CN114631351A

CN114631351A - Mutual anchoring and traffic distribution in converged RAN integrating NR and Wi-Fi access

Info

Publication number: CN114631351A
Application number: CN202080043819.XA
Authority: CN
Inventors: B·古普塔; 李倩; 朱京; S·L·班格来; 许允亨; P·贾殷; N·詹博拉特; C·科迪罗; A·西罗特金
Original assignee: Apple Inc
Current assignee: Apple Inc
Priority date: 2019-06-14
Filing date: 2020-06-12
Publication date: 2022-06-14
Also published as: WO2020252377A1

Abstract

A next generation node b (gNB) implements a Radio Access Network (RAN) aggregation function for new air interface (NR) access and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access, the gNB further implementing a split architecture including a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) for each of the NR access and the WLAN access. The gNB receives a data packet for transmission to a User Equipment (UE) implementing a RAN convergence function, the data packet including one of a Control Plane (CP) packet or a User Plane (UP) packet. The gNB segments the data packets via a convergence layer residing on the NR CU or a convergence layer residing on the WLAN CU, and segments the data packets by NR access and WLAN access transmissions.

Description

Mutual anchoring and traffic distribution in converged RAN integrating NR and Wi-Fi access

The inventor: b, Gupota, Li Qian, Zhujing, S, L, Bangla, Zhan Jia Yin, N, Zhanbolate, C, Kedilo, A, West Rot jin

Priority requirement

The present disclosure claims priority from U.S. provisional patent application serial No. 62/861,682 entitled "MECHANISMS TO SUPPORT MUTUAL ANCHORING AND TRAFFIC dispensing FOR CONTROL plan AND USER plan OVER 5G NR AND WI-FI ACCESS IN A convert RAN INTEGRATING NR AND WI-FI ACCESS", filed on 6, month 14, 2019, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Background

Current 3GPP solutions enable 5G and WLAN/Wi-Fi interworking and integration at the 5G Core Network (CN) level. Release 15 provides integration of untrusted WLAN access with 5G CN through non-3 GPP interworking function (N3 IWF). Release 16 provides for the integration of trusted WLAN access with 5G CNs through trusted non-3 GPP gateway function (TNGF) and CN-based access traffic steering, handover and segmentation (ats) function for traffic distribution over NR and Wi-Fi access links. However, current 3GPP solutions lack tight integration between Radio Access Network (RAN) level NR and Wi-Fi.

Disclosure of Invention

Some example embodiments relate to a method performed by a next generation node b (gNB) that implements a Radio Access Network (RAN) aggregation function for new air interface (NR) access and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access, the gNB further implementing a split architecture including a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) for each of the NR access and the WLAN access. The method includes receiving a data packet for transmission to a User Equipment (UE) implementing RAN convergence functions, the data packet comprising one of a Control Plane (CP) packet or a User Plane (UP) packet, fragmenting the data packet via a convergence layer residing on an NR CU and transmitting the fragmented data packet over NR access and WLAN access.

Other exemplary embodiments relate to a next generation node b (gnb) having one or more processors and transceivers. The one or more processors are configured to implement a Radio Access Network (RAN) convergence function for new air interface (NR) access and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access, and implement a split architecture including a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) for each of the NR access and the WLAN access. One or more processors receive a data packet for transmission to a User Equipment (UE) implementing a RAN convergence function, the data packet comprising one of a Control Plane (CP) packet or a User Plane (UP) packet, and partition the data packet via a convergence layer residing on an NR CU. The transceiver is configured to transmit the split data packets to the UE through the NR access and the WLAN access.

Further exemplary embodiments relate to a method performed by a gNB implementing a Radio Access Network (RAN) aggregation function for new air interface (NR) access and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access, the gNB further implementing a split architecture including a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) for each of the NR access and the WLAN access. The method includes receiving a data packet for transmission to a User Equipment (UE) implementing a RAN convergence function, the data packet comprising either a Control Plane (CP) packet or a User Plane (UP) packet, partitioning the data packet via a convergence layer residing on a WLAN CU, and transmitting the partitioned data packet over NR access and WLAN access.

Additional exemplary embodiments relate to a next generation node b (gnb) having one or more processors and transceivers. The one or more processors are configured to implement a Radio Access Network (RAN) convergence function for new air interface (NR) access and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access, and implement a split architecture including a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) for each of the NR access and the WLAN access. The one or more processors receive a data packet for transmission to a User Equipment (UE) implementing a RAN convergence function, the data packet comprising one of a Control Plane (CP) packet or a User Plane (UP) packet, and partition the data packet via a convergence layer residing on a WLAN CU. The transceiver is configured to transmit the split data packets to the UE through the NR access and the WLAN access.

Drawings

Fig. 1 shows an exemplary architecture of a system of a network according to various exemplary embodiments.

Fig. 2 shows an example of infrastructure equipment according to various exemplary embodiments.

Fig. 3 illustrates an example of a platform (or "device") according to various exemplary embodiments.

Fig. 4 illustrates exemplary components of a baseband circuit and Radio Front End Module (RFEM) according to various exemplary embodiments.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and of performing any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, according to some example embodiments.

Fig. 6 illustrates various protocol functions that may be implemented in a wireless communication device, according to various example embodiments.

Fig. 7 illustrates an exemplary architecture of a system including a first core network, in accordance with various embodiments.

Fig. 8 illustrates an architecture of a system including a second core network, in accordance with various embodiments.

Fig. 9 illustrates components of a core network according to various embodiments.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating components of a system supporting NFV, according to some example embodiments.

Fig. 11a shows a RAN convergence CP protocol for a cellular anchor scenario according to a first option, where convergence is performed above the Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer.

FIG. 11b illustrates an aggregate-C PDU format for the first option of FIG. 11 a.

Fig. 11c shows a RAN convergence CP protocol for a cellular anchor scenario according to the second option, where convergence is performed below the PDCP.

Fig. 11d shows an aggregate-C PDU format for the second option of fig. 11C.

Fig. 12a shows a RAN convergence CP protocol 1200 for a WLAN anchor scenario according to the first option, where convergence is performed over PDCP.

Fig. 12b shows an aggregate-C PDU format for the first option of fig. 12 a.

Fig. 12c shows a RAN convergence CP protocol for a WLAN anchor scenario according to the second option, where convergence is performed below the PDCP.

Fig. 13a shows RAN convergence UP protocol for cellular anchor scenario according to a first option, where convergence is performed above the Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer.

Fig. 13b shows an aggregation-U PDU format for the first option of fig. 13a according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 13c shows an aggregation-U PDU format for the first option of fig. 13a according to a second embodiment.

Fig. 13d shows an aggregation-U PDU format for the first option of fig. 13a according to a third embodiment.

Fig. 13e shows RAN convergence UP protocol for a cellular anchor scenario according to the second option, where convergence is performed above the PDCP layer.

Fig. 13f shows an aggregation-U PDU format for the second option of fig. 13e, according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 13g shows an aggregation-U PDU format for the second option of fig. 13e, according to a second embodiment.

Fig. 13h shows RAN convergence UP protocol for a cellular anchor scenario according to a third option, where convergence is performed below the PDCP layer.

Fig. 13i shows an aggregate-U PDU format for the third option of fig. 13 h.

Fig. 14a shows the RAN convergence UP protocol for WLAN anchor scenario according to the first option, where convergence is performed above the SDAP layer.

Fig. 14b shows an aggregation-U PDU format for the first option of fig. 14a according to the first embodiment.

Fig. 14c shows an aggregation-U PDU format for the first option of fig. 14a according to the second embodiment.

Fig. 14d shows RAN convergence UP protocol for WLAN anchor scenario according to the second option, where convergence is performed above the PDCP layer.

Fig. 15 shows a method for a gNB to transmit data packets to a User Equipment (UE) using a Radio Access Network (RAN) convergence function, wherein the NR node is an anchor node, according to a first embodiment.

Fig. 16 shows a method for a gNB to transmit data packets to a User Equipment (UE) using a Radio Access Network (RAN) convergence function, wherein the WLAN node is an anchor node, according to a second embodiment.

Detailed Description

The following detailed description refers to the accompanying drawings. The same reference numbers may be used in different drawings to identify the same or similar elements. In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth such as particular structures, architectures, interfaces, techniques, etc. in order to provide a thorough understanding of the various aspects of the embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art having the benefit of the present disclosure that the various aspects of the embodiments may be practiced in other examples that depart from these specific details. In certain instances, descriptions of well-known devices, circuits, and methods are omitted so as not to obscure the description of the various embodiments with unnecessary detail. For purposes of this document, the phrase "a or B" refers to (a), (B), or (a and B).

The exemplary embodiments may be further understood with reference to the following description and the associated drawings and slide shows, in which like elements have the same reference numerals. The present embodiments relate to protocol details for enabling RAN-level convergence and mutual anchoring between NR access and Wi-Fi access. The mutual anchoring solution within the RAN enables NR/cellular or WLAN access to act as anchor points for Control Plane (CP) and/or User Plane (UP) traffic. For each anchor point case of CP and UP, a convergence layer is defined in the anchor node (cellular or WLAN). Different convergence protocol schemes are disclosed for both cellular anchor and WLAN anchor scenarios for RAN level convergence between 5G and WLAN. A convergence layer within the RAN is used to enable the integration of NR access and Wi-Fi access. Convergence layer protocol design options for the control plane and the user plane for the cellular anchor and WLAN anchor cases are disclosed. Header information carried by the convergence layer is also described.

RAN level aggregation may provide performance gains in terms of delay, reliability, device power consumption, resource utilization, and mobility. RAN level aggregation may also provide 5G systems with better WLAN visibility and enable RAN level control/management capabilities for WLAN access, which may enable cellular operators to provide WLAN management solutions for small enterprises. The WLAN anchor may provide better control for the enterprise/professional and may provide improved session continuity and application performance in the cellular dead spots. Deployment scenarios such as enterprises, professionals, and non-public networks (NPN) may benefit from anchoring one to another. RAN-level integration between NR and Wi-Fi may provide several benefits (relative to CN-level integration) due to the ability to provide faster response to changing channel conditions, including improved latency, improved reliability, reduced device power consumption, better resource utilization, and faster mobility.

System architecture

Fig. 1 illustrates an exemplary architecture of a network system 100 according to various exemplary embodiments. The following description is provided for an example system 100 operating in conjunction with the 5G NR system standard provided by the 3GPP technical specification. However, the exemplary embodiments are not limited in this regard and the described embodiments may be applied to other networks that benefit from the principles described herein, such as legacy (e.g., LTE)3GPP systems, future 3GPP systems (e.g., sixth generation (6G) systems), IEEE 802.16 protocols (e.g., WMAN, WiMAX, etc.), and so forth.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system 100 includes a UE 101a and a UE 101b (collectively referred to as "UEs 101"). In this example, the UE 101 is shown as a smartphone (e.g., a handheld touchscreen mobile computing device connectable to one or more cellular networks), but may also include any mobile or non-mobile computing device, such as a consumer electronic device, a mobile phone, a smartphone, a feature phone, a tablet, a wearable computer device, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a pager, a wireless handheld device, a desktop computer, a laptop computer, an in-vehicle infotainment (IVI), an in-vehicle entertainment (ICE) device, an instrument panel (IC), a heads-up display (HUD) device, an on-board diagnostics (OBD) device, a Dashtop Mobile Equipment (DME), a Mobile Data Terminal (MDT), an Electronic Engine Management System (EEMS), an electronic/engine Electronic Control Unit (ECU), an electronic/engine Electronic Control Module (ECM), an embedded system, a mobile computing device, a mobile computing system, a mobile system, a mobile, Microcontrollers, control modules, Engine Management Systems (EMS), networked or "smart" appliances, MTC devices, M2M, IoT devices, and the like.

In some embodiments, any of the UEs 101 may be an IoT UE, which may include a network access layer designed for low-power IoT applications that utilize short-term UE connections. IoT UEs may utilize technologies such as M2M or MTC to exchange data with MTC servers or devices via PLMN, ProSe, or D2D communications, sensor networks, or IoT networks. The M2M or MTC data exchange may be a machine initiated data exchange. IoT networks describe interconnected IoT UEs that may include uniquely identifiable embedded computing devices (within the internet infrastructure) with ephemeral connections. The IoT UE may execute background applications (e.g., keep-alive messages, status updates, etc.) to facilitate connection of the IoT network.

The UE 101 may be configured to connect, e.g., communicatively couple, with a Radio Access Network (RAN) 110. In some embodiments, RAN 110 may be a 5G NR RAN, while in other embodiments, RAN 110 may be an E-UTRAN or a legacy RAN, such as UTRAN or GERAN. As used herein, the term "5G NR RAN" or the like may refer to RAN 110 operating in an NR or 5G system 100, while the term "E-UTRAN" or the like may refer to RAN 110 operating in an LTE or 4G system 100. The multiple UEs 101 utilize connections (or channels) 103 and 104, respectively, each connection comprising a physical communication interface or layer (discussed in further detail below).

In this example,

connections

103 and 104 are shown as air interfaces to enable the communicative coupling, and may be consistent with a cellular communication protocol, such as a GSM protocol, a CDMA network protocol, a PTT protocol, a POC protocol, a UMTS protocol, a 3GPP LTE protocol, a 5G protocol, an NR protocol, and/or any other communication protocol discussed herein. In an embodiment, the UE 101 may exchange communication data directly via a proximity services (ProSe) interface 105. The ProSe interface 105 may alternatively be referred to as a SL interface 105 and may include one or more logical channels including, but not limited to, PSCCH, pscsch, PSDCH, and PSBCH.

The UE 101b is further configured to access a WLAN node 106 (also referred to as "WLAN 106," "WLAN terminal 106," "WT 106," "Access Point (AP)106," etc.) via a connection 107. Connection 107 may comprise a local wireless connection, such as a connection consistent with any IEEE 802.11 protocol, where AP 106 will include wireless fidelity

A router. In this example, WLAN node 106 is shown connected to the internet without being connected to the core network of the wireless system (described in further detail below). In various embodiments, UE 101b, RAN 110, and WLAN node 106 may be configured to utilize LTE-WLAN aggregationAnd (LWA) operation and/or LTE/WLAN radio level operation integrated with IPsec tunnel (LWIP). LWA operations may involve configuring, by the RAN nodes 111a-b, the UE 101b in an RRC _ CONNECTED state to utilize radio resources of LTE and WLAN. LWIP operations may involve the UE 101b using WLAN radio resources (e.g., connection 107) via an IPsec protocol tunnel to authenticate and encrypt packets (e.g., IP packets) sent over the connection 107. IPsec tunneling may include encapsulating the entire original IP packet and adding a new packet header, thereby protecting the original header of the IP packet.

RAN 110 includes one or

more RAN nodes

111a and 111b (collectively "RAN nodes 111" or "RAN nodes 111") that enable

connections

103 and 104. As used herein, the terms "access node," "access point," and the like may describe equipment that provides radio baseband functionality for data and/or voice connections between a network and one or more users. These access nodes may be referred to as Base Stations (BSs), next generation nodebs (gnbs), RAN nodes, enbs, nodebs, RSUs, trxps, TRPs, etc., and may include ground stations (e.g., terrestrial access points) or satellite stations that provide coverage within a geographic area (e.g., a cell). As used herein, the term "5G NR RAN node" or the like may refer to a RAN node 111 (e.g., a gNB) operating in an NR or 5G system 100, while the term "E-UTRAN node" or the like may refer to a RAN node 111 (e.g., an eNB) operating in an LTE or 4G system 100. According to various embodiments, the RAN node 111 may be implemented as one or more of a dedicated physical device such as a macrocell base station and/or a Low Power (LP) base station for providing a femtocell, picocell or other similar cell with a smaller coverage area, smaller user capacity or higher bandwidth than a macrocell.

In some embodiments, all or part of the RAN node 111 may be implemented as one or more software entities running on a server computer as part of a virtual network that may be referred to as a CRAN and/or a virtual baseband unit pool (vbbp). In these embodiments, the CRAN or vbbp can implement RAN functional partitioning, such as PDCP partitioning, where RRC and PDCP layers are operated by the CRAN/vbbp, while other L2 protocol entities are operated by the respective RAN nodes 111; MAC/PHY division, where RRC, PDCP, RLC and MAC layers are operated by the CRAN/vbbp, and PHY layers are operated by the respective RAN nodes 111; or "lower PHY" division, where the RRC, PDCP, RLC, MAC layers and upper parts of the PHY layers are operated by the CRAN/vbbp, and the lower parts of the PHY layers are operated by the respective RAN nodes 111. The virtualization framework allows idle processor cores of multiple RAN nodes 111 to execute other virtualized applications. In some implementations, a separate RAN node 111 may represent each gNB-DU connected to the gNB-CU via each F1 interface (not shown in fig. 1). In these implementations, the gNB-DUs can include one or more remote radio heads or RFEMs (see, e.g., RFEM215 of fig. 2), and the gNB-CUs can be operated by a server (not shown) located in the RAN 110 or by a pool of servers in a similar manner to the CRAN/vbupp. Additionally or alternatively, one or more of the RAN nodes 111 may be a next generation eNB (ng-eNB), which is a RAN node that provides E-UTRA user plane and control plane protocol terminations towards the UE 101 and is connected to a 5GC (e.g., CN 820 of fig. 8) via a 5G NR interface.

In the V2X scenario, one or more of the RAN nodes 111 may be or act as Road Side Units (RSUs). The term "road side unit" or "RSU" may refer to any traffic infrastructure entity for V2X communication. The RSUs may be implemented in or by a suitable RAN node or a stationary (or relatively stationary) UE, where the RSUs implemented in or by the UE may be referred to as "UE-type RSUs," the RSUs implemented in or by the eNB may be referred to as "eNB-type RSUs," the RSUs implemented in or by the gbb may be referred to as "gbb-type RSUs," and so on. In one example, the RSU is a computing device coupled with radio frequency circuitry located on the road side that provides connectivity support to passing vehicle UEs 101 (vues 101). The RSU may also include internal data storage circuitry for storing intersection map geometry, traffic statistics, media, and applications/software for sensing and controlling ongoing vehicle and pedestrian traffic. The RSU may operate over the 5.9GHz Direct Short Range Communications (DSRC) band to provide the very low latency communications required for high speed events, such as collision avoidance, traffic warnings, and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may operate on the cellular V2X frequency band to provide the aforementioned low-delay communications as well as other cellular communication services. Additionally or alternatively, the RSU may operate as a Wi-Fi hotspot (2.4GHz band) and/or provide a connection with one or more cellular networks to provide uplink and downlink communications. Some or all of the computing device and the radio frequency circuitry of the RSU may be packaged in a weather resistant enclosure suitable for outdoor installation, and may include a network interface controller to provide wired connections (e.g., ethernet) to a traffic signal controller and/or a backhaul network.

Any of the RAN nodes 111 may serve as an endpoint of the air interface protocol and may be a first point of contact for the UE 101. In some embodiments, any of RAN nodes 111 may perform various logical functions of RAN 110, including, but not limited to, functions of a Radio Network Controller (RNC), such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management.

In some example embodiments, UE 101 may be configured to communicate with each other or any of RAN nodes 111 over a multicarrier communication channel using OFDM communication signals in accordance with various communication techniques, such as, but not limited to, OFDMA communication techniques (e.g., for downlink communications) or SC-FDMA communication techniques (e.g., for uplink and ProSe or sidelink communications), although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect. The OFDM signal may include a plurality of orthogonal subcarriers.

In some embodiments, the downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from any of the RAN nodes 111 to the UE 101, while uplink transmissions may utilize similar techniques. The grid may be a time-frequency grid, referred to as a resource grid or time-frequency resource grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. For OFDM systems, such time-frequency plane representation is common practice, which makes radio resource allocation intuitive. Each column and each row of the resource grid corresponds to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The duration of the resource grid in the time domain corresponds to one time slot in a radio frame. The smallest time-frequency unit in the resource grid is denoted as a resource element. Each resource grid includes a plurality of resource blocks that describe the mapping of certain physical channels to resource elements. Each resource block comprises a set of resource elements; in the frequency domain, this may represent the smallest amount of resources that can currently be allocated. Several different physical downlink channels are transmitted using such resource blocks.

According to various embodiments, UE 101 and RAN node 111 communicate data (e.g., transmit data and receive data) over a licensed medium (also referred to as "licensed spectrum" and/or "licensed band") and an unlicensed shared medium (also referred to as "unlicensed spectrum" and/or "unlicensed band"). The licensed spectrum may include channels operating in a frequency range of about 400MHz to about 3.8GHz, while the unlicensed spectrum may include a 5GHz band or other unlicensed spectrum.

To operate in unlicensed spectrum, the UE 101 and RAN node 111 may operate using LAA, eLAA, feLAA, or NR-U mechanisms. In these implementations, UE 101 and RAN node 111 may perform one or more known medium sensing operations and/or carrier sensing operations to determine whether one or more channels in the unlicensed spectrum are unavailable or otherwise occupied prior to transmission in the unlicensed spectrum. The medium/carrier sensing operation may be performed according to a Listen Before Talk (LBT) protocol.

Listen Before Talk (LBT) is a mechanism by which equipment (e.g., UE 101, RAN node 111, etc.) senses a medium (e.g., a channel or carrier frequency) and transmits when the medium is sensed as idle (or when it is sensed that a particular channel in the medium is unoccupied). The medium sensing operation may include a Clear Channel Assessment (CCA) that utilizes at least Energy Detection (ED) to determine whether there are other signals on the channel in order to determine whether the channel is occupied or clear. The LBT mechanism allows cellular/LAA (licensed assisted access) networks to coexist with existing systems in unlicensed spectrum and with other LAA networks. ED may include sensing RF energy over an expected transmission band for a period of time and comparing the sensed RF energy to a predefined or configured threshold.

Typically, the existing system in the 5GHz band is a WLAN based on IEEE 802.11 technology. WLANs employ a contention-based channel access mechanism called CSMA/CA. Here, when a WLAN node (e.g., a Mobile Station (MS) such as UE 101, WLAN node 106, etc.) intends to transmit, the WLAN node may first perform a CCA prior to the transmission. In addition, in the case where more than one WLAN node senses the channel as idle and transmits simultaneously, a back-off mechanism is used to avoid collisions. The back-off mechanism may be a counter introduced randomly within the CWS that is incremented exponentially when collisions occur and is reset to a minimum value when the transmission is successful. The LBT mechanism designed for LAA is somewhat similar to CSMA/CA of WLAN. In some implementations, the LBT procedure for a DL or UL transmission burst (including PDSCH or PUSCH transmissions) may have an LAA contention window of variable length between X and Y ECCA slots, where X and Y are the minimum and maximum values of the CWS for the LAA. In one example, the minimum CWS for LAA transmission may be 9 microseconds (μ β); however, the size of the CWS and MCOT (e.g., transmission bursts) may be based on government regulatory requirements.

The LAA mechanism is built on the Carrier Aggregation (CA) technology of the LTE-Advanced system. In CA, each aggregated carrier is referred to as a Component Carrier (CC). One CC may have a bandwidth of 1.4, 3, 5, 10, 15, or 20MHz, and a maximum of five CCs may be aggregated, so the maximum aggregated bandwidth is 100 MHz. In an FDD system, the number of aggregated carriers may be different for DL and UL, where the number of UL CCs is equal to or lower than the number of DL component carriers. In some cases, each CC may have a different bandwidth than other CCs. In a TDD system, the number of CCs and the bandwidth of each CC are typically the same for DL and UL.

The CA also contains individual serving cells to provide individual CCs. The coverage of the serving cell may be different, e.g., because CCs on different frequency bands will experience different path losses. The primary serving cell or PCell may provide PCC for both UL and DL and may handle RRC and NAS related activities. The other serving cells are referred to as scells, and each SCell may provide a respective SCC for both UL and DL. SCCs may be added and removed as needed, while changing the PCC may require the UE 101 to undergo handover. In LAA, eLAA, and feLAA, some or all of the scells may operate in unlicensed spectrum (referred to as "LAA scells"), and the LAA scells are assisted by a PCell operating in licensed spectrum. When the UE is configured with more than one LAA SCell, the UE may receive a UL grant on the configured LAA SCell, indicating different PUSCH starting positions within the same subframe.

The PDSCH carries user data and higher layer signaling to multiple UEs 101. The PDCCH carries, among other information, information about the transport format and resource allocation related to the PDSCH channel. It may also inform multiple UEs 101 about the transport format, resource allocation and HARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. In general, downlink scheduling (allocation of control and shared channel resource blocks to UEs 101b within a cell) may be performed at any of the RAN nodes 111 based on channel quality information fed back from any of the UEs 101. The downlink resource allocation information may be sent on a PDCCH for (e.g., allocated to) each of the UEs 101.

The PDCCH transmits control information using Control Channel Elements (CCEs). The PDCCH complex-valued symbols may first be organized into quadruplets before being mapped to resource elements, which may then be arranged for rate matching using a sub-block interleaver. Each PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more of these CCEs, where each CCE may correspond to nine sets, referred to as REGs, of four physical resource elements, respectively. Four Quadrature Phase Shift Keying (QPSK) symbols may be mapped to each REG. The PDCCH may be transmitted using one or more CCEs according to the size of DCI and channel conditions. There may be four or more different PDCCH formats defined in LTE with different numbers of CCEs (e.g., aggregation levels, L ═ 1, 2, 4, or 8).

Some embodiments may use the concept of resource allocation for control channel information, which is an extension of the above concept. For example, some embodiments may utilize EPDCCH which uses PDSCH resources for control information transmission. One or more ECCEs may be used for transmission of EPDCCH. Similar to the above, each ECCE may correspond to nine sets of four physical resource elements, referred to as EREGs. In some cases, ECCE may have other numbers of EREGs.

The RAN nodes 111 may be configured to communicate with each other via an interface 112. In embodiments where system 100 is an LTE system (e.g., when CN 120 is EPC 720 as in fig. 7), interface 112 may be an X2 interface 112. The X2 interface may be defined between two or more RAN nodes 111 (e.g., two or more enbs, etc.) connected to the EPC 120 and/or between two enbs connected to the EPC 120. In some implementations, the X2 interfaces can include an X2 user plane interface (X2-U) and an X2 control plane interface (X2-C). The X2-U may provide a flow control mechanism for user packets transmitted over the X2 interface and may be used to communicate information about the delivery of user data between enbs. For example, X2-U may provide specific sequence number information about user data transmitted from MeNB to SeNB; information on successful in-sequence delivery of PDCP Protocol Data Units (PDUs) from the SeNB to the UE 101 for user data; information of PDCP PDUs not delivered to the UE 101; information on a current minimum expected buffer size at the SeNB for transmission of user data to the UE; and so on. X2-C may provide intra-LTE access mobility functions including context transfer from source eNB to target eNB, user plane transfer control, etc.; a load management function; and an inter-cell interference coordination function.

In embodiments where system 100 is a 5G or NR system, interface 112 may be an Xn interface 112. An Xn interface is defined between two or more RAN nodes 111 (e.g., two or more gnbs, etc.) connected to the 5GC 120, between a RAN node 111 (e.g., a gNB) connected to the 5GC 120 and an eNB, and/or between two enbs connected to the 5GC 120. In some implementations, the Xn interface can include an Xn user plane (Xn-U) interface and an Xn control plane (Xn-C) interface. The Xn-U may provide non-guaranteed delivery of user plane PDUs and support/provide data forwarding and flow control functions. The Xn-C can provide management and error processing functions for managing the functions of the Xn-C interface; mobility support for a UE 101 in CONNECTED mode (e.g., CM-CONNECTED) includes functionality for managing CONNECTED mode UE mobility between one or more RAN nodes 111. The mobility support may include a context transfer from the old (source) serving RAN node 111 to the new (target) serving RAN node 111; and control of the user plane tunnel between the old (source) serving RAN node 111 to the new (target) serving RAN node 111. The protocol stack of the Xn-U may include a transport network layer established on top of an Internet Protocol (IP) transport layer, and a GTP-U layer on top of UDP and/or IP layers for carrying user plane PDUs. The Xn-C protocol stack may include an application layer signaling protocol, referred to as the Xn application protocol (Xn-AP), and a transport network layer built over SCTP. SCTP can be on top of the IP layer and can provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages. In the transport IP layer, point-to-point transport is used to deliver the signaling PDUs. In other implementations, the Xn-U protocol stack and/or the Xn-C protocol stack may be the same as or similar to the user plane and/or control plane protocol stacks shown and described herein.

RAN 110 is shown communicatively coupled to a Core Network (CN) 120. The CN 120 may include a plurality of network elements 122 configured to provide various data and telecommunications services to clients/subscribers (e.g., users of a plurality of UEs 101) connected to the CN 120 via the RAN 110. The components of CN 120 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes that include components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In some embodiments, NFV may be used to virtualize any or all of the above network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). Logical instances of the CN 120 may be referred to as network slices, and logical instances of a portion of the CN 120 may be referred to as network subslices. The NFV architecture and infrastructure can be used to virtualize one or more network functions onto physical resources (alternatively performed by proprietary hardware) that contain a combination of industry standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches. In other words, the NFV system may be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components/functions.

In general, the application server 130 may be an element that provides applications that use IP bearer resources with the core network (e.g., UMTS PS domain, LTE PS data services, etc.). The application server 130 may also be configured to support one or more communication services (e.g., VoIP sessions, PTT sessions, group communication sessions, social networking services, etc.) for the UE 101 via the CN 120.

In an embodiment, the CN 120 may be a 5GC (referred to as a "5 GC 120," etc.), and the RAN 110 may connect with the CN 120 via a 5G NR interface 113. In an embodiment, the 5G NR interface 113 may be divided into two parts: a 5G NR user plane (NG-U) interface 114 that carries traffic data between RAN node 111 and the UPF; and an S1 control plane (NG-C) interface 115, which is a signaling interface between the RAN node 111 and the AMF 821. An embodiment in which the CN 120 is a 5GC 120 is discussed in more detail with reference to fig. 8.

In embodiments, CN 120 may be a 5G CN (referred to as "5 GC 120," etc.), while in other embodiments CN 120 may be an EPC. In the case where CN 120 is an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) (referred to as "EPC 120," etc.), RAN 110 may connect with CN 120 via S1 interface 113. In an embodiment, the S1 interface 113 may be divided into two parts: an S1 user plane (S1-U) interface 114 that carries traffic data between the RAN node 111 and the S-GW; and S1-MME interface 115, which is a signaling interface between RAN node 111 and the MME.

Figure 7 illustrates an exemplary architecture of a system 700 including a first CN 720, according to various embodiments. In this example, system 700 may implement the LTE standard, where CN 720 is EPC 720 corresponding to CN 120 of fig. 1. Additionally, UE 701 may be the same as or similar to UE 101 of fig. 1, and E-UTRAN 710 may be the same as or similar to RAN 110 of fig. 1, and may include RAN node 111, discussed previously. CN 720 may include mobility management entity (MEE)721, serving gateway (S-GW)722, PDN gateway (P-GW)723, Home Subscriber Server (HSS)724, and Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) 725.

The MME 721 may be similar in function to the control plane of a conventional SGSN and may implement MM functions to keep track of the current location of the UE 701. MME 721 may perform various MM procedures to manage mobility aspects in access, such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. MM (also referred to as "EPS MM" or "EMM" in E-UTRAN systems) may refer to all applicable procedures, methods, data stores, etc. for maintaining knowledge about the current location of the UE 701, providing user identity confidentiality to the user/subscriber, and/or performing other similar services. Each UE 701 and MME 721 may include an MM or EMM sublayer and when the attach procedure is successfully completed, an MM context may be established in the UE 701 and MME 721. The MM context may be a data structure or a database object storing MM-related information of the UE 701. The MME 721 may be coupled with the HSS 724 via an S6a reference point, the SGSN 725 via an S3 reference point, and the S-GW 722 via an S11 reference point.

The SGSN 725 may be a node that serves the UE 701 by tracking the location of the individual UE 701 and performing security functions. In addition, the SGSN 725 may perform inter-EPC node signaling for mobility between 2G/3G and E-UTRAN 3GPP access networks; PDN and S-GW selection as specified by MME 721; processing of UE 701 time zone functions, as specified by MME 721; and MME selection for handover to the E-UTRAN 3GPP access network. The S3 reference point between MME 721 and SGSN 725 may enable user and bearer information exchange for inter-3 GPP access network mobility in idle and/or active states.

HSS 724 may include a database for network users that includes subscription-related information for supporting network entities handling communication sessions. EPC 720 may include one or several HSS 724, depending on the number of mobile subscribers, the capacity of the equipment, the organization of the network, etc. For example, HSS 724 may provide support for routing/roaming, authentication, authorization, naming/addressing solutions, location dependencies, and the like. The S6a reference point between HSS 724 and MME 721 may enable the transfer of subscription and authentication data for authenticating/authorizing a user to access EPC 720 between HSS 724 and MME 721.

The S-GW 722 may terminate the S1 interface 113 (in fig. 7, "S1-U") towards the RAN 710 and route data packets between the RAN 710 and the EPC 720. In addition, S-GW 722 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-RAN node handover, and may also provide an anchor for inter-3 GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful interception, billing, and enforcement of certain policies. An S11 reference point between S-GW 722 and MME 721 may provide a control plane between MME 721 and S-GW 722. S-GW 722 may be coupled with P-GW 723 via an S5 reference point.

The P-GW 723 may terminate the SGi interface towards the PDN 730. P-GW 723 may route data packets between EPC 720 and an external network, such as a network including application server 130 (alternatively referred to as an "AF"), via IP interface 125 (see, e.g., fig. 1). In an embodiment, P-GW 723 may be communicatively coupled to an application server (application server 130 of fig. 1 or PDN 730 of fig. 7) via IP communication interface 125 (see, e.g., fig. 1). An S5 reference point between P-GW 723 and S-GW 722 may provide user plane tunneling and tunnel management between P-GW 723 and S-GW 722. The S5 reference point may also be used for S-GW 722 relocation due to the mobility of the UE 701 and whether the S-GW 722 needs to connect to a non-collocated P-GW 723 for the required PDN connectivity. P-GW 723 may also include nodes for policy enforcement and charging data collection (e.g., PCEF (not shown)). Additionally, the SGi reference point between P-GW 723 and Packet Data Network (PDN)730 may be an operator external public, private PDN, or an internal operator packet data network, e.g., for providing IMS services. P-GW 723 may be coupled with PCRF 726 via a Gx reference point.

PCRF 726 is a policy and charging control element of EPC 720. In a non-roaming scenario, there may be a single PCRF 726 in a domestic public land mobile network (HPLMN) associated with an internet protocol connectivity access network (IP-CAN) session for UE 701. In a roaming scenario with local traffic breakout, there may be two PCRFs associated with the IP-CAN session of the UE 701: a domestic PCRF (H-PCRF) in the HPLMN and a visited PCRF (V-PCRF) in a Visited Public Land Mobile Network (VPLMN). PCRF 726 may be communicatively coupled to application server 730 via P-GW 723. Application server 730 may signal PCRF 726 to indicate the new service flow and select the appropriate QoS and charging parameters. PCRF 726 may configure the rules as a PCEF (not shown) with appropriate TFTs and QCIs, which function starts QoS and charging as specified by application server 730. A Gx reference point between PCRF 726 and P-GW 723 may allow QoS policies and charging rules to be transmitted from PCRF 726 to PCEF in P-GW 723. The Rx reference point may reside between the PDN 730 (or "AF 730") and the PCRF 726.

Figure 8 illustrates an architecture of a system 800 including a second CN 820, in accordance with various embodiments. The system 800 is shown to include a UE 801, which may be the same as or similar to the UE 101 and UE 701 discussed previously; (R) AN 810, which may be the same as or similar to RAN 110 and RAN 710 discussed previously, and which may include RAN node 111 discussed previously; and a Data Network (DN)803, which may be, for example, an operator service, internet access, or a 3 rd party service; and 5GC 820. 5GC 820 may include an authentication server function (AUSF) 822; an access and mobility management function (AMF) 821; a Session Management Function (SMF) 824; a Network Exposure Function (NEF) 823; a Policy Control Function (PCF) 826; NF Repository Function (NRF) 825; unified Data Management (UDM) 827; an Application Function (AF) 828; user Plane Function (UPF) 802; and a Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) 829.

The UPF 802 may serve as an anchor point for intra-RAT and inter-RAT mobility, an external PDU session point interconnected with DN 803, and a branch point to support multi-homed PDU sessions. The UPF 802 may also perform packet routing and forwarding, perform packet inspection, perform the user plane part of policy rules, lawful intercept packets (UP collection), perform traffic usage reporting, perform QoS processing on the user plane (e.g., packet filtering, gating, UL/DL rate enforcement), perform uplink traffic verification (e.g., SDF to QoS flow mapping), transport level packet marking in uplink and downlink, and perform downlink packet buffering and downlink data notification triggering. The UPF 802 may include an uplink classifier to support routing of traffic flows to a data network. DN 803 may represent various network operator services, internet access, or third party services. DN 803 may include or be similar to application server 130 previously discussed. The UPF 802 may interact with the SMF 824 via an N4 reference point between the SMF 824 and the UPF 802.

The AUSF 822 may store data for authentication of the UE 801 and process functions related to the authentication. The AUSF 822 may facilitate a common authentication framework for various access types. AUSF 822 may communicate with AMF 821 via an N12 reference point between AMF 821 and AUSF 822; and may communicate with UDM 827 via an N13 reference point between UDM 827 and AUSF 822. Additionally, the AUSF 822 may present an interface based on Nausf services.

The AMF 821 may be responsible for registration management (e.g., responsible for registering the UE 801, etc.), connection management, reachability management, mobility management, and lawful interception of AMF-related events, as well as access authentication and authorization. The AMF 821 may be a termination point of a reference point of N11 between the AMF 821 and the SMF 824. The AMF 821 may provide transmission for SM messages between the UE 801 and the SMF 824 and serve as a transparent proxy for routing the SM messages. The AMF 821 may also provide transport for SMS messages between the UE 801 and the SMSF (not shown in fig. 8). The AMF 821 may act as a SEAF, which may include interactions with the AUSF 822 and the UE 801, receiving intermediate keys established as a result of the UE 801 authentication procedure. In the case where USIM-based authentication is used, the AMF 821 may retrieve the security material from the AUSF 822. The AMF 821 may also include an SCM function that receives keys from the SEA for deriving access network-specific keys. Further, AMF 821 may be a termination point of the RAN CP interface, which may include or be AN N2 reference point between (R) AN 810 and AMF 821; and the AMF 821 may be a termination point of NAS (N1) signaling and performs NAS ciphering and integrity protection.

The AMF 821 may also support NAS signaling with the UE 801 over the N3IWF interface. An N3IWF may be used to provide access to untrusted entities. The N3IWF may be the termination point of the N2 interface between the (R) AN 810 and the AMF 821 of the control plane and may be the termination point of the N3 reference point between the (R) AN 810 and the UPF 802 of the user plane. Thus, AMF 821 may process N2 signaling for PDU sessions and QoS from SMF 824 and AMF 821, encapsulate/decapsulate packets for IPSec and N3 tunnels, label N3 user plane packets in the uplink, and perform QoS corresponding to N3 packet labeling, taking into account QoS requirements associated with such labels received over N2. The N3IWF may also relay uplink and downlink control plane NAS signaling between the UE 801 and the AMF 821 via the N1 reference point between the UE 801 and the AMF 821, and uplink and downlink user plane packets between the UE 801 and the UPF 802. The N3IWF also provides a mechanism for establishing an IPsec tunnel with the UE 801. The AMF 821 may present a Namf service based interface and may be the termination point of an N14 reference point between two AMFs 821 and an N17 reference point between AMFs 821 and 5G-EIR (not shown in fig. 8).

The UE 801 may need to register with the AMF 821 in order to receive network services. The RM is used to register or deregister the UE 801 with or from the network (e.g., AMF 821) and establish a UE context in the network (e.g., AMF 821). The UE 801 may operate in an RM-REGISTERED state or an RM-DERREGISTERED state. In the RM-registered state, the UE 801 is not registered with the network, and the UE context in the AMF 821 does not hold valid location or routing information of the UE 801, so the AMF 821 cannot reach the UE 801. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the UE 801 registers with the network, and the UE context in the AMF 821 can maintain valid location or routing information of the UE 801, so the AMF 821 can reach the UE 801. In the RM-REGISTERED state, the UE 801 may perform a mobility registration update procedure, perform a periodic registration update procedure triggered by the expiration of a periodic update timer (e.g., to inform the network that the UE 801 is still in an active state), and perform a registration update procedure to update UE capability information or renegotiate protocol parameters with the network, etc.

The AMF 821 may store one or more RM contexts for the UE 801, where each RM context is associated with a particular access to the network. The RM context may be a data structure, database object, etc. that indicates or stores, among other things, the registration status and periodic update timer for each access type. AMF 821 may also store a 5GC MM context that may be the same as or similar to the (E) MM context previously discussed. In various implementations, the AMF 821 may store the CE mode B restriction parameters of the UE 801 in an associated MM context or RM context. The AMF 821 may also derive values from the usage setting parameters of the UE already stored in the UE context (and/or MM/RM context) when needed.

A Connection Management (CM) may be used to establish and release a signaling connection between the UE 801 and the AMF 821 through the N1 interface. The signaling connection is used to enable NAS signaling exchange between the UE 801 and the CN 820, and includes a signaling connection between the UE and the AN (e.g., RRC connection for non-3 GPP access or UE-N3IWF connection) and AN N2 connection of the UE 801 between the AN (e.g., RAN 810) and AMF 821. The UE 801 may operate in one of two CM states (CM-IDLE mode or CM-CONNECTED mode). When the UE 801 operates in the CM-IDLE state/mode, the UE 801 may not have AN NAS signaling connection established with the AMF 821 through the N1 interface, and there may be AN (R) AN 810 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and/or N3 connection) for the UE 801. When the UE 801 operates in the CM-CONNECTED state/mode, the UE 801 may have a NAS signaling connection established with the AMF 821 through the N1 interface, and there may be AN (R) AN 810 signaling connection (e.g., N2 and/or N3 connection) for the UE 801. Establishing AN N2 connection between the (R) AN 810 and the AMF 821 may cause the UE 801 to transition from the CM-IDLE mode to the CM-CONNECTED mode, and when N2 signaling between the (R) AN 810 and the AMF 821 is released, the UE 801 may transition from the CM-CONNECTED mode to the CM-IDLE mode.

SMF 824 may be responsible for SM (e.g., session establishment, modification, and publication, including tunnel maintenance between UPF and AN nodes); UE IP address assignment and management (including optional authorization); selection and control of the UP function; configuring traffic steering of the UPF to route traffic to the correct destination; terminating the interface towards the policy control function; a policy enforcement and QoS control part; lawful interception (for SM events and interface with LI system); terminate the SM part of the NAS message; a downlink data notification; initiating AN-specific SM message sent to the AN through N2 via the AMF; and determining an SSC pattern for the session. SM may refer to management of PDU sessions, and a PDU session or "session" may refer to a PDU connectivity service that provides or enables exchange of PDUs between a UE 801 and a Data Network (DN)803 identified by a Data Network Name (DNN). The PDU session may be established at the request of the UE 801, modified at the request of the UE 801 and 5GC 820, and released at the request of the UE 801 and 5GC 820 using NAS SM signaling exchanged through an N1 reference point between the UE 801 and SMF 824. Upon request from an application server, the 5GC 820 may trigger a specific application in the UE 801. In response to receiving the trigger message, the UE 801 may communicate the trigger message (or related portions/information of the trigger message) to one or more identified applications in the UE 801. The identified application in the UE 801 may establish a PDU session to a particular DNN. The SMF 824 may check whether the UE 801 request conforms to user subscription information associated with the UE 801. In this regard, SMF 824 can retrieve and/or request to receive update notifications from UDM 827 regarding SMF 824 level subscription data.

SMF 824 may include the following roaming functions: processing local execution to apply QoS SLA (VPLMN); a charging data acquisition and charging interface (VPLMN); lawful interception (in VPLMN for SM events and interfaces to the LI system); and supporting interaction with the external DN to transmit signaling for PDU session authorization/authentication through the external DN. In a roaming scenario, an N16 reference point between two SMFs 824 may be included in system 800, which may be located between an SMF 824 in a visited network and another SMF 824 in a home network. Additionally, SMF 824 may present an interface based on Nsmf services.

NEF 823 may provide a means for securely exposing services and capabilities provided by 3GPP network functions for third parties, internal exposure/re-exposure, application functions (e.g., AF 828), edge computing or fog computing systems, and so on. In such embodiments, NEF 823 may authenticate, authorize, and/or restrict AF. NEF 823 may also translate information exchanged with AF 828 and with internal network functions. For example, NEF 823 may translate between AF service identifiers and internal 5GC information. NEF 823 may also receive information from other Network Functions (NFs) based on exposed capabilities of the other network functions. This information may be stored as structured data at NEF 823 or at the data store NF using a standardized interface. The stored information may then be re-exposed to other NFs and AFs by NEF 823 and/or used for other purposes such as analysis. In addition, NEF 823 may present an interface based on the Nnef service.

NRF 825 may support a service discovery function, receive NF discovery requests from NF instances, and provide information of discovered NF instances to NF instances. NRF 825 also maintains information of available NF instances and their supported services. As used herein, the term "instantiation" or the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and "instance" may refer to the specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code. Additionally, NRF 825 may present an interface based on the Nnrf service.

PCF826 may provide control plane functions to enforce their policy rules and may also support a unified policy framework for managing network behavior. The PCF826 may also implement a FE to access subscription information related to policy decisions in the UDR of the UDM 827. PCF826 may communicate with AMF 821 via a N15 reference point between PCF826 and AMF 821, which may include PCF826 in the visited network and AMF 821 in the case of a roaming scenario. PCF826 may communicate with AF 828 via an N5 reference point between PCF826 and AF 828; and communicates with SMF 824 via an N7 reference point between PCF826 and SMF 824. The system 800 and/or CN 820 may also include an N24 reference point between the PCF826 (in the home network) and the PCF826 in the visited network. In addition, PCF826 may present an interface based on Npcf services.

UDM 827 may process subscription-related information to support processing of communication sessions by network entities and may store subscription data for UE 801. For example, subscription data may be transferred between UDM 827 and AMF 821 via an N8 reference point between UDM 827 and AMF 821. UDM 827 may include two parts: application FEs and UDRs (FE and UDR not shown in fig. 8). The UDR may store subscription data and policy data for UDM 827 and PCF826, and/or structured data for exposure and application data (including PFD for application detection, application request information for multiple UEs 801) for NEF 823. An interface based on the Nudr service can be presented by UDR 221 to allow UDM 827, PCF826, and NEF 823 to access specific sets of stored data, as well as to read, update (e.g., add, modify), delete, and subscribe to notifications of relevant data changes in the UDR. The UDM may include a UDM-FE that is responsible for handling credentials, location management, subscription management, and the like. Several different front ends may serve the same user in different transactions. The UDM-FE accesses subscription information stored in the UDR and performs authentication credential processing, user identification processing, access authorization, registration/mobility management, and subscription management. The UDR may interact with SMF 824 via an N10 reference point between UDM 827 and SMF 824. UDM 827 may also support SMS management, where an SMS-FE implements similar application logic as described above. Additionally, UDM 827 may present a numm service-based interface.

The AF 828 can provide application impact on traffic routing, provide access to NCEs, and interact with the policy framework for policy control. NCE may be a mechanism that allows 5GC 820 and AF 828 to provide information to each other via NEF 823, which may be used for edge computation implementations. In such implementations, network operator and third party services may be hosted near the UE 801 access point of the accessory to achieve efficient service delivery with reduced end-to-end delay and load on the transport network. For edge calculation implementations, the 5GC may select a UPF 802 near the UE 801 and perform traffic steering from the UPF 802 to the DN 803 via the N6 interface. This may be based on the UE subscription data, UE location and information provided by the AF 828. As such, the AF 828 may affect UPF (re) selection and traffic routing. Based on operator deployment, the network operator may allow AF 828 to interact directly with the relevant NFs when AF 828 is considered a trusted entity. In addition, the AF 828 may present a Naf service based interface.

The NSSF 829 may select a set of network slice instances that serve the UE 801. NSSF 829 may also determine allowed NSSAIs and mappings to subscribed S-NSSAIs, if desired. The NSSF 829 may also determine the set of AMFs, or list of candidate AMFs 821, to use to serve the UE 801 based on a suitable configuration and possibly by querying the NRF 825. The selection of a set of network slice instances for the UE 801 may be triggered by the AMF 821, where the UE 801 registers by interacting with the NSSF 829, which may result in a change in the AMF 821. NSSF 829 may interact with AMF 821 via the N22 reference point between AMF 821 and NSSF 829; and may communicate with another NSSF 829 in the visited network via the N31 reference point (not shown in fig. 8). Additionally, NSSF 829 may present an interface based on NSSF services.

As previously discussed, the CN 820 may include an SMSF, which may be responsible for SMS subscription checking and verification and relaying SM messages to and from the UE 801 to and from other entities, such as SMS-GMSC/IWMSC/SMS routers. The SMS may also interact with the AMF 821 and the UDM 827 for notification procedures that the UE 801 is available for SMS transmission (e.g., set the UE unreachable flag, and notify the UDM 827 when the UE 801 is available for SMS).

CN 120 may also include other elements not shown in fig. 8, such as a data storage system/architecture, 5G-EIR, SEPP, and the like. The data storage system may include SDSF, UDSF, etc. Any NF may store unstructured data into or retrieve from the UDSF (e.g., UE context) via the N18 reference point between any NF and the UDSF (not shown in fig. 8). A single NF may share a UDSF for storing its corresponding unstructured data, or the individual NFs may each have their own UDSF located at or near the single NF. Additionally, the UDSF may present an interface based on the Nudsf service (not shown in fig. 8). The 5G-EIR may be an NF that examines the state of PEI to determine whether to blacklist a particular equipment/entity from the network; and SEPP may be a non-transparent proxy that performs topology hiding, message filtering and policing on the inter-PLMN control plane interface.

Additionally, there may be more reference points and/or service-based interfaces between NF services in the NF; however, for clarity, fig. 8 omits these interfaces and reference points. In one example, CN 820 may include an Nx interface, which is an inter-CN interface between an MME (e.g., MME 721) and AMF 821 to enable interworking between CN 820 and CN 720. Other example interfaces/reference points may include an N5G-EIR service based interface presented by 5G-EIR, an N27 reference point between NRFs in visited networks and NRFs in home networks; and an N31 reference point between the NSSF in the visited network and the NSSF in the home network.

Fig. 9 illustrates components of a core network according to various embodiments. The components of CN 720 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes, including components for reading and executing instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium). In embodiments, the components of CN 820 may be implemented in the same or similar manner as discussed herein with respect to the components of CN 720. In some embodiments, NFV is used to virtualize any or all of the above network node functions via executable instructions stored in one or more computer-readable storage media (described in further detail below). The logical instances of CN 720 may be referred to as network slices 901, and the various logical instances of CN 720 may provide specific network functions and network characteristics. A logical instance of a portion of CN 720 may be referred to as a network subslice 902 (e.g., network subslice 902 is shown as including a P-GW 723 and a PCRF 726).

As used herein, the term "instantiation" or the like may refer to the creation of an instance, and "instance" may refer to the specific occurrence of an object, which may occur, for example, during execution of program code. A network instance may refer to information identifying a domain that may be used for traffic detection and routing in the case of different IP domains or overlapping IP addresses. A network slice instance may refer to a set of Network Function (NF) instances and resources (e.g., computing, storage, and network resources) needed to deploy the network slice.

With respect to 5G systems (see e.g. fig. 8), a network slice always comprises a RAN part and a CN part. Support for network slicing relies on the principle that traffic for different slices is handled by different PDU sessions. The network may implement different network slices by scheduling and also by providing different L1/L2 configurations. If the NAS has provided an RRC message, the UE 801 provides assistance information for network slice selection in the appropriate RRC message. Although the network may support a large number of slices, the UE need not support more than 8 slices simultaneously.

The network slice may include the CN 820 control plane and user plane NF, the NG-RAN 810 in the serving PLMN, and the N3IWF functionality in the serving PLMN. Each network slice may have a different S-NSSAI and/or may have a different SST. The NSSAI includes one or more S-NSSAIs, and each network slice is uniquely identified by an S-NSSAI. Network slices may differ for supported features and network function optimizations, and/or multiple network slice instances may deliver the same services/features but differ for different groups of UEs 801 (e.g., enterprise users). For example, each network slice may deliver a different commitment service and/or may be dedicated to a particular customer or enterprise. In this example, each network slice may have a different S-NSSAI with the same SST but with a different slice differentiator. In addition, a single UE may be simultaneously served by one or more network slice instances via a 5G AN and associated with eight different S-NSSAIs. Further, an AMF 821 instance serving a single UE 801 may belong to each network slice instance serving that UE.

Network slicing in NG-RAN 810 involves RAN slice awareness. RAN slice awareness includes differentiation processing of traffic for different network slices that have been pre-configured. Slice awareness in the NG-RAN 810 is introduced at the PDU session level by indicating the S-NSSAI corresponding to the PDU session in all signaling including PDU session resource information. How the NG-RAN 810 supports enabling slices in terms of NG-RAN functionality (e.g., a set of network functions that includes each slice) depends on the implementation. The NG-RAN 810 selects the RAN part of the network slice using assistance information provided by the UE 801 or 5GC 820 that explicitly identifies one or more of the preconfigured network slices in the PLMN. NG-RAN 810 also supports resource management and policy enforcement across slices according to SLAs. A single NG-RAN node may support multiple slices, and the NG-RAN 810 may also apply the appropriate RRM strategies for the SLA appropriately for each supported slice. The NG-RAN 810 may also support QoS differentiation within a slice.

The NG-RAN 810 may also use the UE assistance information to select the AMF 821 (if available) during initial attachment. The NG-RAN 810 uses the assistance information to route the initial NAS to the AMF 821. If the NG-RAN 810 cannot select the AMF 821 using the assistance information, or the UE 801 does not provide any such information, the NG-RAN 810 sends NAS signaling to the default AMF 821, which may be in the pool of AMFs 821. For subsequent access, the UE 801 provides a temporary ID allocated to the UE 801 by the 5GC 820 so that the NG-RAN 810 can route the NAS message to the appropriate AMF 821 as long as the temporary ID is valid. NG-RAN 810 knows and can reach AMF 821 associated with the temporary ID. Otherwise, the method for initial attachment is applied.

The NG-RAN 810 supports resource isolation between slices. NG-RAN 810 resource isolation may be implemented by means of RRM strategies and protection mechanisms that should avoid lack of shared resources if one slice breaks the service level agreement for another slice. In some implementations, NG-RAN 810 resources may be fully assigned to a slice. How the NG-RAN 810 supports resource isolation depends on the implementation.

Some slices may only be partially available in the network. The perception in the NG-RAN 810 of supported slices in its neighboring cells may be beneficial for inter-frequency mobility in connected mode. Within the registration area of the UE, slice availability may not change. The NG-RAN 810 and 5GC 820 are responsible for handling service requests for slices that may or may not be available in a given area. Granting or denying access to a slice may depend on factors such as support for the slice, availability of resources, support for the requested service by NG-RAN 810.

The UE 801 may be associated with multiple network slices simultaneously. In the case where the UE 801 is associated with multiple slices simultaneously, only one signaling connection is maintained and for intra-frequency cell reselection, the UE 801 attempts to camp on the best cell. For inter-frequency cell reselection, dedicated priorities may be used to control the frequency on which the UE 801 camps. The 5GC 820 will verify that the UE 801 has the right to access the network slice. The NG-RAN 810 may be allowed to apply some temporary/local policy based on the perception of the particular slice that the UE 801 is requesting access, before receiving the initial context setup request message. During initial context setup, the NG-RAN 810 is informed that a slice of its resources is being requested.

The NFV architecture and infrastructure may be used to virtualize one or more NFs onto physical resources that contain a combination of industry standard server hardware, storage hardware, or switches (alternatively performed by proprietary hardware). In other words, the NFV system may be used to perform a virtual or reconfigurable implementation of one or more EPC components/functions.

Fig. 10 is a block diagram illustrating components of a system 1000 that supports NFV according to some example embodiments. System 1000 is shown to include VIM 1002, NFVI 1004, VNFM 1006, VNF 1008, EM 1010, NFVO 1012, and NM 1014.

VIM 1002 manages the resources of NFVI 1004. NFVI 1004 may include physical or virtual resources and applications (including hypervisors) for executing system 1000. VIM 1002 may utilize NFVI 1004 to manage the lifecycle of virtual resources (e.g., the creation, maintenance, and teardown of VMs associated with one or more physical resources), track VM instances, track performance, failure, and security of VM instances and associated physical resources, and expose VM instances and associated physical resources to other management systems.

VNFM 1006 may manage VNF 1008. VNF 1008 may be used to perform EPC components/functions. The VNFM 1006 may manage the lifecycle of the VNF 1008 and track performance, failure, and security of virtual aspects of the VNF 1008. The EM 1010 may track performance, failures, and security of functional aspects of the VNF 1008. The trace data from VNFM 1006 and EM 1010 may include, for example, PM data used by VIM 1002 or NFVI 1004. Both VNFM 1006 and EM 1010 may scale up/down the number of VNFs of system 1000.

NFVO 1012 may coordinate, authorize, release, and engage resources of NFVI 1004 in order to provide the requested service (e.g., to perform EPC functions, components, or slices). NM 1014 may provide an end-user functionality package responsible for network management, which may include network elements with VNFs, non-virtualized network functions, or both (management of VNFs may occur via EM 1010).

Device/component

Fig. 2 shows an example of infrastructure equipment 200 according to various exemplary embodiments. Infrastructure equipment 200 (or "system 200") may be implemented as a base station, a radio head, a RAN node (such as RAN node 111 and/or WLAN node 106 shown and described previously), application server 130, and/or any other element/device discussed herein. In other examples, system 200 may be implemented in or by a UE.

The system 200 includes: application circuitry 205, baseband circuitry 210, one or more Radio Front End Modules (RFEM)215, memory circuitry 220, Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC)225, power tee circuitry 230, network controller circuitry 235, network interface connector 240, satellite positioning circuitry 245, and user interface circuitry 250. In some embodiments, device 200 may include additional elements, such as, for example, memory/storage, a display, a camera, a sensor, or an input/output (I/O) interface. In other embodiments, the components described below may be included in more than one device. For example, the circuitry may be included in more than one device for a CRAN, vbub, or other similar implementation, individually.

The application circuitry 205 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one or more of the following: low dropout regulator (LDO), interrupt controller, serial interface such as SPI, I2C, or a universal programmable serial interface module, Real Time Clock (RTC), timer-counters (including interval timer and watchdog timer), universal input/output (I/O or IO), memory card controller such as Secure Digital (SD) multimedia card (MMC) or similar, Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface, Mobile Industry Processor Interface (MIPI) interface, and Joint Test Access Group (JTAG) test access port. The processor (or core) of the application circuitry 205 may be coupled with or may include memory/storage elements and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage elements to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the system 200. In some implementations, the memory/storage elements may be on-chip memory circuits that may include any suitable volatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid state memory, and/or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

The processors of application circuitry 205 may include, for example, one or more processor Cores (CPUs), one or more application processors, one or more Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), one or more Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processors, one or more Acorn RISC Machine (ARM) processors, one or more Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processors, one or more Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuitry 205 may include or may be a dedicated processor/controller for operating in accordance with various embodiments herein. As an example, the processor of the application circuit 205 may include one or more Intels

Or

A processor; advanced Micro Devices (AMD)

Processor, Accelerated Processing Unit (APU) or

A processor; ARM-based processors authorized by ARM Holdings, Ltd, such as the ARM Cortex-A family of processors and the ARM processor provided by Cavium (TM), Inc

MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, inc, such as MIPS Warrior class P processor; and so on. In some embodiments, system 200 may not utilize application circuitry 205 and may instead include a dedicated processor/controller to process IP data received, for example, from an EPC or 5 GC.

In some implementations, the application circuitry 205 may include one or more hardware accelerators, which may be microprocessors, programmable processing devices, or the like. The one or more hardware accelerators may include, for example, Computer Vision (CV) and/or Deep Learning (DL) accelerators. For example, the programmable processing device may be one or more Field Programmable Devices (FPDs), such as Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), etc.; programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (cplds), large capacity PLDs (hcplds), and the like; ASICs, such as structured ASICs and the like; programmable soc (psoc); and so on. In such embodiments, the circuitry of the application circuitry 205 may comprise a logic block or logic architecture, as well as other interconnected resources that may be programmed to perform various functions, such as the processes, methods, functions, etc., of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of the application circuitry 205 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), anti-fuse, etc.) for storing logic blocks, logic fabrics, data, etc., in a look-up table (LUT) or the like.

Baseband circuitry 210 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate comprising one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. The various hardware electronics of baseband circuit 210 are further discussed below with reference to fig. 4.

The user interface circuitry 250 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable a user to interact with the system 200 or a peripheral component interface designed to enable peripheral components to interact with the system 200. The user interface may include, but is not limited to, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), one or more indicators (e.g., Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)), a physical keyboard or keypad, a mouse, a touchpad, a touch screen, a speaker or other audio emitting device, a microphone, a printer, a scanner, a headset, a display screen or display device, and so forth. The peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power interface, and the like.

The Radio Front End Module (RFEM)215 may include a millimeter wave (mmWave) RFEM and one or more sub-millimeter wave Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separate from the millimeter wave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, e.g., antenna array 411 of fig. 4), and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. In alternative implementations, the radio functions of both millimeter-wave and sub-millimeter-wave may be implemented in the same physical RFEM215 that incorporates both millimeter-wave antennas and sub-millimeter-wave.

The memory circuit 220 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory including Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) and/or Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), non-volatile memory (NVM) including high speed electrically erasable memory (commonly referred to as "flash memory"), phase change random access memory (PRAM), Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM), and the like, and may incorporate

And

a three-dimensional (3D) cross point (XPOINT) memory. The memory circuit 220 may be implemented as one or more of the following: solder-in package integrationCircuit, socket memory module and plug-in memory card.

The PMIC 225 may include a voltage regulator, a surge protector, a power alarm detection circuit, and one or more backup power sources, such as a battery or a capacitor. The power supply alarm detection circuit may detect one or more of power down (under-voltage) and surge (over-voltage) conditions. The power tee circuit 230 can provide power drawn from a network cable to provide both power and data connections for the infrastructure equipment 200 using a single cable.

The network controller circuit 235 may provide connectivity to the network using a standard network interface protocol such as ethernet, GRE tunnel-based ethernet, multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) -based ethernet, or some other suitable protocol. The infrastructure equipment 200 may be provided with/from a network connection via the network interface connector 240 using a physical connection, which may be an electrical connection (commonly referred to as a "copper interconnect"), an optical connection, or a wireless connection. Network controller circuitry 235 may include one or more special purpose processors and/or FPGAs for communicating using one or more of the aforementioned protocols. In some implementations, the network controller circuit 235 may include multiple controllers for providing connectivity to other networks using the same or different protocols.

The positioning circuitry 245 includes circuitry for receiving and decoding signals transmitted/broadcast by a positioning network of a global navigation satellite system (or GNSS). Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) include the Global Positioning System (GPS) in the united states, the global navigation system in russia (GLONASS), the galileo system in the european union, the beidou navigation satellite system in china, the regional navigation system or GNSS augmentation system (e.g., navigating with indian constellations (NAVICs), the quasi-zenith satellite system in japan (QZSS), the doppler orbit diagram in france, and satellite integrated radio positioning (DORIS)), etc. Positioning circuitry 245 includes various hardware elements for communicating with components of a positioning network, such as navigation satellite constellation nodes (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. for facilitating OTA communication). In some implementations, the positioning circuitry 245 may include a micro technology (micro PNT) IC for positioning, navigation, and timing that performs position tracking/estimation using a master timing clock without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuitry 245 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuitry 210 and/or the RFEM215 to communicate with nodes and components of a positioning network. The positioning circuitry 245 may also provide location data and/or time data to the application circuitry 205, which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., RAN node 111, etc.) and/or the like.

The components shown in fig. 2 may communicate with each other using interface circuitry that may include any number of bus and/or Interconnect (IX) technologies, such as Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), extended ISA (eisa), Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), peripheral component interconnect extension (PCI), PCI express (PCIe), or any number of other technologies. The bus/IX may be a proprietary bus, for example, used in SoC-based systems. Other bus/IX systems may be included, such as an I2C interface, an SPI interface, a point-to-point interface, and a power bus, among others.

Fig. 3 illustrates an example of a platform 300 (or "device 300") according to various exemplary embodiments. In an embodiment, the computer platform 300 may be adapted to function as a UE 101, an application server 130, and/or any other element/device discussed herein. Platform 300 may include any combination of the components shown in the examples. The components of platform 300 may be implemented as Integrated Circuits (ICs), portions of ICs, discrete electronic devices or other modules, logic, hardware, software, firmware, or combinations thereof adapted in computer platform 300, or as components otherwise incorporated within the chassis of a larger system. The block diagram of FIG. 3 is intended to illustrate a high-level view of the components of computer platform 300. However, some of the illustrated components may be omitted, additional components may be present, and different arrangements of the illustrated components may occur in other implementations.

Application circuit 305 includes circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more processors (or processor cores), cache memory, and one or more of LDOs, interrupt controllers, serial interfaces (such as SPI), I2C or general purpose programmable serial interface modules, RTCs, timer-counters (including interval timers and watchdog timers), general purpose I/os, memory card controllers (such as SD MMC or similar controllers), USB interfaces, MIPI interfaces, and JTAG test access ports. The processor (or core) of the application circuitry 305 may be coupled to or may include memory/storage elements and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications or operating systems to run on the system 300. In some implementations, the memory/storage elements may be on-chip memory circuits that may include any suitable volatile and/or nonvolatile memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, EPROM, EEPROM, flash memory, solid state memory, and/or any other type of memory device technology, such as those discussed herein.

The processors of application circuitry 305 may include, for example, one or more processor cores, one or more application processors, one or more GPUs, one or more RISC processors, one or more ARM processors, one or more CISC processors, one or more DSPs, one or more FPGAs, one or more PLDs, one or more ASICs, one or more microprocessors or controllers, multi-threaded processors, ultra-low voltage processors, embedded processors, some other known processing elements, or any suitable combination thereof. In some embodiments, the application circuitry 305 may include or may be a dedicated processor/controller for operation in accordance with various embodiments herein.

As an example, the processor of the application circuit 305 may include a microprocessor based microprocessor

Architecture^TMProcessors of, e.g. Quark^TM、Atom^TMI3, i5, i7 or MCU grade processors, or available from Santa Clara, Calif

Another such processor of a company. The processor of the application circuit 305 may also be one or more of the following: advanced Micro Devices (AMD)

A processor or Accelerated Processing Unit (APU); from

A5-a9 processor from inc

Snapdagon of Technologies, Inc^TMA processor, Texas Instruments,

Open Multimedia Applications Platform(OMAP)^TMa processor; MIPS-based designs from MIPS Technologies, inc, such as MIPS Warrior M-class, Warrior I-class, and Warrior P-class processors; ARM-based designs, such as ARM Cortex-A, Cortex-R and Cortex-M series of processors, licensed by ARM Holdings, Ltd; and the like. In some implementations, the application circuit 305 may be part of a system on a chip (SoC) in which the application circuit 305 and other components are formed as a single integrated circuit or a single package, such as

Company (C.) (

Corporation) of the company^TMOr Galileo^TMAnd (6) an SoC board.

Additionally or alternatively, the application circuitry 305 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more Field Programmable Devices (FPDs) such as FPGAs, etc.; programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), such as complex PLDs (cplds), large capacity PLDs (hcplds), and the like; ASICs, such as structured ASICs and the like; programmable soc (psoc); and so on. In such embodiments, the circuitry of application circuitry 305 may comprise a logical block or architecture, as well as other interconnected resources that may be programmed to perform various functions, such as the processes, methods, functions, etc., of the various embodiments discussed herein. In such embodiments, the circuitry of the application circuit 305 may include memory cells (e.g., erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, static memory (e.g., Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), anti-fuse, etc.) for storing logic blocks, logic architectures, data, etc., in a look-up table (LUT) or the like.

Baseband circuitry 310 may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate comprising one or more integrated circuits, a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more integrated circuits. Various hardware electronics of baseband circuitry 310 are discussed below with reference to fig. 4.

The RFEM 315 may include a millimeter Wave (mm Wave) RFEM and one or more sub-millimeter Wave Radio Frequency Integrated Circuits (RFICs). In some implementations, the one or more sub-millimeter wave RFICs may be physically separate from the millimeter wave RFEM. The RFIC may include connections to one or more antennas or antenna arrays (see, e.g., antenna array 411 of fig. 4), and the RFEM may be connected to multiple antennas. In alternative implementations, the radio functions of both millimeter-wave and sub-millimeter-wave may be implemented in the same physical RFEM 315 that incorporates both millimeter-wave antennas and sub-millimeter-wave.

Memory circuit 320 may include any number and type of memory devices for providing a given amount of system memory. For example, the memory circuit 320 may include one or more of the following: volatile memory including Random Access Memory (RAM), Dynamic RAM (DRAM), and/or Synchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM); and non-volatile memories (NVM), including high speed electrically erasable memory (often referred to as flash memory), phase change random access memory (PRAM), Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM), etc. The memory circuit 320 may be developed according to Joint Electronic Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) Low Power Double Data Rate (LPDDR) -based designs such as LPDDR2, LPDDR3, LPDDR4, and the like. The memory circuit 320 may be implemented as one or more of the following: solder-in-package integrated circuits, Single Die Packages (SDP), Dual Die Packages (DDP) or quad die packages (Q17P), nested memory modules, micro DIMMs or mini DIMMsDual in-line memory modules (DIMMs) and/or soldered to a motherboard via a Ball Grid Array (BGA). In a low power implementation, memory circuit 320 may be an on-chip memory or register associated with application circuit 305. To provide persistent storage for information such as data, applications, operating systems, etc., memory circuit 320 may include one or more mass storage devices, which may include, among other things, a Solid State Disk Drive (SSDD), a Hard Disk Drive (HDD), a miniature HDD, resistance change memory, phase change memory, holographic memory, or chemical memory. For example, computer platform 300 may be available in combination with

And

a three-dimensional (3D) cross point (XPOINT) memory.

Removable memory circuit 323 may comprise a device, circuitry, housing/casing, port or receptacle, etc. for coupling the portable data storage device with platform 300. These portable data storage devices may be used for mass storage and may include, for example, flash memory cards (e.g., Secure Digital (SD) cards, micro SD cards, xD picture cards, etc.), as well as USB flash drives, optical disks, external HDDs, and the like.

The platform 300 may also include interface circuitry (not shown) for interfacing external devices with the platform 300. External devices connected to the platform 300 via the interface circuit include a sensor circuit 321 and an electro-mechanical component (EMC)322, and a removable memory device coupled to the removable memory circuit 323.

The sensor circuit 321 includes a device, module, or subsystem that is intended to detect events or changes in its environment, and to send information about the detected events (sensor data) to some other device, module, subsystem, or the like. Examples of such sensors include, among others: an Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) including an accelerometer, gyroscope, and/or magnetometer; a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) or a nano-electromechanical system (NEMS) comprising a three-axis accelerometer, a three-axis gyroscope, and/or a magnetometer; a liquid level sensor; a flow sensor; temperature sensors (e.g., thermistors); a pressure sensor; an air pressure sensor; a gravimeter; a height gauge; an image capture device (e.g., a camera or a lensless aperture); a light detection and ranging (LiDAR) sensor; proximity sensors (e.g., infrared radiation detectors, etc.), depth sensors, ambient light sensors, ultrasonic transceivers; a microphone or other similar audio capture device; and the like.

EMC322 includes devices, modules, or subsystems aimed at enabling platform 300 to change its state, position, and/or orientation, or to move or control a mechanism or (sub) system. Additionally, EMC322 may be configured to generate and send messages/signaling to other components of platform 300 to indicate the current state of EMC 322. Examples of EMCs 322 include one or more power switches, relays (including electromechanical relays (EMRs) and/or Solid State Relays (SSRs)), actuators (e.g., valve actuators, etc.), audible acoustic generators, visual warning devices, motors (e.g., DC motors, stepper motors, etc.), wheels, propellers, claws, clamps, hooks, and/or other similar electromechanical components. In an embodiment, the platform 300 is configured to operate one or more EMCs 322 based on one or more capture events and/or instructions or control signals received from the service provider and/or various clients.

In some implementations, the interface circuit may connect the platform 300 with the positioning circuit 345. The positioning circuitry 345 comprises circuitry for receiving and decoding signals transmitted/broadcast by the positioning network of the GNSS. Examples of navigation satellite constellations (or GNSS) may include GPS in the united states, GLONASS in russia, galileo system in the european union, beidou navigation satellite system in china, regional navigation systems, or GNSS augmentation systems (e.g., NAVIC, QZSS in japan, DORIS in france, etc.), and so forth. The positioning circuitry 345 includes various hardware elements (e.g., including hardware devices such as switches, filters, amplifiers, antenna elements, etc. for facilitating OTA communication) to communicate with components of a positioning network such as navigation satellite constellation nodes. In some implementations, the positioning circuitry 345 may include a miniature PNT IC that performs position tracking/estimation using a master timing clock without GNSS assistance. The positioning circuitry 345 may also be part of or interact with the baseband circuitry 310 and/or the RFEM 315 to communicate with nodes and components of a positioning network. The positioning circuit 345 may also provide location data and/or time data to the application circuit 305, which may use the data to synchronize operations with various infrastructure (e.g., radio base stations) for turn-by-turn navigation applications, and the like.

In some implementations, the interface circuitry may connect platform 300 with Near Field Communication (NFC) circuitry 340. NFC circuitry 340 is configured to provide contactless proximity communication based on Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) standards, where magnetic field induction is used to enable communication between NFC circuitry 340 and NFC-enabled devices (e.g., "NFC contacts") external to platform 300. NFC circuitry 340 includes an NFC controller coupled with the antenna element and a processor coupled with the NFC controller. NFC controller may be a chip/IC that provides NFC functionality to NFC circuitry 340 by executing NFC controller firmware and an NFC stack. The NFC stack may be executable by the processor to control the NFC controller, and the NFC controller firmware may be executable by the NFC controller to control the antenna element to transmit the short-range RF signal. The RF signal may power a passive NFC tag (e.g., a microchip embedded in a sticker or wristband) to transfer stored data to NFC circuit 340, or initiate a data transfer between NFC circuit 340 and another active NFC device (e.g., a smartphone or NFC-enabled POS terminal) in proximity to platform 300.

Driver circuit 346 may include software elements and hardware elements for controlling particular devices embedded in platform 300, attached to platform 300, or otherwise communicatively coupled with platform 300. Driver circuit 346 may include various drivers to allow other components of platform 300 to interact with or control various input/output (I/O) devices that may be present within or connected to platform 300. For example, the driving circuit 346 may include: a display driver for controlling and allowing access to the display device, a touch screen driver for controlling and allowing access to the touch screen interface of platform 300, a sensor driver for acquiring sensor readings of sensor circuit 321 and controlling and allowing access to sensor circuit 321, an EMC driver for acquiring actuator positions of EMC322 and/or controlling and allowing access to EMC322, a camera driver for controlling and allowing access to the embedded image capture device, an audio driver for controlling and allowing access to one or more audio devices.

A Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC)325 (also referred to as a "power management circuit 325") may manage power provided to various components of platform 300. Specifically, PMIC 325 may control power supply selection, voltage scaling, battery charging, or DC-DC conversion with respect to baseband circuitry 310. The PMIC 325 may generally be included when the platform 300 is capable of being powered by the battery 330, for example, when the device is included in a

UE

101, 701, or 801.

In some embodiments, PMIC 325 may control or otherwise be part of various power saving mechanisms of platform 300. For example, if the platform 300 is in an RRC _ Connected state in which the platform is still Connected to the RAN node because it expects to receive traffic soon, after a period of inactivity the platform may enter a state referred to as discontinuous reception mode (DRX). During this state, platform 300 may be powered down for a short time interval, thereby saving power. If there is no data traffic activity for an extended period of time, platform 300 may transition to an RRC _ Idle state, where the device is disconnected from the network and no operations such as channel quality feedback, handover, etc. are performed. The platform 300 enters a very low power state and performs paging, where the device again wakes up periodically to listen to the network and then powers down again. The platform 300 may not receive data in this state; to receive data, the platform must transition back to the RRC _ Connected state. The additional power-save mode may cause the device to be unavailable to the network for longer than the paging interval (ranging from a few seconds to a few hours). During this time, the device is completely unable to connect to the network and can be completely powered down. Any data transmitted during this period will cause significant delay and the delay is assumed to be acceptable.

The battery 330 may power the platform 300, but in some examples, the platform 300 may be installed in a fixed location and may have a power source coupled to a power grid. The battery 330 may be a lithium ion battery, a metal-air battery such as a zinc-air battery, an aluminum-air battery, a lithium-air battery, or the like. In some implementations, such as in a V2X application, the battery 330 may be a typical lead-acid automotive battery.

In some implementations, the battery 330 may be a "smart battery" that includes or is coupled to a Battery Management System (BMS) or a battery monitoring integrated circuit. The BMS may be included in the platform 300 to track the state of charge (SoCh) of the battery 330. The BMS may be used to monitor other parameters of the battery 330, such as the state of health (SoH) and the functional state (SoF) of the battery 330 to provide fault prediction. The BMS may communicate the information of the battery 330 to the application circuit 305 or other components of the platform 300. The BMS may also include an analog-to-digital (ADC) converter that allows the application circuit 305 to directly monitor the voltage of the battery 330 or the current from the battery 330. The battery parameters may be used to determine actions that platform 300 may perform, such as transmission frequency, network operation, sensing frequency, and the like.

A power block or other power source coupled to the grid may be coupled with the BMS to charge the battery 330. In some examples, the power block may be replaced with a wireless power receiver to wirelessly obtain power, for example, through a loop antenna in computer platform 300. In these examples, the wireless battery charging circuit may be included in a BMS. The particular charging circuit selected may depend on the size of the battery 330 and, therefore, the current required. Charging may be performed using the aviation fuel standard published by the aviation fuel consortium, the Qi wireless charging standard published by the wireless power consortium, or the Rezence charging standard published by the wireless power consortium.

User interface circuitry 350 includes various input/output (I/O) devices present within or connected to platform 300, and includes one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with platform 300 and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable interaction with peripheral components of platform 300. The user interface circuitry 350 includes input device circuitry and output device circuitry. The input device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for accepting input, including, inter alia, one or more physical or virtual buttons (e.g., a reset button), a physical keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a touch pad, a touch screen, a microphone, a scanner, a headset, etc. Output device circuitry includes any physical or virtual means for displaying information or otherwise conveying information, such as sensor readings, actuator position, or other similar information. Output device circuitry may include any number and/or combination of audio or visual displays, including, among other things, one or more simple visual outputs/indicators (e.g., binary status indicators (e.g., Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs)) and multi-character visual outputs, or more complex outputs, such as a display device or touch screen (e.g., Liquid Crystal Displays (LCDs), LED displays, quantum dot displays, projectors, etc.), where output of characters, graphics, multimedia objects, etc., is generated or produced by operation of platform 300. NFC circuitry may be included to read the electronic tag and/or connect with another NFC enabled device, the NFC circuitry including an NFC controller and a processing device coupled with the antenna element. The peripheral component interfaces may include, but are not limited to, a non-volatile memory port, a USB port, an audio jack, a power interface, and the like.

Although not shown, the components of platform 300 may communicate with each other using suitable bus or Interconnect (IX) technology, which may include any number of technologies, including ISA, EISA, PCI x, PCIe, Time Triggered Protocol (TTP) systems, FlexRay systems, or any number of other technologies. The bus/IX may be a proprietary bus/IX, for example, for use in SoC-based systems. Other bus/IX systems may be included, such as an I2C interface, an SPI interface, a point-to-point interface, and a power bus, among others.

Fig. 4 illustrates exemplary components of a baseband circuit 410 and a Radio Front End Module (RFEM)415, according to various exemplary embodiments. The baseband circuit 410 corresponds to the baseband circuit 210 of fig. 2 and the baseband circuit 310 of fig. 3, respectively. The RFEM 415 corresponds to the RFEM215 of fig. 2 and the RFEM 315 of fig. 3. As shown, the RFEM 415 may include Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 406, Front End Module (FEM) circuitry 408, an antenna array 411 coupled together at least as shown.

The baseband circuitry 410 includes circuitry and/or control logic components configured to perform various radio/network protocols and radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 406. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, and the like. In some embodiments, the modulation/demodulation circuitry of baseband circuitry 410 may include Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, the encoding/decoding circuitry of baseband circuitry 410 may include convolutional, tail-biting convolutional, turbo, viterbi, or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of the modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functions are not limited to these examples, and other suitable functions may be included in other embodiments. Baseband circuitry 410 is configured to process baseband signals received from the receive signal path of RF circuitry 406 and to generate baseband signals for the transmit signal path of RF circuitry 406. The baseband circuitry 410 is configured to interface with application circuitry 205/305 (see fig. 2 and 3) to generate and process baseband signals and control operation of the RF circuitry 406. The baseband circuitry 410 may handle various radio control functions.

The aforementioned circuitry and/or control logic components of baseband circuitry 410 may include one or more single-core or multi-core processors. For example, the one or more processors may include a 3G baseband processor 404A, a 4G/LTE baseband processor 404B, a 5G/NR baseband processor 404C, or some other baseband processor 404D for other existing generations, generations under development or to be developed in the future (e.g., sixth generation (6G), etc.). In other embodiments, some or all of the functionality of the baseband processors 404A-404D may be included in modules stored in the memory 404G and executed via a Central Processing Unit (CPU) 404E. In other embodiments, some or all of the functions of baseband processors 404A-404D may be provided as loaded with appropriate bit streams stored in respective memory units orA hardware accelerator (e.g., FPGA, ASIC, etc.) of a logic block. In various embodiments, the memory 404G may store program code for a real-time os (rtos) that, when executed by the CPU 404E (or other baseband processor), will cause the CPU 404E (or other baseband processor) to manage resources, schedule tasks, etc. of the baseband circuitry 410. Examples of RTOS may include

Provided Operating System Embedded (OSE)^TMFrom Mentor

Provided nucleous RTOS^TMFrom Mentor

Versatile Real-Time Executive (VRTX) provided by Express

Provided ThreadX^TMFrom

Provided FreeRTOS, REX OS, by Open

The provided OKL4, or any other suitable RTOS, such as those discussed herein. In addition, the baseband circuitry 410 includes one or more audio Digital Signal Processors (DSPs) 404F. The audio DSP 404F includes elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation, and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, each of the processors 404A-404E includes a respective memory interface to send/receive data to/from the memory 404G. Baseband circuitry 410 may also include one or more interfaces for communicatively coupling to other circuitry/devices, such as for sending/receiving data to/from memory external to baseband circuitry 410An interface according to; an application circuit interface for sending/receiving data to/from the application circuit 205/305 of fig. 2-3; an RF circuit interface for transmitting/receiving data to/from RF circuit 406 of fig. 4; for receiving data from one or more wireless hardware elements (e.g., Near Field Communication (NFC) components,

Low power consumption parts,

Components, etc.) wireless hardware connection interfaces that transmit/receive data from these wireless hardware elements; and a power management interface for sending/receiving power or control signals to/from the PMIC 325.

In an alternative embodiment (which may be combined with the embodiments described above), baseband circuitry 410 includes one or more digital baseband systems coupled to each other and to the CPU subsystem, audio subsystem, and interface subsystem via an interconnection subsystem. The digital baseband subsystem may also be coupled to the digital baseband interface and the mixed signal baseband subsystem via another interconnection subsystem. Each of the interconnect subsystems may include a bus system, point-to-point connections, a Network On Chip (NOC) fabric, and/or some other suitable bus or interconnect technology, such as those discussed herein. The audio subsystem may include DSP circuitry, buffer memory, program memory, speech processing accelerator circuitry, data converter circuitry such as analog-to-digital converter circuitry and digital-to-analog converter circuitry, analog circuitry including one or more of amplifiers and filters, and/or other similar components. In one aspect of the disclosure, the baseband circuitry 410 may include protocol processing circuitry with one or more instances of control circuitry (not shown) to provide control functionality for digital baseband circuitry and/or radio frequency circuitry (e.g., radio front end module 415).

Although not shown in fig. 4, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry 410 includes various processing devices (e.g., "multi-protocol baseband processors" or "protocol processing circuits") to operate one or more wireless communication protocols and various processing devices to implement PHY layer functionality. In these embodiments, the PHY layer functions include the aforementioned radio control functions. In these embodiments, the protocol processing circuitry operates or implements various protocol layers/entities of one or more wireless communication protocols. In a first example, the protocol processing circuitry may operate the LTE protocol entity and/or the 5G/NR protocol entity when the baseband circuitry 410 and/or the RF circuitry 406 are part of millimeter-wave communication circuitry or some other suitable cellular communication circuitry. In a first example, the protocol processing circuitry will operate MAC, RLC, PDCP, SDAP, RRC and NAS functionality. In a second example, the protocol processing circuitry may operate one or more IEEE-based protocols when the baseband circuitry 410 and/or the RF circuitry 406 are part of a Wi-Fi communication system. In a second example, the protocol processing circuit will operate Wi-Fi MAC and Logical Link Control (LLC) functions. The protocol processing circuitry may include one or more memory structures (e.g., 404G) for storing program code and data used to operate the protocol functions, and one or more processing cores for executing the program code and performing various operations using the data. The baseband circuitry 410 may also support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol.

The various hardware elements of baseband circuit 410 discussed herein may be implemented, for example, as a solder-in substrate comprising one or more Integrated Circuits (ICs), a single packaged integrated circuit soldered to a main circuit board, or a multi-chip module containing two or more ICs. In one example, the components of baseband circuitry 410 may be combined in a single chip or a single chipset, or disposed on the same circuit board, as appropriate. In another example, some or all of the constituent components of baseband circuitry 410 and RF circuitry 406 may be implemented together, such as, for example, a system on a chip (SOC) or a System In Package (SiP). In another example, some or all of the constituent components of baseband circuitry 410 may be implemented as separate socs communicatively coupled with RF circuitry 406 (or multiple instances of RF circuitry 406). In yet another example, some or all of the constituent components of baseband circuitry 410 and application circuitry 205/305 may be implemented together as separate socs mounted to the same circuit board (e.g., "multi-chip packages").

In some implementations, the baseband circuitry 410 may provide communications compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, baseband circuitry 410 may support communication with an E-UTRAN or other WMANs, WLANs, WPANs. Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 410 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry.

RF circuitry 406 may use the modulated electromagnetic radiation to communicate with a wireless network through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, RF circuitry 406 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, and the like to facilitate communication with a wireless network. RF circuitry 406 may include a receive signal path that may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from FEM circuitry 408 and provide baseband signals to baseband circuitry 410. RF circuitry 406 may also include a transmit signal path that may include circuitry to upconvert baseband signals provided by baseband circuitry 410 and provide an RF output signal for transmission to FEM circuitry 408.

In some embodiments, the receive signal path of RF circuitry 406 may include mixer circuitry 406a, amplifier circuitry 406b, and filter circuitry 406 c. In some embodiments, the transmit signal path of RF circuitry 406 may include filter circuitry 406c and mixer circuitry 406 a. RF circuitry 406 may also include synthesizer circuitry 406d for synthesizing the frequencies used by mixer circuitry 406a of the receive and transmit signal paths. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert the RF signal received from the FEM circuitry 408 based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 406 d. The amplifier circuit 406b may be configured to amplify the downconverted signal, and the filter circuit 406c may be a Low Pass Filter (LPF) or a Band Pass Filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the downconverted signal to generate an output baseband signal. The output baseband signal may be provided to baseband circuitry 410 for further processing. In some embodiments, the output baseband signal may be a zero frequency baseband signal, although this is not required. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 406a of the receive signal path may comprise a passive mixer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the transmit signal path may be configured to upconvert the input baseband signal based on a synthesis frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 406d to generate an RF output signal for the FEM circuitry 408. The baseband signal may be provided by baseband circuitry 410 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 406 c.

In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and mixer circuitry 406a of the transmit signal path may comprise two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature down-conversion and quadrature up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 406a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 406a of the receive signal path and mixer circuitry 406a of the transmit signal path may be arranged for direct down-conversion and direct up-conversion, respectively. In some embodiments, mixer circuit 406a of the receive signal path and mixer circuit 406a of the transmit signal path may be configured for superheterodyne operation.

In some embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternative embodiments, the output baseband signal and the input baseband signal may be digital baseband signals. In these alternative embodiments, RF circuitry 406 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry, and baseband circuitry 410 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with RF circuitry 406.

In some dual-mode embodiments, separate radio IC circuits may be provided to process signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 406d may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional-N/N +1 synthesizer, although the scope of embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may also be suitable. Synthesizer circuit 406d may be, for example, a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer including a phase locked loop with a frequency divider.

Synthesizer circuit 406d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency based on the frequency input and the divider control input for use by mixer circuit 406a of RF circuit 406. In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 406d may be a fractional N/N +1 synthesizer.

In some embodiments, the frequency input may be provided by a Voltage Controlled Oscillator (VCO), although this is not required. The divider control input may be provided by baseband circuitry 410 or application circuitry 205/305 depending on the desired output frequency. In some implementations, the divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on the channel indicated by the application circuit 205/305.

Synthesizer circuit 406d of RF circuit 406 may include a frequency divider, a Delay Locked Loop (DLL), a multiplexer, and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the frequency divider may be a dual-mode frequency divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a Digital Phase Accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide an input signal by N or N +1 (e.g., based on a carry) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, a DLL may include a cascaded, tunable, delay element, a phase detector, a charge pump, and a D-type flip-flop set. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to divide the VCO period into Nd equal phase groups, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. Thus, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

In some embodiments, synthesizer circuit 406d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and may be used with a quadrature generator and divider circuit to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases relative to each other. In some implementations, the output frequency may be the LO frequency (fLO). In some embodiments, RF circuitry 406 may include an IQ/polarity converter.

FEM circuitry 408 may include a receive signal path, which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from antenna array 411, amplify the received signals and provide amplified versions of the received signals to RF circuitry 406 for further processing. FEM circuitry 408 may also include a transmit signal path, which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals provided by RF circuitry 406 for transmission by one or more antenna elements in antenna array 411. In various implementations, amplification by the transmit signal path or the receive signal path may be done in only the RF circuitry 406, only the FEM circuitry 408, or in both the RF circuitry 406 and the FEM circuitry 408.

In some implementations, the FEM circuitry 408 may include a TX/RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry 408 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry 408 may include an LNA to amplify the received RF signal and provide the amplified received RF signal as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 406). The transmit signal path of FEM circuitry 408 may include a Power Amplifier (PA) for amplifying an input RF signal (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 406), and one or more filters for generating RF signals for subsequent transmission by one or more antenna elements of antenna array 411.

The antenna array 411 includes one or more antenna elements, each configured to convert electrical signals into radio waves to travel through the air and convert received radio waves into electrical signals. For example, digital baseband signals provided by baseband circuitry 410 are converted to analog RF signals (e.g., modulation waveforms) that are to be amplified and transmitted via antenna elements of antenna array 411 that includes one or more antenna elements (not shown). The antenna elements may be omnidirectional, directional, or a combination thereof. The antenna elements may form a variety of arrangements as is known and/or discussed herein. Antenna array 411 may include microstrip antennas or printed antennas fabricated on the surface of one or more printed circuit boards. The antenna array 411 may be formed as patches of metal foil of various shapes (e.g., patch antennas) and may be coupled with the RF circuitry 406 and/or the FEM circuitry 408 using metal transmission lines or the like.

The processor of the application circuit 205/305 and the processor of the baseband circuit 410 may be used to execute elements of one or more instances of a protocol stack. For example, the processor of baseband circuitry 410 may be used, alone or in combination, to perform layer 3, layer 2, or layer 1 functions, while the processor of application circuitry 205/305 may utilize data (e.g., packet data) received from these layers and further perform layer 4 functions (e.g., TCP and UDP layers). As mentioned herein, layer 3 may include an RRC layer, as will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 2 may include a MAC layer, an RLC layer, and a PDCP layer, which will be described in further detail below. As mentioned herein, layer 1 may comprise the PHY layer of the UE/RAN node, as will be described in further detail below.

Fig. 5 is a block diagram illustrating components capable of reading instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium) and of performing any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, according to some exemplary embodiments. In particular, fig. 5 shows a schematic diagram of hardware resources 500, including one or more processors (or processor cores) 510, one or more memory/storage devices 520, and one or more communication resources 530, each of which may be communicatively coupled via a bus 540. For embodiments utilizing node virtualization (e.g., NFV), hypervisor 502 may be executed to provide an execution environment for one or more network slices/subslices to utilize hardware resources 500.

Processor 510 may include, for example, a processor 512 and a processor 514. Processor 510 may be, for example, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a Reduced Instruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, a Complex Instruction Set Computing (CISC) processor, a Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), a DSP such as a baseband processor, an ASIC, an FPGA, a Radio Frequency Integrated Circuit (RFIC), another processor (including those discussed herein), or any suitable combination thereof.

Memory/storage 520 may include a main memory, a disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof. The memory/storage 520 may include, but is not limited to, any type of volatile or non-volatile memory, such as Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory, solid state storage, and the like.

The communication resources 530 may include interconnection or network interface components or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripherals 504 or one or more databases 506 via the network 508. For example, communication resources 530 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via USB), cellular communication components, NFC components,

(or

Low power consumption) component,

Components and other communication components.

The instructions 550 may include software, programs, applications, applets, applications, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors 510 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein. The instructions 550 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors 510 (e.g., within a cache memory of the processor), the memory/storage 520, or any suitable combination thereof. Further, any portion of instructions 550 may be transmitted to hardware resource 500 from any combination of peripherals 504 or database 506. Thus, the memory of processor 510, memory/storage 520, peripherals 504, and database 506 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.

Protocol layer

Fig. 6 illustrates various protocol functions that may be implemented in a wireless communication device, according to various example embodiments. In particular, fig. 6 includes an arrangement 600 that illustrates interconnections between various protocol layers/entities. The following description of fig. 6 is provided for various protocol layers/entities operating in conjunction with the 5G/NR system standard and the LTE system standard, although some or all aspects of fig. 6 may also be applicable to other wireless communication network systems.

The protocol layers of arrangement 600 may include one or more of PHY 610, MAC 620, RLC 630, PDCP 640, SDAP647, RRC 655, and NAS layer 657, among other higher layer functions not shown. These protocol layers may include one or more Service Access Points (SAPs) (e.g.,

items

659, 656, 650, 649, 645, 635, 625, and 615 in fig. 6) that may provide communication between two or more protocol layers.

PHY 610 may transmit and receive physical layer signals 605, which may be received from or transmitted to one or more other communication devices. Physical layer signal 605 may include one or more physical channels, such as those discussed herein. PHY 610 may also perform link adaptive or Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC), power control, cell search (e.g., for initial synchronization and handover purposes), and other measurements used by higher layers (e.g., RRC 655). PHY 610 may further perform error detection on transport channels, Forward Error Correction (FEC) encoding/decoding of transport channels, modulation/demodulation of physical channels, interleaving, rate matching, mapping to physical channels, and MIMO antenna processing. In an embodiment, an instance of PHY 610 may process a request from an instance of MAC 620 via one or more PHY-SAPs 615 and provide an indication thereto. According to some embodiments, the requests and indications transmitted via the PHY-SAP 615 may include one or more transport channels.

An instance of MAC 620 may process the request from an instance of RLC 630 via one or more MAC-SAPs 625 and provide an indication thereof. These requests and indications transmitted via the MAC-SAP 625 may include one or more logical channels. MAC 620 may perform mapping between logical channels and transport channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs from one or more logical channels onto TBs to be delivered to PHY 610 via transport channels, demultiplexing MAC SDUs from TBs delivered from PHY 610 via transport channels onto one or more logical channels, multiplexing MAC SDUs onto TBs, scheduling information reporting, error correction by HARQ, and logical channel prioritization.

The instance of RLC 630 may process and provide an indication to the request from the instance of PDCP 640 via one or more radio link control service access points (RLC-SAPs) 635. These requests and indications transmitted via the RLC-SAP 635 may include one or more logical channels. RLC 630 may operate in a variety of operating modes, including: transparent Mode (TM), Unacknowledged Mode (UM), and Acknowledged Mode (AM). RLC 630 may perform transmission of upper layer Protocol Data Units (PDUs), error correction by automatic repeat request (ARQ) for AM data transmission, and concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transmission. RLC 630 may also perform re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs for AM data transmission, re-ordering RLC data PDUs for UM and AM data transmission, detect duplicate data for UM and AM data transmission, discard RLC SDUs for UM and AM data transmission, detect protocol errors for AM data transmission, and perform RLC re-establishment.

An instance of PDCP 640 can process and provide an indication to a request from an instance of RRC 655 and/or an instance of SDAP647 via one or more packet data convergence protocol service points (PDCP-SAPs) 645. These requests and indications transmitted via the PDCP-SAP 645 may include one or more radio bearers. PDCP 640 may perform header compression and decompression of IP data, maintain PDCP Sequence Numbers (SNs), perform in-order delivery of upper layer PDUs when lower layers are reestablished, eliminate duplication of lower layer SDUs when lower layers are reestablished for radio bearers mapped on RLC AM, cipher and decipher control plane data, perform integrity protection and integrity verification on control plane data, control timer-based data discard, and perform security operations (e.g., ciphering, deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification, etc.).

Instances of the SDAP647 may process requests from one or more higher layer protocol entities via one or more SDAP-SAP 649 and provide indications thereto. These requests and indications communicated via the SDAP-SAP 649 may include one or more QoS flows. The SDAP647 may map QoS flows to DRBs and vice versa and may also mark QFIs in DL and UL packets. A single SDAP entity 647 may be configured for a separate PDU session. In the UL direction, the 5G NR-RAN 110 may control the mapping of QoS flows to DRBs in two different ways (either reflection mapping or explicit mapping). For reflective mapping, the SDAP647 of the UE 101 may monitor the QFI of the DL packets of each DRB and may apply the same mapping for packets flowing in the UL direction. For a DRB, the SDAP647 of the UE 101 can map UL packets belonging to a QoS flow corresponding to the QoS flow ID and PDU session observed in the DL packets of the DRB. To implement the reflection mapping, the 5G NR-RAN 110 may mark the DL packet with the QoS flow ID over the Uu interface. Explicit mapping may involve the RRC 655 configuring the SDAP647 with explicit mapping rules for QoS flows to DRBs, which may be stored and followed by the SDAP 647. In an embodiment, the SDAP647 may be used only in NR implementations, and may not be used in LTE implementations.

The RRC 655 may configure aspects of one or more protocol layers, which may include one or more instances of PHY 610, MAC 620, RLC 630, PDCP 640, and SDAP647, via one or more management service access points (M-SAPs). In an embodiment, an instance of RRC 655 may process requests from one or more NAS entities 657 and provide indications thereto via one or more RRC-SAPs 656. The primary services and functions of RRC 655 may include broadcasting of system information (e.g., included in MIB or SIB related NAS), broadcasting of system information related to Access Stratum (AS), paging, establishment, maintenance and release of RRC connections between UE 101 and RAN 110 (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connection establishment, RRC connection modification and RRC connection release), establishment, configuration, maintenance and release of point-to-point radio bearers, security functions including key management, inter-RAT mobility, and measurement configuration for UE measurement reporting. These MIBs and SIBs may include one or more IEs, each of which may include a separate data field or data structure.

The NAS657 may form the highest layer of a control plane between the UE 101 and the AMF 821. The NAS657 may support mobility and session management procedures for the UE 101 to establish and maintain an IP connection between the UE 101 and the P-GW in the LTE system.

According to various embodiments, one or more protocol entities of arrangement 600 may be implemented in UE 101, RAN node 111, MME in AMF or LTE implementations in NR implementations, UPF in NR implementations, S-GW and P-GW in LTE implementations, etc. for a control plane or user plane communication protocol stack between the aforementioned devices. In such embodiments, one or more protocol entities that may be implemented in one or more of UE 101, gNB 111, AMF, etc. may communicate with respective peer protocol entities that may be implemented in or on another device (such communications being performed using services of respective lower-layer protocol entities). In some embodiments, the gNB-CU of gNB 111 may host RRC 655, SDAP647, and PDCP 640 of the gNB that control operation of one or more gNB-DUs, and the gNB-DUs of gNB 111 may each host RLC 630, MAC 620, and PHY 510 of gNB 111.

In a first example, the control plane protocol stack may include NAS 557, RRC 555, PDCP 640, RLC 630, MAC 520, and PHY 510, in order from the highest layer to the lowest layer. In this example, the upper layer 660 may be built on top of a NAS 557 that includes an IP layer 661, SCTP 662, and application layer signaling protocol (AP) 663.

In NR implementations, the AP 663 may be a 5G NR application protocol layer (5G NR AP or NG-AP)663 for a 5G NR interface 113 defined between the 5G NR-RAN node 111 and the AMF, or the AP 663 may be an Xn application protocol layer (XnAP or Xn-AP)663 for an Xn interface 112 defined between two or more RAN nodes 111.

The 5G NR-AP 663 may support the functionality of the 5G NR interface 113 and may include a primary program (EP). The 5G NR-AP EP may be an interaction unit between the 5G NR-RAN node 111 and the AMF. The 5G NR-AP 663 service may include two groups: UE-associated services (e.g., services related to UE 101) and non-UE associated services (e.g., services related to the entire 5G NR-RAN interface instance between the 5G NR-RAN node 111 and the AMF). These services may include functions including, but not limited to: a paging function for sending a paging request to the 5G NR-RAN node 111 involved in a specific paging area; a UE context management function for allowing the AMF to establish, modify and/or release the AMF and UE context in the 5G NR-RAN node 111; mobility function for UE 101 in ECM-CONNECTED mode for intra-system HO to support intra-5G NR-RAN mobility and inter-system HO to support mobility from/to EPS system; NAS signaling transport functionality for transporting or rerouting NAS messages between the UE 101 and the AMF; NAS node selection functionality for determining an association between an AMF and a UE 101; a 5G NR interface management function for setting a 5G NR interface and monitoring errors through the 5G NR interface; a warning message sending function for providing a means of transmitting a warning message or canceling an ongoing warning message broadcast via the 5G NR interface; a configuration transmission function for requesting and transmitting RAN configuration information (e.g., SON information, Performance Measurement (PM) data, etc.) between the two RAN nodes 111 via the CN 120; and/or other similar functions.

The XnAP 663 may support the functionality of the Xn interface 112 and may include XnAP basic mobility procedures and XnAP global procedures. The XnAP basic mobility procedure may include procedures for handling UE mobility within the 5G NR RAN 111 (or E-UTRAN 111), such as handover preparation and cancellation procedures, SN state transfer procedures, UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, dual connectivity related procedures, and so on. The XnAP global procedure may include procedures unrelated to the particular UE 101, such as an Xn interface set and reset procedure, a 5G NR-RAN update procedure, a cell activation procedure, and the like.

In an LTE implementation, the AP 663 may be an S1 application protocol layer (S1-AP)663 for an S1 interface 113 defined between an E-UTRAN node 111 and an MME, or the AP 663 may be an X2 application protocol layer (X2AP or X2-AP)663 for an X2 interface 112 defined between two or more E-UTRAN nodes 111.

The S1 application protocol layer (S1-AP)663 may support the functionality of the S1 interface, and similar to the previously discussed 5G NR-AP, the S1-AP may include the S1-AP EP. The S1-AP EP may be an interworking unit between the E-UTRAN node 111 and the MME within the LTE CN 120. The S1-AP 663 service may include two groups: UE-associated services and non-UE-associated services. The functions performed by these services include, but are not limited to: E-UTRAN radio Access bearer (E-RAB) management, UE capability indication, mobility, NAS signaling transport, RAN Information Management (RIM), and configuration transport.

X2AP 663 may support the functionality of the X2 interface 112 and may include X2AP basic mobility procedures and X2AP global procedures. The X2AP basic mobility procedures may include procedures for handling UE mobility within the E-UTRAN 120, such as handover preparation and cancellation procedures, SN status transmission procedures, UE context retrieval and UE context release procedures, RAN paging procedures, dual connectivity related procedures, and the like. The X2AP global procedures may include procedures unrelated to the particular UE 101, such as X2 interface set up and reset procedures, load indication procedures, error indication procedures, cell activation procedures, and so forth.

The SCTP layer (alternatively referred to as the SCTP/IP layer) 662 may provide guaranteed delivery of application layer messages (e.g., 5G NRAP or XnAP messages in NR implementations, or S1-AP or X2AP messages in LTE implementations). SCTP 662 may ensure reliable delivery of signaling messages between RAN node 111 and the AMF/MME based in part on IP protocols supported by IP 661. An internet protocol layer (IP)661 may be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. In some implementations, IP layer 661 can use point-to-point transmissions to deliver and transmit PDUs. In this regard, the RAN node 111 may include L2 and L1 layer communication links (e.g., wired or wireless) with the MME/AMF to exchange information.

In a second example, the user plane protocol stack may include, in order from the highest layer to the lowest layer, the SDAP647, the PDCP 640, the RLC 630, the MAC 520, and the PHY 510. The user plane protocol stack may be used for communication between the UE 101, RAN node 111 and UPF in NR implementations, or between the S-GW and P-GW in LTE implementations. In this example, upper layers 651 may be built on top of the SDAP647 and may include a User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and IP Security layer (UDP/IP)652, a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) tunneling protocol for a user plane layer (GTP-U)653, and a user plane PDU layer (UP PDU) 663.

Transport network layer 654 (also referred to as the "transport layer") may be built on top of the IP transport and GTP-U653 may be used above UDP/IP layer 652 (which includes both UDP and IP layers) to carry user plane PDUs (UP-PDUs). The IP layer (also referred to as the "internet layer") may be used to perform packet addressing and routing functions. The IP layer may assign IP addresses to user data packets in any of the IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats, for example.

GTP-U653 may be used to carry user data within the GPRS core network and between the radio access network and the core network. For example, the transmitted user data may be packets in any of IPv4, IPv6, or PPP formats. UDP/IP 652 may provide a checksum for data integrity, port numbers for addressing different functions at the source and destination, and encryption and authentication of selected data streams. The RAN node 111 and the S-GW may utilize the S1-U interface to exchange user plane data via a protocol stack including an L1 layer (e.g., PHY 610), an L2 layer (e.g., MAC 620, RLC 630, PDCP 640, and/or SDAP647), UDP/IP layer 652, and GTP-U653. The S-GW and the P-GW may exchange user plane data via a protocol stack including an L1 layer, an L2 layer, a UDP/IP layer 652, and a GTP-U653 using an S5/S8a interface. As previously discussed, the NAS protocol may support mobility and session management procedures for the UE 101 to establish and maintain an IP connection between the UE 101 and the P-GW.

Further, although not shown in fig. 6, an application layer may be present above the AP 663 and/or the transport network layer 654. The application layer may be a layer in which a user of UE 101, RAN node 111, or other network element interacts with a software application executed, for example, by application circuitry 205 or application circuitry 305, respectively. The application layer may also provide one or more interfaces for software applications to interact with the communication system of the UE 101 or RAN node 111, such as the baseband circuitry 410. In some implementations, the IP layer and/or the application layer can provide the same or similar functionality as layers 5 through 7 of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model or portions thereof (e.g., OSI layer 7 — the application layer, OSI layer 6 — the presentation layer, and OSI layer 5 — the session layer).

RAN convergence

In the NR/WLAN RAN convergence (NWRC) function described herein, NR and WLAN convergence are under a 3GPP gnnb Central Unit (CU)/Distributed Unit (DU) split architecture. Wi-Fi Access Points (APs) are integrated as DUs in a RAN that connect to a convergence CU, which includes cellular CU and WLAN CU functions. The WLAN CU implements the conventional WLAN controller (WLC) functionality. The converged base station (cNB) includes one or more cellular DUs, one or more WLAN DUs, and a converged CU. cNB support a single set of N2 and N3 interfacing with the 5G cores for CP and UP, respectively. The convergence CUs and UEs support traffic splitting/aggregation, steering, switching and replication within the RAN. The WLAN CU and the cellular CU may also be deployed separately in non-collocated deployments, where the WLAN CU is assumed to be trusted and directly interfaces with the 5GC through the N2 and N3 interfaces for CP and UP, respectively.

The RAN convergence solution enables CP and UP traffic to be anchored to each other. Mutual anchoring allows the use of NR or WLAN access as anchor points for CP and UP for a given UE. A given UE has a single CP anchor point and either a cellular CU or a WLAN CU may act as an anchor.

The cellular CU may act as an anchor node/primary node (MN) and the WLAN CU as a Secondary Node (SN). The cellular CU is responsible for SN (e.g., WLAN CU) addition, modification, and release. The cellular CU interfaces with the 5G core through N2 to exchange NAS CP.

An NR convergence-C layer is added at the cellular CU to enable traffic distribution functionality over cellular and WLAN access. The WLAN CP data may be transmitted over the Xz interface to the cellular CU for delivery over the NR access. NR CP data (NAS or RRC CP) and WLAN CP data (received through Xz) may be segmented, handed over, or replicated through NR and/or WLAN access links through NR aggregation-C layer based on access selection policy/rule. The cellular CU transmits the CP data to the WLAN CU over the Xz interface. The cellular CU provides device mobility between the NR and the WLAN.

A WLAN adaptation-C layer is added so that the output of the NR convergence-C layer adopts a format suitable for transmission over the WLAN. On the network side, the WLAN adaptation-C layer may be implemented on cellular CUs, WLAN CUs or WLAN DUs. On the UE side, the WLAN adaptation-C layer is implemented as part of the WLAN stack.

The WLAN CU may be a trusted node and act as MN, where the cellular CU is a SN. The WLAN CU is responsible for SN (i.e. cellular CU) addition, modification and release. The WLAN CU hosts trusted non-3 GPP gateway function (TNGF) CP functions as defined in 3GPP release 16 and interfaces with the 5G core over the TNGF CP to exchange NAS CPs. Alternatively, the TNGF CP function may also reside outside the WLAN CU, in which case there is an interface between the WLAN CU and the TNGF node to exchange NAS CPs.

A WLAN convergence-C layer is added at the WLAN CU to implement traffic distribution functions over cellular and WLAN access. RRC CP data may be transmitted over the Xz interface to the WLAN CU for delivery over WLAN access. Based on the access selection policy/rule, NAS CP, RRC CP (received over Xz), and WLAN CP can be segmented, handed over, or replicated over WLAN and/or NR access links through the WLAN convergence-C layer. The WLAN CU transmits the CP data to the cellular CU through the Xz interface. The WLAN CU provides device mobility between the WLAN and the NR.

A WLAN adaptation-C layer is added so that the output of the WLAN convergence-C layer adopts a format suitable for transmission over the WLAN. On the network side, the WLAN adaptation-C layer may be implemented on WLAN CUs or WLAN DUs. On the UE side, the WLAN adaptation-C layer is implemented as part of the WLAN stack.

The convergence-C layer for the cellular and WLAN anchors is designed to provide the following set of general functions. One or more of these functions may be provided by another layer based on the selected converged CP protocol option. With respect to fragmentation/aggregation, transmission of CP packets may be fragmented through NR and WLAN access. Aggregated CP PDUs are aggregated from WLAN and NR access at the receiver side. With respect to replication, the replicated CP packets are transmitted over NR and WLAN access. Duplicate detection is provided at the receiver side. Regarding the sequential delivery, the sequential delivery of CP packets is provided to an upper layer at the receiver side. With respect to encapsulation/decapsulation, an aggregate CP header is added to a CP packet received from an upper layer. The aggregated CP header is removed from the aggregated CP PDU prior to delivery to upper layers. With respect to retransmission, any lost CP packets are retransmitted when delivered from one access handoff between NR access and WLAN access to another.

RAN convergence between NR and WLAN access for cellular anchor scenarios may be implemented at different layers of CP data, as described in the following options.

Fig. 11a shows a RAN convergence CP protocol 1100 for a cellular anchor scenario according to a first option, where convergence is performed above a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer. In this option, the NR convergence-C layer 1130 on the network side 1105 resides below the RRC and above the PDCP layer in the cellular stack 1125 on the cellular CU 1115. The NR convergence-C layer 1140 on the UE side 1110 resides below the RRC and above the PDCP layer on the cellular stack 1127. The RRC layer provides (de) multiplexing for RRC, NAS and WLAN CP. The WLAN CP data may be sent to the RRC layer over the Xz interface and transported within an RRC container defined to carry the WLAN CP. The RRC container carrying the WLAN CP may be predefined as being carried on a given Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB). The NR aggregation-C layer 1140 adds SRB IDs and aggregation sequence numbers (SeqNum) to provide reordering and duplicate detection for fragmented SRB CP packets at the UE side 1110. A single instance of the NR-convergence-C layer manages all the split SRBs.

The NR convergence-C layer 1130 generates convergence-C PDUs, which are sent to the NR PDCP layer and the WLAN CU1120 over an Xz interface. The WLAN adaptation-C layer 1135 is shown on the WLAN CU1120, however, as previously described, it may be implemented on the cellular CU1115, the WLAN CU1120, or the WLAN DU 1150. As previously described, on the UE side 1110, the WLAN adaptation-C layer 1145 is implemented as part of the WLAN stack 1130.

Fig. 11b shows an aggregate-C PDU format 1155 for the first option. The NR aggregation-C layer adds an NR aggregation-C header to the CP packet, the NR aggregation-C header including SeqNum and SRB ID fields. The SRB ID is set to the split SRB ID to which the aggregate-C PDU belongs. SeqNum is maintained as SRB ID.

Fig. 11c shows a RAN convergence CP protocol 1160 for a cellular anchor scenario according to the second option, where convergence is performed below the PDCP. In this option, the NR convergence-C layer 1130 on the network side 1105 resides just below the PDCP layer on the cellular CU1115, and the NR convergence-C layer 1140 on the UE side 1110 resides just below the PDCP layer on the cellular stack 1127. This option is similar to LTE WLAN Aggregation (LWA) defined by 3 GPP. The RRC layer provides (de) multiplexing for RRC, NAS and WLAN CP. The WLAN CP data may be sent to the RRC layer over the Xz interface and transported within an RRC container defined to carry the WLAN CP. The RRC container carrying the WLAN CP may be predefined as being carried on a given SRB. A single instance of the NR aggregation-C layer manages all the split SRBs. The NR convergence-C layer 1130 adds the SRB ID to the CP data. In this case, since the NR convergence-C layer 1130 resides below the PDCP, the PDCP sequence number is used for reordering/duplicate detection of the split SRB CP packet. Separate PDCP instances may be created to transport different split SRBs (e.g., for SRBs 1, SRBs 2, SRBs 3). The SRB ID is used by the NR convergence-C layer 1130 to route the received PDUs to the appropriate PDCP instance.

The NR Convergence-C layer 1130 generates Convergence-C PDUs, which are sent over the Xz interface to the RLC layer and WLAN CU 1120. Similar to the first option, the WLAN adaptation-C layer 1135 may be implemented on the cellular CU1115, the WLAN CU1120, or the WLAN DU 1150.

Fig. 11d shows an aggregate-C PDU format 1170 for the second option. The NR convergence-C layer adds an NR convergence-C header to the PDCP PDU, the NR convergence-C header including a SRB ID field. The SRB ID is set to the split SRB ID to which the aggregate-C PDU belongs.

As described in the following options, RAN convergence between NR access and WLAN access for WLAN anchor scenarios can be implemented at different layers of CP data.

Fig. 12a shows a RAN convergence CP protocol 1200 for a WLAN anchor scenario according to the first option, where convergence is performed over PDCP. In this option, the WLAN convergence-C layer 1230 on the network side 1205 resides on the WLAN CU 1220 below the TNGF control plane (TNGF-cp) layer, and the WLAN convergence-C layer 1240 on the UE side 1210 resides on the WLAN stack 1225 below the TNGF-cp layer. The NAS cp packet received by the WLAN convergence-C layer 1230 is an IPSec packet from the TNGF-cp layer. RRC CP data may be sent over the Xz interface to WLAN CU 1220 for transmission over WLAN access. The NAS CP and RRC CP (received over Xz) at the WLAN CU 1220 are transported over the WLAN convergence-C layer 1230 and may be split by NR and WLAN access, or sent only over WLAN access based on access selection policy/rule.

A single instance of WLAN convergence-C layer 1230 manages all types of CP data (RRC, NAS, and WLAN CP) transmitted over WLAN CU 1220. The WLAN convergence-C layer generates convergence-C PDUs, which are transmitted to the WLAN DU 1250 and PDCP layer over the Xz interface. The WLAN adaptation-C layer 1245 may be implemented on the WLAN CU 1220 or the WLAN DU 1250. For split CP transmission over NR, a separate PDCP instance is created as part of the pre-configuration performed over the Xz interface. The new SRB ID or the existing SRB ID may be used to transmit the split CP data through the NR.

Fig. 12b shows an aggregate-C PDU format 1255 for the first option. The WLAN convergence-C layer adds "CP payload type" to provide (de) multiplexing for RRC, NAS and WLAN CP payload types. The SeqNum field is added for sequential delivery and duplicate detection of CP packets on the UE side.

Fig. 12c shows a RAN convergence CP protocol 1260 for WLAN anchor scenario according to the second option, where convergence is performed below the PDCP. This option is similar to the first option discussed above, where the key difference is that the output of the WLAN convergence-C layer 1230 is sent to the RLC layer on the cellular CU 1215. The aggregation-C PDU header information added by the WLAN aggregation-C layer 1230 is the same as that shown in fig. 12 b. In this option, the WLAN CU 1220(WLAN convergence-C layer 1230 or TNGF-CP layer) provides security for CP data (ciphering and integrity protection over IPsec) because PDCP layer security is not used to transmit CP packets over the NR link.

The User Plane (UP) of the RAN convergence function may be anchored/terminated at the cellular CU and/or the WLAN CU. One of the two CUs acts as a primary node (MN) and the other CU acts as a Secondary Node (SN) based on the selected CP anchor. If the cellular CU is a CP anchor, it acts as MN for UP. If the WLAN CU is the CP anchor, it acts as a MN for the UP. Both MN CU and SN CU may have UP connectivity with the 5G core of the bearer terminating at MN and SN, respectively. The MN and SN CUs may also support split bearers for UP and perform traffic steering, splitting, aggregation, switching, replication for UP data.

The cellular CU may act as an anchor node/primary node (MN) and the WLAN CU as a Secondary Node (SN). The cellular CU supports UP split bearers with traffic distribution over NR access and WLAN access. The WLAN CU may also coordinate with the cellular CU to support UP split bearers with traffic distribution over NR and WLAN. Split bearers for UP data may be supported at a quality of service (QoS) flow level or a DRB level based on selected design options.

An NR convergence-U layer is added at the cellular CU to enable UP traffic distribution functionality over cellular and WLAN access. A WLAN adaptation-U layer is added so that the output of the NR aggregation-U layer adopts a format suitable for transmission over the WLAN. On the network side, the WLAN adaptation-U layer may be implemented on cellular CUs, WLAN CUs or WLAN DUs. On the UE side, the WLAN adaptation-U layer may be implemented as a WLAN stack or as part of a cellular stack.

The WLAN CU may be a trusted node and act as MN, where the cellular CU is a SN. The WLAN CU supports UP split bearers with traffic distribution over WLAN and NR. The cellular CU may also coordinate with the WLAN CU to support UP split bearers with traffic distribution over NR and WLAN. Split bearers for UP data are supported at the QoS flow level. The WLAN CU hosts the TNGF UP function as defined in 3GPP release 16 and interfaces with the 5G core over the TNGF UP to exchange UP data. Alternatively, the TNGF UP function may also reside outside the WLAN CU, in which case there is an interface between the WLAN CU and the TNGF node to exchange UP data.

A WLAN convergence-U layer is added at the WLAN CU to implement UP traffic distribution functionality over cellular and WLAN access. A WLAN adaptation-U layer is added so that the output of the WLAN convergence-U layer adopts a format suitable for transmission over the WLAN. On the network side, the WLAN adaptation-U layer may be implemented on WLAN CUs or WLAN DUs. On the UE side, the WLAN adaptation-U layer is implemented as part of the WLAN stack.

The convergence-U layer for the cellular and WLAN anchors is designed to provide the following general set of functions, similar to those provided by the convergence-C layer. One or more of these functions may be provided by another layer based on the selected converged UP protocol option. With respect to fragmentation/aggregation, transmission of UP packets may be fragmented through NR and WLAN access. The aggregated UP PDUs are aggregated from the WLAN and NR accesses at the receiver side. With respect to duplication, duplicate UP packets are transmitted over NR and WLAN access. Duplicate detection is provided at the receiver side. Regarding sequential delivery, the sequential delivery of UP packets is provided to the upper layer at the receiver side. With respect to encapsulation/decapsulation, an aggregate UP header is added to UP packets received from an upper layer. The aggregate UP header is removed from the aggregate UP PDU before delivery to upper layers. With regard to retransmission, any lost UP packets are retransmitted when delivered from one access handoff between NR access and WLAN access to another.

As described in the following options, RAN convergence between NR access and WLAN access for cellular anchor scenarios may be implemented at different layers of UP data.

Fig. 13a shows a RAN convergence UP protocol 1300 for a cellular anchor scenario according to a first option, where convergence is performed above the Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer. In this option, the NR aggregation-U layer 1330 on the network side 1305 resides above the SDAP layer on the cellular CU 1315, and the NR aggregation-U layer 1340 on the UE side 1310 resides above the SDAP layer on the cellular stack 1337. The NR convergence-U layer 1330 provides traffic steering, splitting, aggregation, switching, and replication for QoS flows received from the 5G core. A single instance of the aggregate U layer 1330 manages traffic distribution through NR and/or WLAN access across all split PDU sessions/QoS flows. NR aggregate-U layer 1330 generates aggregate-U PDUs, which are sent over the Xz interface to the SDAP layer and WLAN CU 1320. The WLAN adaptation-U layer 1335 is shown on WLAN CU 1320, however, as previously described, it may be implemented on cellular CU 1315, WLAN CU 1320, or WLAN DU 1350. As previously described, on the UE side 1310, the WLAN adaptation-U layer 1335 is implemented as part of the WLAN stack 1333.

Fig. 13b shows an aggregate-U PDU format 1355 for the first option according to the first embodiment. The NR aggregation-U layer adds an NR aggregation-U header to the data PDU, which may be an IP PDU, an Ethernet PDU, or an unstructured PDU. The NR Convergence-U header includes PDU session ID, QoS Flow Identifier (QFI), and SeqNum fields. The SeqNum field is maintained by (PDU session ID, QFI) tuple and is used for reordering and duplicate detection of fragmented UP packets received over NR and WLAN access.

Fig. 13c shows an aggregate-U PDU format 1360 for the first option according to the second embodiment. As shown, for IP PDUs received from the 5G core, an alternative approach is to add convergence related control information as a tracker to the IP PDUs (NR convergence-U tracker). This reduces the overhead added to transmitting IP PDUs over the WLAN, since no external IP encapsulation is required in this case to transmit PDUs over the WLAN. In the IP header, the IP protocol type is updated to a value of "114" ("any 0-hop protocol"). The next header field [ RFC8200] is added to indicate the IP protocol type of the original IP PDU. The other fields are the same as in the NR aggregation-U header format 1355 described above in fig. 13b for all PDU types.

Fig. 13d shows an aggregate-U PDU format 1365 for the first option according to the third embodiment. As shown, an alternative approach is to define a new ethernet type (for NWRC) to carry the aggregation-U header within the ethernet frame for the ethernet PDU received from the 5G core. This approach also reduces the overhead added to transport ethernet PDUs over the WLAN, since no external encapsulation is required in this case to transport PDUs over the WLAN. The set of header fields of the aggregation-U header are the same as those described above for fig. 13 b. In this embodiment, the Wi-Fi network components and Wi-Fi devices must support the newly defined Ethernet types.

Fig. 13e shows RAN convergence UP protocol 1370 for a cellular anchor scenario according to the second option, where convergence is performed above the PDCP layer. In this option, the NR convergence-U layer 1330 on the network side 1305 resides below the SDAP and above the PDCP layer on the cellular CU 1315, and the NR convergence-U layer 1340 on the UE side 1310 resides below the SDAP and below the PDCP layer on the cellular stack 1325. The NR aggregation-U layer 1330 provides traffic steering, segmentation, aggregation, handover, and replication for QoS flows or DRBs. A single instance of the aggregation-U layer 1330 manages traffic distribution through NRs and/or WLAN access across all split PDU sessions/QoS flows or DRBs. NR convergence-U layer 1330 generates convergence-U PDUs, which are sent to PDCP layer and WLAN CU 1320 over an Xz interface. Similar to the first option, the WLAN adaptation-U layer 1335 may be implemented on the cellular CU 1315, the WLAN CU 1320 or the WLAN DU 1350.

Fig. 13f shows an aggregate-U PDU format 1375 for the second option according to the first embodiment. The NR Convergence-U layer adds an NR Convergence-U header to the SDAP PDU. The NR Convergence-U header includes PDU session ID, QoS Flow Identifier (QFI), and SeqNum fields. The SeqNum field is maintained by (PDU session ID, QFI) tuple and is used for reordering and duplicate detection of fragmented UP packets received over NR and WLAN access.

Fig. 13g shows an aggregate-U PDU format 1380 for the second option according to the second embodiment. According to this alternative method, the DRB ID is added to the header instead of the PDU session ID and QFI. The NR convergence-U layer maintains a DRB ID to SDAP instance mapping to enable UP packets to be routed to the correct SDAP instance on the UE side.

Fig. 13h illustrates RAN convergence UP protocol 1385 for a cellular anchor scenario according to a third option, where convergence is performed below the PDCP layer. In this option, NR convergence-U layer 1330 on network side 1305 resides below the PDCP layer on cellular CU 1315 and NR convergence-U layer 1340 on UE side 1310 resides below the PDCP layer on cellular stack 1325. The NR aggregation-U layer 1330 provides traffic steering, segmentation, aggregation, handover, and replication for QoS flows or DRBs. At all split DRBs, a single instance of the convergence-U layer 1330 manages traffic distribution through NR and/or WLAN access. This option is similar to LTE WLAN Aggregation (LWA) defined by 3 GPP. The NR aggregation-U layer 1330 generates an aggregation-U PDU that is sent over the Xz interface to the RLC layer and WLAN CU 1320. Similar to the first and second options mentioned above, the WLAN adaptation-U layer 1335 may be implemented on the cellular CU 1315, the WLAN CU 1320 or the WLAN DU 1350.

Fig. 13i shows an aggregate-U PDU format 1390 for the third option. The NR convergence-U layer adds an NR convergence-U header to the PDCP PDU. The NR aggregation-U header includes the DRB ID of the associated split data bearer. PDCP SeqNum provides reordering and duplicate detection for split data on the UE side, so a separate SeqNum is not needed in the NR convergence-U header.

As described in the following options, RAN convergence between NR access and WLAN access for WLAN anchoring case can be implemented at different layers for UP data.

Fig. 14a shows a RAN convergence UP protocol 1400 for WLAN anchor scenarios according to the first option, where convergence is performed above the SDAP layer. In this option, the WLAN convergence-U layer 1430 on the network side 1405 resides on the WLAN CU 1420 below the TNGF user plane (TNGF-up) layer. The QoS flows may be partitioned by WLAN and NR via WLAN convergence-U layer 1430. A single instance of WLAN convergence-U layer 1430 manages all split QoS flows. The WLAN convergence-U layer 1430 generates convergence-U PDUs, which are sent over the Xz interface to the WLAN DU 1450 and the SDAP layer. The WLAN adaptation-U layer 1435 may be implemented on the WLAN CU 1420 or the WLAN DU 1450. For the transmission of split QoS flows over NR, a separate SDAP/PDCP instance is created/allocated on cellular CU 1415 during pre-configuration performed over Xz, with DRB ID used to split the bearer. The same DRB may be used to transmit multiple split bearers received from the WLAN CU 1420.

Fig. 14b shows an aggregate-U PDU format 1455 for the first option according to the first embodiment. The WLAN convergence-U layer adds a WLAN convergence-U header to the data PDU, which includes PDU session ID, QFI, and SeqNum fields. The WLAN convergence-U layer extracts the PDU session ID and QFI fields from the ESP and GRE headers, respectively, received in the IP packets from the TNGF layer. The SeqNum field is maintained by (PDU session ID, QFI) tuple and is used for reordering and duplicate detection of fragmented UP packets received over NR and WLAN access.

Fig. 14c shows an aggregate-U PDU format 1460 for the first option according to the second embodiment. According to this alternative method, convergence related control information is added as a tracker to the IP PDU received from the TNGF-up layer. This reduces the overhead added to transmitting IP PDUs over the WLAN, since no external IP encapsulation is required in this case to transmit PDUs over the WLAN. In the IP header, the IP protocol type is updated to a value of "114" ("any 0-hop protocol"). The next header field [ RFC8200] is added to indicate the IP protocol type of the original IP PDU. The other fields are the same as those described for the header format in fig. 14 b.

Fig. 14d shows a RAN convergence UP protocol 1465 for the WLAN anchor scenario according to the second option, where convergence is performed above the PDCP layer. In this option, the main difference with respect to the first option is that the output of WLAN convergence-U layer 1430 is sent to the PDCP layer on cellular CU 1415 instead of the SDAP layer. The second option has the same aggregate-U PDU format as the first option.

Method

The electronic devices, networks, systems, chips, or components of fig. 1-14, or portions or implementations thereof, may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques, or methods, or portions thereof, described herein.

Fig. 15 shows a method 1500 for a gNB to transmit data packets to a User Equipment (UE) using a Radio Access Network (RAN) convergence function, wherein the NR node is an anchor node according to a first embodiment. In 1505, the gbb receives a data packet for transmission to the UE. As described above, the data packets may include either Control Plane (CP) packets or User Plane (UP) packets, with the aggregation configuration being specific to the type of data packet.

In 1510, the gNB partitions the data packet via a convergence layer residing on an NR Central Unit (CU) of the gNB architecture. In this implementation, the NR acts as the master/anchor node, while the WLAN acts as the secondary node. At 1515, the gNB partitions the data packet by the NR access and WLAN access transmissions.

The above-described operations may also be performed at baseband circuitry (e.g., baseband circuitry 410 shown in fig. 4) or at hardware resources 500 shown in fig. 5.

Fig. 16 shows a method 1600 for a gNB to transmit data packets to a User Equipment (UE) using a Radio Access Network (RAN) convergence function, wherein the WLAN node is an anchor node, according to a second embodiment. In 1605, the gNB receives a data packet for transmission to the UE. As described above, the data packets may include either Control Plane (CP) packets or User Plane (UP) packets, with the aggregation configuration being specific to the type of data packet.

In 1610, the gbb segments the data packets via a convergence layer residing on a WLAN Central Unit (CU) of the gbb architecture. In this implementation, the WLAN acts as the master/anchor node, while the NR acts as the secondary node. At 1615, the gNB transmits the fragmented data packets over the NR access and the WLAN access.

Examples

For one or more embodiments, at least one of the components illustrated in one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to perform one or more operations, techniques, processes, and/or methods described in the example section below. For example, the baseband circuitry described above in connection with one or more of the foregoing figures may be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the following examples. As another example, circuitry associated with a UE, base station, network element, etc., as described above in connection with one or more of the preceding figures, can be configured to operate in accordance with one or more of the following examples illustrated in the examples section.

Embodiment 1 may include mechanisms defined for a cellular CU in a converged RAN integrating NR and Wi-Fi as a CP anchor or primary node for a given UE (cellular anchor case), including one or more of: in this case, the WLAN CU is a Secondary Node (SN); the cellular CU is responsible for secondary node/WLAN CU addition, modification and release; adding an NR aggregation-C layer at a cellular CU to realize traffic steering, segmentation/aggregation, switching and copying of CP data through NR and WLAN access; WLAN CP data may be transmitted over the Xz interface to the cellular CU for delivery over NR access; NR CP data (NAS or RRC CP) and WLAN CP data (received through Xz) may be segmented, handed over or replicated through NR and/or WLAN access via NR aggregation-C layer based on access selection policy/rule; the cellular CU transmits the CP data to the WLAN CU over the Xz interface.

Embodiment 2 may include mechanisms defined for a WLAN CU in a converged RAN integrating NR and Wi-Fi as a CP anchor or master node for a given UE (WLAN anchor case), including one or more of: in this case, the cellular CU is a Secondary Node (SN); the WLAN CU is responsible for secondary node/cellular CU addition, modification and release; adding a WLAN convergence-C layer at a WLAN CU to realize traffic steering, segmentation/aggregation, switching and copying of CP data through NR and WLAN access; the WLAN CU is considered trusted and hosts TNGF CP functionality as defined in 3GPP release 16 and interfaces with the 5G core over the TNGF CP to exchange NAS CP data; alternatively, the TNGF CP function may also reside outside the WLAN CU, in which case there is an interface between the WLAN CU and the TNGF node to exchange NAS CPs; RRC CP data may be transmitted over the Xz interface to the WLAN CU for delivery over WLAN access; based on the access selection policy/rule, NAS CP, RRC CP (received over Xz), and WLAN CP can be segmented, handed over, or replicated over WLAN and/or NR access links via WLAN convergence-C layer; the WLAN CU transmits the CP data to the cellular CU through the Xz interface.

Embodiment 3 may include an NR convergence-C layer or a WLAN convergence-C layer defined as being provided on the anchor/host node with one or more of the following functions: splitting/aggregating: the transmission of CP packets is split by NR and WLAN. Aggregating aggregated CP PDUs from WLAN access and NR access at a receiver side; copying: CP packets are duplicated through NR access and WLAN access. Providing duplicate detection at the receiver side; sequential delivery: providing the sequential delivery of the CP packet to an upper layer at a receiver side; packaging/de-packaging: an aggregation CP header is added to a CP packet received from an upper layer. Removing the aggregation CP header from the aggregation-C PDU prior to delivery to an upper layer; and (4) retransmission: any lost CP packets are retransmitted when delivered from one access handoff between NR access and WLAN access to another.

Embodiment 4 may include a WLAN adaptation-C layer defined to adapt the output of the NR aggregation-C layer or the WLAN aggregation-C layer to a format suitable for transmission over the WLAN. For example: for the cellular anchor: on the network side, the WLAN adaptation-C layer may be implemented on cellular CUs, WLAN CUs or WLAN DUs. On the UE side, the WLAN adaptation-C layer may be implemented as a WLAN stack or as part of a cellular stack. For the WLAN anchor: on the network side, the WLAN adaptation-C layer may be implemented on WLAN CUs or WLAN DUs. On the UE side, the WLAN adaptation-C layer is implemented as part of the WLAN stack.

Embodiment 5 may include a convergence control plane protocol defined for a NR convergence-C layer (for the cellular anchor case) that may reside above or below the PDCP to enable CP data distribution through NR access and WLAN access. The converged control plane protocol may include one or more of the following features: the RRC layer provides (de) multiplexing for RRC, NAS and WLAN control plane data. The WLAN CP data may be sent to the RRC layer over the Xz interface and transported within an RRC container defined to carry the WLAN CP. The RRC container carrying the WLAN CP may be predefined as being carried on a given SRB. A single instance of the NR-convergence-C layer manages all the split SRBs. The NR convergence-C layer generates convergence-C PDUs, which are sent to the NR PDCP layer and the WLAN CU over the Xz interface. For PDCP upper convergence control plane protocol options: the NR convergence-C layer resides below the RRC and above the PDCP layer on the cellular CU. The NR convergence-C layer generates convergence-C PDUs, which are sent to the NR PDCP layer and the WLAN CU over the Xz interface. The NR aggregation-C layer adds an NR aggregation-C header to the CP packet, the NR aggregation-C header including aggregation SeqNum and SRB ID fields. The SRB ID is set to the split SRB ID to which the aggregate-C PDU belongs. SeqNum is maintained as SRB ID. The SeqNum field is used for sequential delivery and duplicate detection of CP packets received through NR and WLAN at the receiver side. For PDCP lower convergence control plane protocol options: the NR convergence-C layer resides just below the PDCP layer on the cellular CU. The NR convergence-C layer generates convergence-C PDUs, which are sent over the Xz interface to the RLC layer and the WLAN CU. The NR convergence-C layer adds an NR convergence-C header to the PDCP PDU, the NR convergence-C header including a SRB ID field. The SRB ID is set to the split SRB ID to which the aggregate-C PDU belongs.

Embodiment 6 may include a convergence control plane protocol defined for the WLAN convergence-C layer (for WLAN anchor case) that may reside above or below the PDCP to enable CP data distribution over WLAN and NR access. The converged control plane protocol may include one or more of the following features: the WLAN convergence-C layer resides on the WLAN CU below the TNGF control plane (TNGF-cp) layer. RRC CP data may be sent to the WLAN CU over the Xz interface for transmission over the WLAN access. NAS CP and RRC CP (received over Xz) at WLAN CU are transported over WLAN convergence-C layer and can be split/duplicated over NR and WLAN access, or sent over WLAN access based only on access selection policy/rule. A single instance of the WLAN convergence-C layer manages all types of CP data (RRC, NAS, and WLAN CP) transmitted through the WLAN CU. The WLAN convergence-C layer generates convergence-C PDUs, which are sent over the Xz interface to the WLAN DUs and the cellular CUs. The WLAN convergence-C layer adds a WLAN convergence-C header to the CP packet, which includes a "CP payload type" field to provide (de) multiplexing for RRC, NAS and WLAN CP payload types, and a SeqNum field for sequential delivery and duplicate detection of CP packets received through NR and WLAN. For PDCP upper convergence control plane protocol options: the WLAN Convergence-C PDU is transmitted to the PDCP layer through an Xz interface. For split CP transmission over NR, a separate PDCP instance is created as part of the pre-configuration done over the Xz interface. The new SRB ID or the existing SRB ID may be used to transmit the split CP data through the NR. For PDCP lower convergence control plane protocol options: the WLAN convergence-C PDU is transmitted to the RLC layer through the Xz interface. The WLAN CU (WLAN convergence-C layer or TNGF-CP layer) provides security (encryption and integrity protection by IPsec) for CP data transmitted over the NR.

Embodiment 7 may include a mechanism defined in a converged RAN integrating NR and Wi-Fi to terminate the user plane at either the cellular CU or the WLAN CU. For example, the mechanism may include one or more of the following features: both the primary node CU (control plane anchor) and the secondary node CU may have UP connectivity with the 5G core for MN bearers and SN bearers, respectively. If the cellular CU anchor is a CP anchor, it acts as a MN for the UP. In this case, the WLAN CU acts as SN for the UP. If the WLAN CU is the CP anchor, it acts as a MN for the UP. In this case, the cellular CU acts as an SN for the UP. Cellular anchor case (CP anchored on cellular CU): the cellular CU acts as MN for the UP and the WLAN CU acts as SN for the UP. The cellular CU supports UP split bearers with traffic distribution over NR access and WLAN access. The WLAN CU transmits UP data over WLAN access (SN bearer). The WLAN CU may also coordinate with the cellular CU (mn) to support UP split bearers with traffic distribution over both NR access and WLAN access. Split bearers for UP data may be supported at QoS flow level or Data Radio Bearer (DRB) level based on selected design options. An NR aggregation-U layer is added at the cellular CU to implement UP traffic distribution functionality over NR access and WLAN access. WLAN anchor case (CP anchored to WLAN CU): the WLAN CU acts as MN for the UP and the cellular CU acts as SN for the UP. The WLAN CU supports UP split bearers with traffic distribution over WLAN access and NR access. The WLAN CU hosts the TNGF UP function as defined in 3GPP release 16 and it interfaces with the 5G core over the TNGF UP to exchange UP data. Alternatively, the TNGF UP function may also reside outside the WLAN CU, in which case there is an interface between the WLAN CU and the TNGF node to exchange UP data. The cellular CU transmits UP data over NR access (SN bearer). The cellular CU may also coordinate with the WLAN CU (MN) to support UP split bearers with traffic distribution over NR access and WLAN access. Split bearers for UP data are supported at the QoS flow level. A WLAN convergence-U layer is added at the WLAN CU to implement UP traffic distribution functionality over cellular access and WLAN access.

Embodiment 8 may include an NR convergence-U layer or a WLAN convergence-U layer defined to provide one or more of the following functions: splitting/aggregating: transmission of UP packets is split by NR and WLAN access. UP PDUs are aggregated from WLAN access and NR access at the receiver side. Copying: UP packets are duplicated through NR access and WLAN access. Duplicate detection is provided at the receiver side. Sequential delivery: the sequential delivery of UP packets is provided to the upper layers at the receiver side. Packaging/de-packaging: an aggregate UP header is added to the UP packet received from the upper layer. The aggregate UP header is removed from the aggregate UP PDU prior to delivery to upper layers. And (4) retransmission: any lost packets are retransmitted when delivered from one access handoff between NR access and WLAN access to another.

Embodiment 9 may include a WLAN adaptation-U layer defined such that the output of the NR aggregation-U layer or the WLAN aggregation-U layer is in a format suitable for transmission over the WLAN. For example: for the cellular anchor: on the network side, the WLAN adaptation-U layer may be implemented on cellular CUs, WLAN CUs or WLAN DUs. On the UE side, the WLAN adaptation-U layer may be implemented as a WLAN stack or as part of a cellular stack. For the WLAN anchor: on the network side, the WLAN adaptation-U layer may be implemented on WLAN CUs or WLAN DUs. On the UE side, the WLAN adaptation-U layer is implemented as part of the WLAN stack.

Embodiment 10 may include a convergence protocol over SDAP defined for the NR convergence-U layer (for the cellular anchor case) to enable distribution of UP data traffic through NR and WLAN access. The SDAP upper convergence protocol may include one or more of the following features: the NR convergence-U layer resides above the SDAP layer on the cellular CU and provides traffic steering, partitioning, aggregation, switching, and replication for QoS flows received from the 5G core. A single instance of the NR aggregation-U layer manages traffic distribution through NR and/or WLAN access across all PDU sessions/QoS flows. The NR Convergence-U layer generates Convergence-U PDUs, which are sent to the SDAP layer and WLAN CU over the Xz interface. The NR aggregation-U layer adds an NR aggregation-U header to a UP data PDU (IP PDU, ethernet PDU, or unstructured PDU) that includes PDU session ID, QoS Flow Identifier (QFI), and SeqNum fields. The SeqNum field is maintained by (PDU Session ID, QFI) tuple. The SeqNum field is used for sequential delivery and duplicate detection of UP packets received through NR and WLAN at the receiver side. Alternatively, for IP data PDUs, aggregation related control information may be added to the IP PDUs as a tracker. The NR Convergence-U tracker includes a PDU session ID, QoS Flow Identifier (QFI), SeqNum, and a next header field [ RFC8200 ]. In the IP header of the original IP data PDU, the IP protocol type is updated to a value of "114" ("any 0-hop protocol"). Alternatively, for ethernet PDUs, a new ethernet type (for NWRC) may be defined to carry the aggregation-U header within the ethernet frame. The aggregation-U header includes PDU session ID, QoS Flow Identifier (QFI), and SeqNum fields.

Embodiment 11 may include a PDCP upper convergence protocol defined for the NR convergence-U layer (for the cellular anchor case) to enable distribution of UP data traffic over NR access and WLAN access. The PDCP upper convergence protocol may include one or more of the following features: the NR convergence-U layer resides below the SDAP and above the PDCP layer on the cellular CU and provides traffic steering, segmentation, aggregation, handover, and replication for QoS flows or DRBs. A single instance of the NR convergence-U layer manages traffic distribution through NR and/or WLAN access across all PDU sessions/QoS flows or DRBs. The NR convergence-U layer generates convergence-U PDUs, which are sent to the PDCP layer and the WLAN CU over the Xz interface. The NR Convergence-U layer adds an NR Convergence-U header to the SDAP PDU, which includes PDU session ID, QoS Flow Identifier (QFI), and SeqNum fields. The SeqNum field is maintained by (PDU Session ID, QFI) tuple. The SeqNum field is used for sequential delivery and duplicate detection of UP packets received through NR and WLAN at the receiver side. Alternatively, the NR aggregation-U header may include DRB ID and SeqNUm fields. In this case, the NR convergence-U layer maintains a DRB ID to SDAP mapping to enable UP packets to be routed to the correct SDAP instance on the receiver side.

Embodiment 12 may include a PDCP lower convergence protocol for the NR convergence-U layer (for the cellular anchor case) to enable distribution of UP data traffic over NR access and WLAN access. The PDCP lower convergence protocol may include one or more of the following features: the NR convergence-U layer resides below the PDCP layer on the cellular CU and provides traffic steering, segmentation, aggregation, handover, and replication for the DRBs. At all DRBs, a single instance of the NR aggregation-U layer manages traffic distribution through NR and/or WLAN access. The NR convergence-U layer generates convergence-U PDUs, which are sent to the RLC layer and the WLAN CU over the Xz interface. The NR convergence-U layer adds a NR convergence-U header to the PDCP PDU, the NR convergence-U header including a DRB ID of the associated split data bearer.

Embodiment 13 may include a convergence protocol for the WLAN convergence-U layer (for WLAN anchor case) that may reside above the SDAP or PDCP to enable distribution of UP data traffic through WLAN access and NR access. The convergence protocol may include one or more of the following features: the WLAN convergence-U layer resides on the WLAN CU below the TNGF user plane (TNGF-up) layer and provides traffic steering, segmentation, aggregation, handover, and replication for QoS flows. A single instance of the WLAN convergence-U layer manages all split QoS flows. The WLAN convergence-U layer generates convergence-U PDUs, which are sent over the Xz interface to the WLAN DUs and the cellular CUs. The WLAN convergence-U layer adds a WLAN convergence-U header to the data PDU, which includes PDU session ID, QFI, and SeqNum fields. The WLAN convergence-U layer extracts the PDU session ID and QFI fields from the ESP and GRE headers, respectively. The SeqNum field is maintained by (PDU Session ID, QFI) tuple. The SeqNum field is used for sequential delivery and duplicate detection of UP packets received through NR and WLAN at the receiver side. Alternatively, convergence related control information may be added as a tracker to the IP PDU received from the TNGF-up layer. The WLAN Convergence-U tracker includes a PDU session ID, QoS Flow Identifier (QFI), SeqNum, and a next header field [ RFC8200 ]. In the IP header of the original IP PDU from the TNGF-up, the IP protocol type is updated to the value "114" ("any 0-hop protocol"). For the SDAP upper convergence protocol for UP: the WLAN Convergence-U PDU is sent to the SDAP layer over the Xz interface. For split UP transmission over NR, separate SDAP and PDCP instances are created/assigned as part of the pre-configuration done over Xz. The same DRB may be used to transmit multiple UP split bearers received from the WLAN CU. For PDCP upper convergence protocol for UP: the WLAN convergence-U PDU is transmitted to the PDCP layer through an Xz interface. For split CP transmission over NR, a separate PDCP instance is created/allocated as part of the pre-configuration done by Xz. The same DRB may be used to transmit multiple UP split bearers received from the WLAN CU.

Embodiment 14 includes a method comprising: at a gNB implementing a Radio Access Network (RAN) convergence function for new air interface (NR) access and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access, the gNB further implements a split architecture including a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) for each of the NR access and the WLAN access: receiving a data packet for transmission to a User Equipment (UE) implementing the RAN convergence function, the data packet comprising any one of a Control Plane (CP) packet or a User Plane (UP) packet; partitioning the data packet via a convergence layer residing on the NR CU; and splitting the data packet by the NR access and WLAN access transmissions.

Embodiment 15 includes the method of embodiment 14, wherein the data packet is a CP packet and the convergence layer is an NR convergence-C layer.

Embodiment 16 includes the method of embodiment 15, wherein the NR convergence-C layer resides below a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer and above a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer on the NR CU, the NR convergence-C layer generating convergence-C Protocol Data Units (PDUs) for transmission to the NR PDCP and WLAN CUs.

Embodiment 17 includes the method of embodiment 16, wherein the NR convergence-C layer adds an NR convergence-C header to the CP packet, the NR convergence-C header comprising a SeqNum field and a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) ID field.

Embodiment 18 includes the method of embodiment 15, wherein the NR convergence-C layer resides below a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer on the NR CU that generates convergence-C Protocol Data Units (PDUs) for transmission to the NR Radio Link Control (RLC) layer and the WLAN CU.

Embodiment 19 includes the method of embodiment 18, wherein the NR convergence-C layer adds a NR convergence-C header to the PDCP PDU, the NR convergence-C header including a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) ID field.

Embodiment 20 includes the method of embodiment 15, wherein the gNB further implements a WLAN adaptation-C layer such that output from the NR aggregation-C layer is in a format suitable for transmission over the WLAN.

Embodiment 21 includes the method of embodiment 22, wherein the WLAN adaptation C layer is implemented on an NR CU, a WLAN CU, or a WLAN DU.

Embodiment 22 includes the method of embodiment 14, wherein the data packet is a UP packet and the convergence layer is a NR convergence-U layer.

Embodiment 23 includes a method as in embodiment 23, wherein the NR convergence-U layer resides above a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer on the NR CU, the NR convergence-U layer generating convergence-U Protocol Data Units (PDUs) for transmission to the NR SDAP layer and the WLAN CU.

Embodiment 24 includes the method of embodiment 23 wherein the NR convergence-U layer adds an NR convergence-U header to the UP packet, the NR convergence-U header including PDU session ID, quality of service (QoS) flow identifier (QFI), and SeqNum fields.

Embodiment 25 includes the method of embodiment 23, wherein the NR convergence-U layer adds the convergence related control information as a tracker to Internet Protocol (IP) PDUs received from the core network.

Embodiment 26 includes the method of embodiment 23, wherein the NR convergence-U layer defines an ethernet type to carry a convergence-U header within an ethernet frame for the ethernet PDU.

Embodiment 27 includes the method of embodiment 22, wherein the NR convergence-U layer resides below a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer and above a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer on the NR CU, the NR convergence-U layer generating convergence-U Protocol Data Units (PDUs) for transmission to the NR PDCP layer and the WLAN CU.

Embodiment 28 includes the method of embodiment 27, wherein the NR aggregation-U layer adds an NR aggregation-U header to the SDAP PDU, the NR aggregation-C header including PDU session ID, quality of service (QoS) flow identifier (QFI), and SeqNum fields.

Embodiment 29 includes the method of embodiment 27, wherein the NR convergence-U layer adds an NR convergence-U header to the SDAP PDU, the NR convergence-C header comprising a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) ID to SDAP instance mapping.

Embodiment 30 includes the method of embodiment 22, wherein the NR convergence-U layer resides below a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer on the NR CU that generates convergence-U Protocol Data Units (PDUs) for transmission to a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer and the WLAN CU.

Embodiment 31 includes the method of embodiment 30, wherein the NR convergence-U layer adds a NR convergence-U header to the PDCP PDU, the NR convergence-U header including a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) ID of the associated split DRB.

Embodiment 32 includes the method of embodiment 22, wherein the gNB further implements a WLAN adaptation-U layer such that output from the NR aggregation-U layer is in a format suitable for transmission over the WLAN.

Embodiment 33 includes the method of embodiment 32, wherein the WLAN adaptation-U layer is implemented on the NR CU, the WLAN CU, or the WLAN DU.

Embodiment 34 includes a method comprising: at a gNB implementing a Radio Access Network (RAN) convergence function for new air interface (NR) access and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access, the gNB further implements a split architecture including a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) for each of the NR access and the WLAN access: receiving a data packet for transmission to a User Equipment (UE) implementing the RAN convergence function, the data packet comprising any one of a Control Plane (CP) packet or a User Plane (UP) packet; partitioning the data packet via a convergence layer residing on the WLAN CU; and splitting the data packet by the NR access and WLAN access transmissions.

Embodiment 35 includes the method of embodiment 34, wherein the data packet is a CP packet and the convergence layer is a WLAN convergence-C layer.

Embodiment 36 includes the method of embodiment 35, wherein a WLAN convergence-C layer resides below a (TNGF) control plane layer on the WLAN CU, the WLAN convergence-C layer generating convergence-C Protocol Data Units (PDUs) for transmission to a NR Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer and to the WLAN DUs.

Embodiment 37 includes the method of embodiment 36, wherein the WLAN convergence-C layer adds a WLAN convergence-C header to the CP packet, the WLAN convergence-C header including a CP payload type and a SeqNum field.

Embodiment 38 includes the method of embodiment 35, wherein the WLAN convergence-C layer resides below a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer on the WLAN CU, the WLAN convergence-C layer generating convergence-C Protocol Data Units (PDUs) for transmission to an NR Radio Link Control (RLC) layer and to the WLAN DUs.

Embodiment 39 includes the method of embodiment 38, wherein the NR convergence-C layer adds a NR convergence-C header to the PDCP PDU, the NR convergence-C header including a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) ID field.

Embodiment 40 includes the method of embodiment 35, wherein the gNB further implements a WLAN adaptation-C layer such that output from the WLAN convergence-C layer is in a format suitable for transmission over the WLAN.

Embodiment 41 includes the method of embodiment 40, wherein the WLAN adaptation layer C is implemented on a WLAN CU or a WLAN DU.

Embodiment 42 includes the method of embodiment 34, wherein the data packet is a UP packet and the convergence layer is a WLAN convergence-U layer.

Embodiment 43 comprises the method of embodiment 42, wherein a WLAN convergence-U layer resides below a trusted non-3 GPP gateway function (TNGF) user plane layer on the WLAN CU, the WLAN convergence-U layer generating convergence-U Protocol Data Units (PDUs) for transmission to an NR Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer and WLAN DUs.

Embodiment 44 includes the method of embodiment 43, wherein the WLAN convergence-U layer adds a WLAN convergence-U header to the UP packet, the WLAN convergence-U header including PDU session ID, QFI, and SeqNum fields.

Embodiment 45 includes the method of embodiment 43, wherein the WLAN convergence-U layer adds convergence related control information as a tracker to Internet Protocol (IP) PDUs received from the TNGF user plane layer.

Embodiment 46 includes the method of embodiment 42, wherein the WLAN convergence-U layer resides above a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer on the WLAN CU that generates convergence-U Protocol Data Units (PDUs) for transmission to the NR PDCP layer and the WLAN DUs.

Embodiment 47 includes the method of embodiment 42, wherein the gNB further implements a WLAN adaptation-U layer such that output from the WLAN convergence-U layer is in a format suitable for transmission over the WLAN.

Embodiment 48 includes the method of embodiment 47, wherein the WLAN adaptation-U layer is implemented on a WLAN CU or a WLAN DU.

Embodiment 49 includes a method comprising: at a User Equipment (UE) implementing a Radio Access Network (RAN) convergence function for new air interface (NR) and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access: receiving, via the NR access, a first portion of a data packet from a next generation node b (gnb) implementing the RAN convergence function, the data packet comprising one of a Control Plane (CP) packet or a User Plane (UP) packet; receiving a second portion of the data packet from the gNB for implementation via the WLAN access; and combining the first and second portions of the data packet via a convergence layer residing on the NR access stack.

Embodiment 50 includes a method comprising: at a User Equipment (UE) implementing a Radio Access Network (RAN) convergence function for new air interface (NR) and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access: receiving, via the NR access, a first portion of a data packet from a next generation node b (gnb) implementing the RAN convergence function, the data packet comprising one of a Control Plane (CP) packet or a User Plane (UP) packet; receiving a second portion of the data packet from the gNB for implementation via the WLAN access; and combining the first portion and the second portion of the data packet via a convergence layer residing on the WLAN access stack.

Embodiment 51 may include an apparatus comprising means for performing one or more elements of a method according to or related to any one of embodiments 1-50 or any other method or process described herein.

Embodiment 52 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of an electronic device, cause the electronic device to perform one or more elements of a method according to or related to any one of embodiments 1-50 or any other method or process described herein.

Embodiment 53 may include an apparatus comprising logic, a module, or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method according to or related to any one of embodiments 1-50 or any other method or process described herein.

Embodiment 54 can include a method, technique, or process, or portion or component thereof, as described in or related to any of embodiments 1-50.

Embodiment 55 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer-readable media comprising instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method, technique or process according to or related to any one of embodiments 1-50, or a portion thereof.

Embodiment 56 can include a signal as described in or relating to any of embodiments 1-50, or a portion or component thereof.

Embodiment 57 may include a datagram, packet, frame, segment, Protocol Data Unit (PDU), or message, or a portion or component thereof, as described in any of embodiments 1-50 or otherwise described in this disclosure.

Embodiment 58 may include a signal encoded with data, or a portion or component thereof, as described in any of embodiments 1-50 or associated therewith, or otherwise described in this disclosure.

Embodiment 59 may include a signal encoded with a datagram, packet, frame, segment, Protocol Data Unit (PDU), or message, or a portion or component thereof, as described in or relating to any of embodiments 1-50, or otherwise described in this disclosure.

Embodiment 60 may include an electromagnetic signal carrying computer-readable instructions, wherein execution of the computer-readable instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of embodiments 1-50, or a portion thereof.

Embodiment 61 may comprise a computer program comprising instructions, wherein execution of the program by a processing element causes the processing element to perform a method, technique or process according to or related to any of embodiments 1 to 50, or a portion thereof.

Embodiment 62 may include signals in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

Embodiment 63 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.

Embodiment 64 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

Embodiment 65 may include an apparatus for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.

Any of the above examples may be combined with any other example (or combination of examples) unless explicitly stated otherwise. The foregoing description of one or more specific implementations provides illustration and description, but is not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the scope of the embodiments to the precise form disclosed. Modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings or may be acquired from practice of various embodiments.

It is well known that the use of personally identifiable information should comply with privacy policies and practices that are recognized as meeting or exceeding industry or government requirements for maintaining user privacy. In particular, personally identifiable information data should be managed and processed to minimize the risk of inadvertent or unauthorized access or use, and the nature of authorized use should be explicitly stated to the user.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications can be made to the present disclosure without departing from the spirit or scope of the disclosure. Thus, it is intended that the present disclosure cover the modifications and variations of this disclosure provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

at a next generation node b (gNB) implementing a Radio Access Network (RAN) aggregation function for new air interface (NR) access and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access, the gNB further implementing a split architecture including a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) for each of the NR access and the WLAN access:

receiving a data packet for transmission to a User Equipment (UE) implementing the RAN convergence function, the data packet comprising one of a Control Plane (CP) packet or a User Plane (UP) packet;

partitioning the data packet via a convergence layer residing on the NR CU; and

transmitting the fragmented data packets through the NR access and the WLAN access.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the data packet is the CP packet and the convergence layer is an NR convergence-C layer.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the NR convergence-C layer resides below a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer and above a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer on the NR CU, the NR convergence-C layer generating convergence-C Protocol Data Units (PDUs) for transmission to the NRPDCP and the WLAN CU.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the NR Convergence-C layer adds an NR Convergence-C header to the CP packet, the NR Convergence-C header comprising a SeqNum field and a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) ID field.

5. The method of claim 2, wherein the NR convergence-C layer resides below a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer on the NRCU, the NR convergence-C layer generating convergence-C Protocol Data Units (PDUs) for transmission to a NR Radio Link Control (RLC) layer and the WLAN CU.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the NR convergence-C layer adds a NR convergence-C header to a PDCP PDU, the NR convergence-C header comprising a Signaling Radio Bearer (SRB) ID field.

7. The method of claim 2, wherein the gNB further implements a WLAN adaptation-C layer such that output from the NR aggregation-C layer is in a format suitable for transmission over a WLAN.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the WLAN adaptation-C layer is implemented on the NRCU, the WLAN CU, or the WLAN DU.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the data packet is the UP packet and the convergence layer is an NR convergence-U layer.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the NR convergence-U layer resides above a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer on the NRCU, the NR convergence-U layer generating convergence-U Protocol Data Units (PDUs) for transmission to the NR SDAP layer and the WLAN CU.

11. The method of claim 10 wherein the NR aggregation-U layer adds an NR aggregation-U header to the UP packet, the NR aggregation-U header comprising PDU session ID, quality of service (QoS) flow identifier (QFI), and SeqNum fields.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the NR convergence-U layer adds convergence related control information as a tracker to Internet Protocol (IP) PDUs received from a core network.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein the NR convergence-U layer defines an ethernet type to carry a convergence-U header within an ethernet frame for an ethernet PDU.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein the NR convergence-U layer resides below a Service Data Adaptation Protocol (SDAP) layer and above a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer on the NR CU, the NR convergence-U layer generating convergence-U Protocol Data Units (PDUs) for transmission to the NRPDCP layer and the WLAN CU.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the NR aggregation-U layer adds an NR aggregation-U header to an SDAP PDU, the NR aggregation-C header comprising PDU session ID, quality of service (QoS) flow identifier (QFI), and SeqNum fields.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the NR convergence-U layer adds an NR convergence-U header to an SDAP PDU, the NR convergence-C header comprising a mapping of Data Radio Bearer (DRB) IDs to SDAP instances.

17. The method of claim 9, wherein the NR convergence-U layer resides below a Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) layer on the NRCU, the NR convergence-U layer generating convergence-U Protocol Data Units (PDUs) for transmission to a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer and the WLAN CU.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein the NR convergence-U layer adds a NR convergence-U header to a PDCP PDU, the NR convergence-U header comprising a Data Radio Bearer (DRB) ID of an associated split DRB.

19. The method of claim 9, wherein the gNB further implements a WLAN adaptation-U layer such that output from the NR aggregation-U layer is in a format suitable for transmission over a WLAN.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the WLAN adaptation-U layer is implemented on the NRCU, the WLAN CU, or the WLAN DU.

21. A next generation node b (gnb), comprising:

one or more processors configured to implement a Radio Access Network (RAN) convergence function for new air interface (NR) access and Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) access, and to implement a split architecture including a Central Unit (CU) and a Distributed Unit (DU) for each of the NR access and the WLAN access, wherein the one or more processors are further configured to,

receiving a data packet for transmission to a User Equipment (UE) implementing the RAN convergence function, the data packet comprising one of a Control Plane (CP) packet or a User Plane (UP) packet, and

partitioning the data packet via a convergence layer residing on the NR CU; and

a transceiver configured to transmit the fragmented data packets to the UE over the NR access and the WLAN access.