Patent Application
20240187162
The present disclosure relates to a cellular communications system and, more specifically, to handling of pathloss reference signals (PT-RSs) in a cellular communications system.
The new generation mobile wireless communication system (5G) or new radio (NR) supports a diverse set of use cases and a diverse set of deployment scenarios. NR uses Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (CP-OFDM) in the downlink (i.e., from a network node, NR base station (gNB), evolved NodeB (eNB), or base station, to a user equipment (UE)) and both CP-OFDM and Discrete Fourier Transform (DFT) spread Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) (aka DFT-S-OFDM) in the uplink (i.e., from UE to gNB). In the time domain, NR downlink and uplink physical resources are organized into equally-sized subframes of 1 millisecond (ms) each. A subframe is further divided into multiple slots of equal duration.
The slot length depends on subcarrier spacing. For subcarrier spacing of Δƒ=15, kilohertz (kHz), there is only one slot per subframe and each slot always consists of 14 OFDM symbols, irrespectively of the subcarrier spacing.
Typical data scheduling in NR is on a per slot basis. An example is shown in
Different subcarrier spacing values are supported in NR. The supported subcarrier spacing values (also referred to as different numerologies) are given by Δƒ=(15×2α) kHz where α is a non-negative integer. Δƒ=15 kHz is the basic subcarrier spacing that is also used in Long Term Evolution (LTE). The slot durations at different subcarrier spacings are shown in Table 1.
In the frequency domain physical resource definition, a system bandwidth is divided into resource blocks (RBs), each corresponds to twelve contiguous subcarriers. The common RBs (CRBs) are numbered starting with 0 from one end of the system bandwidth. The UE is configured with one or up to four bandwidth parts (BWPs), which may be a subset of the RBs supported on a carrier. Hence, a BWP may start at a CRB larger than zero. All configured BWPs have a common reference, which is CRB 0. Hence, a UE can be configured with a narrow BWP (e.g., 10 Megahertz (MHZ)) and a wide BWP (e.g., 100 MHZ), but only one BWP can be active for the UE at a given point in time. The physical RBs (PRBs) are numbered from 0 to N-1 within a BWP, but the 0:th PRB may thus be the K:th CRB where K>0.
The basic NR physical time-frequency resource grid is illustrated in
Downlink transmissions can be dynamically scheduled, i.e., in each slot the gNB transmits Downlink Control Information (DCI) over PDCCH about which UE data is to be transmitted to and which RBs in the current downlink slot the data is transmitted on. PDCCH is typically transmitted in the first one or two OFDM symbols in each slot in NR. The UE data are carried on PDSCH. A UE first detects and decodes PDCCH and, if the decoding is successful, it then decodes the corresponding PDSCH based on the decoded control information in the PDCCH.
Uplink data transmission can also be dynamically scheduled using PDCCH. Similar to downlink, a UE first decodes uplink grants in PDCCH and then transmits data over PUSCH based the decoded control information in the uplink grant such as modulation order, coding rate, uplink resource allocation, etc.
In NR, several signals can be transmitted from different antenna ports of a same base station. These signals can have the same large-scale properties such as Doppler shift/spread, average delay spread, or average delay. These antenna ports are then said to be quasi co-located (QCL).
If the UE knows that two antenna ports are QCL with respect to a certain parameter (e.g., Doppler spread), the UE can estimate that parameter based on one of the antenna ports and apply that estimate for receiving signal on the other antenna port.
For example, there may be a QCL relation between a Channel State Information Reference Signal (CSI-RS) for tracking RS (TRS) and the PDSCH Demodulation Reference Signal (DMRS). When UE receives the PDSCH DMRS it can use the measurements already made on the TRS to assist the DMRS reception.
Information about what assumptions can be made regarding QCL is signaled to the UE from the network. In NR, four types of QCL relations between a transmitted source RS and transmitted target RS were defined:
QCL type D was introduced to facilitate beam management with analog beamforming and is known as spatial QCL. There is currently no strict definition of spatial QCL, but the understanding is that if two transmitted antenna ports are spatially QCL, the UE can use the same Rx beam to receive them. This is helpful for a UE that uses analog beamforming to receive signals, since the UE needs to adjust its receive (RX) beam in some direction prior to receiving a certain signal. If the UE knows that the signal is spatially QCL with some other signal it has received earlier, then it can safely use the same RX beam to receive also this signal. Note that for beam management, the discussion mostly revolves around QCL Type D, but it is also necessary to convey a Type A QCL relation for the RSs to the UE, so that it can estimate all the relevant large-scale parameters.
Typically, this is achieved by configuring the UE with a CSI-RS for tracking (TRS) for time/frequency offset estimation. To be able to use any QCL reference, the UE would have to receive it with a sufficiently good Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR). In many cases, this means that the TRS must be transmitted in a suitable beam to a certain UE.
To introduce dynamics in beam and Transmission/Reception Point (TRP) selection, the UE can be configured through Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling with up to 128 Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) states. The TCI state information element (Extracted from 3GPP TS 38.331) is shown in
Each TCI state contains QCL information related to one or two RSs. For example, a TCI state may contain CSI-RS1 associated with QCL Type A and CSI-RS2 associated with QCL TypeD. If a third RS, e.g. the PDCCH DMRS, has this TCI state as QCL source, it means that the UE can derive Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay, delay spread from CSI-RS1 and Spatial Rx parameter (i.e., the RX beam to use) from CSI-RS2 when performing the channel estimation for the PDCCH DMRS.
A first list of available TCI states is configured for PDSCH, and a second list of TCI states is configured for PDCCH. Each TCI state contains a pointer, known as TCI State ID, which points to the TCI state. The network then activates, via a Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), one TCI state for PDCCH (i.e., provides a TCI for PDCCH) and up to eight TCI states for PDSCH. The number of active TCI states the UE support is a UE capability, but the maximum is eight.
Assume a UE has four activated TCI states from a list of 64 configured TCI states in total. Hence, sixty TCI states are inactive for this particular UE, and the UE needs not be prepared to have large scale parameters estimated for those inactive TCI states. But, the UE continuously tracks and updates the large-scale parameters for the RSs in the four active TCI states. When scheduling a PDSCH to a UE, the DCI contains a pointer to one activated TCI state. The UE then knows which large-scale parameter estimates to use when performing PDSCH DMRS channel estimation and thus PDSCH demodulation.
As long as the UE can use any of the currently activated TCI states, it is sufficient to use DCI signaling. However, at some point in time, none of the RSs in the currently activated TCI states can be received by the UE, i.e., when the UE moves out of the beams in which the RSs in the activated TCI states are transmitted. When this happens (or actually before this happens), the gNB would have to activate new TCI states. Typically, since the number of activated TCI states is fixed, the gNB would also have to deactivate one or more of the currently activated TCI states.
The two-step procedure related to TCI state update is depicted in
Now we provide the details of the MAC CE signaling that is used to activate/deactivate TCI states for UE specific PDSCH. The structure of the MAC CE for activating/deactivating TCI states for UE specific PDSCH is given in
Note that the TCI States Activation/Deactivation for UE-specific PDSCH MAC CE is identified by a MAC Protocol Data Unit (PDU) subheader with logical channel ID (LCID) as specified in Table 6.2.1-1 of 3GPP TS 38.321 (this table is reproduced herein as
The gNB can use DCI format 1_1 or 1_2 to indicate to the UE that it shall use one of the activated TCI states for the subsequent PDSCH reception. The field being used in the DCI is Transmission configuration indication, which is 3 bits if tci-PresentInDCI is “enabled” or tci-PresentForDCI-Format1-2-r16 is present respectively for DCI format 1_1 and DCI 1_2 by higher layer. One example of such a DCI indication is depicted in
DCI code point 0 indicates the first TCI state index in the list of TCI states, DCI code point 1 indicates the second TCI state index in the list, and so on.
Uplink power control is used to determine a proper transmit power for PUSCH, PUCCH, and Sounding Reference Signal (SRS) to ensure that they are received by the gNB at an appropriate power level. The transmit power will depend on the amount of channel attenuation, the noise and interference level at the gNB receiver, and the data rate in case of PUSCH or PUCCH.
The uplink power control in NR consists of two parts, i.e., open-loop power control and closed-loop power control. Open-loop power control is used to set the uplink transmit power based on the pathloss estimation and some other factors including the target receive power, channel/signal bandwidth, modulation and coding scheme (MCS), fractional power control factor, etc.
Closed-loop power control is based on explicit power control commands received from the gNB. The power control commands are typically determined based on some UL measurements at the gNB on the actual received power. The power control commands may contain the difference between the actual and the target received powers. Either cumulative or non-cumulative closed-loop power adjustments are supported in NR. Up to two closed loops can be configured in NR for each UL channel or signal. A closed loop adjustment at a given time is also referred as a power control adjustment state.
With multi-beam transmission in frequency range 2 (FR2), pathloss estimation needs to also reflect the beamforming gains corresponding to an uplink transmit and receive beam pair used for the UL channel or signal. This is achieved by estimating the pathloss based on measurements on a downlink RS transmitted over the corresponding downlink beam pair. The DL RS is referred to as a DL pathloss RS. A DL pathloss RS can be a CSI-RS or SSB. For example, when a UL signal is transmitted in beam #1, CSI-RS#1 may be configured as the pathloss RS. Similarly, if a UL signal is transmitted in beam #2, CSI-RS#2 may be configured as the pathloss RS.
For a UL channel or signal (e.g., PUSCH, PUCCH, or SRS) to be transmitted in a UL beam pair associated with a pathloss RS with index n, its transmit power in a transmission occasion i within a slot in a bandwidth part (BWP) of a carrier frequency of a serving cell and a closed-loop index l (l=0,1) can be expressed as
where PCMAX(i) is the configured UE maximum output power for the carrier frequency of the serving cell in transmission occasion i for the UL channel or signal. Popen-loop(i, k) is the open loop power adjustment given below,
P
open-loop(i,k)=PO+PRB(i)+αPL(k)+Δ(i)
where PO is the nominal target receive power for the UL channel or signal, PRB(i) is a power adjustment related to the number of RBs occupied by the channel or signal, PL is the pathloss estimation based on a pathloss reference signal, α is fractional pathloss compensation factor, and Δ(i) is a power adjustment related to MCS. Pclosed-loop(i, l) is given below:
where δ(i, l) is a transmit power control (TPC) command value included in a DCI format associated with the UL channel or signal at transmission occasion i and closed-loop l; Σm=0Mδ(m, l) is a sum of TPC command values that the UE receives for the channel or signal and the associated closed-loop l since the TPC command for transmission occasion i−i0.
Note that power control parameters PO, PRB(i), α, PL, Δ(i), δ(i, l) are generally configured separately for each UL channel or signal (e.g., PUSCH, PUCCH, and SRS) and may be different for different UL channels or signals.
For SRS, a pathloss RS and other power control parameters (e.g., PO, α, etc.) are configured for each SRS resource set. Note that for each BWP in a serving cell, there can only be one SRS resource set configured with usage set to either “codebook” or “non-codebook” in NR.
For SRS closed-loop power control, a UE can have a dedicated closed loop for SRS or share the closed loop(s) of PUSCH in the same serving cell. This is configured by a higher layer parameter srs-PowerControlAdjustmentStates in each SRS resource set to select one out of three options, i.e., use the dedicated closed loop, the first closed loop for PUSCH, or the second closed loop for PUSCH. In case that the closed loop(s) are shared with PUSCH, Pclosed-loop(i, l) for PUSCH applies to SRS transmitted in the SRS resource set.
For the dedicated loop configured for SRS, δ(m, l) corresponds to TPC command received in a PDCCH with DCI format 2_3 for the UE. The mapping between the 2 bits TPC command field in DCI and power adjustment values in dB are shown in Table 2.
If pathloss RS is not configured in an SRS resource set, and SRS_SpatialRelationInfo is not configured in an SRS resource, but the UE is configured with enableDefaultBeamPIForSRS, then the pathloss RS is a periodic RS resource with ‘QCL-TypeD’ in the TCI state of a CORESET with the lowest index, if CORESETs are configured in the active DL BWP, or in the active PDSCH TCI state with lowest ID, if CORESETs are not configured in the active DL BWP
For PUSCH, PO=PO,nominal_PUSCH+PO,UE_PUSCH, where PO,nominal_PUSCH is RRC configured and PO,UE_PUSCH can be dynamically selected. For dynamically scheduled PUSCH, as illustrated in
In addition to TPC command field in DCI scheduling a PUSCH, PUSCH power control for a group of UEs is also supported by DCI format 2_2 with CRC scrambled by TPC-PUSCH-RNTI, in which power adjustments for multiple UEs can be signaled simultaneously.
For PUSCH with configured grant, PO, α and closed loop index are semi-statically configured by RRC. For CG with RRC configured pathloss RS, the RS is used for pathloss estimation, otherwise, the pathloss RS indicated in the DCI activating the CG PUSCH is used for pathloss estimation.
If the PUSCH transmission is scheduled by a DCI format 0_0, and if the UE is configured with PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo for a PUCCH resource with a lowest index in the BWP of the serving cell, the UE uses the same pathloss RS resource for PUSCH as for a PUCCH transmission in the PUCCH resource with the lowest index.
If SRI field is not present in a DCI format 0_1 or DCI format 0_2 scheduling a PUSCH, or SRI-PUSCH-PowerControl is not provided to the UE, or a PUSCH scheduled by DCI format 0_0 and PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo is not configured, the pathloss RS is the one contained in the PUSCH-PathlossReferenceRS-Id with the lowest index value.
If the PUSCH transmission is scheduled by a DCI format 0_0, and if the UE is not configured with PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo for a PUCCH resource, and if the UE is configured with enableDefaultBeamPIForPUSCH0_0, the UE in the BWP of the serving cell, the pathloss RS is then a periodic RS resource with ‘QCL-TypeD’ in a TCI state or QCL assumption of a CORESET with the lowest index in the active DL BWP of the primary cell.
For PUCCH, PO=PO,nominal_PUSCH+PO,UE_PUSCH, and α=1, where PO,nominal_PUSCH is RRC configured cell specific parameter and PO,UE_PUCCH is a UE specific parameter and can vary among different PUCCH resources. A UE is configured with a list of up to 8 PO,UE_PUCCH (each with a P0-PUCCH-Id) and a list of up to 8 pathloss RS (each with a pucch-PathlossReferenceRS-Id). For each PUCCH resource, a PUCCH spatial relation (i.e., PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo) is activated in which a closed-loop index, a pathloss RS (from the corresponding list), and a PO,UE_PUCCH (from the corresponding list) are configured.
For closed loop power adjustment for PUCCH, up to two control loops may be configured. Accumulation is always enabled. TPC command for PUCCH HARQ A/N can be received in one of DCI formats 1_0, 1_1 or 1_2 scheduling the corresponding PDSCH or in DCI format 2_2 when the DCI is scrambled with TPC-PUCCH-RNTI. The mapping between a TPC field value in DCI and a power correction value in dB is shown in Table 3.
If PUCCH spatial relation is not configured but a list of pathloss RS is configured for PUCCH, then the first pathloss RS in the list is used.
If both the list of pathloss RS and PUCCH-SpatialRelationInfo are not configured, but the UE is configured with enableDefaultBeamPIForPUCCH, then the pathloss RS is a periodic RS resource with ‘QCL-TypeD’ in the TCI state of a CORESET with the lowest index in the active DL BWP of the primary cell.
In 3GPP Rel-17, a new enhanced TCI state framework will be specified. In meeting RAN1#103-e, it was agreed that the new TCI state framework should include a three stage TCI state indication (in a similar way as was described above for PDSCH) for all or a subset of all DL and/or UL channels/signals. In the first stage, RRC is used to configure a pool of TCI states. In the second stage, one or more of the RRC configured TCI states are activated via MAC-CE signaling. Finally, in the third stage, DCI signaling is used to select one of the TCI states that was activated via MAC-CE. The TCI states used for DL and UL channels/signals can either be taken from the same pool of TCI states or from separate pools of TCI states (i.e., from separate DL TCI state and UL TCI state pools). It is also possible that two separate lists of activated TCI states are used, one for DL channels/signals and one for UL channels/signals.
Some agreements from the RAN1#103-e meeting are copied below:
On beam indication signaling medium to support joint or separate DL/UL beam indication in Rel.17 unified TCI framework:
On Rel-17 unified TCI framework, to accommodate the case of separate beam indication for UL and DL:
In RAN1#104-e, an agreement (see below) was made that lists different alternatives of how to associate a path loss reference signal (PL-RS) with a TCI state used to determine the UL spatial transmit (TX) filter (e.g., a DL TCI state/Joint TCI state and/or UL TCI state). The purpose of the association between the TCI states and the PL-RS is that the network should be able to quickly and efficiently switch TCI states for UL signals/channels without any additional signaling for updating the PL-RS.
In order to enable a quick UL TX beam switch (e.g., by indicating a new Joint/DL/UL TCI state to the UE in DCI Format 1_1 or DCI Format 1_2) without a temporary degradation in UL performance due to sub-optimal UL output power for the new UL TX spatial filter, the UE should preferably already have monitored a PL-RS associated with the new DL/Joint/UL TCI state for a certain time, since in order to calculate a reliable UL output power, several filtered PL-RS measurements are typically needed.
However, as can be seen in the bold and underlined part in the agreement below, a UE might not be able to monitor as many PL-RSs as the number of activated DL/Joint/UL TCI states. Currently, the agreement is that 8 active TCI states will be supported in Rel-17 TCI state framework; however, in the current NR specification, only 4 PL-RS can be monitored (per serving cell).
In addition, it is possible that new/other DCI formats (e.g., DCI format 1_1 without data, or UL DCI formats) will also be used to update the TCI state for the UL spatial TX filter (in Rel-17 or later releases). In this case, it is possible that more bits are allocated in the DCI formats to update the UL TX spatial filter, meaning that the UE might have even more than eight active TCI states for UL TX spatial filter selection. In this case, there is an even larger risk that the UE will not be able to monitor a PL-RS for each activated TCI state used for UL TX spatial filter selection.
Systems and methods are disclosed for handling a limited set of Path Loss Reference Signals (PL-RSs). In one embodiment, a method performed by a wireless communication device comprises determining a subset of a set of activated uplink (UL) transmission configuration indicator (TCI) states or activated joint or downlink (DL) TCI states for the wireless communication device for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals. The method further comprises monitoring the pathloss reference signals for the subset of the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states. In this manner, the wireless communication device is enabled to have a well-defined framework for how to handle uplink output power when the network indicates a switch to a new UL state or new joint or DL TCI state for which the UE is not monitoring a pathloss reference signal.
In one embodiment, the method further comprises receiving, from a base station, information that indicates the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states. In one embodiment, the information that indicates the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states comprises UL TCI state indicators or joint or DL TCI state indicators.
In one embodiment, the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states consists of M activated UL TCI states or M activated joint or DL TCI states, and the subset of the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states consists of less than M activated UL TCI states or less than M activated joint or DL TCI states. In one embodiment, determining the subset of the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals comprises selecting the subset from the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states based on associations between the activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states and their TCI field codepoints. In one embodiment, the subset is N-1 of the M activated UL TCI states or N-1 of the M activated joint or DL TCI states having the lowest TCI field codepoints, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor. In one embodiment, the wireless communication device also monitors a pathloss reference signal associated to a currently applied UL TCI state or joint or downlink DL TCI state of the wireless communication device. In another embodiment, the subset is N of the M activated UL TCI states or N of the activated joint or DL TCI states having the lowest TCI field codepoints, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor. In one embodiment, the subset comprises an activated UL TCI state or an activated joint or DL TCI state that corresponds to a currently applied UL TCI state or a current applied joint or DL TCI state of the wireless communication device. In another embodiment, the subset is N-1 of the M activated UL TCI states or N-1 of the M activated joint or DL TCI states having the highest TCI field codepoints, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor. In one embodiment, the wireless communication device also monitors a pathloss reference signal associated to a currently applied UL TCI state or a currently applied joint or DL TCI state the wireless communication device. In another embodiment, the subset is N of the M activated UL TCI states or N of the M activated joint or DL TCI states having the highest TCI field codepoints, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor. In one embodiment, the subset comprises an activated UL TCI state or an activated joint or DL TCI state that corresponds to a currently applied UL TCI state or a currently applied joint or DL TCI state of the wireless communication device.
In another embodiment, the subset is N-1 of the M activated UL TCI states or N-1 of the M activated joint or DL TCI states that were last activated, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor. In one embodiment, the wireless communication device also monitors a pathloss reference signal associated to a currently applied UL TCI state or a currently applied joint DL TCI state of the wireless communication device. In another embodiment, the subset is N of the M activated UL TCI states or N of the M activated joint or DL TCI states that were last activated, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor. In one embodiment, the subset comprises an activated UL TCI state or an activated joint or DL TCI state that corresponds to a currently applied UL TCI state or a currently applied joint or DL TCI state of the wireless communication device. In one embodiment, determining the subset of the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals comprises selecting between two or more activated UL TCI states or two or more activated joint or DL TCI states that were activated at the same time based on one or more criteria. In one embodiment, the one or more criteria comprise lowest or highest TCI field codepoint.
In one embodiment, the subset is N-1 of the M activated UL TCI states or N-1 of the M activated joint or DL TCI states that have been activated for a shortest amount of time, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor. In one embodiment, the wireless communication device also monitors a pathloss reference signal associated to a currently applied UL TCI state or a currently applied joint or DL TCI of the wireless communication device.
In one embodiment, the subset is N of the M activated UL TCI states or N of the M activated joint or DL TCI states that have been activated for a shortest amount of time, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor. In one embodiment, the subset comprises an activated UL TCI state or an activated joint or DL TCI state that corresponds to a currently applied UL TCI state or a currently applied joint or DL TCI state of the wireless communication device.
In one embodiment, the subset is N-1 of the M activated UL TCI states or N-1 of the M activated joint or DL TCI states having the lowest TCI state IDs, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor. In one embodiment, the wireless communication device also monitors a pathloss reference signal associated to a currently applied UL TCI state or a currently applied joint or DL TCI state of the wireless communication device.
In one embodiment, the subset is N of the M activated UL TCI states or N of the M activated joint or DL TCI states having the lowest TCI state IDs, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor. In one embodiment, the subset comprises an activated UL TCI state or an activated joint or DL TCI state that corresponds to a currently applied UL TCI state or a currently applied joint or DL TCI state of the wireless communication device.
In one embodiment, the subset is N-1 of the M activated UL TCI states or N-1 of the M activated joint or DL TCI states having the highest TCI state IDs, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device) is configured or otherwise able to monitor. In one embodiment, the wireless communication device also monitors a pathloss reference signal associated to a currently applied UL TCI state or a currently applied joint or DL TCI state of the wireless communication device.
In one embodiment, the subset is N of the M activated UL TCI states or N of the M activated joint or DL TCI states having the highest TCI state IDs, where a value of N corresponds to a maximum number of pathloss reference signals that the wireless communication device is configured or otherwise able to monitor. In one embodiment, the subset comprises an activated UL TCI state or an activated joint or DL TCI state that corresponds to a currently applied UL TCI state or a currently applied joint or DL TCI state of the wireless communication device.
In one embodiment, the method further comprises receiving, from a network node, an indication of the subset of the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals, wherein determining the subset of the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals comprises determining the subset from the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states based on the received indication. In one embodiment, receiving the indication comprises receiving the indication via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE), Downlink Control Information (DC), or any combination thereof.
In one embodiment, the method further comprises using results of the monitoring for one or more operational tasks.
In one embodiment, the method further comprises obtaining a pathloss estimate for at least one activated UL TCI state or at least one joint or DL TCI state from the subset based on results of monitoring the pathloss reference signal associated to the at least one activated UL TCI state or the at least one activated joint or DL TCI state. In one embodiment, the method further comprises using the obtained pathloss estimate.
In one embodiment, the method further comprises receiving downlink control information (DCI) from a network node, the DCI comprising a TCI field codepoint that maps to an activated UL TCI state or an activated joint or DL TCI state from among the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for which the wireless communication device is not currently monitoring an associated pathloss reference signal. The method further comprises, responsive thereto, obtaining a pathloss estimate for the activated UL TCI state or the activated joint or DL TCI state indicated by the TCI field codepoint comprised in the DCI. In one embodiment, obtaining the pathloss estimate for the activated UL TCI state or activated joint or DL TCI state indicated by the TCI field codepoint comprised in the DCI comprises obtaining the pathloss estimate based on a last measurement stored at the wireless communication device for the associated pathloss reference signal. In one embodiment, obtaining the pathloss estimate for the activated UL TCI state or activated joint or DL TCI state indicated by the TCI field codepoint comprised in the DCI comprises obtaining the pathloss estimate based on: a last measurement stored at the wireless communication device for the associated pathloss reference signal; and an offset. In one embodiment, obtaining the pathloss estimate for the activated UL TCI state or activated joint or DL TCI state indicated by the TCI field codepoint comprised in the DCI comprises obtaining the pathloss estimate based on a pathloss estimate determined by the wireless communication device based on a default pathloss reference signal. In one embodiment, the default pathloss reference signal is explicitly or implicitly configured. In one embodiment, the default pathloss reference signal is: a pathloss reference signal associated with a TCI state of a Control Resource Set (CORESET) in which a PDCCH comprising the DCI and scheduling a respective uplink transmission is received; a PUSCH transmission associated with DCI 0_0; a PUSCH transmission associated with Msg3; or a semi-persistent PUCCH used for initial transmission.
Corresponding embodiments of a wireless communication device are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a wireless communication device is adapted to determine a subset of a set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for the wireless communication device for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals. The wireless device is further adapted to monitor the pathloss reference signals for the subset of the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states.
In one embodiment, a wireless communication device comprises one or more transmitters, one or more receivers, and processing circuitry associated with the one or more transmitters and the one or more receivers, the processing circuitry configured to cause the wireless communication device to: determine a subset of a set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for the wireless communication device for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals and monitor the pathloss reference signals for the subset of the set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states.
Embodiments of a method performed by a network node are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a method performed by a network node comprises transmitting, to a wireless communication device, an indication of a subset of a set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for the wireless communication device for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals.
Corresponding embodiments of a network node are also disclosed. In one embodiment, a network node is adapted to transmit, to a wireless communication device, an indication of a subset of a set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for the wireless communication device for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals.
In one embodiment, a network node comprises processing circuitry configured to cause the network node to transmit, to a wireless communication device, an indication of a subset of a set of activated UL TCI states or activated joint or DL TCI states for the wireless communication device for which the wireless communication device is to monitor associated pathloss reference signals.
The accompanying drawing figures incorporated in and forming a part of this specification illustrate several aspects of the disclosure, and together with the description serve to explain the principles of the disclosure.
The embodiments set forth below represent information to enable those skilled in the art to practice the embodiments and illustrate the best mode of practicing the embodiments. Upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawing figures, those skilled in the art will understand the concepts of the disclosure and will recognize applications of these concepts not particularly addressed herein. It should be understood that these concepts and applications fall within the scope of the disclosure.
Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.
Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features, and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.
Radio Node: As used herein, a “radio node” is either a radio access node or a wireless communication device.
Radio Access Node: As used herein, a “radio access node” or “radio network node” or “radio access network node” is any node in a Radio Access Network (RAN) of a cellular communications network that operates to wirelessly transmit and/or receive signals. Some examples of a radio access node include, but are not limited to, a base station (e.g., a New Radio (NR) base station (gNB) in a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Fifth Generation (5G) NR network or an enhanced or evolved Node B (eNB) in a 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) network), a high-power or macro base station, a low-power base station (e.g., a micro base station, a pico base station, a home eNB, or the like), a relay node, a network node that implements part of the functionality of a base station (e.g., a network node that implements a gNB Central Unit (gNB-CU) or a network node that implements a gNB Distributed Unit (gNB-DU)) or a network node that implements part of the functionality of some other type of radio access node.
Core Network Node: As used herein, a “core network node” is any type of node in a core network or any node that implements a core network function. Some examples of a core network node include, e.g., a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW), a Service Capability Exposure Function (SCEF), a Home Subscriber Server (HSS), or the like. Some other examples of a core network node include a node implementing an Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), a User Plane Function (UPF), a Session Management Function (SMF), an Authentication Server Function (AUSF), a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF), a Network Exposure Function (NEF), a Network Function (NF) Repository Function (NRF), a Policy Control Function (PCF), a Unified Data Management (UDM), or the like.
Communication Device: As used herein, a “communication device” is any type of device that has access to an access network. Some examples of a communication device include, but are not limited to: mobile phone, smart phone, sensor device, meter, vehicle, household appliance, medical appliance, media player, camera, or any type of consumer electronic, for instance, but not limited to, a television, radio, lighting arrangement, tablet computer, laptop, or Personal Computer (PC). The communication device may be a portable, hand-held, computer-comprised, or vehicle-mounted mobile device, enabled to communicate voice and/or data via a wireless or wireline connection.
Wireless Communication Device: One type of communication device is a wireless communication device, which may be any type of wireless device that has access to (i.e., is served by) a wireless network (e.g., a cellular network). Some examples of a wireless communication device include, but are not limited to: a User Equipment device (UE) in a 3GPP network, a Machine Type Communication (MTC) device, and an Internet of Things (IOT) device. Such wireless communication devices may be, or may be integrated into, a mobile phone, smart phone, sensor device, meter, vehicle, household appliance, medical appliance, media player, camera, or any type of consumer electronic, for instance, but not limited to, a television, radio, lighting arrangement, tablet computer, laptop, or PC. The wireless communication device may be a portable, hand-held, computer-comprised, or vehicle-mounted mobile device, enabled to communicate voice and/or data via a wireless connection.
Network Node: As used herein, a “network node” is any node that is either part of the RAN or the core network of a cellular communications network/system.
Transmission/Reception Point (TRP): In some embodiments, a TRP may be either a network node, a radio head, a spatial relation, or a Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state. A TRP may be represented by a spatial relation or a TCI state in some embodiments. In some embodiments, a TRP may be using multiple TCI states. In some embodiments, a TRP may a part of the gNB transmitting and receiving radio signals to/from UE according to physical layer properties and parameters inherent to that element. In some embodiments, in Multiple TRP (multi-TRP) operation, a serving cell can schedule UE from two TRPs, providing better Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) coverage, reliability and/or data rates. There are two different operation modes for multi-TRP: single Downlink Control Information (DCI) and multi-DCI. For both modes, control of uplink and downlink operation is done by both physical layer and Medium Access Control (MAC). In single-DCI mode, UE is scheduled by the same DCI for both TRPs and in multi-DCI mode, UE is scheduled by independent DCIs from each TRP.
In some embodiments, a set Transmission Points (TPs) is a set of geographically co-located transmit antennas (e.g., an antenna array (with one or more antenna elements)) for one cell, part of one cell or one Positioning Reference Signal (PRS)-only TP. TPs can include base station (eNB) antennas, Remote Radio Heads (RRHs), a remote antenna of a base station, an antenna of a PRS-only TP, etc. One cell can be formed by one or multiple TPs. For a homogeneous deployment, each TP may correspond to one cell.
In some embodiments, a set of TRPs is a set of geographically co-located antennas (e.g., an antenna array (with one or more antenna elements)) supporting TP and/or Reception Point (RP) functionality.
Note that the description given herein focuses on a 3GPP cellular communications system and, as such, 3GPP terminology or terminology similar to 3GPP terminology is oftentimes used. However, the concepts disclosed herein are not limited to a 3GPP system.
Note that, in the description herein, reference may be made to the term “cell”; however, particularly with respect to 5G NR concepts, beams may be used instead of cells and, as such, it is important to note that the concepts described herein are equally applicable to both cells and beams.
There currently exist certain challenge(s). In case a UE is not capable of monitoring one Pathloss Reference Signal (PL-RS) for each activated Transmission Configuration Indicator (TCI) state used for uplink (UL) transmit (TX) spatial filter selection (a TCI state used for UL TX spatial filter selection is referred to as “UL TCI state” in the remaining part of the present disclosure, even though it might also be called Joint TCI state/DL TCI state in the 3GPP specification where “Joint TCI state/DL TCI state” means “Joint TCI state or DL TCI state” or “joint or DL TCI state” and can be alternatively be written as “joint/DL TCI state” or “joint or DL TCI state”), the UE might not have a reliable path loss estimate for all the activated UL TCI states. In case the UE does not monitor PL-RS for all activated UL TCI states, the problem of how the UE determines the PL-RS needs to be solved.
Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to the aforementioned or other challenges. Systems and methods are disclosed herein for determining which PL-RSs the UE is to monitor in case the UE cannot monitor PL-RS for all activated UL TCI states. Systems and methods are also disclosed herein that define how the UE should behave when it receives an indication to apply an UL TCI state for which it does not monitor a PL-RS.
Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantage(s). Embodiments of the present disclosure may enable the UE to have a well-defined framework for how to handle UL output power when the gNB indicates a switch to a new UL TCI state for which the UE is not monitoring a PL-RS. In some embodiments, the framework also indicates to the UE which subset of the activate UL TCI states that the UE should monitor PL-RS for. Both of these aspects will lead to improved UL performance in case there are more activate UL TCI states than monitored PL-RS.
Now, a description of some example embodiments of the present disclosure will be provided. While separate headings are used, the embodiments described below may be used in any desired combination unless otherwise stated or required.
Assume that the UE 812 can monitor PL-RSs for only N of M activated UL TCI states, where N<M. In one example embodiment, N is equal to, e.g., 4 and M is equal to, e.g., 8. Each of the M activated UL TCI states may be associated with a different PL-RS. Note that, in current 3GPP standards, the maximum number of PL-RSS that a UE can monitor is defined per serving cell. Currently, a UE can monitor a maximum of four PL-RSs per serving cell. So, in case carrier aggregation is used with multiple serving cells, the number of PL-RSs that a UE can monitor in total across the multiple serving cells is N times number of serving cells.
In one embodiment, the UE 812 monitors PL-RS associated with N of the M activated UL TCI states, where the N activated UL TCI states for which the UE monitors PL-RS are based on the association between the activated UL TCI states and their TCI field codepoints (i.e., the TCI field codepoint in DCI used to indicate (apply) one of the M activated UL TCI states). Note that as long as more than one UL TCI state is activated (at least for single TRP operation), there is always an association between an activated UL TCI state and a TCI field codepoint.
In one variation of this embodiment, the UE 812 monitors PL-RSs for N-1 activated UL TCI states with lowest TCI field codepoints. Note that, in one embodiment, the UE 812 needs to monitor PL-RS for the currently applied UL TCI state; hence N-1 is used instead of N. One example of this embodiment is illustrated in
In another variation of this embodiment, the UE 812 instead monitors the UL TCI states associated with the N-1 highest TCI field codepoints. In one embodiment, if the currently applied UL TCI state is associated with any of the N highest TCI field codepoints, the UE 812 monitors the PL-RSs corresponding to the N activated UL TCI states with the highest TCI field codepoints.
In another embodiment, the UE 812 monitors PL-RSs for the N-1 last activated UL TCI states (in addition to the applied UL TCI state). If the currently applied UL TCI state is associated with any of the N last activated UL TCI states, the UE monitors the PL-RSs corresponding to the N UL TCI states that were most recently activated. One example of this embodiment is illustrated in
In the above embodiment, the UL TCI states that were most recently activated were prioritized. Note that an activation message can contain an UL TCI state that was already activated. In another embodiment, UL TCI states that are newly activated are prioritized. In other words, the UL TCI states that have been activated for the shortest time are prioritized.
In another embodiment, the UE 812 monitors PL-RSs for the N-1 activated UL TCI states with lowest UL TCI state ID (in addition to the applied UL TCI state). So, for example, in case the UE 812 has UL TCI states 1,2,3,5,6,8 activated, and UL TCI state 7 applied, the UE 812 monitors the PL-RS associated with the N-1 (where N=4 in this example) UL TCI states with lowest UL TCI state ID (i.e., UL TCI 1, UL TCI 2, UL TCI 3, in this example) in addition to the already applied UL TCI state (UL TCI state 7). In one alternate of this embodiment, the UE 812 monitors the PL-RS associated with the UL TCI states with highest UL TCI state ID instead.
In another embodiment, the network (e.g., the base station 802) explicitly signals the N prioritized UL TCI states for which the UE 812 should track the associated PL-RS. The signaling may be made by Radio Resource Control (RRC), MAC CE, Downlink Control Information (DCI), or any combination thereof. For example, the signaling could be included in the TCI state activation message or signaled separately.
The wireless communication device 812 determines a subset of the M activated UL TCI states for which the wireless communication device 812 is to monitor the associated PL-RSs (step 1104). In one embodiment, the subset is N out of the M activated UL TCI states, where N<M. In another embodiment, the subset is N-1 out of the M activated UL TCI states, where N<M and the wireless communication device 812 also monitors the PL-RS associated to the current UL TCI state of the wireless communication device 812). In one embodiment, the wireless communication device 812 determines the subset of the M activated UL TCI states for which the wireless communication device 812 is to monitor the associated PL-RSs based on explicit signaling from the base station 802 (e.g., in step 1102). However, in other embodiments, the wireless communication device 812 determines the subset of the M activated UL TCI states for which the wireless communication device 812 is to monitor the associated PL-RSs based on the TCI field codepoints associated to the activated TCI states, in accordance with any of the related embodiments described above. In some other embodiments, the wireless communication device 812 determines the subset of the M activated UL TCI states for which the wireless communication device 812 is to monitor the associated PL-RSs based on the TCI indices of the activated TCI states, in accordance with any of the related embodiments described above. In some other embodiments, the wireless communication device 812 determines the subset of the M activated UL TCI states for which the wireless communication device 812 is to monitor the associated PL-RSs based on when the activated TCI states were activated (e.g., selects the N or N-1 most recently activated TCI states), in accordance with any of the related embodiments described above. Any of the other embodiments described above for how the wireless communication device 812, or UE, determines the subset of the M activated UL TCI states for which the wireless communication device 812 is to monitor the associated PL-RSs can alternatively be used.
The wireless communication device 812 monitors PL-RSs associated to the determined subset of the activated UL TCI states (step 1106). The wireless communication device 812 may obtain a pathloss estimate for at least one of the subset of the M activated UL TCI states based on results (e.g., RSRP measurements) of monitoring the respective PL-RS (step 1108). The wireless communication device 812 may use the obtained pathloss estimate for one or more operational tasks (e.g., for determining an output power for an uplink transmission using that UL TCI state based on the obtained pathloss estimate) (step 1110).
In case the DCI codepoint indicates an UL TCI state for which the UE 812 does not currently monitor PL-RS, it is non-specified how the UE 812 should determine the UL output power for the new UL TCI state (until enough PL-RS measurements has been performed to attain a filtered path loss (PL) estimate). A number of possible embodiments related to this problem are disclosed below.
In one embodiment, the UE 812 attains the PL estimate based on only the last Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP) measurement for the PL-RS associated with that UL TCI state (and its corresponding TX/RX spatial filter). In this way, the UE 812 only needs to store the last RSRP measurement of the PL-RS associated with each activated UL TCI state (and its corresponding UL TX spatial filter) which would require fewer RSRP measurements and no path loss filtering calculations. In one extension to this embodiment, since a single RSRP measurement could be rather unreliable as PL estimation (due to e.g., fast fading effects), the UE 812 could add an additional X dB in UL output power for the first UL transmissions after the UL TCI state switch to make sure that the UL output power for the new UL TCI state does not create UL coverage issues. For example, assume that the UE calculates a UL output power Pnew from the power control loop based on the last RSRP measurement associated with the new UL TCI state, then the UE 812 should apply the output power Pnew+X dB (as long as it is not larger than PCMAX) until more reliable path loss estimations associated with the new UL TCI state has been performed by the UE 812.
In another embodiment, the UE 812 bases the PL estimate for a new UL TCI state (for which the UE 812 does not monitor PL-RS) from a default PL-RS. So, if a new UL TCI state is indicated for which the UE 812 does not currently monitor a PL-RS, the UE 812 instead uses a PL estimate calculated from a default PL-RS to calculate the UL output power that should be used for the new UL TCI state. The default PL-RS may be explicitly or implicitly configured. The default PL-RS can, for example, be a Synchronization Signal Block (SSB) or similar.
When the default PL-RS is implicitly configured, the following alternatives can be applied (Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH)).
In another embodiment, the UE 812 bases the PL estimate for a new UL TCI state on the PL-RS associated with the previously used (applied) UL TCI state.
The wireless communication device 812 monitors PL-RSs associated to the determined subset of the activated UL TCI states (step 1206). The base station 802 sends, and the wireless communication device 812, receives a DCI including a TCI field that is set to a TCI field codepoint that maps to an UL TCI for which the wireless communication device 812 is not currently monitoring the associated PL-RS (step 1208). Responsive to the received DCI, the wireless communication device 812 obtains a pathloss estimate for the indicated UL TCI state even though the wireless communication device 812 is has not been monitoring the associated PL-RS (step 1210). This pathloss estimate may be obtained using any of the related embodiments above. For example, in one embodiment, the wireless communication device 812 obtains a pathloss estimate for the indicated UL TCI state based only on the last RSRP measurement for the PL-RS associated with that UL TCI state (e.g., the last RSRP measurement for that PL-RS made by the wireless communication device 812 when it was last monitoring that PL-RS). As another example, the wireless communication device 812 obtains a pathloss estimate for the indicated UL TCI state based on a pathloss estimate for a default PL-RS. The wireless communication device 812 may then determine an output power for the indicated UL TCI state based on the obtained pathloss estimate (step 1212) and transmit an uplink transmission (e.g., an UL signal or UL channel) using the indicated TCI state and the determined output power (step 1214).
In this example, functions 1410 of the network node 1300 described herein (e.g., one or more functions of a base station 802 or gNB described herein) are implemented at the one or more processing nodes 1400 or distributed across the one or more processing nodes 1400 and the control system 1302 and/or the radio unit(s) 1310 in any desired manner. In some particular embodiments, some or all of the functions 1410 of the network node 1300 described herein are implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in a virtual environment(s) hosted by the processing node(s) 1400. As will be appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art, additional signaling or communication between the processing node(s) 1400 and the control system 1302 is used in order to carry out at least some of the desired functions 1410. Notably, in some embodiments, the control system 1302 may not be included, in which case the radio unit(s) 1310 communicate directly with the processing node(s) 1400 via an appropriate network interface(s).
In some embodiments, a computer program including instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to carry out the functionality of the network node 1300 or a node (e.g., a processing node 1400) implementing one or more of the functions 1410 of the network node 1300 in a virtual environment according to any of the embodiments described herein is provided. In some embodiments, a carrier comprising the aforementioned computer program product is provided. The carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable medium such as memory).
In some embodiments, a computer program including instructions which, when executed by at least one processor, causes the at least one processor to carry out the functionality of the wireless communication device 812 according to any of the embodiments described herein is provided. In some embodiments, a carrier comprising the aforementioned computer program product is provided. The carrier is one of an electronic signal, an optical signal, a radio signal, or a computer readable storage medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer readable medium such as memory).
With reference to
The telecommunication network 1800 is itself connected to a host computer 1816, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, or as processing resources in a server farm. The host computer 1816 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Connections 1818 and 1820 between the telecommunication network 1800 and the host computer 1816 may extend directly from the core network 1804 to the host computer 1816 or may go via an optional intermediate network 1822. The intermediate network 1822 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private, or hosted network; the intermediate network 1822, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 1822 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).
The communication system of
Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE, base station, and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to
The communication system 1900 further includes a base station 1918 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 1920 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 1902 and with the UE 1914. The hardware 1920 may include a communication interface 1922 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 1900, as well as a radio interface 1924 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 1926 with the UE 1914 located in a coverage area (not shown in
The communication system 1900 further includes the UE 1914 already referred to. The UE's 1914 hardware 1934 may include a radio interface 1936 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 1926 with a base station serving a coverage area in which the UE 1914 is currently located. The hardware 1934 of the UE 1914 further includes processing circuitry 1938, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, ASICS, FPGAS, or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The UE 1914 further comprises software 1940, which is stored in or accessible by the UE 1914 and executable by the processing circuitry 1938. The software 1940 includes a client application 1942. The client application 1942 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via the UE 1914, with the support of the host computer 1902. In the host computer 1902, the executing host application 1912 may communicate with the executing client application 1942 via the OTT connection 1916 terminating at the UE 1914 and the host computer 1902. In providing the service to the user, the client application 1942 may receive request data from the host application 1912 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 1916 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The client application 1942 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.
It is noted that the host computer 1902, the base station 1918, and the UE 1914 illustrated in
In
The wireless connection 1926 between the UE 1914 and the base station 1918 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 1914 using the OTT connection 1916, in which the wireless connection 1926 forms the last segment.
A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1916 between the host computer 1902 and the UE 1914, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 1916 may be implemented in the software 1910 and the hardware 1904 of the host computer 1902 or in the software 1940 and the hardware 1934 of the UE 1914, or both. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which the OTT connection 1916 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which the software 1910, 1940 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 1916 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect the base station 1918, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 1918. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating the host computer 1902's measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency, and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that the software 1910 and 1940 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 1916 while it monitors propagation times, errors, etc.
Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include Digital Signal Processor (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as Read Only Memory (ROM), Random Access Memory (RAM), cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unit to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.
While processes in the figures may show a particular order of operations performed by certain embodiments of the present disclosure, it should be understood that such order is exemplary (e.g., alternative embodiments may perform the operations in a different order, combine certain operations, overlap certain operations, etc.).
Those skilled in the art will recognize improvements and modifications to the embodiments of the present disclosure. All such improvements and modifications are considered within the scope of the concepts disclosed herein.
This application claims the benefit of provisional patent application Ser. No. 63/171,363, filed Apr. 6, 2021, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/EP2022/059060 | 4/6/2022 | WO |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63171363 | Apr 2021 | US |
