels, known as L1/L2 control channels. The set of physical channels and physical control channels defined by NR include, for example:

• • a physical broadcast channel (PBCH) for carrying the MIB from the BCH;
  • a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) for carrying downlink data and signaling messages from the DL-SCH, as well as paging messages from the PCH;
  • a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) for carrying downlink control information (DCI), which may include downlink scheduling commands, uplink scheduling grants, and uplink power control commands;
  • a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH) for carrying uplink data and signaling messages from the UL-SCH and in some instances uplink control information (UCI) as described below;
  • a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) for carrying UCI, which may include HARQ acknowledgments, channel quality indicators (CQI), pre-coding matrix indicators (PMI), rank indicators (RI), and scheduling requests (SR); and
  • a physical random access channel (PRACH) for random access.

Similar to the physical control channels, the physical layer generates physical signals to support the low-level operation of the physical layer. As shown in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B, the physical layer signals defined by NR include: primary synchronization signals (PSS), secondary synchronization signals (SSS), channel state information reference signals (CSI-RS), demodulation reference signals (DMRS), sounding reference signals (SRS), and phase-tracking reference signals (PT-RS). These physical layer signals will be described in greater detail below.

FIG. 2B illustrates an example NR control plane protocol stack. As shown in FIG. 2B, the NR control plane protocol stack may use the same/similar first four protocol layers as the example NR user plane protocol stack. These four protocol layers include the PHYs 211 and 221, the MACs 212 and 222, the RLCs 213 and 223, and the PDCPs 214 and 224. Instead of having the SDAPs 215 and 225 at the top of the stack as in the NR user plane protocol stack, the NR control plane stack has radio resource controls (RRCs) 216 and 226 and NAS protocols 217 and 237 at the top of the NR control plane protocol stack.

The NAS protocols 217 and 237 may provide control plane functionality between the UE 210 and the AMF 230 (e.g., the AMF 158A) or, more generally, between the UE 210 and the CN. The NAS protocols 217 and 237 may provide control plane functionality between the UE 210 and the AMF 230 via signaling messages, referred to as NAS messages. There is no direct path between the UE 210 and the AMF 230 through which the NAS messages can be transported. The NAS messages may be transported using the AS of the Uu and NG interfaces. NAS protocols 217 and 237 may provide control plane functionality such as authentication, security, connection setup, mobility management, and session management.

The RRCs 216 and 226 may provide control plane functionality between the UE 210 and the gNB 220 or, more generally, between the UE 210 and the RAN. The RRCs 216 and 226 may provide control plane functionality between the UE 210 and the gNB 220 via signaling messages, referred to as RRC messages. RRC messages may be transmitted between the UE 210 and the RAN using signaling radio bearers and the same/similar PDCP, RLC, MAC, and PHY protocol layers. The MAC may multiplex control-plane and user-plane data into the same transport block (TB). The RRCs 216 and 226 may provide control plane functionality such as: broadcast of system information related to AS and NAS; paging initiated by the CN or the RAN; establishment, maintenance and release of an RRC connection between the UE 210 and the RAN; security functions including key management; establishment, configuration, maintenance and release of signaling radio bearers and data radio bearers; mobility functions; QoS management functions; the UE measurement reporting and control of the reporting; detection of and recovery from radio link failure (RLF); and/or NAS message transfer. As part of establishing an RRC connection, RRCs 216 and 226 may establish an RRC context, which may involve configuring parameters for communication between the UE 210 and the RAN.

FIG. 6 is an example diagram showing RRC state transitions of a UE. The UE may be the same or similar to the wireless device 106 depicted in FIG. 1A, the UE 210 depicted in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, or any other wireless device described in the present disclosure. As illustrated in FIG. 6, a UE may be in at least one of three RRC states: RRC connected 602 (e.g., RRC_CONNECTED), RRC idle 604 (e.g., RRC_IDLE), and RRC inactive 606 (e.g., RRC_INACTIVE).

In RRC connected 602, the UE has an established RRC context and may have at least one RRC connection with a base station. The base station may be similar to one of the one or more base stations included in the RAN 104 depicted in FIG. 1A, one of the gNBs 160 or ng-eNBs 162 depicted in FIG. 1B, the gNB 220 depicted in FIG. 2A and FIG. 2B, or any other base station described in the present disclosure. The base station with which the UE is connected may have the RRC context for the UE. The RRC context, referred to as the UE context, may comprise parameters for communication between the UE and the base station. These parameters may include, for example: one or more AS contexts; one or more radio link configuration parameters; bearer configuration information (e.g., relating to a data radio bearer, signaling radio bearer, logical channel, QoS flow, and/or PDU session); security information; and/or PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP, and/or SDAP layer configuration information. While in RRC connected 602, mobility of the UE may be managed by the RAN (e.g., the RAN 104 or the NG-RAN 154). The UE may measure the signal levels (e.g., reference signal levels) from a serving cell and neighboring cells and report these measurements to the base station currently serving the UE. The UE's serving base station may request a handover to a cell of one of the neighboring base stations based on the reported measurements. The RRC state may transition from RRC connected 602 to RRC idle 604 through a connection release procedure 608 or to RRC inactive 606 through a connection inactivation procedure 610.

In RRC idle 604, an RRC context may not be established for the UE. In RRC idle 604, the UE may not have an RRC connection with the base station. While in RRC idle 604, the UE may be in a sleep state for the majority of the time (e.g., to conserve battery power). The UE may wake up periodically (e.g., once in every discontinuous reception cycle) to monitor for paging messages from the RAN. Mobility of the UE may be managed by the UE through a procedure known as cell reselection. The RRC state may transition from RRC idle 604 to RRC connected 602 through a connection establishment procedure 612, which may involve a random access procedure as discussed in greater detail below.

In RRC inactive 606, the RRC context previously established is maintained in the UE and the base station. This allows for a fast transition to RRC connected 602 with reduced signaling overhead as compared to the transition from RRC idle 604 to RRC connected 602. While in RRC inactive 606, the UE may be in a sleep state and mobility of the UE may be managed by the UE through cell reselection. The RRC state may transition from RRC inactive 606 to RRC connected 602 through a connection resume procedure 614 or to RRC idle 604 though a connection release procedure 616 that may be the same as or similar to connection release procedure 608.

An RRC state may be associated with a mobility management mechanism. In RRC idle 604 and RRC inactive 606, mobility is managed by the UE through cell reselection. The purpose of mobility management in RRC idle 604 and RRC inactive 606 is to allow the network to be able to notify the UE of an event via a paging message without having to broadcast the paging message over the entire mobile communications network. The mobility management mechanism used in RRC idle 604 and RRC inactive 606 may allow the network to track the UE on a cell-group level so that the paging message may be broadcast over the cells of the cell group that the UE currently resides within instead of the entire mobile communication network. The mobility management mechanisms for RRC idle 604 and RRC inactive 606 track the UE on a cell-group level. They may do so using different granularities of grouping. For example, there may be three levels of cell-grouping granularity: individual cells; cells within a RAN area identified by a RAN area identifier (RAI); and cells within a group of RAN areas, referred to as a tracking area and identified by a tracking area identifier (TAI).

Tracking areas may be used to track the UE at the CN level. The CN (e.g., the CN 102 or the 5G-CN 152) may provide the UE with a list of TAIs associated with a UE registration area. If the UE moves, through cell reselection, to a cell associated with a TAI not included in the list of TAIs associated with the UE registration area, the UE may perform a registration update with the CN to allow the CN to update the UE's location and provide the UE with a new the UE registration area.

RAN areas may be used to track the UE at the RAN level. For a UE in RRC inactive 606 state, the UE may be assigned a RAN notification area. A RAN notification area may comprise one or more cell identities, a list of RAIs, or a list of TAIs. In an example, a base station may belong to one or more RAN notification areas. In an example, a cell may belong to one or more RAN notification areas. If the UE moves, through cell reselection, to a cell not included in the RAN notification area assigned to the UE, the UE may perform a notification area update with the RAN to update the UE's RAN notification area.

A base station storing an RRC context for a UE or a last serving base station of the UE may be referred to as an anchor base station. An anchor base station may maintain an RRC context for the UE at least during a period of time that the UE stays in a RAN notification area of the anchor base station and/or during a period of time that the UE stays in RRC inactive 606.

A gNB, such as gNBs 160 in FIG. 1B, may be split into two parts: a central unit (gNB-CU), and one or more distributed units (gNB-DU). A gNB-CU may be coupled to one or more gNB-DUs using an F1 interface. The gNB-CU may comprise the RRC, the PDCP, and the SDAP. A gNB-DU may comprise the RLC, the MAC, and the PHY.

In NR, the physical signals and physical channels (discussed with respect to FIG. 5A and FIG. 5B) may be mapped onto orthogonal frequency divisional multiplexing (OFDM) symbols. OFDM is a multicarrier communication scheme that transmits data over F orthogonal subcarriers (or tones). Before transmission, the data may be mapped to a series of complex symbols (e.g., M-quadrature amplitude modulation (M-QAM) or M-phase shift keying (M-PSK) symbols), referred to as source symbols, and divided into F parallel symbol streams. The F parallel symbol streams may be treated as though they are in the frequency domain and used as inputs to an Inverse Fast Fourier Transform (IFFT) block that transforms them into the time domain. The IFFT block may take in F source symbols at a time, one from each of the F parallel symbol streams, and use each source symbol to modulate the amplitude and phase of one of F sinusoidal basis functions that correspond to the F orthogonal subcarriers. The output of the IFFT block may be F time-domain samples that represent the summation of the F orthogonal subcarriers. The F time-domain samples may form a single OFDM symbol. After some processing (e.g., addition of a cyclic prefix) and up-conversion, an OFDM symbol provided by the IFFT block may be transmitted over the air interface on a carrier frequency. The F parallel symbol streams may be mixed using an FFT block before being processed by the IFFT block. This operation produces Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT)-precoded OFDM symbols and may be used by UEs in the uplink to reduce the peak to average power ratio (PAPR). Inverse processing may be performed on the OFDM symbol at a receiver using an FFT block to recover the data mapped to the source symbols.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example configuration of an NR frame into which OFDM symbols are grouped. An NR frame may be identified by a system frame number (SFN). The SFN may repeat with a period of 1024 frames. As illustrated, one NR frame may be 10 milliseconds (ms) in duration and may include 10 subframes that are 1 ms in duration. A subframe may be divided into slots that include, for example, 14 OFDM symbols per slot.

The duration of a slot may depend on the numerology used for the OFDM symbols of the slot. In NR, a flexible numerology is supported to accommodate different cell deployments (e.g., cells with carrier frequencies below 1 GHz up to cells with carrier frequencies in the mm-wave range). A numerology may be defined in terms of subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix duration. For a numerology in NR, subcarrier spacings may be scaled up by powers of two from a baseline subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz, and cyclic prefix durations may be scaled down by powers of two from a baseline cyclic prefix duration of 4.7 μs. For example, NR defines numerologies with the following subcarrier spacing/cyclic prefix duration combinations: 15 kHz/4.7 μs; 30 kHz/2.3 μs; 60 KHz/1.2 μs; 120 kHz/0.59 μs; and 240 kHz/0.29 μs.

A slot may have a fixed number of OFDM symbols (e.g., 14 OFDM symbols). A numerology with a higher subcarrier spacing has a shorter slot duration and, correspondingly, more slots per subframe. FIG. 7 illustrates this numerology-dependent slot duration and slots-per-subframe transmission structure (the numerology with a subcarrier spacing of 240 kHz is not shown in FIG. 7 for case of illustration). A subframe in NR may be used as a numerology-independent time reference, while a slot may be used as the unit upon which uplink and downlink transmissions are scheduled. To support low latency, scheduling in NR may be decoupled from the slot duration and start at any OFDM symbol and last for as many symbols as needed for a transmission. These partial slot transmissions may be referred to as mini-slot or subslot transmissions.

FIG. 8 illustrates an example configuration of a slot in the time and frequency domain for an NR carrier. The slot includes resource elements (REs) and resource blocks (RBs). An RE is the smallest physical resource in NR. An RE spans one OFDM symbol in the time domain by one subcarrier in the frequency domain as shown in FIG. 8. An RB spans twelve consecutive REs in the frequency domain as shown in FIG. 8. An NR carrier may be limited to a width of 275 RBs or 275×12=3300 subcarriers. Such a limitation, if used, may limit the NR carrier to 50, 100, 200, and 400 MHz for subcarrier spacings of 15, 30, 60, and 120 kHz, respectively, where the 400 MHz bandwidth may be set based on a 400 MHz per carrier bandwidth limit.

FIG. 8 illustrates a single numerology being used across the entire bandwidth of the NR carrier. In other example configurations, multiple numerologies may be supported on the same carrier.

NR may support wide carrier bandwidths (e.g., up to 400 MHz for a subcarrier spacing of 120 kHz). Not all UEs may be able to receive the full carrier bandwidth (e.g., due to hardware limitations). Also, receiving the full carrier bandwidth may be prohibitive in terms of UE power consumption. In an example, to reduce power consumption and/or for other purposes, a UE may adapt the size of the UE's receive bandwidth based on the amount of traffic the UE is scheduled to receive. This is referred to as bandwidth adaptation.

NR defines bandwidth parts (BWPs) to support UEs not capable of receiving the full carrier bandwidth and to support bandwidth adaptation. In an example, a BWP may be defined by a subset of contiguous RBs on a carrier. A UE may be configured (e.g., via RRC layer) with one or more downlink BWPs and one or more uplink BWPs per serving cell (e.g., up to four downlink BWPs and up to four uplink BWPs per serving cell). At a given time, one or more of the configured BWPs for a serving cell may be active. These one or more BWPs may be referred to as active BWPs of the serving cell. When a serving cell is configured with a secondary uplink carrier, the serving cell may have one or more first active BWPs in the uplink carrier and one or more second active BWPs in the secondary uplink carrier.

For unpaired spectra, a downlink BWP from a set of configured downlink BWPs may be linked with an uplink BWP from a set of configured uplink BWPs if a downlink BWP index of the downlink BWP and an uplink BWP index of the uplink BWP are the same. For unpaired spectra, a UE may expect that a center frequency for a downlink BWP is the same as a center frequency for an uplink BWP.

For a downlink BWP in a set of configured downlink BWPs on a primary cell (PCell), a base station may configure a UE with one or more control resource sets (CORESETs) for at least one search space. A search space is a set of locations in the time and frequency domains where the UE may find control information. The search space may be a UE-specific search space or a common search space (potentially usable by a plurality of UEs). For example, a base station may configure a UE with a common search space, on a PCell or on a primary secondary cell (PSCell), in an active downlink BWP.

For an uplink BWP in a set of configured uplink BWPs, a BS may configure a UE with one or more resource sets for one or more PUCCH transmissions. A UE may receive downlink receptions (e.g., PDCCH or PDSCH) in a downlink BWP according to a configured numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix duration) for the downlink BWP. The UE may transmit uplink transmissions (e.g., PUCCH or PUSCH) in an uplink BWP according to a configured numerology (e.g., subcarrier spacing and cyclic prefix length for the uplink BWP).

One or more BWP indicator fields may be provided in Downlink Control Information (DCI). A value of a BWP indicator field may indicate which BWP in a set of configured BWPs is an active downlink BWP for one or more downlink receptions. The value of the one or more BWP indicator fields may indicate an active uplink BWP for one or more uplink transmissions.

A base station may semi-statically configure a UE with a default downlink BWP within a set of configured downlink BWPs associated with a PCell. If the base station does not provide the default downlink BWP to the UE, the default downlink BWP may be an initial active downlink BWP. The UE may determine which BWP is the initial active downlink BWP based on a CORESET configuration obtained using the PBCH.

A base station may configure a UE with a BWP inactivity timer value for a PCell. The UE may start or restart a BWP inactivity timer at any appropriate time. For example, the UE may start or restart the BWP inactivity timer (a) when the UE detects a DCI indicating an active downlink BWP other than a default downlink BWP for a paired spectra operation; or (b) when a UE detects a DCI indicating an active downlink BWP or active uplink BWP other than a default downlink BWP or uplink BWP for an unpaired spectra operation. If the UE does not detect DCI during an interval of time (e.g., 1 ms or 0.5 ms), the UE may run the BWP inactivity timer toward expiration (for example, increment from zero to the BWP inactivity timer value, or decrement from the BWP inactivity timer value to zero). When the BWP inactivity timer expires, the UE may switch from the active downlink BWP to the default downlink BWP.

In an example, a base station may semi-statically configure a UE with one or more BWPs. A UE may switch an active BWP from a first BWP to a second BWP in response to receiving a DCI indicating the second BWP as an active BWP and/or in response to an expiry of the BWP inactivity timer (e.g., if the second BWP is the default BWP).

Downlink and uplink BWP switching (where BWP switching refers to switching from a currently active BWP to a not currently active BWP) may be performed independently in paired spectra. In unpaired spectra, downlink and uplink BWP switching may be performed simultaneously. Switching between configured BWPs may occur based on RRC signaling, DCI, expiration of a BWP inactivity timer, and/or an initiation of random access.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of bandwidth adaptation using three configured BWPs for an NR carrier. A UE configured with the three BWPs may switch from one BWP to another BWP at a switching point. In the example illustrated in FIG. 9, the BWPs include: a BWP 902 with a bandwidth of 40 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz; a BWP 904 with a bandwidth of 10 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 15 kHz; and a BWP 906 with a bandwidth of 20 MHz and a subcarrier spacing of 60 kHz. The BWP 902 may be an initial active BWP, and the BWP 904 may be a default BWP. The UE may switch between BWPs at switching points. In the example of FIG. 9, the UE may switch from the BWP 902 to the BWP 904 at a switching point 908. The switching at the switching point 908 may occur for any suitable reason, for example, in response to an expiry of a BWP inactivity timer (indicating switching to the default BWP) and/or in response to receiving a DCI indicating BWP 904 as the active BWP. The UE may switch at a switching point 910 from active BWP 904 to BWP 906 in response to receiving a DCI indicating BWP 906 as the active BWP. The UE may switch at a switching point 912 from active BWP 906 to BWP 904 in response to an expiry of a BWP inactivity timer and/or in response to receiving a DCI indicating BWP 904 as the active BWP. The UE may switch at a switching point 914 from active BWP 904 to BWP 902 in response to receiving a DCI indicating BWP 902 as the active BWP.

If a UE is configured for a secondary cell with a default downlink BWP in a set of configured downlink BWPs and a timer value, UE procedures for switching BWPs on a secondary cell may be the same/similar as those on a primary cell. For example, the UE may use the timer value and the default downlink BWP for the secondary cell in the same/similar manner as the UE would use these values for a primary cell.

To provide for greater data rates, two or more carriers can be aggregated and simultaneously transmitted to/from the same UE using carrier aggregation (CA). The aggregated carriers in CA may be referred to as component carriers (CCs). When CA is used, there are a number of serving cells for the UE, one for a CC. The CCs may have three configurations in the frequency domain.

FIG. 10A illustrates the three CA configurations with two CCs. In the intraband, contiguous configuration 1002, the two CCs are aggregated in the same frequency band (frequency band A) and are located directly adjacent to each other within the frequency band. In the intraband, non-contiguous configuration 1004, the two CCs are aggregated in the same frequency band (frequency band A) and are separated in the frequency band by a gap. In the interband configuration 1006, the two CCs are located in frequency bands (frequency band A and frequency band B).

In an example, up to 32 CCs may be aggregated. The aggregated CCs may have the same or different bandwidths, subcarrier spacing, and/or duplexing schemes (TDD or FDD). A serving cell for a UE using CA may have a downlink CC. For FDD, one or more uplink CCs may be optionally configured for a serving cell. The ability to aggregate more downlink carriers than uplink carriers may be useful, for example, when the UE has more data traffic in the downlink than in the uplink.

When CA is used, one of the aggregated cells for a UE may be referred to as a primary cell (PCell). The PCell may be the serving cell that the UE initially connects to at RRC connection establishment, reestablishment, and/or handover. The PCell may provide the UE with NAS mobility information and the security input. UEs may have different PCells. In the downlink, the carrier corresponding to the PCell may be referred to as the downlink primary CC (DL PCC). In the uplink, the carrier corresponding to the PCell may be referred to as the uplink primary CC (UL PCC). The other aggregated cells for the UE may be referred to as secondary cells (SCells). In an example, the SCells may be configured after the PCell is configured for the UE. For example, an SCell may be configured through an RRC Connection Reconfiguration procedure. In the downlink, the carrier corresponding to an SCell may be referred to as a downlink secondary CC (DL SCC). In the uplink, the carrier corresponding to the SCell may be referred to as the uplink secondary CC (UL SCC).

Configured SCells for a UE may be activated and deactivated based on, for example, traffic and channel conditions. Deactivation of an SCell may mean that PDCCH and PDSCH reception on the SCell is stopped and PUSCH, SRS, and CQI transmissions on the SCell are stopped. Configured SCells may be activated and deactivated using a MAC CE with respect to FIG. 4B. For example, a MAC CE may use a bitmap (e.g., one bit per SCell) to indicate which SCells (e.g., in a subset of configured SCells) for the UE are activated or deactivated. Configured SCells may be deactivated in response to an expiration of an SCell deactivation timer (e.g., one SCell deactivation timer per SCell).

Downlink control information, such as scheduling assignments and scheduling grants, for a cell may be transmitted on the cell corresponding to the assignments and grants, which is known as self-scheduling. The DCI for the cell may be transmitted on another cell, which is known as cross-carrier scheduling. Uplink control information (e.g., HARQ acknowledgments and channel state feedback, such as CQI, PMI, and/or RI) for aggregated cells may be transmitted on the PUCCH of the PCell. For a larger number of aggregated downlink CCs, the PUCCH of the PCell may become overloaded. Cells may be divided into multiple PUCCH groups.

FIG. 10B illustrates an example of how aggregated cells may be configured into one or more PUCCH groups. A PUCCH group 1010 and a PUCCH group 1050 may include one or more downlink CCs, respectively. In the example of FIG. 10B, the PUCCH group 1010 includes three downlink CCs: a PCell 1011, an SCell 1012, and an SCell 1013. The PUCCH group 1050 includes three downlink CCs in the present example: a PCell 1051, an SCell 1052, and an SCell 1053. One or more uplink CCs may be configured as a PCell 1021, an SCell 1022, and an SCell 1023. One or more other uplink CCs may be configured as a primary SCell (PSCell) 1061, an SCell 1062, and an SCell 1063. Uplink control information (UCI) related to the downlink CCs of the PUCCH group 1010, shown as UCI 1031, UCI 1032, and UCI 1033, may be transmitted in the uplink of the PCell 1021. Uplink control information (UCI) related to the downlink CCs of the PUCCH group 1050, shown as UCI 1071, UCI 1072, and UCI 1073, may be transmitted in the uplink of the PSCell 1061. In an example, if the aggregated cells depicted in FIG. 10B were not divided into the PUCCH group 1010 and the PUCCH group 1050, a single uplink PCell to transmit UCI relating to the downlink CCs, and the PCell may become overloaded. By dividing transmissions of UCI between the PCell 1021 and the PSCell 1061, overloading may be prevented.

A cell, comprising a downlink carrier and optionally an uplink carrier, may be assigned with a physical cell ID and a cell index. The physical cell ID or the cell index may identify a downlink carrier and/or an uplink carrier of the cell, for example, depending on the context in which the physical cell ID is used. A physical cell ID may be determined using a synchronization signal transmitted on a downlink component carrier. A cell index may be determined using RRC messages. In the disclosure, a physical cell ID may be referred to as a carrier ID, and a cell index may be referred to as a carrier index. For example, when the disclosure refers to a first physical cell ID for a first downlink carrier, the disclosure may mean the first physical cell ID is for a cell comprising the first downlink carrier. The same/similar concept may apply to, for example, a carrier activation. When the disclosure indicates that a first carrier is activated, the specification may mean that a cell comprising the first carrier is activated.

In CA, a multi-carrier nature of a PHY may be exposed to a MAC. In an example, a HARQ entity may operate on a serving cell. A transport block may be generated per assignment/grant per serving cell. A transport block and potential HARQ retransmissions of the transport block may be mapped to a serving cell.

In the downlink, a base station may transmit (e.g., unicast, multicast, and/or broadcast) one or more Reference Signals (RSs) to a UE (e.g., PSS, SSS, CSI-RS, DMRS, and/or PT-RS, as shown in FIG. 5A). In the uplink, the UE may transmit one or more RSs to the base station (e.g., DMRS, PT-RS, and/or SRS, as shown in FIG. 5B). The PSS and the SSS may be transmitted by the base station and used by the UE to synchronize the UE to the base station. The PSS and the SSS may be provided in a synchronization signal (SS)/physical broadcast channel (PBCH) block that includes the PSS, the SSS, and the PBCH. The base station may periodically transmit a burst of SS/PBCH blocks.

FIG. 11A illustrates an example of an SS/PBCH block's structure and location. A burst of SS/PBCH blocks may include one or more SS/PBCH blocks (e.g., 4 SS/PBCH blocks, as shown in FIG. 11A). Bursts may be transmitted periodically (e.g., every 2 frames or 20 ms). A burst may be restricted to a half-frame (e.g., a first half-frame having a duration of 5 ms). It will be understood that FIG. 11A is an example, and that these parameters (number of SS/PBCH blocks per burst, periodicity of bursts, position of burst within the frame) may be configured based on, for example: a carrier frequency of a cell in which the SS/PBCH block is transmitted; a numerology or subcarrier spacing of the cell; a configuration by the network (e.g., using RRC signaling); or any other suitable factor. In an example, the UE may assume a subcarrier spacing for the SS/PBCH block based on the carrier frequency being monitored, unless the radio network configured the UE to assume a different subcarrier spacing.

The SS/PBCH block may span one or more OFDM symbols in the time domain (e.g., 4 OFDM symbols, as shown in the example of FIG. 11A) and may span one or more subcarriers in the frequency domain (e.g., 240 contiguous subcarriers). The PSS, the SSS, and the PBCH may have a common center frequency. The PSS may be transmitted first and may span, for example, 1 OFDM symbol and 127 subcarriers. The SSS may be transmitted after the PSS (e.g., two symbols later) and may span 1 OFDM symbol and 127 subcarriers. The PBCH may be transmitted after the PSS (e.g., across the next 3 OFDM symbols) and may span 240 subcarriers.

The location of the SS/PBCH block in the time and frequency domains may not be known to the UE (e.g., if the UE is searching for the cell). To find and select the cell, the UE may monitor a carrier for the PSS. For example, the UE may monitor a frequency location within the carrier. If the PSS is not found after a certain duration (e.g., 20 ms), the UE may search for the PSS at a different frequency location within the carrier, as indicated by a synchronization raster. If the PSS is found at a location in the time and frequency domains, the UE may determine, based on a known structure of the SS/PBCH block, the locations of the SSS and the PBCH, respectively. The SS/PBCH block may be a cell-defining SS block (CD-SSB). In an example, a primary cell may be associated with a CD-SSB. The CD-SSB may be located on a synchronization raster. In an example, a cell selection/search and/or reselection may be based on the CD-SSB.

The SS/PBCH block may be used by the UE to determine one or more parameters of the cell. For example, the UE may determine a physical cell identifier (PCI) of the cell based on the sequences of the PSS and the SSS, respectively. The UE may determine a location of a frame boundary of the cell based on the location of the SS/PBCH block. For example, the SS/PBCH block may indicate that it has been transmitted in accordance with a transmission pattern, wherein a SS/PBCH block in the transmission pattern is a known distance from the frame boundary.

The PBCH may use a QPSK modulation and may use forward error correction (FEC). The FEC may use polar coding. One or more symbols spanned by the PBCH may carry one or more DMRSs for demodulation of the PBCH. The PBCH may include an indication of a current system frame number (SFN) of the cell and/or a SS/PBCH block timing index. These parameters may facilitate time synchronization of the UE to the base station. The PBCH may include a master information block (MIB) used to provide the UE with one or more parameters. The MIB may be used by the UE to locate remaining minimum system information (RMSI) associated with the cell. The RMSI may include a System Information Block Type 1 (SIB1). The SIB1 may contain information needed by the UE to access the cell. The UE may use one or more parameters of the MIB to monitor PDCCH, which may be used to schedule PDSCH. The PDSCH may include the SIB1. The SIB1 may be decoded using parameters provided in the MIB. The PBCH may indicate an absence of SIB1. Based on the PBCH indicating the absence of SIB 1, the UE may be pointed to a frequency. The UE may search for an SS/PBCH block at the frequency to which the UE is pointed.

The UE may assume that one or more SS/PBCH blocks transmitted with a same SS/PBCH block index are quasi co-located (QCLed) (e.g., having the same/similar Doppler spread, Doppler shift, average gain, average delay, and/or spatial Rx parameters). The UE may not assume QCL for SS/PBCH block transmissions having different SS/PBCH block indices.

SS/PBCH blocks (e.g., those within a half-frame) may be transmitted in spatial directions (e.g., using different beams that span a coverage area of the cell). In an example, a first SS/PBCH block may be transmitted in a first spatial direction using a first beam, and a second SS/PBCH block may be transmitted in a second spatial direction using a second beam.

In an example, within a frequency span of a carrier, a base station may transmit a plurality of SS/PBCH blocks. In an example, a first PCI of a first SS/PBCH block of the plurality of SS/PBCH blocks may be different from a second PCI of a second SS/PBCH block of the plurality of SS/PBCH blocks. The PCIs of SS/PBCH blocks transmitted in different frequency locations may be different or the same.

The CSI-RS may be transmitted by the base station and used by the UE to acquire channel state information (CSI). The base station may configure the UE with one or more CSI-RSs for channel estimation or any other suitable purpose. The base station may configure a UE with one or more of the same/similar CSI-RSs. The UE may measure the one or more CSI-RSs. The UE may estimate a downlink channel state and/or generate a CSI report based on the measuring of the one or more downlink CSI-RSs. The UE may provide the CSI report to the base station. The base station may use feedback provided by the UE (e.g., the estimated downlink channel state) to perform link adaptation.

The base station may semi-statically configure the UE with one or more CSI-RS resource sets. A CSI-RS resource may be associated with a location in the time and frequency domains and a periodicity. The base station may selectively activate and/or deactivate a CSI-RS resource. The base station may indicate to the UE that a CSI-RS resource in the CSI-RS resource set is activated and/or deactivated.

The base station may configure the UE to report CSI measurements. The base station may configure the UE to provide CSI reports periodically, aperiodically, or semi-persistently. For periodic CSI reporting, the UE may be configured with a timing and/or periodicity of a plurality of CSI reports. For aperiodic CSI reporting, the base station may request a CSI report. For example, the base station may command the UE to measure a configured CSI-RS resource and provide a CSI report relating to the measurements. For semi-persistent CSI reporting, the base station may configure the UE to transmit periodically, and selectively activate or deactivate the periodic reporting. The base station may configure the UE with a CSI-RS resource set and CSI reports using RRC signaling.

The CSI-RS configuration may comprise one or more parameters indicating, for example, up to 32 antenna ports. The UE may be configured to employ the same OFDM symbols for a downlink CSI-RS and a control resource set (CORESET) when the downlink CSI-RS and CORESET are spatially QCLed and resource elements associated with the downlink CSI-RS are outside of the physical resource blocks (PRBs) configured for the CORESET. The UE may be configured to employ the same OFDM symbols for downlink CSI-RS and SS/PBCH blocks when the downlink CSI-RS and SS/PBCH blocks are spatially QCLed and resource elements associated with the downlink CSI-RS are outside of PRBs configured for the SS/PBCH blocks.

Downlink DMRSs may be transmitted by a base station and used by a UE for channel estimation. For example, the downlink DMRS may be used for coherent demodulation of one or more downlink physical channels (e.g., PDSCH). An NR network may support one or more variable and/or configurable DMRS patterns for data demodulation. At least one downlink DMRS configuration may support a front-loaded DMRS pattern. A front-loaded DMRS may be mapped over one or more OFDM symbols (e.g., one or two adjacent OFDM symbols). A base station may semi-statically configure the UE with a number (e.g. a maximum number) of front-loaded DMRS symbols for PDSCH. A DMRS configuration may support one or more DMRS ports. For example, for single user-MIMO, a DMRS configuration may support up to eight orthogonal downlink DMRS ports per UE. For multiuser-MIMO, a DMRS configuration may support up to 4 orthogonal downlink DMRS ports per UE. A radio network may support (e.g., at least for CP-OFDM) a common DMRS structure for downlink and uplink, wherein a DMRS location, a DMRS pattern, and/or a scrambling sequence may be the same or different. The base station may transmit a downlink DMRS and a corresponding PDSCH using the same precoding matrix. The UE may use the one or more downlink DMRSs for coherent demodulation/channel estimation of the PDSCH.

In an example, a transmitter (e.g., a base station) may use a precoder matrices for a part of a transmission bandwidth. For example, the transmitter may use a first precoder matrix for a first bandwidth and a second precoder matrix for a second bandwidth. The first precoder matrix and the second precoder matrix may be different based on the first bandwidth being different from the second bandwidth. The UE may assume that a same precoding matrix is used across a set of PRBs. The set of PRBs may be denoted as a precoding resource block group (PRG).

A PDSCH may comprise one or more layers. The UE may assume that at least one symbol with DMRS is present on a layer of the one or more layers of the PDSCH. A higher layer may configure up to 3 DMRSs for the PDSCH.

Downlink PT-RS may be transmitted by a base station and used by a UE for phase-noise compensation. Whether a downlink PT-RS is present or not may depend on an RRC configuration. The presence and/or pattern of the downlink PT-RS may be configured on a UE-specific basis using a combination of RRC signaling and/or an association with one or more parameters employed for other purposes (e.g., modulation and coding scheme (MCS)), which may be indicated by DCI. When configured, a dynamic presence of a downlink PT-RS may be associated with one or more DCI parameters comprising at least MCS. An NR network may support a plurality of PT-RS densities defined in the time and/or frequency domains. When present, a frequency domain density may be associated with at least one configuration of a scheduled bandwidth. The UE may assume a same precoding for a DMRS port and a PT-RS port. A number of PT-RS ports may be fewer than a number of DMRS ports in a scheduled resource. Downlink PT-RS may be confined in the scheduled time/frequency duration for the UE. Downlink PT-RS may be transmitted on symbols to facilitate phase tracking at the receiver.

The UE may transmit an uplink DMRS to a base station for channel estimation. For example, the base station may use the uplink DMRS for coherent demodulation of one or more uplink physical channels. For example, the UE may transmit an uplink DMRS with a PUSCH and/or a PUCCH. The uplink DM-RS may span a range of frequencies that is similar to a range of frequencies associated with the corresponding physical channel. The base station may configure the UE with one or more uplink DMRS configurations. At least one DMRS configuration may support a front-loaded DMRS pattern. The front-loaded DMRS may be mapped over one or more OFDM symbols (e.g., one or two adjacent OFDM symbols). One or more uplink DMRSs may be configured to transmit at one or more symbols of a PUSCH and/or a PUCCH. The base station may semi-statically configure the UE with a number (e.g. maximum number) of front-loaded DMRS symbols for the PUSCH and/or the PUCCH, which the UE may use to schedule a single-symbol DMRS and/or a double-symbol DMRS. An NR network may support (e.g., for cyclic prefix orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (CP-OFDM)) a common DMRS structure for downlink and uplink, wherein a DMRS location, a DMRS pattern, and/or a scrambling sequence for the DMRS may be the same or different.

A PUSCH may comprise one or more layers, and the UE may transmit at least one symbol with DMRS present on a layer of the one or more layers of the PUSCH. In an example, a higher layer may configure up to three DMRSs for the PUSCH.

Uplink PT-RS (which may be used by a base station for phase tracking and/or phase-noise compensation) may or may not be present depending on an RRC configuration of the UE. The presence and/or pattern of uplink PT-RS may be configured on a UE-specific basis by a combination of RRC signaling and/or one or more parameters employed for other purposes (e.g., Modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS)), which may be indicated by DCI. When configured, a dynamic presence of uplink PT-RS may be associated with one or more DCI parameters comprising at least MCS. A radio network may support a plurality of uplink PT-RS densities defined in time/frequency domain. When present, a frequency domain density may be associated with at least one configuration of a scheduled bandwidth. The UE may assume a same precoding for a DMRS port and a PT-RS port. A number of PT-RS ports may be fewer than a number of DMRS ports in a scheduled resource. For example, uplink PT-RS may be confined in the scheduled time/frequency duration for the UE.

SRS may be transmitted by a UE to a base station for channel state estimation to support uplink channel dependent scheduling and/or link adaptation. SRS transmitted by the UE may allow a base station to estimate an uplink channel state at one or more frequencies. A scheduler at the base station may employ the estimated uplink channel state to assign one or more resource blocks for an uplink PUSCH transmission from the UE. The base station may semi-statically configure the UE with one or more SRS resource sets. For an SRS resource set, the base station may configure the UE with one or more SRS resources. An SRS resource set applicability may be configured by a higher layer (e.g., RRC) parameter. For example, when a higher layer parameter indicates beam management, an SRS resource in an SRS resource set of the one or more SRS resource sets (e.g., with the same/similar time domain behavior, periodic, aperiodic, and/or the like) may be transmitted at a time instant (e.g., simultaneously). The UE may transmit one or more SRS resources in SRS resource sets. An NR network may support aperiodic, periodic and/or semi-persistent SRS transmissions. The UE may transmit SRS resources based on one or more trigger types, wherein the one or more trigger types may comprise higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC) and/or one or more DCI formats. In an example, at least one DCI format may be employed for the UE to select at least one of one or more configured SRS resource sets. An SRS trigger type 0 may refer to an SRS triggered based on a higher layer signaling. An SRS trigger type 1 may refer to an SRS triggered based on one or more DCI formats. In an example, when PUSCH and SRS are transmitted in a same slot, the UE may be configured to transmit SRS after a transmission of a PUSCH and a corresponding uplink DMRS.

The base station may semi-statically configure the UE with one or more SRS configuration parameters indicating at least one of following: a SRS resource configuration identifier; a number of SRS ports; time domain behavior of an SRS resource configuration (e.g., an indication of periodic, semi-persistent, or aperiodic SRS); slot, mini-slot, and/or subframe level periodicity; offset for a periodic and/or an aperiodic SRS resource; a number of OFDM symbols in an SRS resource; a starting OFDM symbol of an SRS resource; an SRS bandwidth; a frequency hopping bandwidth; a cyclic shift; and/or an SRS sequence ID.

An antenna port is defined such that the channel over which a symbol on the antenna port is conveyed can be inferred from the channel over which another symbol on the same antenna port is conveyed. If a first symbol and a second symbol are transmitted on the same antenna port, the receiver may infer the channel (e.g., fading gain, multipath delay, and/or the like) for conveying the second symbol on the antenna port, from the channel for conveying the first symbol on the antenna port. A first antenna port and a second antenna port may be referred to as quasi co-located (QCLed) if one or more large-scale properties of the channel over which a first symbol on the first antenna port is conveyed may be inferred from the channel over which a second symbol on a second antenna port is conveyed. The one or more large-scale properties may comprise at least one of: a delay spread; a Doppler spread; a Doppler shift; an average gain; an average delay; and/or spatial Receiving (Rx) parameters.

Channels that use beamforming require beam management. Beam management may comprise beam measurement, beam selection, and beam indication. A beam may be associated with one or more reference signals. For example, a beam may be identified by one or more beamformed reference signals. The UE may perform downlink beam measurement based on downlink reference signals (e.g., a channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS)) and generate a beam measurement report. The UE may perform the downlink beam measurement procedure after an RRC connection is set up with a base station.

FIG. 11B illustrates an example of channel state information reference signals (CSI-RSs) that are mapped in the time and frequency domains. A square shown in FIG. 11B may span a resource block (RB) within a bandwidth of a cell. A base station may transmit one or more RRC messages comprising CSI-RS resource configuration parameters indicating one or more CSI-RSs. One or more of the following parameters may be configured by higher layer signaling (e.g., RRC and/or MAC signaling) for a CSI-RS resource configuration: a CSI-RS resource configuration identity, a number of CSI-RS ports, a CSI-RS configuration (e.g., symbol and resource element (RE) locations in a subframe), a CSI-RS subframe configuration (e.g., subframe location, offset, and periodicity in a radio frame), a CSI-RS power parameter, a CSI-RS sequence parameter, a code division multiplexing (CDM) type parameter, a frequency density, a transmission comb, quasi co-location (QCL) parameters (e.g., QCL-scramblingidentity, crs-portscount, mbsfn-subframeconfiglist, csi-rs-configZPid, qcl-csi-rs-configNZPid), and/or other radio resource parameters.

The three beams illustrated in FIG. 11B may be configured for a UE in a UE-specific configuration. Three beams are illustrated in FIG. 11B (beam #1, beam #2, and beam #3), more or fewer beams may be configured. Beam #1 may be allocated with CSI-RS 1101 that may be transmitted in one or more subcarriers in an RB of a first symbol. Beam #2 may be allocated with CSI-RS 1102 that may be transmitted in one or more subcarriers in an RB of a second symbol. Beam #3 may be allocated with CSI-RS 1103 that may be transmitted in one or more subcarriers in an RB of a third symbol. By using frequency division multiplexing (FDM), a base station may use other subcarriers in a same RB (for example, those that are not used to transmit CSI-RS 1101) to transmit another CSI-RS associated with a beam for another UE. By using time domain multiplexing (TDM), beams used for the UE may be configured such that beams for the UE use symbols from beams of other UEs.

CSI-RSs such as those illustrated in FIG. 11B (e.g., CSI-RS 1101, 1102, 1103) may be transmitted by the base station and used by the UE for one or more measurements. For example, the UE may measure a reference signal received power (RSRP) of configured CSI-RS resources. The base station may configure the UE with a reporting configuration and the UE may report the RSRP measurements to a network (for example, via one or more base stations) based on the reporting configuration. In an example, the base station may determine, based on the reported measurement results, one or more transmission configuration indication (TCI) states comprising a number of reference signals. In an example, the base station may indicate one or more TCI states to the UE (e.g., via RRC signaling, a MAC CE, and/or a DCI). The UE may receive a downlink transmission with a receive (Rx) beam determined based on the one or more TCI states. In an example, the UE may or may not have a capability of beam correspondence. If the UE has the capability of beam correspondence, the UE may determine a spatial domain filter of a transmit (Tx) beam based on a spatial domain filter of the corresponding Rx beam. If the UE does not have the capability of beam correspondence, the UE may perform an uplink beam selection procedure to determine the spatial domain filter of the Tx beam. The UE may perform the uplink beam selection procedure based on one or more sounding reference signal (SRS) resources configured to the UE by the base station. The base station may select and indicate uplink beams for the UE based on measurements of the one or more SRS resources transmitted by the UE.

In a beam management procedure, a UE may assess (e.g., measure) a channel quality of one or more beam pair links, a beam pair link comprising a transmitting beam transmitted by a base station and a receiving beam received by the UE. Based on the assessment, the UE may transmit a beam measurement report indicating one or more beam pair quality parameters comprising, e.g., one or more beam identifications (e.g., a beam index, a reference signal index, or the like), RSRP, a precoding matrix indicator (PMI), a channel quality indicator (CQI), and/or a rank indicator (RI).

FIG. 12A illustrates examples of three downlink beam management procedures: P1, P2, and P3. Procedure P1 may enable a UE measurement on transmit (Tx) beams of a transmission reception point (TRP) (or multiple TRPs), e.g., to support a selection of one or more base station Tx beams and/or UE Rx beams (shown as ovals in the top row and bottom row, respectively, of P1). Beamforming at a TRP may comprise a Tx beam sweep for a set of beams (shown, in the top rows of P1 and P2, as ovals rotated in a counterclockwise direction indicated by the dashed arrow). Beamforming at a UE may comprise an Rx beam sweep for a set of beams (shown, in the bottom rows of P1 and P3, as ovals rotated in a clockwise direction indicated by the dashed arrow). Procedure P2 may be used to enable a UE measurement on Tx beams of a TRP (shown, in the top row of P2, as ovals rotated in a counterclockwise direction indicated by the dashed arrow). The UE and/or the base station may perform procedure P2 using a smaller set of beams than is used in procedure P1, or using narrower beams than the beams used in procedure P1. This may be referred to as beam refinement. The UE may perform procedure P3 for Rx beam determination by using the same Tx beam at the base station and sweeping an Rx beam at the UE.

FIG. 12B illustrates examples of three uplink beam management procedures: U1, U2, and U3. Procedure U1 may be used to enable a base station to perform a measurement on Tx beams of a UE, e.g., to support a selection of one or more UE Tx beams and/or base station Rx beams (shown as ovals in the top row and bottom row, respectively, of U1). Beamforming at the UE may include, e.g., a Tx beam sweep from a set of beams (shown in the bottom rows of U1 and U3 as ovals rotated in a clockwise direction indicated by the dashed arrow). Beamforming at the base station may include, e.g., an Rx beam sweep from a set of beams (shown, in the top rows of U1 and U2, as ovals rotated in a counterclockwise direction indicated by the dashed arrow). Procedure U2 may be used to enable the base station to adjust its Rx beam when the UE uses a fixed Tx beam. The UE and/or the base station may perform procedure U2 using a smaller set of beams than is used in procedure P1, or using narrower beams than the beams used in procedure P1. This may be referred to as beam refinement The UE may perform procedure U3 to adjust its Tx beam when the base station uses a fixed Rx beam.

A UE may initiate a beam failure recovery (BFR) procedure based on detecting a beam failure. The UE may transmit a BFR request (e.g., a preamble, a UCI, an SR, a MAC CE, and/or the like) based on the initiating of the BFR procedure. The UE may detect the beam failure based on a determination that a quality of beam pair link(s) of an associated control channel is unsatisfactory (e.g., having an error rate higher than an error rate threshold, a received signal power lower than a received signal power threshold, an expiration of a timer, and/or the like).

The UE may measure a quality of a beam pair link using one or more reference signals (RSs) comprising one or more SS/PBCH blocks, one or more CSI-RS resources, and/or one or more demodulation reference signals (DMRSs). A quality of the beam pair link may be based on one or more of a block error rate (BLER), an RSRP value, a signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) value, a reference signal received quality (RSRQ) value, and/or a CSI value measured on RS resources. The base station may indicate that an RS resource is quasi co-located (QCLed) with one or more DM-RSs of a channel (e.g., a control channel, a shared data channel, and/or the like). The RS resource and the one or more DMRSs of the channel may be QCLed when the channel characteristics (e.g., Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread, spatial Rx parameter, fading, and/or the like) from a transmission via the RS resource to the UE are similar or the same as the channel characteristics from a transmission via the channel to the UE.

A network (e.g., a gNB and/or an ng-eNB of a network) and/or the UE may initiate a random access procedure. A UE in an RRC_IDLE state and/or an RRC_INACTIVE state may initiate the random access procedure to request a connection setup to a network. The UE may initiate the random access procedure from an RRC_CONNECTED state. The UE may initiate the random access procedure to request uplink resources (e.g., for uplink transmission of an SR when there is no PUCCH resource available) and/or acquire uplink timing (e.g., when uplink synchronization status is non-synchronized). The UE may initiate the random access procedure to request one or more system information blocks (SIBs) (e.g., other system information such as SIB2, SIB3, and/or the like). The UE may initiate the random access procedure for a beam failure recovery request. A network may initiate a random access procedure for a handover and/or for establishing time alignment for an SCell addition.

FIG. 13A illustrates a four-step contention-based random access procedure. Prior to initiation of the procedure, a base station may transmit a configuration message 1310 to the UE. The procedure illustrated in FIG. 13A comprises transmission of four messages: a Msg 1 1311, a Msg 2 1312, a Msg 3 1313, and a Msg 4 1314. The Msg 1 1311 may include and/or be referred to as a preamble (or a random access preamble). The Msg 2 1312 may include and/or be referred to as a random access response (RAR).

The configuration message 1310 may be transmitted, for example, using one or more RRC messages. The one or more RRC messages may indicate one or more random access channel (RACH) parameters to the UE. The one or more RACH parameters may comprise at least one of following: general parameters for one or more random access procedures (e.g., RACH-configGeneral); cell-specific parameters (e.g., RACH-ConfigCommon); and/or dedicated parameters (e.g., RACH-configDedicated). The base station may broadcast or multicast the one or more RRC messages to one or more UEs. The one or more RRC messages may be UE-specific (e.g., dedicated RRC messages transmitted to a UE in an RRC_CONNECTED state and/or in an RRC_INACTIVE state). The UE may determine, based on the one or more RACH parameters, a time-frequency resource and/or an uplink transmit power for transmission of the Msg 1 1311 and/or the Msg 3 1313. Based on the one or more RACH parameters, the UE may determine a reception timing and a downlink channel for receiving the Msg 2 1312 and the Msg 4 1314.

The one or more RACH parameters provided in the configuration message 1310 may indicate one or more Physical RACH (PRACH) occasions available for transmission of the Msg 1 1311. The one or more PRACH occasions may be predefined. The one or more RACH parameters may indicate one or more available sets of one or more PRACH occasions (e.g., prach-ConfigIndex). The one or more RACH parameters may indicate an association between (a) one or more PRACH occasions and (b) one or more reference signals. The one or more RACH parameters may indicate an association between (a) one or more preambles and (b) one or more reference signals. The one or more reference signals may be SS/PBCH blocks and/or CSI-RSs. For example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate a number of SS/PBCH blocks mapped to a PRACH occasion and/or a number of preambles mapped to a SS/PBCH blocks.

The one or more RACH parameters provided in the configuration message 1310 may be used to determine an uplink transmit power of Msg 1 1311 and/or Msg 3 1313. For example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate a reference power for a preamble transmission (e.g., a received target power and/or an initial power of the preamble transmission). There may be one or more power offsets indicated by the one or more RACH parameters. For example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate: a power ramping step; a power offset between SSB and CSI-RS; a power offset between transmissions of the Msg 1 1311 and the Msg 3 1313; and/or a power offset value between preamble groups. The one or more RACH parameters may indicate one or more thresholds based on which the UE may determine at least one reference signal (e.g., an SSB and/or CSI-RS) and/or an uplink carrier (e.g., a normal uplink (NUL) carrier and/or a supplemental uplink (SUL) carrier).

The Msg 1 1311 may include one or more preamble transmissions (e.g., a preamble transmission and one or more preamble retransmissions). An RRC message may be used to configure one or more preamble groups (e.g., group A and/or group B). A preamble group may comprise one or more preambles. The UE may determine the preamble group based on a pathloss measurement and/or a size of the Msg 3 1313. The UE may measure an RSRP of one or more reference signals (e.g., SSBs and/or CSI-RSs) and determine at least one reference signal having an RSRP above an RSRP threshold (e.g., rsrp-ThresholdSSB and/or rsrp-ThresholdCSI-RS). The UE may select at least one preamble associated with the one or more reference signals and/or a selected preamble group, for example, if the association between the one or more preambles and the at least one reference signal is configured by an RRC message.

The UE may determine the preamble based on the one or more RACH parameters provided in the configuration message 1310. For example, the UE may determine the preamble based on a pathloss measurement, an RSRP measurement, and/or a size of the Msg 3 1313. As another example, the one or more RACH parameters may indicate: a preamble format; a maximum number of preamble transmissions; and/or one or more thresholds for determining one or more preamble groups (e.g., group A and group B). A base station may use the one or more RACH parameters to configure the UE with an association between one or more preambles and one or more reference signals (e.g., SSBs and/or CSI-RSs). If the association is configured, the UE may determine the preamble to include in Msg 1 1311 based on the association. The Msg 1 1311 may be transmitted to the base station via one or more PRACH occasions. The UE may use one or more reference signals (e.g., SSBs and/or CSI-RSs) for selection of the preamble and for determining of the PRACH occasion. One or more RACH parameters (e.g., ra-ssb-OccasionMskIndex and/or ra-OccasionList) may indicate an association between the PRACH occasions and the one or more reference signals.

The UE may perform a preamble retransmission if no response is received following a preamble transmission. The UE may increase an uplink transmit power for the preamble retransmission. The UE may select an initial preamble transmit power based on a pathloss measurement and/or a target received preamble power configured by the network. The UE may determine to retransmit a preamble and may ramp up the uplink transmit power. The UE may receive one or more RACH parameters (e.g., PREAMBLE_POWER_RAMPING_STEP) indicating a ramping step for the preamble retransmission. The ramping step may be an amount of incremental increase in uplink transmit power for a retransmission. The UE may ramp up the uplink transmit power if the UE determines a reference signal (e.g., SSB and/or CSI-RS) that is the same as a previous preamble transmission. The UE may count a number of preamble transmissions and/or retransmissions (e.g., PREAMBLE_TRANSMISSION_COUNTER). The UE may determine that a random access procedure completed unsuccessfully, for example, if the number of preamble transmissions exceeds a threshold configured by the one or more RACH parameters (e.g., preambleTransMax).

The Msg 2 1312 received by the UE may include an RAR. In some scenarios, the Msg 2 1312 may include multiple RARs corresponding to multiple UEs. The Msg 2 1312 may be received after or in response to the transmitting of the Msg 1 1311. The Msg 2 1312 may be scheduled on the DL-SCH and indicated on a PDCCH using a random access RNTI (RA-RNTI). The Msg 2 1312 may indicate that the Msg 1 1311 was received by the base station. The Msg 2 1312 may include a time-alignment command that may be used by the UE to adjust the UE's transmission timing, a scheduling grant for transmission of the Msg 3 1313, and/or a Temporary Cell RNTI (TC-RNTI). After transmitting a preamble, the UE may start a time window (e.g., ra-Response Window) to monitor a PDCCH for the Msg 2 1312. The UE may determine when to start the time window based on a PRACH occasion that the UE uses to transmit the preamble. For example, the UE may start the time window one or more symbols after a last symbol of the preamble (e.g., at a first PDCCH occasion from an end of a preamble transmission). The one or more symbols may be determined based on a numerology. The PDCCH may be in a common search space (e.g., a Type1-PDCCH common search space) configured by an RRC message. The UE may identify the RAR based on a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI). RNTIs may be used depending on one or more events initiating the random access procedure. The UE may use random access RNTI (RA-RNTI). The RA-RNTI may be associated with PRACH occasions in which the UE transmits a preamble. For example, the UE may determine the RA-RNTI based on: an OFDM symbol index; a slot index; a frequency domain index; and/or a UL carrier indicator of the PRACH occasions. An example of RA-RNTI may be as follows:

RA-RNTI=1+s_id+14×t_id+14×80×f_id+14×80×8×ul_carrier_id

where s_id may be an index of a first OFDM symbol of the PRACH occasion (e.g., 0≤s_id<14), t_id may be an index of a first slot of the PRACH occasion in a system frame (e.g., 0≤t_id<80), f_id may be an index of the PRACH occasion in the frequency domain (e.g., 0≤f_id<8), and ul_carrier_id may be a UL carrier used for a preamble transmission (e.g., 0 for an NUL carrier, and 1 for an SUL carrier).

The UE may transmit the Msg 3 1313 in response to a successful reception of the Msg 2 1312 (e.g., using resources identified in the Msg 2 1312). The Msg 3 1313 may be used for contention resolution in, for example, the contention-based random access procedure illustrated in FIG. 13A. In some scenarios, a plurality of UEs may transmit a same preamble to a base station and the base station may provide an RAR that corresponds to a UE. Collisions may occur if the plurality of UEs interpret the RAR as corresponding to themselves. Contention resolution (e.g., using the Msg 3 1313 and the Msg 4 1314) may be used to increase the likelihood that the UE does not incorrectly use an identity of another the UE. To perform contention resolution, the UE may include a device identifier in the Msg 3 1313 (e.g., a C-RNTI if assigned, a TC-RNTI included in the Msg 2 1312, and/or any other suitable identifier).

The Msg 4 1314 may be received after or in response to the transmitting of the Msg 3 1313. If a C-RNTI was included in the Msg 3 1313, the base station will address the UE on the PDCCH using the C-RNTI. If the UE's unique C-RNTI is detected on the PDCCH, the random access procedure is determined to be successfully completed. If a TC-RNTI is included in the Msg 3 1313 (e.g., if the UE is in an RRC_IDLE state or not otherwise connected to the base station), Msg 4 1314 will be received using a DL-SCH associated with the TC-RNTI. If a MAC PDU is successfully decoded and a MAC PDU comprises the UE contention resolution identity MAC CE that matches or otherwise corresponds with the CCCH SDU sent (e.g., transmitted) in Msg 3 1313, the UE may determine that the contention resolution is successful and/or the UE may determine that the random access procedure is successfully completed.

The UE may be configured with a supplementary uplink (SUL) carrier and a normal uplink (NUL) carrier. An initial access (e.g., random access procedure) may be supported in an uplink carrier. For example, a base station may configure the UE with two separate RACH configurations: one for an SUL carrier and the other for an NUL carrier. For random access in a cell configured with an SUL carrier, the network may indicate which carrier to use (NUL or SUL). The UE may determine the SUL carrier, for example, if a measured quality of one or more reference signals is lower than a broadcast threshold. Uplink transmissions of the random access procedure (e.g., the Msg 1 1311 and/or the Msg 3 1313) may remain on the selected carrier. The UE may switch an uplink carrier during the random access procedure (e.g., between the Msg 1 1311 and the Msg 3 1313) in one or more cases. For example, the UE may determine and/or switch an uplink carrier for the Msg 1 1311 and/or the Msg 3 1313 based on a channel clear assessment (e.g., a listen-before-talk).

FIG. 13B illustrates a two-step contention-free random access procedure. Similar to the four-step contention-based random access procedure illustrated in FIG. 13A, a base station may, prior to initiation of the procedure, transmit a configuration message 1320 to the UE. The configuration message 1320 may be analogous in some respects to the configuration message 1310. The procedure illustrated in FIG. 13B comprises transmission of two messages: a Msg 1 1321 and a Msg 2 1322. The Msg 1 1321 and the Msg 2 1322 may be analogous in some respects to the Msg 1 1311 and a Msg 2 1312 illustrated in FIG. 13A, respectively. As will be understood from FIGS. 13A and 13B, the contention-free random access procedure may not include messages analogous to the Msg 3 1313 and/or the Msg 4 1314.

The contention-free random access procedure illustrated in FIG. 13B may be initiated for a beam failure recovery, other SI request, SCell addition, and/or handover. For example, a base station may indicate or assign to the UE the preamble to be used for the Msg 1 1321. The UE may receive, from the base station via PDCCH and/or RRC, an indication of a preamble (e.g., ra-PreambleIndex).

After transmitting a preamble, the UE may start a time window (e.g., ra-Response Window) to monitor a PDCCH for the RAR. In the event of a beam failure recovery request, the base station may configure the UE with a separate time window and/or a separate PDCCH in a search space indicated by an RRC message (e.g., recoverySearchSpaceId). The UE may monitor for a PDCCH transmission addressed to a Cell RNTI (C-RNTI) on the search space. In the contention-free random access procedure illustrated in FIG. 13B, the UE may determine that a random access procedure successfully completes after or in response to transmission of Msg 1 1321 and reception of a corresponding Msg 2 1322. The UE may determine that a random access procedure successfully completes, for example, if a PDCCH transmission is addressed to a C-RNTI. The UE may determine that a random access procedure successfully completes, for example, if the UE receives an RAR comprising a preamble identifier corresponding to a preamble transmitted by the UE and/or the RAR comprises a MAC sub-PDU with the preamble identifier. The UE may determine the response as an indication of an acknowledgement for an SI request.

FIG. 13C illustrates another two-step random access procedure. Similar to the random access procedures illustrated in FIGS. 13A and 13B, a base station may, prior to initiation of the procedure, transmit a configuration message 1330 to the UE. The configuration message 1330 may be analogous in some respects to the configuration message 1310 and/or the configuration message 1320. The procedure illustrated in FIG. 13C comprises transmission of two messages: a Msg A 1331 and a Msg B 1332.

Msg A 1331 may be transmitted in an uplink transmission by the UE. Msg A 1331 may comprise one or more transmissions of a preamble 1341 and/or one or more transmissions of a transport block 1342. The transport block 1342 may comprise contents that are similar and/or equivalent to the contents of the Msg 3 1313 illustrated in FIG. 13A. The transport block 1342 may comprise UCI (e.g., an SR, a HARQ ACK/NACK, and/or the like). The UE may receive the Msg B 1332 after or in response to transmitting the Msg A 1331. The Msg B 1332 may comprise contents that are similar and/or equivalent to the contents of the Msg 2 1312 (e.g., an RAR) illustrated in FIGS. 13A and 13B and/or the Msg 4 1314 illustrated in FIG. 13A.

The UE may initiate the two-step random access procedure in FIG. 13C for licensed spectrum and/or unlicensed spectrum. The UE may determine, based on one or more factors, whether to initiate the two-step random access procedure. The one or more factors may be: a radio access technology in use (e.g., LTE, NR, and/or the like); whether the UE has valid TA or not; a cell size; the UE's RRC state; a type of spectrum (e.g., licensed vs. unlicensed); and/or any other suitable factors.

The UE may determine, based on two-step RACH parameters included in the configuration message 1330, a radio resource and/or an uplink transmit power for the preamble 1341 and/or the transport block 1342 included in the Msg A 1331. The RACH parameters may indicate a modulation and coding schemes (MCS), a time-frequency resource, and/or a power control for the preamble 1341 and/or the transport block 1342. A time-frequency resource for transmission of the preamble 1341 (e.g., a PRACH) and a time-frequency resource for transmission of the transport block 1342 (e.g., a PUSCH) may be multiplexed using FDM, TDM, and/or CDM. The RACH parameters may enable the UE to determine a reception timing and a downlink channel for monitoring for and/or receiving Msg B 1332.

The transport block 1342 may comprise data (e.g., delay-sensitive data), an identifier of the UE, security information, and/or device information (e.g., an International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI)). The base station may transmit the Msg B 1332 as a response to the Msg A 1331. The Msg B 1332 may comprise at least one of following: a preamble identifier; a timing advance command; a power control command; an uplink grant (e.g., a radio resource assignment and/or an MCS); a UE identifier for contention resolution; and/or an RNTI (e.g., a C-RNTI or a TC-RNTI). The UE may determine that the two-step random access procedure is successfully completed if: a preamble identifier in the Msg B 1332 is matched to a preamble transmitted by the UE; and/or the identifier of the UE in Msg B 1332 is matched to the identifier of the UE in the Msg A 1331 (e.g., the transport block 1342).

A UE and a base station may exchange control signaling. The control signaling may be referred to as L1/L2 control signaling and may originate from the PHY layer (e.g., layer 1) and/or the MAC layer (e.g., layer 2). The control signaling may comprise downlink control signaling transmitted from the base station to the UE and/or uplink control signaling transmitted from the UE to the base station.

The downlink control signaling may comprise: a downlink scheduling assignment; an uplink scheduling grant indicating uplink radio resources and/or a transport format; a slot format information; a preemption indication; a power control command; and/or any other suitable signaling. The UE may receive the downlink control signaling in a payload transmitted by the base station on a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). The payload transmitted on the PDCCH may be referred to as downlink control information (DCI). In some scenarios, the PDCCH may be a group common PDCCH (GC-PDCCH) that is common to a group of UEs.

A base station may attach one or more cyclic redundancy check (CRC) parity bits to a DCI in order to facilitate detection of transmission errors. When the DCI is intended for a UE (or a group of the UEs), the base station may scramble the CRC parity bits with an identifier of the UE (or an identifier of the group of the UEs). Scrambling the CRC parity bits with the identifier may comprise Modulo-2 addition (or an exclusive OR operation) of the identifier value and the CRC parity bits. The identifier may comprise a 16-bit value of a radio network temporary identifier (RNTI).

DCIs may be used for different purposes. A purpose may be indicated by the type of RNTI used to scramble the CRC parity bits. For example, a DCI having CRC parity bits scrambled with a paging RNTI (P-RNTI) may indicate paging information and/or a system information change notification. The P-RNTI may be predefined as “FFFE” in hexadecimal. A DCI having CRC parity bits scrambled with a system information RNTI (SI-RNTI) may indicate a broadcast transmission of the system information. The SI-RNTI may be predefined as “FFFF” in hexadecimal. A DCI having CRC parity bits scrambled with a random access RNTI (RA-RNTI) may indicate a random access response (RAR). A DCI having CRC parity bits scrambled with a cell RNTI (C-RNTI) may indicate a dynamically scheduled unicast transmission and/or a triggering of PDCCH-ordered random access. A DCI having CRC parity bits scrambled with a temporary cell RNTI (TC-RNTI) may indicate a contention resolution (e.g., a Msg 3 analogous to the Msg 3 1313 illustrated in FIG. 13A). Other RNTIs configured to the UE by a base station may comprise a Configured Scheduling RNTI (CS-RNTI), a Transmit Power Control-PUCCH RNTI (TPC-PUCCH-RNTI), a Transmit Power Control-PUSCH RNTI (TPC-PUSCH-RNTI), a Transmit Power Control-SRS RNTI (TPC-SRS-RNTI), an Interruption RNTI (INT-RNTI), a Slot Format Indication RNTI (SFI-RNTI), a Semi-Persistent CSI RNTI (SP-CSI-RNTI), a Modulation and Coding Scheme Cell RNTI (MCS-C-RNTI), and/or the like.

Depending on the purpose and/or content of a DCI, the base station may transmit the DCIs with one or more DCI formats. For example, DCI format 0_0 may be used for scheduling of PUSCH in a cell. DCI format 0_0 may be a fallback DCI format (e.g., with compact DCI payloads). DCI format 0_1 may be used for scheduling of PUSCH in a cell (e.g., with more DCI payloads than DCI format 0_0). DCI format 1_0 may be used for scheduling of PDSCH in a cell. DCI format 1_0 may be a fallback DCI format (e.g., with compact DCI payloads). DCI format 1_1 may be used for scheduling of PDSCH in a cell (e.g., with more DCI payloads than DCI format 1_0). DCI format 2_0 may be used for providing a slot format indication to a group of UEs. DCI format 2_1 may be used for notifying a group of UEs of a physical resource block and/or OFDM symbol where the UE may assume no transmission is intended to the UE. DCI format 2_2 may be used for transmission of a transmit power control (TPC) command for PUCCH or PUSCH. DCI format 2_3 may be used for transmission of a group of TPC commands for SRS transmissions by one or more UEs. DCI format(s) for new functions may be defined in future releases. DCI formats may have different DCI sizes, or may share the same DCI size.

After scrambling a DCI with a RNTI, the base station may process the DCI with channel coding (e.g., polar coding), rate matching, scrambling and/or QPSK modulation. A base station may map the coded and modulated DCI on resource elements used and/or configured for a PDCCH. Based on a payload size of the DCI and/or a coverage of the base station, the base station may transmit the DCI via a PDCCH occupying a number of contiguous control channel elements (CCEs). The number of the contiguous CCEs (referred to as aggregation level) may be 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, and/or any other suitable number. A CCE may comprise a number (e.g., 6) of resource-element groups (REGs). A REG may comprise a resource block in an OFDM symbol. The mapping of the coded and modulated DCI on the resource elements may be based on mapping of CCEs and REGs (e.g., CCE-to-REG mapping).

FIG. 14A illustrates an example of CORESET configurations for a bandwidth part. The base station may transmit a DCI via a PDCCH on one or more control resource sets (CORESETs). A CORESET may comprise a time-frequency resource in which the UE tries to decode a DCI using one or more search spaces. The base station may configure a CORESET in the time-frequency domain. In the example of FIG. 14A, a first CORESET 1401 and a second CORESET 1402 occur at the first symbol in a slot. The first CORESET 1401 overlaps with the second CORESET 1402 in the frequency domain. A third CORESET 1403 occurs at a third symbol in the slot. A fourth CORESET 1404 occurs at the seventh symbol in the slot. CORESETs may have a different number of resource blocks in frequency domain.

FIG. 14B illustrates an example of a CCE-to-REG mapping for DCI transmission on a CORESET and PDCCH processing. The CCE-to-REG mapping may be an interleaved mapping (e.g., for the purpose of providing frequency diversity) or a non-interleaved mapping (e.g., for the purposes of facilitating interference coordination and/or frequency-selective transmission of control channels). The base station may perform different or same CCE-to-REG mapping on different CORESETs. A CORESET may be associated with a CCE-to-REG mapping by RRC configuration. A CORESET may be configured with an antenna port quasi co-location (QCL) parameter. The antenna port QCL parameter may indicate QCL information of a demodulation reference signal (DMRS) for PDCCH reception in the CORESET.

The base station may transmit, to the UE, RRC messages comprising configuration parameters of one or more CORESETs and one or more search space sets. The configuration parameters may indicate an association between a search space set and a CORESET. A search space set may comprise a set of PDCCH candidates formed by CCEs at a given aggregation level. The configuration parameters may indicate: a number of PDCCH candidates to be monitored per aggregation level; a PDCCH monitoring periodicity and a PDCCH monitoring pattern; one or more DCI formats to be monitored by the UE; and/or whether a search space set is a common search space set or a UE-specific search space set. A set of CCEs in the common search space set may be predefined and known to the UE. A set of CCEs in the UE-specific search space set may be configured based on the UE's identity (e.g., C-RNTI).

As shown in FIG. 14B, the UE may determine a time-frequency resource for a CORESET based on RRC messages. The UE may determine a CCE-to-REG mapping (e.g., interleaved or non-interleaved, and/or mapping parameters) for the CORESET based on configuration parameters of the CORESET. The UE may determine a number (e.g., at most 10) of search space sets configured on the CORESET based on the RRC messages. The UE may monitor a set of PDCCH candidates according to configuration parameters of a search space set. The UE may monitor a set of PDCCH candidates in one or more CORESETs for detecting one or more DCIs. Monitoring may comprise decoding one or more PDCCH candidates of the set of the PDCCH candidates according to the monitored DCI formats. Monitoring may comprise decoding a DCI content of one or more PDCCH candidates with possible (or configured) PDCCH locations, possible (or configured) PDCCH formats (e.g., number of CCEs, number of PDCCH candidates in common search spaces, and/or number of PDCCH candidates in the UE-specific search spaces) and possible (or configured) DCI formats. The decoding may be referred to as blind decoding. The UE may determine a DCI as valid for the UE, in response to CRC checking (e.g., scrambled bits for CRC parity bits of the DCI matching a RNTI value). The UE may process information contained in the DCI (e.g., a scheduling assignment, an uplink grant, power control, a slot format indication, a downlink preemption, and/or the like).

The UE may transmit uplink control signaling (e.g., uplink control information (UCI)) to a base station. The uplink control signaling may comprise hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgements for received DL-SCH transport blocks. The UE may transmit the HARQ acknowledgements after receiving a DL-SCH transport block. Uplink control signaling may comprise channel state information (CSI) indicating channel quality of a physical downlink channel. The UE may transmit the CSI to the base station. The base station, based on the received CSI, may determine transmission format parameters (e.g., comprising multi-antenna and beamforming schemes) for a downlink transmission. Uplink control signaling may comprise scheduling requests (SR). The UE may transmit an SR indicating that uplink data is available for transmission to the base station. The UE may transmit a UCI (e.g., HARQ acknowledgements (HARQ-ACK), CSI report, SR, and the like) via a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) or a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The UE may transmit the uplink control signaling via a PUCCH using one of several PUCCH formats.

There may be five PUCCH formats and the UE may determine a PUCCH format based on a size of the UCI (e.g., a number of uplink symbols of UCI transmission and a number of UCI bits). PUCCH format 0 may have a length of one or two OFDM symbols and may include two or fewer bits. The UE may transmit UCI in a PUCCH resource using PUCCH format 0 if the transmission is over one or two symbols and the number of HARQ-ACK information bits with positive or negative SR (HARQ-ACK/SR bits) is one or two. PUCCH format 1 may occupy a number between four and fourteen OFDM symbols and may include two or fewer bits. The UE may use PUCCH format 1 if the transmission is four or more symbols and the number of HARQ-ACK/SR bits is one or two. PUCCH format 2 may occupy one or two OFDM symbols and may include more than two bits. The UE may use PUCCH format 2 if the transmission is over one or two symbols and the number of UCI bits is two or more. PUCCH format 3 may occupy a number between four and fourteen OFDM symbols and may include more than two bits. The UE may use PUCCH format 3 if the transmission is four or more symbols, the number of UCI bits is two or more and PUCCH resource does not include an orthogonal cover code. PUCCH format 4 may occupy a number between four and fourteen OFDM symbols and may include more than two bits. The UE may use PUCCH format 4 if the transmission is four or more symbols, the number of UCI bits is two or more and the PUCCH resource includes an orthogonal cover code.

The base station may transmit configuration parameters to the UE for a plurality of PUCCH resource sets using, for example, an RRC message. The plurality of PUCCH resource sets (e.g., up to four sets) may be configured on an uplink BWP of a cell. A PUCCH resource set may be configured with a PUCCH resource set index, a plurality of PUCCH resources with a PUCCH resource being identified by a PUCCH resource identifier (e.g., pucch-Resourceid), and/or a number (e.g. a maximum number) of UCI information bits the UE may transmit using one of the plurality of PUCCH resources in the PUCCH resource set. When configured with a plurality of PUCCH resource sets, the UE may select one of the plurality of PUCCH resource sets based on a total bit length of the UCI information bits (e.g., HARQ-ACK, SR, and/or CSI). If the total bit length of UCI information bits is two or fewer, the UE may select a first PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to “0”. If the total bit length of UCI information bits is greater than two and less than or equal to a first configured value, the UE may select a second PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to “1”. If the total bit length of UCI information bits is greater than the first configured value and less than or equal to a second configured value, the UE may select a third PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to “2”. If the total bit length of UCI information bits is greater than the second configured value and less than or equal to a third value (e.g., 1406), the UE may select a fourth PUCCH resource set having a PUCCH resource set index equal to “3”.

After determining a PUCCH resource set from a plurality of PUCCH resource sets, the UE may determine a PUCCH resource from the PUCCH resource set for UCI (HARQ-ACK, CSI, and/or SR) transmission. The UE may determine the PUCCH resource based on a PUCCH resource indicator in a DCI (e.g., with a DCI format 1_0 or DCI for 1_1) received on a PDCCH. A three-bit PUCCH resource indicator in the DCI may indicate one of eight PUCCH resources in the PUCCH resource set. Based on the PUCCH resource indicator, the UE may transmit the UCI (HARQ-ACK, CSI and/or SR) using a PUCCH resource indicated by the PUCCH resource indicator in the DCI.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of a wireless device 1502 in communication with a base station 1504 in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The wireless device 1502 and base station 1504 may be part of a mobile communication network, such as the mobile communication network 100 illustrated in FIG. 1A, the mobile communication network 150 illustrated in FIG. 1B, or any other communication network. Only one wireless device 1502 and one base station 1504 are illustrated in FIG. 15, but it will be understood that a mobile communication network may include more than one UE and/or more than one base station, with the same or similar configuration as those shown in FIG. 15.

The base station 1504 may connect the wireless device 1502 to a core network (not shown) through radio communications over the air interface (or radio interface) 1506. The communication direction from the base station 1504 to the wireless device 1502 over the air interface 1506 is known as the downlink, and the communication direction from the wireless device 1502 to the base station 1504 over the air interface is known as the uplink. Downlink transmissions may be separated from uplink transmissions using FDD, TDD, and/or some combination of the two duplexing techniques.

In the downlink, data to be sent to the wireless device 1502 from the base station 1504 may be provided to the processing system 1508 of the base station 1504. The data may be provided to the processing system 1508 by, for example, a core network. In the uplink, data to be sent to the base station 1504 from the wireless device 1502 may be provided to the processing system 1518 of the wireless device 1502. The processing system 1508 and the processing system 1518 may implement layer 3 and layer 2 OSI functionality to process the data for transmission. Layer 2 may include an SDAP layer, a PDCP layer, an RLC layer, and a MAC layer, for example, with respect to FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4A. Layer 3 may include an RRC layer as with respect to FIG. 2B.

After being processed by processing system 1508, the data to be sent to the wireless device 1502 may be provided to a transmission processing system 1510 of base station 1504. Similarly, after being processed by the processing system 1518, the data to be sent to base station 1504 may be provided to a transmission processing system 1520 of the wireless device 1502. The transmission processing system 1510 and the transmission processing system 1520 may implement layer 1 OSI functionality. Layer 1 may include a PHY layer with respect to FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4A. For transmit processing, the PHY layer may perform, for example, forward error correction coding of transport channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping of transport channels to physical channels, modulation of physical channel, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) or multi-antenna processing, and/or the like.

At the base station 1504, a reception processing system 1512 may receive the uplink transmission from the wireless device 1502. At the wireless device 1502, a reception processing system 1522 may receive the downlink transmission from base station 1504. The reception processing system 1512 and the reception processing system 1522 may implement layer 1 OSI functionality. Layer 1 may include a PHY layer with respect to FIG. 2A, FIG. 2B, FIG. 3, and FIG. 4A. For receive processing, the PHY layer may perform, for example, error detection, forward error correction decoding, deinterleaving, demapping of transport channels to physical channels, demodulation of physical channels, MIMO or multi-antenna processing, and/or the like.

As shown in FIG. 15, a wireless device 1502 and the base station 1504 may include multiple antennas. The multiple antennas may be used to perform one or more MIMO or multi-antenna techniques, such as spatial multiplexing (e.g., single-user MIMO or multi-user MIMO), transmit/receive diversity, and/or beamforming. In other examples, the wireless device 1502 and/or the base station 1504 may have a single antenna.

The processing system 1508 and the processing system 1518 may be associated with a memory 1514 and a memory 1524, respectively. Memory 1514 and memory 1524 (e.g., one or more non-transitory computer readable mediums) may store computer program instructions or code that may be executed by the processing system 1508 and/or the processing system 1518 to carry out one or more of the functionalities discussed in the present application. Although not shown in FIG. 15, the transmission processing system 1510, the transmission processing system 1520, the reception processing system 1512, and/or the reception processing system 1522 may be coupled to a memory (e.g., one or more non-transitory computer readable mediums) storing computer program instructions or code that may be executed to carry out one or more of their respective functionalities.

The processing system 1508 and/or the processing system 1518 may comprise one or more controllers and/or one or more processors. The one or more controllers and/or one or more processors may comprise, for example, a general-purpose processor, a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array (FPGA) and/or other programmable logic device, discrete gate and/or transistor logic, discrete hardware components, an on-board unit, or any combination thereof. The processing system 1508 and/or the processing system 1518 may perform at least one of signal coding/processing, data processing, power control, input/output processing, and/or any other functionality that may enable the wireless device 1502 and the base station 1504 to operate in a wireless environment.

The processing system 1508 and/or the processing system 1518 may be connected to one or more peripherals 1516 and one or more peripherals 1526, respectively. The one or more peripherals 1516 and the one or more peripherals 1526 may include software and/or hardware that provide features and/or functionalities, for example, a speaker, a microphone, a keypad, a display, a touchpad, a power source, a satellite transceiver, a universal serial bus (USB) port, a hands-free headset, a frequency modulated (FM) radio unit, a media player, an Internet browser, an electronic control unit (e.g., for a motor vehicle), and/or one or more sensors (e.g., an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a temperature sensor, a radar sensor, a lidar sensor, an ultrasonic sensor, a light sensor, a camera, and/or the like). The processing system 1508 and/or the processing system 1518 may receive user input data from and/or provide user output data to the one or more peripherals 1516 and/or the one or more peripherals 1526. The processing system 1518 in the wireless device 1502 may receive power from a power source and/or may be configured to distribute the power to the other components in the wireless device 1502. The power source may comprise one or more sources of power, for example, a battery, a solar cell, a fuel cell, or any combination thereof. The processing system 1508 and/or the processing system 1518 may be connected to a GPS chipset 1517 and a GPS chipset 1527, respectively. The GPS chipset 1517 and the GPS chipset 1527 may be configured to provide geographic location information of the wireless device 1502 and the base station 1504, respectively.

FIG. 16A illustrates an example structure for uplink transmission. A baseband signal representing a physical uplink shared channel may perform one or more functions. The one or more functions may comprise at least one of: scrambling; modulation of scrambled bits to generate complex-valued symbols; mapping of the complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or several transmission layers; transform precoding to generate complex-valued symbols; precoding of the complex-valued symbols; mapping of precoded complex-valued symbols to resource elements; generation of complex-valued time-domain Single Carrier-Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) or CP-OFDM signal for an antenna port; and/or the like. In an example, when transform precoding is enabled, a SC-FDMA signal for uplink transmission may be generated. In an example, when transform precoding is not enabled, a CP-OFDM signal for uplink transmission may be generated by FIG. 16A. These functions are illustrated as examples and it is anticipated that other mechanisms may be implemented in various embodiments.

FIG. 16B illustrates an example structure for modulation and up-conversion of a baseband signal to a carrier frequency. The baseband signal may be a complex-valued SC-FDMA or CP-OFDM baseband signal for an antenna port and/or a complex-valued Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) baseband signal. Filtering may be employed prior to transmission.

FIG. 16C illustrates an example structure for downlink transmissions. A baseband signal representing a physical downlink channel may perform one or more functions. The one or more functions may comprise: scrambling of coded bits in a codeword to be transmitted on a physical channel; modulation of scrambled bits to generate complex-valued modulation symbols; mapping of the complex-valued modulation symbols onto one or several transmission layers; precoding of the complex-valued modulation symbols on a layer for transmission on the antenna ports; mapping of complex-valued modulation symbols for an antenna port to resource elements; generation of complex-valued time-domain OFDM signal for an antenna port; and/or the like. These functions are illustrated as examples and it is anticipated that other mechanisms may be implemented in various embodiments.

FIG. 16D illustrates another example structure for modulation and up-conversion of a baseband signal to a carrier frequency. The baseband signal may be a complex-valued OFDM baseband signal for an antenna port. Filtering may be employed prior to transmission.

A wireless device may receive from a base station one or more messages (e.g. RRC messages) comprising configuration parameters of a plurality of cells (e.g. primary cell, secondary cell). The wireless device may communicate with at least one base station (e.g. two or more base stations in dual connectivity) via the plurality of cells. The one or more messages (e.g. as a part of the configuration parameters) may comprise parameters of physical, MAC, RLC, PCDP, SDAP, RRC layers for configuring the wireless device. For example, the configuration parameters may comprise parameters for configuring physical and MAC layer channels, bearers, etc. For example, the configuration parameters may comprise parameters indicating values of timers for physical, MAC, RLC, PCDP, SDAP, RRC layers, and/or communication channels.

A timer may begin running once it is started and continue running until it is stopped or until it expires. A timer may be started if it is not running or restarted if it is running. A timer may be associated with a value (e.g. the timer may be started or restarted from a value or may be started from zero and expire once it reaches the value). The duration of a timer may not be updated until the timer is stopped or expires (e.g., due to BWP switching). A timer may be used to measure a time period/window for a process. When the specification refers to an implementation and procedure related to one or more timers, it will be understood that there are multiple ways to implement the one or more timers. For example, it will be understood that one or more of the multiple ways to implement a timer may be used to measure a time period/window for the procedure. For example, a random access response window timer may be used for measuring a window of time for receiving a random access response. In an example, instead of starting and expiry of a random access response window timer, the time difference between two time stamps may be used. When a timer is restarted, a process for measurement of time window may be restarted. Other example implementations may be provided to restart a measurement of a time window.

5G network may provide service for various kinds of vertical industries and various kinds of users. Existing 5G quality of service (QoS) requirements may not be sufficient to provide good user experience for all the user requirements. Thus in the 5G network, it is necessary to collect the user key performance indicators (KPI) information, e.g. application layer end-to-end reliability statistic indicator, etc. For example, KPIs for characterizing insufficient video streaming performance (e.g., as perceived by the user) comprise initial stalling of the playout; periods of stalling and freezing of the video while playing; interruption of the audio while playing; low coding quality appearing as blurring, macroblocking or mosquito artefacts; and/or varying coding quality while playing. KPIs and other information may be collected (e.g., by a network, measurement collection entity (MCE) of the network, etc.). The collected information may be used to determine and/or manage the user's Quality of Experience (QoE).

QoE support may be useful for any service and/or service type. Examples of services and/or service types include streaming services (e.g., dynamic adaptive streaming over hypertext transfer protocol (DASH)), multimedia telephony services for internet protocol multimedia subsystem (MTSI), multimedia broadcast and multicast services (MBMS), augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), extended reality (XR), video streaming services, etc.

QoE support may be useful for any slice (network slice) and/or slice type. Examples of slices and/or slice types include enhanced mobile broadband (cMBB), ultra reliable low latency communication (URLLC), internet of things (IoT), massive internet of things (mIoT), vehicle-to-everything (V2X), high-performance machine-type communications (HMTC), slices suitable for any of the foregoing, etc.

In addition to the QoE metrics, the radio related measurements and information to assist the NR QoE management functionality are considered.

New radio (NR) and long-term evolution (LTE) support an application layer measurement collection functionality for QoE. This functionality enables the collection of application layer measurements from a user equipment (UE) or one or more UEs in an area. The collected information is transported to a collection center (e.g., MCE), where it can be analyzed.

Initiation of measurement collection may be signaling-based or management-based. For the signaling-based case (an example of which is shown in FIG. 17), the application layer measurement collection is initiated towards a UE from core network (CN) nodes (e.g., mobility management function, AMF, MME, SMF, etc.). For the management-based case (an example of which is shown in FIG. 18), the application layer measurement collection is initiated from operations, administration, and maintenance (OAM). The OAM may target an area (e.g., comprising any number of UEs) instead of targeting a particular UE. An application layer measurement configuration received may be encapsulated in a transparent container, which is forwarded to a UE in a downlink RRC message. Application layer measurements received from UE's higher layer are encapsulated in a transparent container and sent to the network in an uplink RRC message.

FIG. 17 illustrates an example of signaling-based activation and deactivation procedures. In the signaling-based activation procedure, QoE measurements are intended for particular subscribers. OAM and CN may select the UE based on UE's subscription information and UE's capability. The CN may initiate the activation of the QoE measurement configured by OAM and may send the QoE measurement configuration to a base station (e.g., NG Radio Access Network (NG-RAN), gNB, eNB, etc.).

The base station may send the QoE measurement configuration to the UE. The QoE measurement configuration may be sent in a radio resource control (RRC) message. The QoE measurement configuration may be received by an access stratum (AS) layer of the UE. The AS layer of the UE may send the QoE measurement configuration to an application layer of the UE. Configuration and reporting for multiple simultaneous QoE measurements for a UE may be supported.

The UE may perform one or more measurements based on the QoE measurement configuration. The QoE measurements may be specific to a service, service type, slice, slice type, and/or application. One or more results of the measurements may be referred to as QoE measurement results, QoE metrics, etc. One or more results of the measurements may be used to generate a report (e.g., QoE measurement report).

For example, QoE metrics may comprise one or more of throughput, average throughput, initial playout delay, playout delay, buffer level status, a list of playback periods (play list), packet loss rate, successive loss of real-time transport protocol packets, frame rate, jitter duration, sync loss duration, round-trip time, average codec bitrate, codec bitrate, call setup time (e.g., for MTSI service), viewport switching latency, etc. For streaming and/or VR services, QoE metrics may comprise average throughput, playout delay, buffer level status, and/or a list of playback periods (play list) for streaming and/or VR services, successive loss of real-time transport protocol packets, frame rate, jitter duration, sync loss duration, round-trip time, average codec bitrate, and/or call setup time for MTSI service, comparable quality viewport switching latency, a list of viewports that have been rendered during the media presentation for streaming and/or VR services, etc.

The UE application layer may send the QoE report to the UE AS layer. The UE AS layer may send the QoE report to the base station. The QoE report may be sent in an RRC message. The QoE report may be sent via a separate SRB in NR. The base station may transmit the QoE report to the configured destination, e.g., a measurement collection entity (MCE). RRC segmentation may be needed for transmission of QoE reports, and any potential solutions need detailed technical specification of the procedures. Management based QoE configuration should not override signaling based QoE configuration.

In the signaling-based deactivation procedure, deactivation of the QoE measurements is configured by the OAM and triggered by the CN. The CN may initiate the deactivation of QoE measurement as configured by OAM and may send the deactivation indication to the NG-RAN node to indicate which QoE measurement should be deactivated. The NG-RAN node may send the deactivation indication to the UE AS layer, and then the UE AS layer may send the deactivation indication to the UE application layer.

FIG. 18 illustrates an example of management-based activation and deactivation procedures. In the management-based activation procedure, the QoE measurement configuration is used for activating the QoE measurement configured and triggered by OAM. The OAM may send the QoE measurement configuration to NG-RAN node. NG-RAN may find multiple qualified UEs that meet the criteria (e.g., the NG-RAN node selects the UE(s) that meet the required QoE measurement capability, area scope and slice scope., etc.). NG-RAN node may send the QoE measurement configuration to the AS layer of the UE or each qualified UE. UE AS layer may send the QoE measurement configuration to UE application layer. When a session starts, the application layer in UE may check the criteria (e.g. cell list, service type, etc.), and, if the criteria are met, may start QoE measurement and reporting.

In the management-based activation procedure, measurement and reporting aspects may be similar to the signaling-based activation procedure described above.

In the management-based deactivation procedure, deactivation of the QoE measurements is configured and triggered by the OAM. OAM may send the deactivation configuration to the base station to indicate which QoE measurement should be deactivated. If the NG-RAN node receives the indication that the QoE measurement configuration is to be deactivated, then NG-RAN node may send the deactivation indication to the UE AS layer, and the UE AS layer may send it to the application layer in UE.

In an example, QoE measurement triggering and stopping can be realized using time-based and/or threshold-based criteria, configured by the OAM. Threshold-based QoE measurement triggering and stopping allows to start and stop QoE measurement when given thresholds are passed.

In an example, an NG-RAN node may issue a release of QoE measurement configuration for UEs previously configured for QoE measurement reporting, provided that the session for which the QoE measurements are reported is completed. RAN may need to release an ongoing QoE measurement configuration or QoE reporting configuration, e.g., if handing over to a network that does not support this.

In an example, RAN, in case of overload in standalone connectivity, may stop new QoE measurement configurations, may release existing QoE measurement configurations and may pause QoE measurement reporting. RRC signaling may be used by the gNB to indicate the UE to pause or resume the QoE reporting.

In an example, seamless mobility may be a key functionality in NR and its impacts should be measurable at the application layer. To enable measuring the impact of the mobility on the application and users' QoE, it may be required to support QoE measurement reporting continuity in intra-system intra-RAT intra-node and inter-node mobility scenarios: for intra-node mobility for both management-based and signaling-based QoE. At least signaling-based QoE supports this also in case of inter-node mobility.

In an example, to support the QoE measurement in LTE mobility scenarios, the QoE configuration may be forwarded from the source eNB to the target eNB inside the Trace Activation IE over the X2 interface. The same information may be sent over the SI interfaces for mobility scenarios when the X2 interface is not established between the source and the target. In NR, to support mobility for QoE measurements in RRC CONNECTED state, the QoE measurement configuration transfer may be supported on the Xn and NG interfaces, inside the Trace Activation IE as a part of UE Application Layer Measurement Configuration IE that may contain multiple QoE configurations for multiple service types. QoE measurements in RRC IDLE and RRC INACTIVE state can be supported for MBS. To support keeping QoE measurement configuration in RRC INACTIVE state mobility, QoE measurement configuration for a UE may be fetched from the node hosting the UE Context.

In addition, the requirements for QoE measurements stipulate that the client may check the QoE configuration when a session starts. This means that the client may continue the QoE measurements for an ongoing session even if the UE moves out of the configured area. The requirements are RAT independent and may therefore be applied to the mobility solution for QoE measurement in NR as well. QoE measurement reporting continuity in intra-system inter-RAT mobility scenarios may be supported. QoE measurement reporting continuity in inter-system mobility scenarios may be supported as well.

In an example, RAN (eNB or gNB) may not be able to understand or make use of the legacy QoE metrics as they are assembled by the OAM, sent inside containers and intended to be processed by the Measurement Collection Entity in the network. If the eNB or gNB needs to make use of the QoE concept, there might be requirements that QoE information should be visible by the CNB or gNB. RAN-visible QoE information is simplified QoE information abstracted from QoE metrics by UE, which the eNB or gNB may use for various types of enhancement. The RAN-visible QoE can be used for all services. RAN may be responsible for assembling the RAN-visible QoE measurement configuration. The RAN may be responsible for triggering i.e. activating the RAN-visible QoE measurement. The RAN may be able to configure RAN-visible QoE autonomously for a given service type if the application layer QoE for the same service type is already configured. The RAN-visible QoE value can be generated by UE and QoE server. RAN generating RAN-visible QoE values may require that RAN reads the QoE report in XML format.

FIG. 19A illustrates an example of a message flow for RAN-visible QoE information reporting. An NG-RAN node may assemble and send the RAN-visible QoE configuration to a UE, which may be sent along with the QoE measurement configuration container transmitted from the OAM, directly or via the CN.

The UE may receive and apply the RAN-visible QoE configuration and/or QoE measurement configuration container. The RAN-visible QoE configuration may be so that the corresponding RAN-visible QoE information that is reported can be a unique value or a combination of values reflecting the QoE metrics useful for RAN (e.g. buffer level). The RAN-visible report may be provided from the application layer of the UE to the UE's RRC layer by means of an AT command. The UE's RRC layer then may include the RAN-visible report, along with the QoE report container, but as a separate IE, in the MeasReportAppLayer IE, and may send it to the RAN. The NG-RAN node may read the RAN-visible QoE information and/or may forward the (legacy) QoE report container to the QoE server accordingly. Alternatively, the OAM server may generate the RAN-visible QoE report and may send it to the RAN.

In an example, the RAN visible QoE metrics may comprise at least one of: a buffer level, a playout delay for media startup, an application layer buffer level, an initial playout delay, a round-trip time, a jitter duration, a correction duration, an average throughput, a device information, rendered viewports, a codec information, representation switch events, play list (e.g., a list of playback periods), a media presentation description (MPD) information, an interactivity summary, an interactivity event list, and/or the like.

In an example, the RAN could also trigger radio-related measurements towards a certain UE for the network to further evaluate and improve the QoE, based on the QoE measurement configuration received from the OAM. For triggering the measurements, an existing mechanism can be used. Collection of radio related measurements may be done by existing methods such as Minimization of Drive-Tests (MDT). The radio related QoE measurements may be reported for all types of supported services, which may include additional measurements related to the radio interface. If new radio-related measurements, with respect to what is currently specified in MDT, are required for NR QoE management, these additional radio-related QoE measurements may be performed as a part of MDT measurements. Application-related QoE measurements may be collected when the application session is ongoing. If these radio-related measurements are used for assisting application-related QoE measurements, it is efficient if measurement collection and reporting can start at the same time. If configured together e.g. using same trace reference and time aligned, e.g. based on time stamps, correlation of the results may be done by post processing. Besides radio-related measurement results, radio-related information may also be reported. Radio-related information may be reported even when radio-related measurements are not triggered over the radio. Both radio-related measurement results and radio-related information may be aligned and correlated with the QoE report.

FIG. 19B illustrates an example of UEs with the same service type served by different slices. As shown in the FIG. 19B, UE1 is served by Slice #1 and UE2 is served by Slice #2. If the Service Level Agreement (SLA) of Slice #1 and Slice #2 are different, QoE of UE1 and UE2 may be different for the same service type. Three scenarios are considered for per slice QoE measurement. Scenario 1 is for the case that different service types use different slices. Scenario 2 is for the case that different service types use the same slice. Scenario 3 is for the case that the same service type uses different slice.

In an example, the OAM/CN may transmit the QoE measurement configuration to the NG-RAN node, including slice scope (a list of single network slice selection assistance information (S-NSSAIs)). The NG-RAN node may map the slice scope to the ongoing PDU session list and may send the QoE measurement configuration with the PDU session list to the UE. The UE may receive the QoE measurement configuration and may send it to the corresponding application layer according to the PDU session list. The UE may send the QoE report with PDU session ID to NG-RAN node. The NG-RAN node may remap the PDU session ID back to slice ID (S-NSSAI) and attach it in the QoE report. The NG-RAN node may forward the QoE report with slice ID to the MCE.

In an example, the OAM or CN may transmit the QoE measurement configuration to the NG-RAN node, including Slice Scope. The NG-RAN node may check the slice scope with the ongoing PDU sessions and may send the QoE measurement configuration to a UE with qualified PDU session including slice scope. The UE may receive the QoE measurement configuration and may send it to the corresponding application layer according to the slice scope. The mapping may be performed in application layer or in access stratum (AS) layer. The UE may send the QoE report with slice ID to the NG-RAN node. The NG-RAN node may forward the QoE report with slice ID to the MCE.

In an example, the OAM or CN may transmit the QoE measurement configuration to the NG-RAN node including the associated slice ID, outside the QoE configuration container, i.e. visible to the RAN. The NG-RAN node may check the slice ID against the ongoing PDU sessions, and sends QoE measurement configuration to a UE with qualified PDU session, including slice ID. The UE may receive the QoE measurement configuration and perform QoE measurements. The UE may send the QoE report to the NG-RAN node and may add the slice ID outside the QoE report container. The NG-RAN node may forward the QoE report with slice ID to the MCE.

In existing technologies, a network determines/modifies a resource configuration for a UE. The resource configuration determination may comprise selecting a target cell for handover of the UE, adding a secondary node to serve the UE, determining radio resources or packet communication rules for the UE, etc. The resource configuration determination may be based on several traditional criteria (operator ID, services provided, received signal strength, etc.). For example, a UE may measure the respective signal strengths of a plurality of cells. A cell with the highest signal strength may be selected as a handover target. For dual connectivity, a cell with the highest signal strength may be added as a secondary cell.

In existing technologies, QoE enables a network operator to monitor a real-world experience of its subscribers (e.g., at an application level). QoE measurements, performed by a wireless device, may be delivered to a central repository (e.g., MCE, as noted above) and used by the network operator to assess the network's performance. In an example, the network operator may use this data to determine whether performance demands for a particular service are being met, whether particular coverage areas of the network are overserved or underserved, whether recent network upgrades have led to improvements in user experience, etc. In another example, RAN-visible QoE measurements may be monitored at the RAN level, and used to prioritize base station improvements at particular locations (where improvement is most needed), or to adjust the amount of resources that the base station dedicates to a particular service.

In example embodiments, QoE measurements are leveraged to improve resource configurations of a wireless device. For example, QoE measurements (and/or derivatives of QoE measurements) may be used to supplement or replace traditional metrics (such as received signal strength). For example, a base station in a network may receive one or more QoE measurement results from one or more wireless devices. Each QoE measurement result may be associated with (e.g., specific to) the wireless device from which it is received. Each QoE measurement result may be associated with (e.g., specific to) one or more applications, one or more network slices, one or more services, and/or one or more service types. Based on the one or more QoE measurements results received by a particular base station, the network may determine QoE information associated with that particular base station. Additionally or alternatively, the network may determine QoE information associated with a particular cell of the base station, a particular component of the base station (a beam, a remote radio head, a distributed unit, etc.), and/or a particular area of the base station (tracking area, registration area, etc.). The determining of the QoE information may be performed by the base station itself and/or another network entity with whom the QoE measurement results are shared. The network may share the QoE information among various network components.

In example embodiments, a first base station may receive one or more QoE measurements from one or more wireless devices. The first base station may determine, based on the one or more QoE measurements, QoE information of the first base station. The first base station may send the QoE information to a second base station. The second base station may use the QoE information to configure resources associated with a wireless device. For example, the second base station may use the QoE information to determine whether to hand over the wireless device to the first base station. For example, the second base station may use the QoE information to determine whether to add the first base station (or a cell of the first base station) as a secondary node (or secondary cell).

FIG. 20 illustrates an example of a scenario in which handover impacts the QoE of a UE (UE1). In FIG. 20, UE1 is (initially) served by BS1. UE1 uses (or may wish to use) a particular service (serviceA).

In existing technologies, BS1 determines to hand UE1 over to another base station based on traditional metrics (e.g., received signal strength). For example, suppose the UE1 travels away from BS1 and toward BS2 (e.g., cell2) and BS3 (e.g., cell3). The BS1 may determine that BS2 (cell2) is a target for handover. BS1 may select BS2 as the target because a received signal strength associated with cell2 exceeds a threshold. BS1 may select BS2 as the target because the signal strength associated with cell2 exceeds a signal strength associated with cell3. BS1 initiates the handover to BS2. For example, BS1 sends a handover request for UE1 to BS2 and/or commands UE1 to hand over to BS2.

After handing over from BS1 to BS2, the UE1 relies on BS2 to provide serviceA. However, in the present example, BS2 does not excel at providing serviceA. In particular, UEs in the coverage area of BS2 suffer from low QoE for serviceA. BS2's poor performance may be due to any number of factors, for example, innate capabilities of BS2, prioritization of another service at BS2, congestion of BS2 (due to the presence of other UEs), etc. In any event, upon handing over to BS2, UE1 experiences low QoE for serviceA (e.g., choppy video).

As can be seen from FIG. 20, there may be overlap among multiple base stations (e.g., BS2 and BS3). In the overlap of the coverage areas, the UE1 may be able to obtain coverage from either base station (BS2 or BS3). In existing technologies, the handover decision is made based on traditional metrics (e.g., received signal strength, as noted above). However, these traditional metrics are not necessarily a good indicator of the QoE that is available at BS2. Accordingly, traditional metrics may direct UE1 to the wrong base station. As a result, UE1 may experience low QoE (from BS2), even though UE1 is located in a place where higher QoE is available (i.e., from BS3). BS3's excellent performance may be due to any number of factors, for example, innate capabilities of BS3, prioritization of serviceA at BS3, lack of congestion at BS3, etc. But if UE1 is directed to BS2 based on traditional metrics, then the user of UE1 will not benefit from the high QoE available from BS3.

FIG. 21 illustrates an example embodiment of the present disclosure. In FIG. 21, the UE1 faces a similar scenario as in FIG. 20. However, as will be discussed in greater detail below, UE1 hands over to BS3/cell3 (associated with high QoE for serviceA) instead of BS2/cell2 (associated with low QoE for serviceA).

BS2 receives QoE measurements from one or more UEs in a coverage area of BS2. Based on the QoE measurements received by BS2, BS2 determines QoE information that is associated with (e.g., specific to) BS2. Additionally or alternatively, as will be discussed in greater detail below, the QoE information may be associated with a cell of BS2 (cell2), a component of BS2, a location/area associated with the BS2, etc. Although (in the example of FIG. 21) BS2 itself determines the QoE information, it will be understood that the determining of the QoE information may be performed by any component of the network (e.g., AMF or other component of the network that receives one or more QoE measurement results associated with the BS2) or subcomponent of BS2 (base station central unit, etc.). BS2 sends the QoE information associated with BS2 to BS1.

BS3 performs similar actions as BS2, and sends QoE information associated with BS3 to BS1. BS1 may use the QoE information of BS2 and the QoE information of BS3 to inform decision-making relating to resource configuration of UE1. For example, the QoE information of BS2/BS3 may supplement or replace traditional metrics relating to resource configuration. For example, the QoE information of BS2/BS3 may be used in handover decisions (to BS2/BS3 or cell2/cell3), addition/modification of a secondary node/cell, etc.

In the example of FIG. 21, BS3/cells are associated with better QoE information than BS2/cell2. BS1 hands over UE1 to BS3 based on the QoE information of BS3. For example, the handover may be based on the QoE information of BS3/cell3 being better than the QoE information of BS2/cell2. The handover to BS3 may occur even in a case where BS2/cell2 is associated with better traditional metrics (e.g., received signal strength). As a result, UE may enjoy higher QoE when using serviceA.

FIG. 22 illustrates an example embodiment of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 22, one or more UEs (UE 2201, UE 2202, UE 2203) provide one or more QoE measurements to BS2. BS2 provides QoE information of BS2 (e.g., BS2-specific QoE information) to BS1 (e.g., a neighbor base station of BS2).

In the example of FIG. 22, each QoE measurement is associated with (e.g., specific to) a particular service. The services illustrated in FIG. 22 are referred to as serviceA and serviceB. Additionally or alternatively, each QoE measurement may be associated with a particular service type, slice, slice type, or application (not illustrated). Examples of services, service types, slices, slice types, and applications are listed elsewhere in the present disclosure, and will not be reiterated here. The service may be provided via a particular bearer (e.g., data radio bearer, signaling radio bearer, etc.), flow (e.g., data flow, QoS flow) and/or session (e.g., PDU session).

UE 2201 sends a message comprising one or more QoE measurements 2210 to BS2. As an example, the message (hereafter QoE report 2210) may be referred to by any suitable name, for example, QoE report, QoE message, QoE report message, QoE measurement report, etc. The QoE report 2210 may comprise measurement results of measurements performed by UE 2201. In the example of FIG. 22, the QoE report 2210 comprises QoE measurement 2211 (associated with serviceA), QoE measurement 2212 (associated with serviceB), and QoE measurement 2213 (associated with serviceA). In an example, the QoE measurements 2211, 2212, 2213 may be performed at the same time, at different times, or at different times within a time period (e.g., within the last minute, the last hour, the last day, etc.).

In addition to actual results of the QoE measurements 2211, 2212, 2213, the QoE report 2210 may further comprise information about the QoE measurements 2211, 2212, 2213. For example, QoE measurement 2211 may be included in a field, information element, etc., of the QoE report 2210. The QoE report 2210 may further comprise one or more separate fields, information elements, etc., comprising information about a QoE measurement 2211, information about the QoE measurements generally (measurements 2211, 2212, and 2213), or a subset thereof (e.g., measurement 2211 and 2213).

A QoE measurement or set of measurements may be associated with a particular service (and/or service type, slice, slice type, application, etc.). The QoE report 2210 may comprise, for example, an indication of a service identifier (and/or service type identifier, slice identifier, slice type identifier, application identifier, etc.).

A QoE measurement or set of measurements may be associated with a bearer, flow, and/or session. In an example, the bearer, flow and/or session may be a bearer, flow and/or session associated with the service, service type, slice, slice type, and/or application. The QoE report 2210 may comprise an indication of the bearer, flow and/or session (e.g., a bearer identifier, a data radio bearer identifier, a signaling radio bearer identifier, a flow identifier, a QoS flow identifier, a session identifier, a PDU session identifier, etc.).

A QoE measurement or set of measurements may be associated with a particular key performance indicator (KPI). The QoE report 2210 may comprise an indicator of the KPI.

A QoE measurement or set of measurements may be associated with a particular wireless device (e.g., UE 2201). The QoE report 2210 may comprise an indication of one or more wireless device identifiers of UE 2201 (UE ID, RNTI, etc.), an indication of a wireless device capability of UE 2201, etc.

A QoE measurement or set of measurements may be associated with a condition, environment, or status of the wireless device (e.g., at the time that the measurement was performed by the UE 2201, at the time that the service was provided to the UE 2201, etc.). The QoE report 2210 may comprise one or more traditional metrics associated with the UE 2201. The QoE report 2210 may comprise an indication of a radio resource control (RRC) status of the UE 2201 (e.g., that the QoE measurement was performed while the UE 2201 was in an RRC idle state and/or RRC inactive state). The QoE report 2210 may comprise an indication of a received signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), radio signal received quality (RSRQ), etc.). The QoE report 2210 may comprise an indication of a reference signal for measuring signal strength (e.g., sounding reference signal (SRS), etc.). The QoE report 2210 may comprise an indication of a block error rate (BER) (e.g., per channel used for the service, for data associated with the service, for signaling associated with the service, etc.).

A QoE measurement or set of measurements may be associated with time information. The QoE report 2210 may comprise, for example, time information associated with the measurement result, for example, a time at which one or more QoE measurements were made (e.g., an absolute time based on time zone), a duration within which or across which the one or more QoE measurements were made (e.g., an absolute time duration based on time zone), a length of the duration, a time since and/or amount of time passed since one or more QoE measurements were made, etc. The QoE report 2210 may comprise, for example, time information associated with the service, for example, a time at which a service associated with the one or more QoE measurements was used (e.g., an absolute time based on time zone), a duration within which or across which a service associated with the one or more QoE measurements was used (e.g., an absolute time duration based on time zone), a length of the duration, a time since and/or amount of time passed since a service associated with the one or more QoE measurements was used, etc.

UE 2202 sends QoE report 2220 to BS2. The QoE report 2220 comprises measurement 2221 (associated with serviceA) and measurement 2222 (associated with serviceB). UE 2203 sends QoE report 2230 to BS2. The QoE report 2230 comprise measurement 2231 (associated with serviceA) and measurement 2232 (associated with service B). The QoE report 2220 and QoE report 2230 (and QoE measurements thereof) may be analogous to the QoE report 2210 (and QoE measurements thereof) described above.

In FIG. 22, BS1 receives QoE measurements from the UEs in its coverage area (and/or in a coverage area of a cell of BS2, served by a component of BS2, served in a particular location/area of BS2, etc.). In the example of FIG. 22, BS2 receives the QoE report 2210, QoE measurements 2220, and QoE measurements 2230.

Based on the received QoE reports and/or measurements, the BS2 determines QoE information 2250. The QoE information 2250 is associated with (e.g., specific to) BS2 (and/or a cell of BS2, a component of BS2, a particular location/area of BS2, etc.). BS2 may use the QoE information 2250 to determine operations of the BS2 and/or send the QoE information 2250 to the network and/or components thereof (e.g., a neighbor base station such as BS1).

In the example of FIG. 22, the QoE information 2250 comprises QoE information 2251 associated with (e.g., specific to) serviceA and QoE information 2252 associated with (e.g., specific to) serviceB. The BS2 may determine the QoE information 2251 (associated with serviceA) based on QoE measurements that are associated with serviceA (e.g., measurement 2211, measurement 2213, measurement 2221, measurement 2231). In an example, when determining the QoE information 2251, BS2 may disregard QoE measurements associated with other services (e.g., measurement 2212, measurement 2222, measurement 2232), QoE measurements that are old/expired, etc.

Although the QoE information 2251 depicted in FIG. 22 is service-specific, the QoE information 2251 may be associated with a particular a bearer, flow, and/or session via which the service is provided (e.g., bearer-specific, flow-specific, and/or session-specific). Accordingly, as an alternative to (or in addition to) an indication of a service, the QoE information 2251 may comprise an indication of a bearer, flow and/or session (e.g., via which the service is provided).

The BS2 may determine the QoE information 2251 (associated with serviceA) by collating, averaging, combining, etc., one or more of the QoE measurements associated with serviceA (in FIG. 22, QoE measurements 2211, 2213, 2221, 2231). The QoE measurements included in QoE information 2251 may comprise all of the QoE measurements associated with serviceA, or a sample thereof (e.g., a portion of the QoE measurements from all UEs, the QoE measurements received from a portion of the UEs, etc.).

As noted above, the QoE information 2250 may be base-station-specific (e.g., specific to BS2, as depicted in FIG. 22). Additionally or alternatively, the QoE information 2250 or any component thereof may be cell-specific, frequency-specific, location-specific and/or area-specific. The QoE information 2250 may comprise an indication of the cell, frequency, location, and/or area associated with the QoE information (e.g., an identifier of the location and/or area).

For example, the QoE information 2250 or any component thereof may be cell-specific (e.g., a cell of the BS2) and/or frequency-specific (e.g., a band, bandwidth part (BWP), subcarrier, carrier frequency, absolute radio-frequency channel number (ARFCN), etc.). For example, the QoE information 2250 or any component thereof may be tracking-area-specific (e.g., a tracking area associated with BS2), registration-area-specific (e.g., a registration area associated with BS2), MBSFN-area-specific (e.g., a multicast/broadcast single frequency network area associated with BS2), etc. As an illustration, BS2 may comprise a plurality of cells, and cell-specific QoE information may be used to identify a particular cell of BS2 as a target for handover and/or secondary cell addition. The QoE information may indicate an identity of a particular cell and the QoE associated with that particular cell.

The QoE measurements may be weighted equally or unequally.

In an example, each QoE measurement result may be weighted based on a signal strength (e.g., reference signal received power (RSRP), reference signal received quality (RSRQ), RSRP/RSRQ of sounding reference signal (SRS), etc.). The signal strength may be based on a signal strength of a sounding reference signal (SRS). To illustrate, a UE with low RSRP (e.g., RSRP below a threshold due to being at an edge of BS2's coverage area) might be expected to suffer from low QoE as well. QoE measurement results from UEs with low signal strength (e.g., below a threshold) may be weighted relatively less (or discarded).

In an example, each QoE measurement result may be weighted based on a capability of the reporting UE. For example, outlier results (e.g., from UEs with extraordinarily high or low capabilities) may be discarded. For example, QoE for users of UEs with a low level of UE capability may be a primary concern of the network, QoE measurement results from such UEs may be given higher weight. Or such measurements may be given lower weight (or discarded) if UEs with a high level of capability are the network's primary concern.

In an example, each QoE measurement result may be weighted based on a reception timing of the QoE measurement result. For example, older results may be given less weight and/or discarded. For example, QoE measurement results from UEs that report frequently may be given lower weight than QoE measurement results from UEs that report less frequently.

The QoE information 2251 may be sent and/or received in any suitable message, as will be discussed in greater detail below. The message may comprise information about QoE measurements (e.g., the QoE measurements upon which the QoE information 2251 is based). For brevity, the information about the QoE measurements will not be repeated here in full, but may indicate KPI information, wireless device information, bearer, flow, or session information, condition, environment, or status information of the wireless device, time information, etc.

FIG. 23 illustrates an example embodiment of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 23, one or more UEs provide one or more QoE measurements to BS2, which provides QoE information to BS1 (e.g., a neighbor base station of BS2).

At 2310, the one or more UEs transmit and/or receive packets to and/or from BS2. In an example, the one or more UEs may be in a coverage area of (e.g., served by) BS2, a cell of BS2, a component of BS2 (e.g., a base station distributed unit), etc. The packets of 2310 may be associated with a particular service, service type, slice, slice type, and/or application (represented in FIG. 23 by serviceA). The one or more UEs may determine/generate/measure one or more QoE measurements based on a user's experience of serviceA.

At 2320, the one or more UEs transmit the one or more QoE measurements to BS2. The QoE measurements of 2320 may be sent in any suitable message. For example, the QoE measurements may be sent in a measurement report message. For example, the QoE information may be sent in an MCGFailureInformation message, an SCGFailureInformation message, an RRCResume Complete message, an RRCSetupComplete message, an RRCReestablishmentComplete message, a UEInformationResponse message, etc. The sending of the QoE measurements at 2320 may be responsive to a measurement request received from BS2 (not illustrated).

For illustration, suppose that the user of one of the UEs is using a virtual reality (VR) application, and that the packets of 2310 are transmitted and/or received using serviceA. If the VR is immersive, the user will have a good VR experience. If the VR lags, the user will have a bad VR experience. The UE may recognize lag as a key performance indicator (KPI) reflecting the user's QoE at the application level of the VR application. The UE may generate/measure a QoE measurement result based on the KPI. In this illustration, the QoE measurement result may be service-specific (associated with serviceA) and/or application-specific (associated with the VR application).

At 2330, BS2 determines QoE information for serviceA based on the one or more QoE measurements 2320. Details of the determining at 2330 will be omitted here, since determination of QoE information has already been explained above (e.g., by reference to FIG. 22). It will be understood that the determining at 2330 may be performed by any network element or combination of network elements, and that BS2 (shown for illustrative purposes) may itself perform, perform partially, and/or receive a result of the determining of the QoE information at 2330.

At 2331, BS2 sends the QoE information for serviceA to BS1. The QoE information of 2331 may be sent in any suitable message. For example, the QoE information may be sent in a resource status update message, load information message, QoE information message, QoE status message, etc. The message may include a list of cells providing the service, a service ID of the service, a packet flow ID (e.g., session ID, bearer ID, QoS flow ID, etc.) of a packet flow associated with the service, a UE group ID, a network slice ID, MBS information, etc. The MBS information may comprise a gNB-CU MBS F1AP ID, an MBS Session ID, an MBS QoS flow ID, an MBS service ID, an MBS Service Area, etc. Details of the QoE information and/or the message comprising the QoE information will be omitted here, since determination of QoE information has already been explained above (e.g., by reference to FIG. 22).

Additionally or alternatively, BS2 may send the QoE information of 2331 to other network elements (not illustrated). BS1 may send the QoE information of 2331 to other network elements (not illustrated). The other network element(s) may comprise, for example, one or more of a mobility management function (MMF), mobility management entity (MME), access and mobility management function (AMF), operation and maintenance (OAM), measurement collection entity (MCE), etc.

The determining of the QoE information at 2330 and/or the sending of the QoE information at 2331 may be responsive to a message received from BS1 (not illustrated). The message may be, for example, a measurement request message, a resource status update request message, a load information request message, a QoE information request message, a QoE status request message, etc. In an example, the message may comprise QoE information of BS1. In an example, the message may indicate a service, service-type, slice, and/or application (e.g., an identifier of the service, service type, etc.). The message may indicate the service, service type, etc., for which QoE information is requested. In an example, the message may indicate a cell, frequency, location, and/or area (e.g., an identifier of the cell, frequency, etc.). The message may indicate the cell, frequency, etc., for which QoE information is requested. Further descriptions/examples of cell, frequency, location, and/or area are provided elsewhere in the present disclosure and omitted here for brevity. In an example, the message may indicate a bearer, flow, and/or session (e.g., an identifier of the bearer, flow, and/or session). The message may indicate the bearer, flow, and/or session for which QoE information is requested.

At 2340, a UE1 uses or wants to use serviceA. At 2341, the BS1 transmits and/or receives an indication that the UE1 uses or wants to use serviceA. At 2342, BS1 receives a measurement report from UE1. It will be understood based on 2340 and 2341 that BS1 may be informed that UE1 uses and/or wants to use serviceA. BS1 may use this information to facilitate resource configuration for UE1. The measurement report 2342 represents traditional metrics for resource configuration (e.g., a received signal strength value measured by the UE, etc.).

At 2370, BS1 determines a resource configuration for UE1. The determining at 2370 may be based on the QoE information of 2331. Additionally or alternatively, the determining at 2370 may be based on the indication of 2341 (that the UE1 uses or wants to use serviceA), and/or the measurement report of 2342. The determining at 2370 may comprise selection of BS2 (or a cell/component thereof) for handover of UE1, selection of BS2 (or cell thereof) as a secondary node (or secondary cell) for dual connectivity of UE1, etc.

To continue with the previous illustration, suppose that the user of UE1 uses the same VR application as the other UEs illustrated in FIG. 23. BS1 provides serviceA, which UE1 uses to enjoy the VR application. BS2 also provides serviceA, and the other UEs have an excellent user experience, which is reflected by the QoE information of 2331. BS1 may use the QoE information of 2331 to improve a resource configuration of UE1. For example, if UE1 travels in the direction of BS2, then BS2 may become a handover candidate. In existing technologies, the final decision as to whether UE1 should hand over to BS2 would be based on traditional metrics (e.g., a received signal strength of BS2, as reported by UE1). In FIG. 23, by contrast, the QoE information of 2331 may supplement or replace one or more of the traditional metrics. Because the one or more UEs served by BS2 are enjoying the VR application without lag, and/or because BS1 is aware that BS2 is an excellent provider of serviceA, BS1 is more likely to hand over UE1 to BS2. Accordingly, the probability that UE1 will be handed over to a base station that provides high QoE is increased. The probability that the user of UE1 will enjoy the VR application is increased.

At 2371, BS1 sends a request to BS2. The request may be associated with the resource configuration determined at 2370. In an example, the request of 2371 may be a handover request. The handover request may comprise a request for a handover of UE1, a wireless device identifier of UE1, a cell identifier of a cell of BS2 (e.g., a target cell), and/or other information suitable for a handover request. In another example, the request of 2371 may be related to dual connectivity of UE1. The request of 2371 may be a request to add and/or modify BS2 as a secondary node, a request to add and/or modify a cell of BS2 as a secondary cell, etc. The request of 2371 may comprise the wireless device identifier of UE1, a cell identifier of a cell of BS2 (e.g., a secondary cell), and/or other information suitable for secondary cell addition and/or modification. At 2372, BS1 receives an acknowledgement from BS1. The acknowledgement of 2372 acknowledges the request of 2371. The acknowledgement of 2372 may indicate that the request of 2371 is granted, accepted, approved, etc.

At 2380, BS1 may send a configuration message to UE1. The sending of the configuration message at 2380 may be based on the request of 2371 and/or the acknowledgement of 2372. The configuration message of 2380 may be an RRC configuration message, RRC reconfiguration message, handover command, etc.

Based on the request at 2371, the acknowledgement at 2372, and/or the configuration message of reconfiguration 2380, the UE1 may hand over to the BS2, access BS2 via dual connectivity, etc. (not illustrated). The BS2 may provide serviceA to UE1 and/or the UE1 may use an application via serviceA (not illustrated).

FIG. 24 illustrates an example embodiment of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 24, one or more UEs provide one or more QoE measurements to a base station. The base station comprises a base station central unit (CU) and one or more base station distributed units (DUs). This arrangement is sometimes referred to as a base station split architecture. The one or more DUs may be, for example, spatially distributed (to improve coverage of the base station) and/or centrally controlled (to improve efficiency of the base station).

As shown in FIG. 24, the base station central unit (CU) may be further split into a base station central unit control plane (CU-CP) and a base station central unit user plane (CU-UP). However, it will be understood that FIG. 24 may be implemented in a base station where the CU is not split into a CU-CP and CU-UP, but instead deployed as a single unit which combines the abilities and performs the actions of both.

At 2410, the one or more UEs transmit and/or receive packets to and/or from the base station. The transmitting and/or receiving of 2410 may be with the DU of the base station and/or via a CU-CP of the base station. In an example, the one or more UEs may be in a coverage area of (e.g., served by) the BS (or and/or DU), a cell of the BS (and/or DU), etc. The packets of 2410 may be associated with a particular service, service type, slice, slice type, or application (represented in FIG. 24 by serviceA). The one or more UEs may determine/generate/measure one or more QoE measurements based on a user's experience of serviceA.

At 2420, the one or more UEs transmit the one or more QoE measurements to the BS. The one or more QoE measurements of 2420 may be received by the CU-CP of the BS (e.g., via the DU, but transparent/invisible to the DU). The QoE measurements of 2420 may be sent in any suitable message. For example, the QoE measurements may be sent in a measurement report message. For example, the QoE information may be sent in an MCGFailureInformation message, an SCGFailureInformation message, an RRCResume Complete message, an RRCSetupComplete message, an RRCReestablishmentComplete message, a UEInformationResponse message, etc. The sending of the QoE measurements at 2420 may be responsive to a measurement request received from the BS (not illustrated).

At 2430, the CU-CP determines QoE information for serviceA based on the one or more QoE measurements 2420. Details of the determining at 2430 will be omitted here, since determination of QoE information has already been explained above (e.g., by reference to FIG. 22). It will be understood that the determining at 2430 may be performed by any network element or combination of network elements, and that the CU-CP (shown for illustrative purposes) may itself perform, perform partially, and/or receive a result of the determining of the QoE information at 2430.

At 2436, the CU-CP sends the QoE information for serviceA to the DU. As noted above, the QoE information of 2436 may additionally or alternatively be associated with (e.g., specific to) a bearer, flow, and/or session (e.g., a bearer, flow and/or session associated with serviceA). The QoE information of 2436 may be sent in any suitable message. For example, the QoE information may be sent in a resource status update message, load information message, QoE information transfer, QoE information message, QoE status message, etc. The message may include a list of cells providing the service, a service ID of the service, a packet flow ID (e.g., session ID, bearer ID, QoS flow ID, etc.) of a packet flow associated with the service, a UE group ID, a network slice ID, MBS information, etc. The MBS information may comprise a gNB-CU MBS F1AP ID, an MBS Session ID, an MBS QoS flow ID, an MBS service ID, an MBS Service Area, etc. Further details of the QoE information and/or the message comprising the QoE information will be omitted here, since determination of QoE information has already been explained above (e.g., by reference to FIG. 22).

Additionally or alternatively, the CU-CP may send the QoE information of 2436 to other network elements (not illustrated). The other network element(s) may comprise, for example, one or more of a mobility management function (MMF), mobility management entity (MME), access and mobility management function (AMF), operation and maintenance (OAM), measurement collection entity (MCE), etc.

At 2460, the DU determines one or more radio resources based on the QoE information of 2436.

In an example, the DU may determine one or more parameters for a bearer (e.g., radio bearer, data radio bearer (DRB), signaling radio bearer (SRB), etc.) associated with serviceA. The one or more parameters may be resource configuration parameters of the bearer. The DU may send the one or more parameters to the CU-CP. The DU may send the one or more parameters to a UE. The UE may receive the one or more parameters. The DU may communicate with the UE (e.g., packets of serviceA, via the bearer, etc.) based on the one or more parameters for the bearer. The UE may communicate with the DU (e.g., packets of serviceA, via the bearer, etc.) based on the one or more parameters received from the DU. The UE may be at least one of the one or more UEs from which the QoE measurements were received at 2420, a UE other than the one or more UEs from which the QoE measurements were received at 2420, a UE handed over to the BS and/or the DU, etc.).

As an illustration, if the QoE information of 2436 indicates that QoE of serviceA is low for one or more of the UEs, then the DU may allocate additional resources to serviceA. For example, the DU may configure and/or reconfigure a bearer used to provide serviceA. For example, based on the QoE information of 2436, if QoE of a service is low (e.g., lower than a threshold), the DU may allocate more resources for packets of the service (e.g., packets of the packet flow associated with the service) or prioritize packets of the service in the cell that provides the service.

At 2437, the CU-CP sends the QoE information for serviceA to the DU. The QoE information of 2436 may be sent in any suitable message. For example, the QoE information may be sent in a resource status update message, load information message, QoE information message, QoE status message, etc. The message may include a list of cells providing the service, a service ID of the service, a packet flow ID (e.g., session ID, bearer ID, QoS flow ID, etc.) of a packet flow associated with the service, a UE group ID, a network slice ID, MBS information, etc. The MBS information may comprise a gNB-CU MBS F1AP ID, an MBS Session ID, an MBS QOS flow ID, an MBS service ID, an MBS Service Area, etc. Further details of the QoE information and/or the message comprising the QoE information will be omitted here, since determination of QoE information has already been explained above (e.g., by reference to FIG. 22).

At 2470, the CU-UP determines packet communication based on the QoE information of 2437.

As an illustration, if the QoE information of 2437 indicates that QoE of serviceA is low for one or more of the UEs, then the CU-UP may allocate additional resources to serviceA. For example, the CU-UP may increase the frequency of scheduling for packets associated with serviceA. For example, based on the QoE information of 2437, if QoE of a service is low (e.g., lower than a threshold), the CU-UP may prioritize packets of the service (e.g., packets of the packet flow associated with the service).

At 2490, the UEs, base station, and/or elements of the base station (e.g., DU, CU-UP) communicate (transmit, send, and/or receive) packets associated with serviceA. The communicating of 2490 may be improved by the radio resource determination at 2460, the packet communication determination at 2470, or any combination thereof.

FIG. 25 illustrates an example embodiment of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 25, one or more UEs provide one or more QoE measurements to a first base station (BS1). The BS1 provides QoE information of BS1 to a second base station (BS2). BS2 comprises a base station central unit (CU) and one or more base station distributed units (DUs). This arrangement is sometimes referred to as a base station split architecture. The one or more DUs may be, for example, spatially distributed (to improve coverage of the base station) and/or centrally controlled (to improve efficiency of the base station).

As shown in FIG. 25, the base station central unit (CU) may be further split into a base station central unit control plane (CU-CP) and a base station central unit user plane (CU-UP). However, it will be understood that FIG. 25 may be implemented in a base station where the CU is not split into a CU-CP and CU-UP, but instead considered as a single unit which combines the abilities and performs the actions of both.

At 2510, the one or more UEs transmit and/or receive packets to and/or from BS2. In an example, the one or more UEs may be in a coverage area of (e.g., served by) BS2, a cell of BS2, etc. The packets of 2510 may be associated with a particular service, service type, slice, or application (represented in FIG. 25 by serviceA). The one or more UEs may determine/generate/measure one or more QoE measurements based on a user's experience of serviceA.

At 2520, the one or more UEs transmit the one or more QoE measurements to BS2. The QoE measurements of 2520 may be sent in any suitable message. For example, the QoE measurements may be sent in a measurement report message. For example, the QoE information may be sent in an MCGFailureInformation message, an SCGFailureInformation message, an RRCResume Complete message, an RRCSetupComplete message, an

RRCReestablishmentComplete message, a UEInformationResponse message, etc. The sending of the QoE measurements at 2520 may be responsive to a measurement request received from BS2 (not illustrated).

At 2530, BS2 determines QoE information for serviceA based on the one or more QoE measurements 2520. Details of the determining at 2530 will be omitted here, since determination of QoE information has already been explained above (e.g., by reference to FIG. 22). It will be understood that the determining at 2530 may be performed by any network element or combination of network elements, and that BS2 (shown for illustrative purposes) may itself perform, perform partially, and/or receive a result of the determining of the QoE information at 2530.

At 2531, BS2 sends the QoE information for serviceA to BS1. The BS2 may send the QoE information of 2531 to the CU-CP of BS1. The QoE information of 2331 may be sent in any suitable message. For example, the QoE information may be sent in a resource status update message, load information message, QoE information message, QoE status message, etc. Details of the QoE information and/or the message comprising the QoE information will be omitted here, since determination of QoE information has already been explained above (e.g., by reference to FIG. 22).

At 2536, the CU-CP sends the QoE information for serviceA to the DU. As noted above, the QoE information of 2536 may additionally or alternatively be associated with (e.g., specific to) a bearer, flow, and/or session (e.g., a bearer, flow and/or session associated with serviceA). The QoE information of 2536 may be sent in any suitable message. For example, the QoE information may be sent in a resource status update message, load information message, QoE information transfer, QoE information message, QoE status message, etc. The message may include a list of cells providing the service, a service ID of the service, a packet flow ID (e.g., session ID, bearer ID, QoS flow ID, etc.) of a packet flow associated with the service, a UE group ID, a network slice ID, MBS information, etc. The MBS information may comprise a gNB-CU MBS F1AP ID, an MBS Session ID, an MBS QoS flow ID, an MBS service ID, an MBS Service Area, etc. Further details of the QoE information and/or the message comprising the QoE information will be omitted here, since determination of QoE information has already been explained above (e.g., by reference to FIG. 22).

Additionally or alternatively, the CU-CP may send the QoE information of 2536 to other network elements (not illustrated). The other network element(s) may comprise, for example, one or more of a mobility management function (MMF), mobility management entity (MME), access and mobility management function (AMF), operation and maintenance (OAM), measurement collection entity (MCE), etc.

At 2560, the DU determines one or more radio resources based on the QoE information of 2536.

In an example, the DU may determine one or more parameters for a bearer (e.g., radio bearer, data radio bearer (DRB), signaling radio bearer (SRB), etc.) associated with serviceA. The one or more parameters may be resource configuration parameters of the bearer. The DU may send the one or more parameters to the CU-CP. The DU may send the one or more parameters to a UE. The UE may receive the one or more parameters. The DU may communicate with the UE (e.g., packets of serviceA, via the bearer, etc.) based on the one or more parameters for the bearer. The UE may communicate with the DU (e.g., packets of serviceA, via the bearer, etc.) based on the one or more parameters received from the DU. The UE may be at least one of the one or more UEs from which the QoE measurements were received at 2520, a UE other than the one or more UEs from which the QoE measurements were received at 2520, a UE handed over to the BS and/or the DU, etc.).

As an illustration, if the QoE information of 2536 indicates that QoE of serviceA is low for one or more of the UEs, then the DU may allocate additional resources to serviceA. For example, the DU may configure and/or reconfigure a bearer used to provide serviceA. For example, based on the QoE information of 2536, if QoE of a service is low (e.g., lower than a threshold), the DU may allocate more resources for packets of the service (e.g., packets of the packet flow associated with the service) or prioritize packets of the service in the cell that provides the service.

At 2537, the CU-CP sends the QoE information for serviceA to the DU. The QoE information of 2536 may be sent in any suitable message. For example, the QoE information may be sent in a resource status update message, load information message, QoE information message, QoE status message, etc. The message may include a list of cells providing the service, a service ID of the service, a packet flow ID (e.g., session ID, bearer ID, QoS flow ID, etc.) of a packet flow associated with the service, a UE group ID, a network slice ID, MBS information, etc. The MBS information may comprise a gNB-CU MBS F1AP ID, an MBS Session ID, an MBS QOS flow ID, an MBS service ID, an MBS Service Area, etc. Further details of the QoE information and/or the message comprising the QoE information will be omitted here, since determination of QoE information has already been explained above (e.g., by reference to FIG. 22).

At 2570, the CU-UP determines packet communication based on the QoE information of 2537.

As an illustration, if the QoE information of 2537 indicates that QoE of serviceA is low for one or more of the UEs, then the CU-UP may allocate additional resources to serviceA. For example, the CU-UP may increase the frequency of scheduling for packets associated with serviceA. For example, based on the QoE information of 2537, if QoE of a service is low (e.g., lower than a threshold), the CU-UP may prioritize packets of the service (e.g., packets of the packet flow associated with the service).

At 2590, the UEs, base station, and/or elements of the base station (e.g., DU, CU-UP) communicate (transmit, send, and/or receive) packets associated with serviceA. The communicating of 2590 may be improved by the radio resource determination at 2560, the packet communication determination at 2570, or any combination thereof.

FIG. 26A illustrates an example embodiment of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 26A, a base station (referred to as BS2) may perform a method. The method may involve communication with one or more UEs and/or another base station (referred to as BS1).

BS2 communicates (e.g., transmits and/or receives), with one or more UEs, packets associated with a service. BS2 receives, from the one or more UEs, one or more measurement reports. The one or more measurement reports comprise one or more QoE measurement results of the service. BS2 determines a combined QoE (e.g., QoE information) of the service based on the QoE measurement results. BS2 sends, to BS1, a message comprising the combined QoE of the service. BS2 receives, from BS1, a request message requesting handover or second node configuration for a UE using the service.

FIG. 26B illustrates an example embodiment of the present disclosure. In the example of FIG. 26B, a base station central unit (referred to as BS-CU) may perform a method. The method may involve communication with one or more UEs and/or a base station distributed unit of the base station (referred to as BS-DU).

BS-CU communicates (e.g., transmits and/or receives), with one or more UEs, packets associated with a service. BS-CU receives, from the one or more UEs, one or more measurement reports. The one or more measurement reports comprise one or more QoE measurement results of the service. BS-CU determines a combined QoE (e.g., QoE information) of the service based on the QoE measurement results. BS-CU sends, to BS-DU, a message comprising the combined QoE of the service. BS-CU receives, from BS-DU, resource configuration parameters of a bearer associated with the service. BS-CU sends, to a UE, the resource configuration parameters of the bearer associated with the service. BS-CU communicates, with the UE and based on the resource configuration parameters, packets via the bearer associated with the service.

Claims

1. A method comprising: communicating, by a wireless device with a first base station, first packets of a service;transmitting, by the wireless device to the first base station, a measurement report comprising a received signal strength value;receiving, by the wireless device from the first base station, a handover command for a handover to a second base station, wherein the handover is determined after the transmitting the measurement report and receiving quality-of-experience (QoE) information of the service from the second base station; andcommunicating, by the wireless device with the second base station, second packets of the service.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: transmitting, to the first base station, an indication that the wireless device, or a user of the wireless device, uses or wants to use the service.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising: measuring the received signal strength value before transmitting the measurement report.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: handing over to the second base station based on the handover command.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: using an application via the second packets of the service.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving a reconfiguration request from the second base station, wherein the reconfiguration request comprises a request to add the first base station as a secondary node.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising: accessing the first base station and the second base station via dual connectivity.

8. A wireless device comprising: one or more processors; andmemory storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the wireless device to perform:communicating, with a first base station, first packets of a service;transmitting, to the first base station, a measurement report comprising a received signal strength value;receiving, from the first base station, a handover command for a handover to a second base station, wherein the handover is determined after the transmitting the measurement report and receiving quality-of-experience (QoE) information of the service from the second base station; andcommunicating, with the second base station, second packets of the service.

9. The wireless device of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the wireless device to perform: transmitting, to the first base station, an indication that the wireless device, or a user of the wireless device, uses or wants to use the service.

10. The wireless device of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the wireless device to perform: measuring the received signal strength value before transmitting the measurement report.

11. The wireless device of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the wireless device to perform: handing over to the second base station based on the handover command.

12. The wireless device of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the wireless device to perform: using an application via the second packets of the service.

13. The wireless device of claim 8, wherein the instructions further cause the wireless device to perform: receiving a reconfiguration request from the second base station, wherein the reconfiguration request comprises a request to add the first base station as a secondary node.

14. The wireless device of claim 13, wherein the instructions further cause the wireless device to perform: accessing the first base station and the second base station via dual connectivity.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a wireless device, cause the wireless device to perform: communicating, with a first base station, first packets of a service;transmitting, to the first base station, a measurement report comprising a received signal strength value;receiving, from the first base station, a handover command for a handover to a second base station, wherein the handover is determined after the transmitting the measurement report and receiving quality-of-experience (QoE) information of the service from the second base station; andcommunicating, with the second base station, second packets of the service.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the wireless device to perform: transmitting, to the first base station, an indication that the wireless device, or a user of the wireless device, uses or wants to use the service.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the wireless device to perform: measuring the received signal strength value before transmitting the measurement report.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the wireless device to perform: handing over to the second base station based on the handover command.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the wireless device to perform: using an application via the second packets of the service.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein the instructions further cause the wireless device to perform: receiving a reconfiguration request from the second base station, wherein the reconfiguration request comprises a request to add the first base station as a secondary node.