Patent Application
20240292321
The examples and non-limiting example embodiments relate generally to communications and, more particularly, to slot or symbol reclassification for dynamically adapted spatial elements.
It is known to manage data transmission resources for mobile devices communication network.
In accordance with an aspect, a method includes receiving a configuration used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; determining the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; and applying at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
In accordance with an aspect, an apparatus includes at least one processor, and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive a configuration used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; and apply at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
In accordance with an aspect, an apparatus includes means for receiving a configuration used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; means for determining the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; and means for applying at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
In accordance with an aspect, a non-transitory computer readable medium comprises program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: receiving a configuration used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; determining the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; and applying at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
In accordance with an aspect, a method includes determining a configuration used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; determining the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; and applying at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
In accordance with an aspect, an apparatus includes at least one processor, and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine a configuration used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; and apply at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
In accordance with an aspect, an apparatus includes means for determining a configuration used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; means for determining the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; and means for applying at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
In accordance with an aspect, a non-transitory computer readable medium comprises program instructions that, when executed by an apparatus, cause the apparatus to perform at least the following: determining a configuration used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; determining the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; and applying at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
The foregoing aspects and other features are explained in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.
Turning to
The RAN node 170 in this example is a base station that provides access for wireless devices such as the UE 110 to the wireless network 100. The RAN node 170 may be, for example, a base station for 5G, also called New Radio (NR). In 5G, the RAN node 170 may be a NG-RAN node, which is defined as either a gNB or an ng-eNB. A gNB is a node providing NR user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE, and connected via the NG interface (such as connection 131) to a 5GC (such as, for example, the network element(s) 190). The ng-eNB is a node providing E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE, and connected via the NG interface (such as connection 131) to the 5GC. The NG-RAN node may include multiple gNBs, which may also include a central unit (CU) (gNB-CU) 196 and distributed unit(s) (DUs) (gNB-DUs), of which DU 195 is shown. Note that the DU 195 may include or be coupled to and control a radio unit (RU). The gNB-CU 196 is a logical node hosting radio resource control (RRC), SDAP and PDCP protocols of the gNB or RRC and PDCP protocols of the en-gNB that control the operation of one or more gNB-DUs. The gNB-CU 196 terminates the F1 interface connected with the gNB-DU 195. The F1 interface is illustrated as reference 198, although reference 198 also illustrates a link between remote elements of the RAN node 170 and centralized elements of the RAN node 170, such as between the gNB-CU 196 and the gNB-DU 195. The gNB-DU 195 is a logical node hosting RLC, MAC and PHY layers of the gNB or en-gNB, and its operation is partly controlled by gNB-CU 196. One gNB-CU 196 supports one or multiple cells. One cell may be supported with one gNB-DU 195, or one cell may be supported/shared with multiple DUs under RAN sharing. The gNB-DU 195 terminates the F1 interface 198 connected with the gNB-CU 196. Note that the DU 195 is considered to include the transceiver 160, e.g., as part of a RU, but some examples of this may have the transceiver 160 as part of a separate RU, e.g., under control of and connected to the DU 195. The RAN node 170 may also be an eNB (evolved NodeB) base station, for LTE (long term evolution), or any other suitable base station or node.
The RAN node 170 includes one or more processors 152, one or more memories 155, one or more network interfaces (N/W I/F(s)) 161, and one or more transceivers 160 interconnected through one or more buses 157. Each of the one or more transceivers 160 includes a receiver, Rx, 162 and a transmitter, Tx, 163. The one or more transceivers 160 are connected to one or more antennas 158. The one or more memories 155 include computer program code 153. The CU 196 may include the processor(s) 152, one or more memories 155, and network interfaces 161. Note that the DU 195 may also contain its own memory/memories and processor(s), and/or other hardware, but these are not shown.
The RAN node 170 includes a module 150, comprising one of or both parts 150-1 and/or 150-2, which may be implemented in a number of ways. The module 150 may be implemented in hardware as module 150-1, such as being implemented as part of the one or more processors 152. The module 150-1 may be implemented also as an integrated circuit or through other hardware such as a programmable gate array. In another example, the module 150 may be implemented as module 150-2, which is implemented as computer program code 153 and is executed by the one or more processors 152. For instance, the one or more memories 155 and the computer program code 153 are configured to, with the one or more processors 152, cause the RAN node 170 to perform one or more of the operations as described herein. Note that the functionality of the module 150 may be distributed, such as being distributed between the DU 195 and the CU 196, or be implemented solely in the DU 195.
The one or more network interfaces 161 communicate over a network such as via the links 176 and 131. Two or more gNBs 170 may communicate using, e.g., link 176. The link 176 may be wired or wireless or both and may implement, for example, an Xn interface for 5G, an X2 interface for LTE, or other suitable interface for other standards.
The one or more buses 157 may be address, data, or control buses, and may include any interconnection mechanism, such as a series of lines on a motherboard or integrated circuit, fiber optics or other optical communication equipment, wireless channels, and the like. For example, the one or more transceivers 160 may be implemented as a remote radio head (RRH) 195 for LTE or a distributed unit (DU) 195 for gNB implementation for 5G, with the other elements of the RAN node 170 possibly being physically in a different location from the RRH/DU 195, and the one or more buses 157 could be implemented in part as, for example, fiber optic cable or other suitable network connection to connect the other elements (e.g., a central unit (CU), gNB-CU 196) of the RAN node 170 to the RRH/DU 195. Reference 198 also indicates those suitable network link(s).
A RAN node/gNB can comprise one or more TRPs to which the methods described herein may be applied.
A relay node in NR is called an integrated access and backhaul node. A mobile termination part of the IAB node facilitates the backhaul (parent link) connection. In other words, the mobile termination part comprises the functionality which carries UE functionalities. The distributed unit part of the IAB node facilitates the so called access link (child link) connections (i.e. for access link UEs, and backhaul for other IAB nodes, in the case of multi-hop IAB). In other words, the distributed unit part is responsible for certain base station functionalities. The IAB scenario may follow the so called split architecture, where the central unit hosts the higher layer protocols to the UE and terminates the control plane and user plane interfaces to the 5G core network.
It is noted that the description herein indicates that “cells” perform functions, but it should be clear that equipment which forms the cell may perform the functions. The cell makes up part of a base station. That is, there can be multiple cells per base station. For example, there could be three cells for a single carrier frequency and associated bandwidth, each cell covering one-third of a 360 degree area so that the single base station's coverage area covers an approximate oval or circle. Furthermore, each cell can correspond to a single carrier and a base station may use multiple carriers. So if there are three 120 degree cells per carrier and two carriers, then the base station has a total of 6 cells.
The wireless network 100 may include a network element or elements 190 that may include core network functionality, and which provides connectivity via a link or links 181 with a further network, such as a telephone network and/or a data communications network (e.g., the Internet). Such core network functionality for 5G may include location management functions (LMF(s)) and/or access and mobility management function(s) (AMF(S)) and/or user plane functions (UPF(s)) and/or session management function(s) (SMF(s)). Such core network functionality for LTE may include MME (mobility management entity)/SGW (serving gateway) functionality. Such core network functionality may include SON (self-organizing/optimizing network) functionality. These are merely example functions that may be supported by the network element(s) 190, and note that both 5G and LTE functions might be supported. The RAN node 170 is coupled via a link 131 to the network element 190. The link 131 may be implemented as, e.g., an NG interface for 5G, or an S1 interface for LTE, or other suitable interface for other standards. The network element 190 includes one or more processors 175, one or more memories 171, and one or more network interfaces (N/W I/F(s)) 180, interconnected through one or more buses 185. The one or more memories 171 include computer program code 173. Computer program code 173 may include SON and/or MRO functionality 172.
The wireless network 100 may implement network virtualization, which is the process of combining hardware and software network resources and network functionality into a single, software-based administrative entity, or a virtual network. Network virtualization involves platform virtualization, often combined with resource virtualization. Network virtualization is categorized as either external, combining many networks, or parts of networks, into a virtual unit, or internal, providing network-like functionality to software containers on a single system. Note that the virtualized entities that result from the network virtualization are still implemented, at some level, using hardware such as processors 152 or 175 and memories 155 and 171, and also such virtualized entities create technical effects.
The computer readable memories 125, 155, and 171 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment and may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, non-transitory memory, transitory memory, fixed memory and removable memory. The computer readable memories 125, 155, and 171 may be means for performing storage functions. The processors 120, 152, and 175 may be of any type suitable to the local technical environment, and may include one or more of general purpose computers, special purpose computers, microprocessors, digital signal processors (DSPs) and processors based on a multi-core processor architecture, as non-limiting examples. The processors 120, 152, and 175 may be means for performing functions, such as controlling the UE 110, RAN node 170, network element(s) 190, and other functions as described herein.
In general, the various example embodiments of the user equipment 110 can include, but are not limited to, cellular telephones such as smart phones, tablets, personal digital assistants (PDAs) having wireless communication capabilities, portable computers having wireless communication capabilities, image capture devices such as digital cameras having wireless communication capabilities, gaming devices having wireless communication capabilities, music storage and playback devices having wireless communication capabilities, internet appliances including those permitting wireless internet access and browsing, tablets with wireless communication capabilities, head mounted displays such as those that implement virtual/augmented/mixed reality, as well as portable units or terminals that incorporate combinations of such functions. The UE 110 can also be a vehicle such as a car, or a UE mounted in a vehicle, a UAV such as e.g. a drone, or a UE mounted in a UAV. The user equipment 110 may be terminal device, such as mobile phone, mobile device, sensor device etc., the terminal device being a device used by the user or not used by the user.
UE 110, RAN node 170, and/or network element(s) 190, (and associated memories, computer program code and modules) may be configured to implement (e.g. in part) the methods described herein, including slot or symbol reclassification for dynamically adapted spatial elements. Thus, computer program code 123, module 140-1, module 140-2, and other elements/features shown in
Having thus introduced a suitable but non-limiting technical context for the practice of the example embodiments, the example embodiments are now described with greater specificity.
Network energy saving is of great importance for environmental sustainability, to reduce environmental impact such as greenhouse gas emissions, and for operational cost savings. As 5G is becoming pervasive across industries and geographical areas, handling more advanced services and applications requiring very high data rates (e.g. XR), networks are being denser, using more antennas, having larger bandwidths and using more frequency bands. The environmental impact of 5G needs to stay under control, and novel solutions to improve network energy savings need to be developed.
A study on network energy savings was carried out in 3GPP Rel.18 (RP-213554) and documented in TR 38.864. The focus is on the radio access network (NW) which consumes the largest part of the total energy consumption in the network and aims at identifying adaptation techniques of transmissions and/or receptions in time, frequency, spatial, and power domains, with potential support/feedback from the UE, potential UE assistance information, and information exchange/coordination over network interfaces.
Energy consumption has become a key part of the operators' OPEX. According to a report from GSMA, the energy cost on mobile networks may account for approximately 23% of the total operator cost. Most of the energy consumption comes from the radio access network and in particular from the Active Antenna Unit (AAU), with data centers and fiber transport accounting for a smaller share. The power consumption of a radio access can be split into two parts: the dynamic part which is only consumed when data transmission/reception is ongoing, and the static part which is consumed all the time to maintain the necessary operation of the radio access devices, even when the data transmission/reception is not ongoing.
Secondarily, note that when on cell battery backup, there is even more need for network energy savings: when a gNB in emergency/battery backup system coverage/QoS may be reduced to further “stretch” energy available; for example, if an emergency takes down the power grid, and base stations start running on batteries, the battery backup capacity of base transceiver stations (BTSs) (e.g. for approximately 4 hours) are at the limit/not sufficient for ‘typical’ power outages, and as such a power outage may often result in network outage; there is a need to extend network operation time during emergency/power outage of a RAN site with the existing battery capacity by enabling further reduction of network energy use with supervised impact to the end-user.
Based on the outcome of the study item a 3GPP NR release 18 work item on network energy saving (RP-223540) was defined. The work item includes the following objectives:
The spatial elements are expected to change dynamically in response to changing UE communication and RF needs.
The problem addressed by the examples described herein is that when the spatial elements, or more generally the spatial pattern, (e.g., antenna ports, active transceiver chains, antenna elements, energy/power level) is changing dynamically, e.g. in response to different coverage requirements among UEs being scheduled, there is a need to efficiently manage available and preferred slots/symbols, and UE Rx and DRX states.
A change in the spatial pattern may represent (or include) a change in one or more of the following: one or more spatial element muting patterns; numbers or sets of active or muted spatial elements, one or more numbers or sets of (active or muted) antenna ports; one or more report or codebook or spatial configurations; one or more CSI-RS resources or resource sets; value(s) of one or more parameters or configurations for a CSI-RS resource or CSI-RS resource set; one or more energy (or power) levels or energy saving levels; numbers or sets of active or muted spatial elements; one or more numbers or sets of (active or muted) antenna ports; one or more report or codebook or spatial configurations; one or more CSI-RS resources or resource sets; value(s) of one or more parameters or configurations for a CSI-RS resource or CSI-RS resource sets; one or more energy/power levels or energy saving levels; one or more sets of transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states; and/or the like; one or more antenna panels. It is noted that two spatial patterns may or may not be overlapping in terms of corresponding (active/muted) spatial elements. It is noted that cell DTX/DRX may be considered as a (special) spatial pattern where all spatial elements are muted.
Reducing the spatial elements can save significant network energy, but may also result in having to adapt the UE classification of available slots in order to best utilize the new spatial elements and avoid e.g. the UE in bad spatial conditions trying to communicate (Tx/Rx) when spatial elements are reduced (e.g. to 16).
However, repeatedly signaling to the UEs to switch the available slot (UE DRX, Tx/RX) availability classification/usage information each time the spatial elements change adds signaling overhead.
The examples described herein, at a high level, define rules and/or indications for slot or symbol classification when the UE 110 determines that the antenna spatial element configuration (e.g. antenna ports, active transceiver chains) has dynamically changed. The example embodiments based on the number of antenna spatial elements (16 vs 64) are non-limiting examples. The UE determines slot(s)/symbol(s) availability (referred to here as PAvail,SAvail,NotAvail) as a function of the number of spatial elements or applicable spatial pattern and goodness (e.g. binary ‘good’ or ‘not good’ or non-binary goodness) of the UE's spatial conditions, such as channel quality or channel state information, where PAvail=primary available slot/symbol, SAvail=secondary available slot/symbol, NotAvail=not available slot/symbol. The UE then uses that new slot/symbol availability (PAvail,SAvail,NotAvail) with preconfigured “rules” and/or indications for determining UE DRX/DTX (discontinuous reception/transmission) and/or for determining or adapting the configuration to consider for UE transmissions/receptions (Tx/Rx). Determinations are made for UE DRX, (‘On duration’ skips less available slots/symbols in order to preferably overlap with PAvail slots/symbols)—see
For SAvail or PAvail slots/symbols, there are also the following embodiments: some aggregation level(s) (AL) may be discarded, i.e., PDCCH candidates with such AL is not monitored. Some search space set(s) (SSS) may be discarded, e.g., UE not monitoring PDCCH on this set or these sets. Control resource set(s) (CORESET) may be discarded, i.e., UE not monitoring PDCCH for such CORESET.
After a change in number of spatial elements or in spatial pattern by the gNB 170, UE 110 applies availability determination/usage rules (e.g. preconfigured rules) and/or indications for determining availability of the upcoming slot(s)/symbol(s).
Determination of availability of slot/symbols is based on availability determination rules, which are based on the spatial pattern (e.g. number of spatial elements), and can also be based on the UE's spatial conditions, e.g. see
These limited Tx/Rx approaches may include e.g. UE On duration, UL and/or DL repetitions, CG (configured grant PUSCH and/or PDSCH), 64 QAM (i.e., 64 MCS table, as opposed to default of 256 QAM/256 MCS table), DFT-S/TP (e.g. use of DFT-S-OFDM waveform/transform precoding as opposed to default of TP off/CP-OFDM), PDCCH aggregation level (e.g. use of higher PDCCH AL such as AL8 as opposed to default of lower AL such as AL4), PUCCH Rep (PUCCH repetition), RACH Tx, SR Tx, and an alternate TimeDomainResourceAllocationList (e.g. which may be configured to allow DCI to grant larger numbers of Slot Aggregation repetitions). Availability usage rules examples are in
The UE 110 may become aware of spatial elements or spatial pattern changes based upon indication (via RRC, MAC CE, and/or DCI) from the gNB 170, e.g. dedicated GC (group common) RNTI, and/or periodic spatial partitioning (i.e., cycle of spatial patterns).
The preconfigured availability determination/usage rules and/or indications can further include or involve the UE's spatial conditions (e.g. a quality or “goodness” of the UE's spatial conditions). Changes in the UE's spatial condition “goodness” can be updated with signaling to or from the UE, including with UE assistance indication/CSI, DCI selecting a row in a TDRA table (slot aggregation or UL and/or DL repetitions), or 64/256 QAM or TP on/off (i.e., 64 MCS table/256 MCS table), and DFT-S/TP (use of DFT-S-OFDM waveform/transform precoding).
In certain example embodiments, the gNB 170 and UE 110 use the spatial elements or applicable spatial pattern (and goodness of the UE's spatial conditions) to determine the slot/symbol availability (PAvail, SAvail, NotAvail) according to availability determination/usage rules pre-agreed/configured between gNB 170 and UE(s) 110. Alternatively, the gNB 170 may determine and indicate/update (e.g., via MAC CE or DCI) the UE 110 with a pattern or cycle, covering multiple slots or symbols (and where this cycle is repeating in time) of slot/symbol availability thus avoiding frequent signaling of the slot/symbol availability and/or slot/symbol availability usage with respect to UE DRX and/or UE Tx/Rx.
Preconfigured rules (refer to the rules for availability determination (
UE Rx/DRX/DTX ‘on duration’ determination of/limitation to “available slots” (e.g., UE not sleeping) may be based on ‘On duration’/‘active time’ aligned/limited to PAvail slots/symbols, skipping other less available slots/symbols (e.g., SAvail, NotAvail slots/symbols). However, if insufficient PAvail slots are available within a given time frame, then preconfigured rules and/or indications further provide for using SAvail slots as a secondary choice for ‘on duration’. Refer to example rule configuration 220 shown in
UE Tx/Rx configuration determination/limitation to “available slots” may be based on UE DRX, (‘On duration’ skips less available slots/symbols in order to overlap with PAvail slots/symbols)—refer to
UE Tx or Rx with 64 QAM and/or ‘TP on’ may be based on UE use of 64 QAM (i.e., 64 MCS table) and DFT-S/TP (use of DFT-S-OFDM waveform/transform precoding)) limited to PAvail slots/symbols. Refer to example rule configuration 240 shown in
UE Rx of grant with DCI corresponding to an alternate TimeDomainResourceAllocationList (e.g. which may be configured to allow DCI to grant larger numbers of Slot Aggregation repetitions) may be limited to PAvail slots/symbols. Refer to example rule configuration 280 shown in
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In the example temporal views depicted in
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At 810, the gNB 170 determines slot or symbol availability (primary available, secondary available, not available) with the rules and/or indications with the updated spatial elements and goodness of the UE's spatial conditions. At 812, the second number of spatial elements starts advertised. At 814, the UE (110-1, 110-2, 110-3) determines slot or symbol availability (primary available, secondary available and not available) with the rules and/or indications with the updated spatial elements and goodness of the UE's spatial conditions.
At 816, the gNB 170 determines slot or symbol availability (primary available, secondary available, not available) with the rules and/or indications with the updated spatial elements and goodness of the UE's spatial conditions. At 818, the spatial goodness of the UE (110-1, 110-2, 110-3) changes, with in some examples the UE (110-1, 110-2, 110-3) indicating the change to the gNB 170, or the gNB 170 indicating the change to the UE (110-1, 110-2, 110-3). At 820, the UE (110-1, 110-2, 110-3) determines slot or symbol availability (primary available, secondary available and not available) with the rules and/or indications with the updated spatial elements and goodness of the UE's spatial conditions.
At 906, the UE 110 or gNB 170 determines slot or symbol availability (e.g. primary available, secondary available and not available) with the rules and/or indications with the updated number of spatial elements or the change to the UE's spatial conditions. At 908, the UE 110 or gNB 170 uses the new slot or symbol availability (e.g. primary available, secondary available and not available) as it applies to DRX on time, QAM, DFT-S/TP, slot aggregation, CG, PDCCH Aggregation Level, PUCCH, SR, RACH and TimeDomainResourceAllocationList. From 908, the method transitions to 904, as the method 900 is iterative.
There are several advantages and technical effects of the examples described herein. The examples described herein enable the gNB 170 and UE 110 to dynamically adapt the determination of which slots are available in response to the dynamically changing spatial configuration and UE spatial goodness as needed to appropriately utilize the spatial configuration after each change in the spatial configuration while avoiding frequent signaling/overhead at the time of each change in the spatial elements. The examples described herein may be reflected in at least 3GPP release 18 TS 38.331, TS 38.214, and 38.321.
The apparatus 1000 includes a display and/or I/O interface 1008, which includes user interface (UI) circuitry and elements, that may be used to display aspects or a status of the methods described herein (e.g., as one of the methods is being performed or at a subsequent time), or to receive input from a user such as with using a keypad, camera, touchscreen, touch area, microphone, biometric recognition, one or more sensors, etc. The apparatus 1000 includes one or more communication e.g. network (N/W) interfaces (I/F(s)) 1010. The communication I/F(s) 1010 may be wired and/or wireless and communicate over the Internet/other network(s) via any communication technique including via one or more links 1024. The link(s) 1024 may be the link(s) 131 and/or 176 from
The transceiver 1016 comprises one or more transmitters 1018 and one or more receivers 1020. The transceiver 1016 and/or communication I/F(s) 1010 may comprise standard well-known components such as an amplifier, filter, frequency-converter, (de)modulator, and encoder/decoder circuitries and one or more antennas, such as antennas 1014 used for communication over wireless link 1026.
The control module 1006 of the apparatus 1000 comprises one of or both parts 1006-1 and/or 1006-2, which may be implemented in a number of ways. The control module 1006 may be implemented in hardware as control module 1006-1, such as being implemented as part of the one or more processors 1002. The control module 1006-1 may be implemented also as an integrated circuit or through other hardware such as a programmable gate array. In another example, the control module 1006 may be implemented as control module 1006-2, which is implemented as computer program code (having corresponding instructions) 1005 and is executed by the one or more processors 1002. For instance, the one or more memories 1004 store instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors 1002, cause the apparatus 1000 to perform one or more of the operations as described herein. Furthermore, the one or more processors 1002, one or more memories 1004, and example algorithms (e.g., as flowcharts and/or signaling diagrams), encoded as instructions, programs, or code, are means for causing performance of the operations described herein.
The apparatus 1000 to implement the functionality of control 1006 may be UE 110, RAN node 170 (e.g. gNB), or network element(s) 190. Thus, processor 1002 may correspond to processor(s) 120, processor(s) 152 and/or processor(s) 175, memory 1004 may correspond to one or more memories 125, one or more memories 155 and/or one or more memories 171, computer program code 1005 may correspond to computer program code 123, computer program code 153, and/or computer program code 173, control module 1006 may correspond to module 140-1, module 140-2, module 150-1, and/or module 150-2, and communication I/F(s) 1010 and/or transceiver 1016 may correspond to transceiver 130, antenna(s) 128, transceiver 160, antenna(s) 158, N/W I/F(s) 161, and/or N/W I/F(s) 180. Alternatively, apparatus 1000 and its elements may not correspond to either of UE 110, RAN node 170, or network element(s) 190 and their respective elements, as apparatus 1000 may be part of a self-organizing/optimizing network (SON) node or other node, such as a node in a cloud.
The apparatus 1000 may also be distributed throughout the network (e.g. 100) including within and between apparatus 1000 and any network element (such as a network control element (NCE) 190 and/or the RAN node 170 and/or the UE 110).
Interface 1012 enables data communication and signaling between the various items of apparatus 1000, as shown in
The following examples are provided and described herein.
Example 1. An apparatus including: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive a configuration used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; and apply at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 2. The apparatus of example 1, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine a number of at least one spatial element of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the spatial pattern; wherein the determination of the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol is based at least on the number of the at least one spatial element of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 3. The apparatus of any of examples 1 to 2, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine a spatial condition of a user equipment.
Example 4. The apparatus of example 3, wherein the determination of the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol is based at least on the spatial condition of the user equipment.
Example 5. The apparatus of any of examples 3 to 4, wherein the configuration specifies at least one parameter to determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the spatial condition of the user equipment.
Example 6. The apparatus of any of examples 1 to 5, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol in response to a change of the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 7. The apparatus of example 6, wherein the spatial pattern comprises a number of at least one spatial element, and the number of the at least one spatial element is greater than zero before and after the change of the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 8. The apparatus of any of examples 6 to 7, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive an indication of the change of the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 9. The apparatus of example 8, wherein the indication of the change of the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol is received with at least one of: radio resource control signaling; a medium access control control element; downlink control information; a dedicated group common signaling, a radio network temporary identifier, or periodic spatial partitioning.
Example 10. The apparatus of any of examples 3 to 10, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol in response to a change of the spatial condition of the user equipment.
Example 11. The apparatus of example 10, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive an indication of the change of the spatial condition of the user equipment.
Example 12. The apparatus of example 11, wherein the indication of the change of the spatial condition of the user equipment is received with at least one of: user equipment assistance information, channel state information, downlink control information, or a time domain resource allocation table.
Example 13. The apparatus of any of examples 1 to 12, wherein the configuration relates to multiple slots or multiple symbols, and the configuration repeats in time.
Example 14. The apparatus of any of examples 1 to 13, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: delay, based on the configuration, the application of the at least one transmission method or reception method for a number of at least one slot or a number of at least one symbol determined to be at least one of secondarily available or not available.
Example 15. The apparatus of example 14, wherein the application of the at least one transmission method or reception method is delayed up to a threshold number of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 16. The apparatus of any of examples 14 to 15, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: apply the transmission method or reception method to a set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be primarily available.
Example 17. The apparatus of example 16, wherein the set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be primarily available is sequentially after the at least one slot or the at least one symbol determined to be secondarily available or not available.
Example 18. The apparatus of any of examples 16 to 17, wherein slots or symbols of the set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be primarily available are contiguous.
Example 19. The apparatus of any of examples 15 to 18, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine a number of at least one slot or at least one symbol within a first set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be secondarily available or not available greater than the threshold number; and apply the transmission method or reception method to a second set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be secondarily available or not available, based on the determination of the number of the at least one slot or symbol within the first set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be secondarily available or not available greater than the threshold number.
Example 20. The apparatus of example 19, wherein the second set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be secondarily available or not available is sequentially after the first set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be secondarily available or not available.
Example 21. The apparatus of any of examples 19 to 20, wherein slots or symbols of the first set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be secondarily available or not available are contiguous.
Example 22. The apparatus of any of examples 19 to 21, wherein slots or symbols of the second set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be secondarily available or not available are contiguous.
Example 23. The apparatus of any of examples 1 to 22, wherein the at least one transmission method or reception method comprises at least one of: on duration associated with discontinuous reception of a user equipment, on duration associated with discontinuous transmission of a user equipment, sleeping status of a user equipment, repetition for uplink, repetition for downlink, quadrature amplitude modulation configuration, transform precoding, a modulation and coding scheme table or configuration, a physical downlink control channel aggregation level, a configured grant, or a random access channel.
Example 24. The apparatus of any of examples 1 to 23, wherein the spatial pattern comprises at least one of: a number of at least one antenna port, a number of at least one active transceiver chain, or a channel state information reference signal resource set configuration.
Example 25. The apparatus of any of examples 3 to 24, wherein the spatial condition of the user equipment comprises at least a first condition and a second condition, the first condition being associated with a relatively better condition than the second condition, and the second condition being associated with a relatively worse condition than the first condition.
Example 26. The apparatus of any of examples 1 to 25, wherein the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol comprises one of: primary available, secondary available, not available, or unavailable.
Example 27. The apparatus of any of examples 1 to 26, wherein the apparatus comprises a user equipment.
Example 28. The apparatus of any of examples 1 to 27, wherein a radio access network node or network device comprises the spatial pattern.
Example 29. The apparatus of any of examples 1 to 28, wherein a user equipment comprises the spatial pattern.
Example 30. The apparatus of any of examples 1 to 29, wherein the configuration is received from a radio access network node or network device.
Example 31. An apparatus including: at least one processor; and at least one memory storing instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine a configuration used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; and apply at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 32. The apparatus of example 31, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine a number of at least one spatial element of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the spatial pattern; wherein the determination of the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol is based at least on the number of the at least one spatial element of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 33. The apparatus of any of examples 31 to 32, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine a spatial condition of a user equipment.
Example 34. The apparatus of example 33, wherein the determination of the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol is based at least on the spatial condition of the user equipment.
Example 35. The apparatus of any of examples 33 to 34, wherein the configuration specifies at least one parameter to determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the spatial condition of the user equipment.
Example 36. The apparatus of any of examples 31 to 35, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol in response to a change of the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 37. The apparatus of example 36, wherein the spatial pattern comprises a number of at least one spatial element, and the number of the at least one spatial element is greater than zero before and after the change of the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 38. The apparatus of any of examples 36 to 37, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: transmit or receive an indication of the change of the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 39. The apparatus of example 38, wherein the indication of the change of the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol is transmitted or received with at least one of: radio resource control signaling; a medium access control control element; downlink control information; a dedicated group common signaling, a radio network temporary identifier, or periodic spatial partitioning.
Example 40. The apparatus of any of examples 33 to 39, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol in response to a change of the spatial condition of the user equipment.
Example 41. The apparatus of example 40, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: receive an indication of the change of the spatial condition of the user equipment.
Example 42. The apparatus of example 41, wherein the indication of the change of the spatial condition of the user equipment is received with at least one of: user equipment assistance information, channel state information, uplink control information, or a time domain resource allocation table.
Example 43. The apparatus of any of examples 31 to 42, wherein the configuration relates to multiple slots or multiple symbols, and the configuration repeats in time.
Example 44. The apparatus of any of examples 31 to 43, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: delay, based on the configuration, the application of the at least one transmission method or reception method for a number of at least one slot or a number of at least one symbol determined to be at least one of secondarily available or not available.
Example 45. The apparatus of example 44, wherein the application of the at least one transmission method or reception method is delayed up to a threshold number of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 46. The apparatus of any of examples 44 to 45, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: apply the transmission method or reception method to a set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be primarily available.
Example 47. The apparatus of example 46, wherein the set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be primarily available is sequentially after the at least one slot or the at least one symbol determined to be secondarily available or not available.
Example 48. The apparatus of any of examples 46 to 47, wherein slots or symbols of the set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be primarily available are contiguous.
Example 49. The apparatus of any of examples 45 to 48, wherein the instructions, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the apparatus at least to: determine a number of at least one slot or at least one symbol within a first set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be secondarily available or not available greater than the threshold number; and apply the transmission method or reception method to a second set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be secondarily available or not available, based on the determination of the number of the at least one slot or symbol within the first set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be secondarily available or not available greater than the threshold number.
Example 50. The apparatus of example 49, wherein the second set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be secondarily available or not available is sequentially after the first set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be secondarily available or not available.
Example 51. The apparatus of any of examples 49 to 50, wherein slots or symbols of the first set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be secondarily available or not available are contiguous.
Example 52. The apparatus of any of examples 49 to 51, wherein slots or symbols of the second set of at least one slot or at least one symbol determined to be secondarily available or not available are contiguous.
Example 53. The apparatus of any of examples 31 to 52, wherein the at least one transmission method or reception method comprises at least one of: on duration associated with discontinuous reception of a user equipment, on duration associated with discontinuous transmission of a user equipment, sleeping status of a user equipment, repetition for uplink, repetition for downlink, quadrature amplitude modulation configuration, transform precoding, a modulation and coding scheme table or configuration, a physical downlink control channel aggregation level, a configured grant, or a random access channel.
Example 54. The apparatus of any of examples 31 to 53, wherein the spatial pattern comprises at least one of: a number of at least one antenna port, a number of at least one active transceiver chain, or a channel state information reference signal resource set configuration.
Example 55. The apparatus of any of examples 33 to 54, wherein the spatial condition of the user equipment comprises at least a first condition and a second condition, the first condition being associated with a relatively better condition than the second condition, and the second condition being associated with a relatively worse condition than the first condition.
Example 56. The apparatus of any of examples 31 to 55, wherein the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol comprises one of: primary available, secondary available, not available, or unavailable.
Example 57. The apparatus of any of examples 31 to 56, wherein the apparatus comprises a radio access network node or network device.
Example 58. The apparatus of any of examples 31 to 57, wherein a radio access network node or network device comprises the spatial pattern.
Example 59. The apparatus of any of examples 31 to 58, wherein a user equipment comprises the spatial pattern.
Example 60. The apparatus of any of examples 31 to 59, wherein the configuration is received from a user equipment, a radio access network node, or a network device.
Example 61. A method including: receiving a configuration used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; determining the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; and applying at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 62. A method including: determining a configuration used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; determining the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; and applying at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 63. An apparatus including: means for receiving a configuration used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; means for determining the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; and means for applying at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 64. An apparatus including: means for determining a configuration used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; means for determining the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; and means for applying at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 65. A non-transitory program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine for performing operations, the operations including: receiving a configuration used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; determining the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; and applying at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
Example 66. A non-transitory program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by the machine for performing operations, the operations including: determining a configuration used to determine availability of at least one slot or at least one symbol based on a spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; determining the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol based at least on the configuration and the spatial pattern of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol; and applying at least one transmission method or reception method to the at least one slot or the at least one symbol, based on the availability of the at least one slot or the at least one symbol.
References to a ‘computer’, ‘processor’, etc. should be understood to encompass not only computers having different architectures such as single/multi-processor architectures and sequential or parallel architectures but also specialized circuits such as field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific circuits (ASICs), signal processing devices and other processing circuitry. References to computer program, instructions, code etc. should be understood to encompass software for a programmable processor or firmware such as, for example, the programmable content of a hardware device whether instructions for a processor, or configuration settings for a fixed-function device, gate array or programmable logic device etc.
The memories as described herein may be implemented using any suitable data storage technology, such as semiconductor based memory devices, flash memory, magnetic memory devices and systems, optical memory devices and systems, non-transitory memory, transitory memory, fixed memory and removable memory. The memories may comprise a database for storing data.
As used herein, the term ‘circuitry’ may refer to the following: (a) hardware circuit implementations, such as implementations in analog and/or digital circuitry, and (b) combinations of circuits and software (and/or firmware), such as (as applicable): (i) a combination of processor(s) or (ii) portions of processor(s)/software including digital signal processor(s), software, and memories that work together to cause an apparatus to perform various functions, and (c) circuits, such as a microprocessor(s) or a portion of a microprocessor(s), that require software or firmware for operation, even if the software or firmware is not physically present. As a further example, as used herein, the term ‘circuitry’ would also cover an implementation of merely a processor (or multiple processors) or a portion of a processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term ‘circuitry’ would also cover, for example and if applicable to the particular element, a baseband integrated circuit or applications processor integrated circuit for a mobile phone or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or another network device.
In the figures, lines and arrows between individual blocks represent operational couplings there-between, and arrows represent the direction of data flows on those couplings.
It should be understood that the foregoing description is only illustrative. Various alternatives and modifications may be devised by those skilled in the art. For example, features recited in the various dependent claims could be combined with each other in any suitable combination(s). In addition, features from different example embodiments described above could be selectively combined into a new example embodiment. Accordingly, this description is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances which fall within the scope of the appended claims.
The following acronyms and abbreviations that may be found in the specification and/or the drawing figures are given as follows (the abbreviations and acronyms may be appended with each other or with other characters using e.g. a dash, hyphen, slash, or number):
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63448028 | Feb 2023 | US |
