CN118140533A

CN118140533A - Apparatus, method and computer readable medium for association between user equipment device and access point

Info

Publication number: CN118140533A
Application number: CN202180103514.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 李知航
Original assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Current assignee: Nokia Shanghai Bell Co Ltd; Nokia Solutions and Networks Oy
Priority date: 2021-10-22
Filing date: 2021-10-22
Publication date: 2024-06-04
Also published as: WO2023065275A1

Abstract

An apparatus for UE-AP association is disclosed. An example apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory may include computer program code, and the at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus, which is a user equipment apparatus in a cell-free communication system, to perform: establishing a connection with a primary access point in the cell-free communication system through a random access procedure; and receiving an access threshold from the master access point specific to the user equipment device. Related apparatus, methods, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Description

Apparatus, method and computer readable medium for association between user equipment device and access point

Technical Field

Various embodiments relate to apparatuses, methods, and computer-readable media for association between a User Equipment (UE) apparatus and an Access Point (AP).

Background

A cell-free massive multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication system generally includes a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a plurality of APs, and a plurality of UE devices. The AP is connected to the CPU through a forward link and serves the UE device through an air interface. In a cell-free communication system, each UE device is typically allocated the same time/frequency resources, and the distributed AP may provide services to a smaller set of UE devices simultaneously on the same time and frequency resources. When an AP that is a serving AP of a UE device contributes a useful signal to the UE device, if the AP is not the serving AP of another UE device, the AP may transmit an interference signal to the other UE device. Thus, the association between a UE device and an AP, which may be referred to as a UE-AP association, may affect the signal to interference plus noise ratio (SINR) of the respective UE device and result in different system performance.

Disclosure of Invention

The following presents a simplified summary of example embodiments in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of various embodiments. It should be noted that this summary is not intended to identify key features of the essential elements or to delineate the scope of the various defined embodiments, and is intended to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is provided below.

In a first aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory may include computer program code, and the at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus, as a user equipment apparatus in a cell-free communication system, to perform: establishing a connection with a master access point in the cell-free communication system through a random access process; and receiving an access threshold from the master access point specific to the user equipment device.

In some example embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform establishing a connection with at least one secondary access point in the cell-free communication system through a random access procedure according to the access threshold.

In some example embodiments, the quality of the downlink signal received from the primary access point may be higher than the quality of the downlink signal received from at least one access point other than the primary access point in the cell-free communication system.

In a second aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory may include computer program code, and the at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus, as a network device associated with an access point in a cell-free communication system, to perform: establishing a connection with a user equipment device in the cell-free communication system through a random access procedure; transmitting the quality of the uplink signal received from the user equipment device to a central processing unit in the cell-free communication system; receiving an access threshold specific to the user device from the central processing unit; and transmitting the access threshold to the user equipment device.

In a third aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus may include at least one processor and at least one memory. The at least one memory may include computer program code, and the at least one memory and the computer program code may be configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus, as a network device associated with a central processing unit in a cell-free communication system, to perform: receiving, from a plurality of access points in the non-cellular communication system, quality of uplink signals received by respective access points from a plurality of user equipment devices of the non-cellular communication system; determining an access threshold specific to a user equipment device of the plurality of user equipment devices based on a quality of the uplink signal; and transmitting the access threshold to a master access point of the user equipment device of the plurality of access points.

In some example embodiments, the access threshold may be determined further based on pilot sequences allocated for a plurality of user equipment devices and/or transmit powers allocated to a plurality of user equipment devices.

In some example embodiments, the at least one memory and the computer program code may be further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform refraining from transmitting the access threshold to the plurality of access points other than the master access point.

In some example embodiments, the quality of the downlink signal received by the user equipment device from the primary access point may be higher than the quality of the downlink signal received by the user equipment device from at least one of the plurality of access points other than the primary access point.

In a fourth aspect, a method performed by a user equipment device in a cell-free communication system is disclosed. The method may comprise: establishing a connection with a primary access point in the cell-free communication system through a random access procedure; and receiving an access threshold from the master access point specific to the user equipment device.

In some example embodiments, the method may further include establishing a connection with at least one secondary access point in the cell-free communication system through a random access procedure according to the access threshold.

In some example embodiments, the quality of the downlink signal received from the primary access point may be higher than the quality of the downlink signal received from at least one access point other than the primary access point in a cell-free communication system.

In a fifth aspect, a method performed by a network device associated with an access point in a cell-free communication system is disclosed. The method may comprise: establishing a connection with a user equipment device in the cell-free communication system through a random access procedure; transmitting the quality of the uplink signal received from the user equipment device to a central processing unit in the cell-free communication system; receiving an access threshold specific to the user equipment device from the central processing unit; and transmitting the access threshold to the user equipment device.

In a sixth aspect, a method performed by a network device associated with a central processing unit in a cell-free communication system is disclosed. The method may comprise: receiving, from a plurality of access points in the cell-free communication system, the quality of uplink signals received by the respective access points from a plurality of user equipment devices in the cell-free communication system; determining an access threshold specific to a user equipment device of the plurality of user equipment devices based on a quality of the uplink signal; and transmitting the access threshold to a master access point of the user equipment device of the plurality of access points.

In some example embodiments, the access threshold may be determined further based on pilot sequences allocated for the plurality of user equipment devices and/or transmit powers allocated to the plurality of user equipment devices.

In some example embodiments, the method may further comprise suppressing access thresholds to the plurality of access points other than the master access point.

In some example embodiments, the quality of the downlink signal received by the user equipment device from the master access point may be higher than the quality of the downlink signal received by the user equipment device from at least one of the plurality of access points other than the master access point.

In a seventh aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus as a user equipment device in a cell-free communication system may include means for establishing a connection with a primary access point in the cell-free communication by a random access procedure, and means for receiving an access threshold from the primary access point specific to the user equipment device.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further include means for establishing a connection with at least one secondary access point in the cell-free communication system through a random access procedure according to the access threshold.

In an eighth aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus as a network device associated with an access point in a cell-free communication system comprises means for establishing a connection with user equipment devices in the cell-free communication system by means of a random access procedure, means for transmitting the quality of an uplink signal received from the user equipment to a central processing unit in the cell-free communication system, means for receiving an access threshold value dedicated to the user equipment from the central processing unit, and means for transmitting the access threshold value to the user equipment devices.

In a ninth aspect, an apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus as a network device associated with a central processing unit in a cell-free communication system comprises means for receiving from a plurality of access points in the cell-free communication system, a quality of an uplink signal received by each access point from a plurality of user equipment devices in the cell-free communication system, means for determining an access threshold specific to one of the plurality of user equipment devices based on the quality of the uplink signal, and means for transmitting the access threshold to a master access point of the user equipment device of the plurality of access points.

In some example embodiments, the apparatus may further comprise means for refraining from transmitting the access threshold to the plurality of access points other than the master access point.

In a tenth aspect, a computer readable medium is disclosed. The computer-readable medium may include instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus, which is a user equipment apparatus in a cell-free communication system, to perform: establishing a connection with a primary access point in the cell-free communication system through a random access procedure; and receiving an access threshold from the master access point specific to the user equipment device.

In some example embodiments, the computer-readable medium may further comprise instructions stored thereon for causing the apparatus to further perform establishing a connection with at least one secondary access point in the cell-free communication system through a random access procedure according to the access threshold.

In an eleventh aspect, a computer-readable medium is disclosed. The computer-readable medium may include instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus, which is a network device associated with an access point in a cell-free communication system, to perform: performing establishment of a connection with a user equipment device in the cell-free communication system through a random access procedure; transmitting the quality of the uplink signal received from the user equipment device to a central processing unit in the cell-free communication system; receiving an access threshold specific to the user equipment device from the central processing unit; and transmitting the access threshold to the user equipment device.

In a twelfth aspect, a computer-readable medium is disclosed. The computer-readable medium may include instructions stored thereon for causing an apparatus, which is a network device associated with a central processing unit in a cell-free communication system, to perform: receiving, from a plurality of access points in the non-cellular communication system, quality of uplink signals received by respective access points from a plurality of user equipment devices of the non-cellular communication system; determining an access threshold specific to a user equipment device of the plurality of user equipment devices based on a quality of the uplink signal; the access threshold is transmitted to a master access point of the user equipment device of the plurality of access points.

In some example embodiments, the computer-readable medium may further comprise instructions stored thereon for causing the apparatus to further perform refraining from transmitting the access threshold to the plurality of access points other than the master access point.

Other features and advantages of the various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure will be apparent from the following description of the particular embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the various exemplary embodiments of the disclosure.

Drawings

Some example embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Fig. 1 shows an exemplary sequence diagram for UE-AP association according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 2 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process for determining an access threshold specific to a UE device in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Fig. 3 shows a flowchart illustrating an example method for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 4 shows a flowchart illustrating an example method for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 5 shows a flowchart illustrating an example method of UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 6 shows a block diagram illustrating an example apparatus for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 7 shows a block diagram illustrating an example apparatus for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 8 shows a block diagram illustrating an example apparatus for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 9 shows a block diagram illustrating an example device for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 10 shows a block diagram illustrating an example device for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

Fig. 11 shows a block diagram illustrating an example device for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of the disclosure.

The same or similar reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or like elements. Repeated descriptions of the same elements will be omitted.

Detailed Description

Some example embodiments are described in detail below with reference to the drawings. The following description includes specific details for providing a thorough understanding of various concepts. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that these concepts may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known circuits, techniques, and components have been shown in block diagram form in order not to obscure the described concepts and features.

In a cell-free communication system, the distributed architecture may shorten the distance between the UE device and the serving AP, and thus may improve system performance by enhancing Received Signal Quality (RSQ). In addition, coordinated transmissions between APs may improve system performance by suppressing interference. In a cell-free communication system including a set of APs, a UE device may select to connect to at least one AP of the set of APs based on an access threshold (AccThr). In accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure, improved UE-AP association is provided for a cell-free communication system such that system performance may be improved in various metrics.

Fig. 1 shows an exemplary sequence diagram for UE-AP association according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Referring to fig. 1, UE device 110 may represent any one of a plurality of UE devices in a cell-free communication system. In a cell-free communication system, network device 120 and network device 130 are each associated with and may function as an AP. Network device 120 is associated with a master AP (PAP) serving UE apparatus 110, as will be explained later, and network device 130 is associated with an AP that represents any one of a plurality of APs in a cell-free communication system other than the PAP of UE apparatus 110. The network device 140 is associated with and may function as a CPU in a cell-free communication system.

The network device 120 and the network device 130, which may represent any AP in a cell-free communication system, periodically transmit a Downlink (DL) signal to the UE device 110, which may represent any UE device in the cell-free communication system. For example, network device 120 may transmit DL signal 122 to UE apparatus 110 and network device 130 may transmit DL signal 132 to UE apparatus 110. DL signal 122 and/or DL signal 132 may be, for example, a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), a cell-specific reference signal (CRS), or the like.

Upon receiving DL signals such as DL signal 122 and DL signal 132, UE device 110 may measure RSQ for each DL signal such as DL signal 122 and DL signal 132 in operation 112. The RSQ may be, for example, reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), SINR, etc. UE device 110 may then transmit Uplink (UL) signal 114 to a plurality of APs, such as APs associated with network equipment 120 and network equipment 130. UL signal 114 may be, for example, a preamble, a Sounding Reference Signal (SRS), or the like. On the AP side, the AP receives UL signals, such as UL signal 114, from various UE devices, such as UE device 110.

In operation 150, the UE apparatus 110 may establish a connection with the network device 120 through a Random Access (RA) procedure. In one embodiment, operation 150 may be performed prior to receiving AccThr. As described above, in a cell-free communication system, the network device 120 is associated with the PAP of the UE apparatus 110. In one embodiment, the quality of DL signals received by UE device 110 from the PAP is higher than the quality of DL signals received by UE device 110 from at least one AP other than the PAP in a cell-free communication system. For example, at UE apparatus 110, the RSQ of DL signal 122 from network device 120 is higher than the RSQ of DL signal 132 from network device 130. In operation 150, UE device 110 may select an AP with the highest RSQ of its DL signals from among the plurality of APs as the PAP to establish the connection.

On the AP side, multiple APs may measure RSQ of UL signals from UE device 110. For example, in operation 124, network device 120 may measure RSQ 126 of UL signal 114 and in operation 134, network device 130 may measure RSQ136 of UL signal 114. RSQ may be RSRP, SNR, SINR, for example. Network device 120 may then transmit the quality of UL signal 114 received from UE apparatus 110 to network device 140. For example, network device 120 may transmit RSQ 126 to network device 140. Because the AP receives UL signals from various UE devices, the AP may measure RSQ of UL signals from multiple UE devices. Thus, for example, network apparatus 120 may transmit RSQ of UL signals from multiple UE devices to network apparatus 140.

On the CPU side, the network apparatus 140 may receive from multiple APs the quality of UL signals received by the respective APs from multiple UE devices. Thus, based on these received RSQs, the network apparatus 140 may be aware of the PAP for each UE device. Alternatively or additionally, each UE device may notify the network apparatus 140 of the PAP serving the UE device.

In operation 142, the network apparatus 140 may determine AccThr dedicated to the UE device 110 based on the quality of the UL signal. Similarly, in operation 142, the network apparatus 140 may also determine AccThr specific to other UE devices of the plurality of UE devices.

An example of determining UE-specific AccThr, such as AccThr144,144, specific to UE device 110 is described below.

A cell-free massive MIMO uplink system may be assumed to include M APs and K UE devices. These AP and UE devices are equipped with a single antenna, respectively, and are randomly distributed over a large area. The AP is connected to the CPU of the system by providing the CPU with an error-free and unlimited capacity forward link. Each UE device accesses several nearby APs by measuring RSQ, ordering RSQ associated with the plurality of APs and the UE device in descending order, and selecting a set of APs, wherein the ratio of the sum of RSQ of the set of APs to the sum of RSQ of the plurality of APs is greater than AccThr. Assuming the system employs time domain duplexing, the coherence interval (coherence interval) is divided into two phases: uplink channel estimation and downlink data transmission.

The channel model between AP m and UE device k can be expressed as:

Where β _mk is large scale fading and h _mk is small scale fading, m=1, 2,.. M, K =1, 2,..k. Let h _mk be an independent and co-distributed CN (0, 1) random variable.

Since β _mk varies slower than h _mk over several consecutive coherence intervals, β _mk can be considered a piecewise constant (PIECE WISE constant) and can be assumed to be a known variable.

For example, suppose A _k ε [0,1] is AccThr that is dedicated to UE device k. The network apparatus 140 may initialize AccThre, vector a= [ a ₁,A₂,...A_K]^T, dedicated to each UE device, to a set of predefined values, and may determine vector a= [ a ₁,A₂,...A_K]^T to match system performance at various metrics. For example, the metric may be total UL/DL throughput maximization, energy efficiency maximization, UE quality of service (QoS) maximization, etc. To achieve the system performance metric, the network device 140 may refine the value of vector a= [ a ₁,A₂,...A_K]^T through AccThr allocation operations until the system performance metric converges.

AccThr the allocation operation may be performed based on a particle swarm optimization algorithm (e.g., as described in "Particle swarm optimization",Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Neural Networks,Perth,WA,1995;1942–1948. of J.Kennedy, R.Eberhart.), a genetic algorithm (e.g., as described in "IEE Colloquium on'Genetic Algorithms for Control Systems Engineering'(Digest No.1993/130),EE Colloquium on Genetic Algorithms for Control Systems Engineering,1993,pp.0_1), a deep learning algorithm (e.g., li Deng; dong Yu, DEEP LEARNING: methods and Applications, now described in 2014), and so forth.

AccThr for different UE devices may be different. The determined AccThr is specific to the UE device 110 and may be dynamically adjusted based on RSQ.

In one embodiment, accThr 144 dedicated to UE device 110 may be determined further based on pilot sequences allocated for multiple UE devices and/or transmit powers allocated to multiple UE devices.

Fig. 2 shows a flowchart illustrating an example process for determining AccThr specific to a UE device, in accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure. This example process may be performed by network device 140.

Referring to fig. 2, in operation 210, the network device 140 may initialize AccThr to a set of predefined values.

In operation 220, the network apparatus 140 may perform pilot sequence allocation for a plurality of UE devices. Pilot sequence allocation operations may be performed based on Graph Coloring (GC) algorithms (e.g., described in "Graph Coloring Based Pilot Assignment for Cell-Free Massive MIMO Systems",IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, volumes 69,8, 9180-9184 pages, 8, 2020, doi:10.1109/tvt.2020.3000496 of H.Liu, J.Zhang, S.Jin and b.ai), tabu search algorithms (e.g., described in "Tabu-Search-Based Pilot Assignment for Cell-Free Massive MIMO Systems",IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, volumes 69,2, 2286-2290 pages, 2 months, 2020, doi:10.1109/tvt.2019.2956217 of H.Liu, J.Zhang, X.Zhang, A.Kurniawan, T.Juhana and b.ai), hungarian algorithms (e.g., described in "Pilot Assignment in Cell-Free Massive MIMO Based on the Hungarian Algorithm",IEEE Wireless Communications Letters, volumes 10,1, 34-37 pages, 2021, doi:10.1109/lwc.2020.3020003 of s.buzzi, c.d' Andrea, m.fresia, y. -p.zhang and s.feng.), and the like.

In operation 230, the network apparatus 140 may perform transmit power allocation for a plurality of UE devices. The transmit power allocation operation may be performed based on a max-min algorithm (e.g., described in H.Q.Ngo, A.Ashikhmin, H.Yang, E.G.Larsson and t.l. marzetta, "Cell-FREE MASSIVE MIMO versus SMALL CELLS", IEEE trans. Wire communication count, volume 16,3, pages 1834-1850, month 3 of 2017), a throughput maximization algorithm (described in s.buzzi, c.d 'Andrea, a.zapone, and C.D' Elia, volume "User-Centric 5G Cellular Networks:Resource Allocation and Comparison With the Cell-Free Massive MIMO Approach",IEEE Transactions on Wireless Communications,, pages 19,2, 1250-1264, month 2 of 2020, doi: 10.1109/twc.2019.2952117).

In operation 240, the network device 140 may obtain initial system performance.

In operation 250, the network device 140 may perform AccThr the allocation based on, for example, a particle swarm optimization algorithm, a genetic algorithm, a deep learning algorithm, or the like.

Then, in operation 260, the network device 140 may perform pilot sequence allocation based on, for example, a GC algorithm, a tabu search algorithm, a hungarian algorithm, or the like. In operation 270, the network device 140 may perform transmit power allocation based on, for example, a max-min algorithm, a throughput maximization algorithm, and the like.

In operation 280, the network device 140 may obtain updated system performance. In operation 290, the network device 140 may determine whether the system performance converges. In the event that system performance does not converge ("no" branch of operation 290), network device 140 may repeat the process of self-operation 250. In the event that system performance converges ("yes" branch of operation 290), network apparatus 140 may determine current AccThr as AccThr dedicated to each UE device.

Thus, the determined AccThr is specific to the UE device 110 and may be dynamically adjusted based on RSQ, pilot sequence allocation, and/or transmit power allocation.

Referring back to fig. 1, network device 140 may transmit AccThr to network device 120. In one embodiment, network device 140 may refrain from transmitting AccThr to a plurality of APs other than PAP. Accordingly, overhead may be saved compared to the case where the network apparatus 140 transmits AccThr to multiple UE devices.

Upon receiving AccThr144, network apparatus 120 may transmit AccThr144 to UE device 110. Network device 120 need not transmit AccThr to UE device other than UE device 110 and the AP other than network device 120 need not transmit AccThr144 to UE device 110, thus saving overhead.

Upon receipt AccThr to 144, in operation 160, the UE device 110 may establish a connection with at least one Secondary AP (SAP) in a cell-free communication system through an RA procedure according to AccThr. For example, UE device 110 may rank RSQs associated with multiple APs and UE devices in descending order and select a set of APs having a ratio of the sum of RSQs of the set of APs to the sum of RSQs of the multiple APs greater than AccThr.

Is the RSQ vector of UE device k ordered in descending order. When (when)

S _k = {1,2,..n } may be defined as the set of serving APs for UE device k.

Assuming that the network apparatus 130 is associated with an AP belonging to S _k = {1,2,..n }, the network apparatus 130 may be one of at least one SAP for the UE device, and the UE device 110 may establish a connection with the network apparatus 130 in operation 160.

Fig. 3 shows a flowchart illustrating an example method 300 for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The example method 300 may be performed, for example, at a UE device in a cell-free communication system, such as the UE device 110.

Referring to fig. 3, an example method 300 may include: an operation 310 of establishing a connection with a PAP in a cell-free communication system through an RA procedure; and an operation 320 of receiving AccThr from the PAP that is specific to the UE device.

Details of operation 310 have been described in the above description of at least operation 150, and repeated descriptions thereof are omitted here.

Details of operation 320 have been described in the above description regarding at least AccThr, and repeated descriptions thereof are omitted herein.

In one embodiment, the example method 300 may further include an operation of establishing a connection with at least one SAP in a cell-free communication system through an RA procedure according to AccThr. Further details have been described above at least in the description of operation 160, and repeated descriptions thereof are omitted here.

In one embodiment, the quality of the DL signal received from the PAP may be higher than the quality of the downlink signal received from at least one AP other than the PAP in a cell-free communication system. Further details have been described in the above description of at least operation 112 and network device 120, and repeated descriptions thereof are omitted here.

Fig. 4 shows a flowchart illustrating an example method 400 for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. The example method 400 may be performed, for example, at a network device in a cell-free communication system, such as the network device 120.

Referring to fig. 4, an example method 400 may include: an operation 410 of establishing a connection with a UE device in a cell-free communication system through an RA procedure; operation 420 transmits the quality of the UL signal received from the UE device to a CPU in the cell-free communication system; operation 430, receiving AccThr specific to the UE device from the CPU; and an operation 440 of transmitting AccThr to the UE device.

Details of operation 410 have been described in the above description of at least operation 150, and a repeated description thereof is omitted herein.

Details of operation 420 have been described in the above description regarding at least RSQ 126, and repeated descriptions thereof are omitted herein.

Details of operation 430 have been described above in the description of at least AccThr, and repeated descriptions thereof are omitted herein.

Details of operation 440 have been described above in the description of at least AccThr, and repeated descriptions thereof are omitted herein.

Fig. 5 shows a flowchart illustrating an example method 500 for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of this disclosure. The example method 500 may be performed, for example, at a network device in a cell-free communication system, such as the network device 140.

Referring to fig. 5, an example method 500 may include: operation 510 receiving, from a plurality of APs in a non-cellular communication system, quality of UL signals received by respective APs from a plurality of UE devices in the non-cellular communication system; operation 520, determining AccThr specific to a UE device of the plurality of UE devices based on a quality of the uplink signal; and an operation 530 of transmitting AccThr a PAP to a UE device in the plurality of APs.

Details of operation 510 have been described above in the description of at least RSQ 126 and RSQ 136, and repeated descriptions thereof are omitted here.

Details of operation 420 have been described in the above description of at least operation 142, and a repeated description thereof is omitted herein.

In one embodiment, accThr may be determined further based on pilot sequences allocated for the plurality of UE devices and/or transmit powers allocated to the plurality of UE devices. Further details have been described above at least in the description of operation 142, and repeated descriptions thereof are omitted here.

In one embodiment, example method 500 may further include suppressing AccThr transmissions to a plurality of APs other than PAP. Further details have been described in the above description regarding at least AccThr, and repeated descriptions thereof are omitted herein.

In one embodiment, the quality of the DL signal received by the UE device from the PAP may be higher than the quality of the DL signal received by the UE device from at least one of the plurality of APs other than the PAP. Further details have been described in the above description of at least operation 112 and network device 120, and repeated descriptions thereof are omitted here.

Fig. 6 shows a block diagram illustrating an example apparatus 600 for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. For example, the apparatus may be at least a portion of a UE apparatus such as UE apparatus 110 in the above examples.

As shown in fig. 6, the example apparatus 600 may include at least one processor 610 and at least one memory 620 that may include computer program code 630. The at least one memory 620 and the computer program code 630 may be configured to, with the at least one processor 610, cause the apparatus 600 to perform at least the example method 300 described above.

In various example embodiments, the at least one processor 610 in the example apparatus 600 may include, but is not limited to, at least one hardware processor including at least one microprocessor such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a portion of at least one hardware processor, and any other suitable special purpose processor, such as a special purpose processor developed based on, for example, field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). In addition, the at least one processor 610 may also include at least one other circuit or element not shown in fig. 6.

In various example embodiments, the at least one memory 620 in the example apparatus 600 may include various forms of at least one storage medium, such as volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory. Volatile memory can include, for example, but is not limited to, random Access Memory (RAM), cache memory, and the like. The non-volatile memory may include, but is not limited to, for example, read Only Memory (ROM), hard disk, flash memory, and the like. Furthermore, at least memory 620 may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination of the above.

Furthermore, in various example embodiments, the example apparatus 600 may also include at least one other circuit, element, and interface, such as at least one I/O interface, at least one antenna element, and so forth.

In various example embodiments, the circuits, components, elements, and interfaces in the example apparatus 600 including the at least one processor 610 and the at least one memory 620 may be coupled together in any suitable manner, e.g., electrically, magnetically, optically, electromagnetically, etc., via any suitable connection, including, but not limited to, buses, crossbars, wires, and/or wireless lines.

It should be appreciated that the structure of the apparatus on the UE device 110 side is not limited to the example apparatus 600 described above.

Fig. 7 shows a block diagram illustrating an example apparatus 700 for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. For example, the apparatus may be at least a portion of a network device, such as network device 120 in the above examples.

As shown in fig. 7, the example apparatus 700 may include at least one processor 710 and at least one memory 720 that may include computer program code 730. The at least one memory 720 and the computer program code 730 may be configured to, with the at least one processor 710, cause the apparatus 700 to perform at least the example method 400 described above.

In various example embodiments, the at least one processor 710 in the example apparatus 700 may include, but is not limited to, at least one hardware processor including at least one microprocessor such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a portion of the at least one hardware processor, and any other suitable special purpose processor such as, for example, a special purpose processor developed based on, for example, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). In addition, the at least one processor 710 may also include at least one other circuit or element not shown in fig. 7.

In various example embodiments, the at least one memory 720 in the example apparatus 700 may include various forms of at least one storage medium, such as volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory. Volatile memory can include, for example, but is not limited to, random Access Memory (RAM), cache memory, and the like. The non-volatile memory may include, but is not limited to, for example, read Only Memory (ROM), hard disk, flash memory, and the like. Furthermore, at least memory 720 may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination of the preceding.

Furthermore, in various example embodiments, the example apparatus 700 may further include at least one other circuit, element, and interface, such as at least one I/O interface, at least one antenna element, and the like.

In various example embodiments, the circuits, components, elements, and interfaces in the example apparatus 700 including the at least one processor 710 and the at least one memory 720 may be coupled together via any suitable connection including, but not limited to, buses, crossbars, wires, and/or wireless lines, in any suitable manner including, for example, electrical, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, etc.

It should be appreciated that the structure of the apparatus on the network device 120 side is not limited to the example device 700 described above.

Fig. 8 shows a block diagram illustrating an example apparatus 800 for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. For example, the apparatus may be at least a portion of a network device, such as network device 140 in the examples described above.

As shown in fig. 8, the example apparatus 800 may include at least one processor 810 and at least one memory 820 that may include computer program code 830. The at least one memory 820 and the computer program code 830 may be configured to, with the at least one processor 810, cause the apparatus 800 to perform at least the example method 500 described above.

In various example embodiments, the at least one processor 810 in the example apparatus 800 may include, but is not limited to, at least one hardware processor including at least one microprocessor such as a Central Processing Unit (CPU), a portion of at least one hardware processor, and any other suitable special purpose processor such as a special purpose processor developed based on, for example, a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC). In addition, the at least one processor 810 may also include at least one other circuit or element not shown in fig. 8.

In various example embodiments, the at least one memory 820 in the example apparatus 800 may include various forms of at least one storage medium, such as volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory. Volatile memory can include, for example, but is not limited to, random Access Memory (RAM), cache memory, and the like. The non-volatile memory may include, but is not limited to, for example, read Only Memory (ROM), hard disk, flash memory, and the like. Furthermore, at least memory 820 may include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination of the preceding.

Furthermore, in various example embodiments, the example apparatus 800 may also include at least one other circuit, element, and interface, such as at least one I/O interface, at least one antenna element, and so forth.

In various example embodiments, the circuits, components, elements, and interfaces in the example apparatus 800 including the at least one processor 810 and the at least one memory 820 may be coupled together in any suitable manner, e.g., electrically, magnetically, optically, electromagnetically, etc., via any suitable connection, including, but not limited to, buses, crossbars, wiring, and/or wireless links.

It should be appreciated that the structure of the apparatus on the network device 140 side is not limited to the example apparatus 800 described above.

Fig. 9 shows a block diagram illustrating an example device 900 for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. For example, the apparatus may be at least a portion of a UE device such as UE device 110 in the above examples.

As shown in fig. 9, the example apparatus 900 may include means 910 for performing operation 310 of the example method 300, and means 920 for performing operation 320 of the example method 300. In one or more other example embodiments, at least one I/O interface, at least one antenna element, etc. may also be included in the example device 900.

In some example embodiments, examples of the apparatus in the example device 900 may include circuitry. For example, an example of apparatus 910 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 310 of example method 300, and an example of apparatus 920 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 320 of example method 300. In some example embodiments, examples of the apparatus may also include software modules and any other suitable functional entities.

Fig. 10 shows a block diagram illustrating an example device 1000 for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. For example, the device may be at least a portion of a network device such as network device 120 in the examples described above.

As shown in fig. 10, the example apparatus 1000 may include means 1010 for performing operation 410 of the example method 400, means 1020 for performing operation 420 of the example method 400, means 1030 for performing operation 430 of the example method 400, and means 1040 for performing operation 440 of the example method 400. In one or more other example embodiments, at least one I/O interface, at least one antenna element, etc. may also be included in the example device 1000.

In some example embodiments, examples of the apparatus in the example device 1000 may include circuitry. For example, an example of apparatus 1010 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 410 of example method 400, an example of apparatus 1020 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 420 of example method 400, an example of apparatus 1030 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 430 of example method 400, and an example of apparatus 1040 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 440 of example method 400. In some example embodiments, examples of the apparatus may also include software modules and any other suitable functional entities.

Fig. 11 shows a block diagram illustrating an example device 1100 for UE-AP association, according to an embodiment of the disclosure. For example, the device may be at least a portion of a network device such as network device 140 in the examples described above.

As shown in fig. 11, the example apparatus 1100 may include means 1110 for performing operation 510 of the example method 500, means 1120 for performing operation 520 of the example method 500, and means 1130 for performing operation 530 of the example method 500. In one or more other example embodiments, at least one I/O interface, at least one antenna element, etc. may also be included in the example device 1100.

In some example embodiments, examples of the apparatus in the example device 1100 may include circuitry. For example, an example of apparatus 1110 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 510 of example method 500, an example of apparatus 1120 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 520 of example method 500, and an example of apparatus 1130 may include circuitry configured to perform operation 530 of example method 500. In some example embodiments, examples of the apparatus may also include software modules and any other suitable functional entities.

The term "circuitry" throughout this disclosure may refer to one or more or all of the following: (a) Hardware-only circuit implementations (such as implementations in analog and/or digital circuits only); (b) A combination of hardware circuitry and software, such as (i) a combination of analog and/or digital hardware circuitry and software/firmware, and (ii) a hardware processor and software (including digital signal processors), software, and any portion of memory, working together to cause a device, such as a mobile phone or server, to perform various functions, if applicable; and (c) hardware circuitry and/or a processor, such as a microprocessor or a portion of a microprocessor, that requires software (e.g., firmware) to operate, but when software is not required to operate, the software may not be present. This definition of circuit applies to one or all uses of that term in this disclosure, including in any claims. As a further example, as used in this disclosure, the term circuit also encompasses embodiments of only a hardware circuit or processor (or processors) or a portion of a hardware circuit or processor and its (or their) accompanying software and/or firmware. The term circuitry also encompasses, for example and if applicable to the element in question, a baseband integrated circuit or processor integrated circuit for a mobile device or a similar integrated circuit in a server, a cellular network device, or other computing or network device.

Another example embodiment may relate to computer program code or instructions that may cause an apparatus to perform at least the various methods described above. Another example embodiment may relate to a computer-readable medium having such computer program code or instructions stored thereon. In some example embodiments, such computer-readable media may include at least one storage medium in various forms, such as volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory. Volatile memory can include, for example, but is not limited to, RAM, cache, and the like. The non-volatile memory may include, but is not limited to, ROM, hard disk, flash memory, etc. The non-volatile memory may also include, but is not limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any combination of the preceding.

Throughout the specification and claims, the words "comprise," "include," and the like are to be construed in an inclusive rather than exclusive or exhaustive sense unless the context clearly requires otherwise; that is, in the sense of "including but not limited to". As generally used herein, the term "coupled" refers to two or more elements that may be connected directly, or through one or more intervening elements. Also, as generally used herein, the term "connected" refers to two or more elements that may be connected directly or through one or more intervening elements. Furthermore, the words "herein," "above," "below," and words of similar import, as used in this application, shall refer to this application as a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. Where the context allows, words in the specification using the singular or plural number may also include the plural or singular number, respectively. The term "or" refers to a list of two or more items, which term encompasses all of the following interpretations of the term: any item in the list, all items in the list, and any combination of items in the list.

Furthermore, conditional language such as "may," "for example," "such as," etc., as used herein is generally intended to convey that certain embodiments include, but other embodiments do not include, certain features, elements, and/or states unless specifically stated otherwise or otherwise understood in the context of use. Thus, such conditional language does not generally imply that features, elements and/or states are in any way required by one or more embodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logic for deciding, with or without author input or prompting, whether these features, elements or states are included or are to be performed in any particular embodiment.

As used herein, the term "determine/determine" (and grammatical variants thereof) may include at least the following: calculation, operation, processing, derivation, measurement, investigation, lookup (e.g., in a table, database, or other data structure), validation, and the like. Further, "determining" may include receiving (e.g., receiving information), accessing (e.g., accessing data in memory), retrieving, and so forth. Further, "determining/determining" may include parsing, selecting, establishing, and the like.

While some embodiments have been described, they are presented by way of example and are not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure. Indeed, the apparatus, methods, and systems described herein may be embodied in a variety of other forms; furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, and changes in the form of the methods and systems described herein may be made without departing from the spirit of the disclosure. For example, while blocks are presented in a given arrangement, alternative embodiments may utilize different components and/or circuit topologies to perform similar functions, and some blocks may be deleted, moved, added, subdivided, combined, and/or modified. At least one of these blocks may be implemented in a variety of different ways. The order of the blocks may also be changed. Any suitable combination of the elements and acts of some of the above embodiments can be combined to provide further embodiments. The accompanying claims and their equivalents are intended to cover such forms or modifications as would fall within the scope and spirit of the disclosure. Abbreviations used in the specification and/or drawings are defined as follows:

AccThr access threshold

AP access point

CPU central processing unit

CRS cell-specific reference signals

DL downlink

GC diagram coloring

MIMO multiple input multiple output

RSQ received signal quality

RSRP reference signal received power

PAP master AP

PBCH physical broadcast channel

QoS quality of service

RA random access

SAP assist AP

SINR signal to interference plus noise ratio

SNR signal to noise ratio

SRS sounding reference signal

UE user equipment

UL uplink

Claims

1. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

At least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus, as a user equipment apparatus in a cell-free communication system, to perform:

Establishing a connection with a primary access point in the cell-free communication system through a random access procedure; and

An access threshold specific to the user equipment device is received from the master access point.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

and establishing connection with at least one auxiliary access point in the cell-free communication system through a random access process according to the access threshold.

3. The apparatus of claim 1or 2, wherein the quality of the downlink signal received from the primary access point is higher than the quality of the downlink signal received from at least one access point other than the primary access point in the cell-free communication system.

4. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

At least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus, as a network device associated with an access point in a cell-less communication system, to perform:

Establishing a connection with a user equipment device in the cell-free communication system through a random access procedure;

transmitting the quality of an uplink signal received from the user equipment device to a central processing unit in the cell-free communication system;

receiving an access threshold specific to the user equipment device from the central processing unit; and

The access threshold is transmitted to the user equipment device.

5. An apparatus, comprising:

at least one processor; and

At least one memory including computer program code, the at least one memory and the computer program code configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus, as a network device associated with a central processing unit in a cell-free communication system, to perform:

Receiving, from a plurality of access points in the non-cellular communication system, quality of uplink signals received by respective access points from a plurality of user equipment devices of the non-cellular communication system;

determining an access threshold specific to a user equipment device of the plurality of user equipment devices based on a quality of the uplink signal; and

The access threshold is transmitted to a master access point of the user equipment device of the plurality of access points.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the access threshold is determined further based on pilot sequences allocated for the plurality of user equipment devices and/or transmit powers allocated to the plurality of user equipment devices.

7. The apparatus of claim 5 or 6, wherein the at least one memory and the computer program code are further configured to, with the at least one processor, cause the apparatus to further perform:

Suppressing transmission of the access threshold to the plurality of access points other than the master access point.

8. The apparatus of any of claims 5-7, wherein a quality of a downlink signal received by the user equipment apparatus from the master access point is higher than a quality of a downlink signal received by the user equipment apparatus from at least one of the plurality of access points other than the master access point.

9. A method performed by a user equipment device in a cell-free communication system, comprising:

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the quality of the downlink signal received from the primary access point is higher than the quality of the downlink signal received from at least one access point other than the primary access point in the cell-free communication system.

12. A method performed by a network device associated with an access point in a cell-free communication system, comprising:

Transmitting the quality of the uplink signal received from the user equipment device to a central processing unit in the cell-free communication system;

The access threshold is transmitted to the user equipment device.

13. A method performed by a network device associated with a central processing unit in a cell-free communication system, comprising:

receiving, from a plurality of access points in the non-cellular communication system, the quality of uplink signals received by the respective access points from a plurality of user equipment devices in the non-cellular communication system;

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the access threshold is determined further based on pilot sequences allocated for the plurality of user equipment devices and/or transmit powers allocated to the plurality of user equipment devices.

15. The method of claim 13 or 14, further comprising:

16. The method of any of claims 13 to 15, wherein a quality of a downlink signal received by the user equipment device from the master access point is higher than a quality of a downlink signal received by the user equipment device from at least one of the plurality of access points other than the master access point.

17. An apparatus as a user equipment device in a cell-free communication system, comprising:

Means for establishing a connection with a primary access point in the cell-free communication system by means of a random access procedure; and

Means for receiving an access threshold from the master access point specific to the user equipment device.

18. An apparatus as a network device associated with an access point in a cell-free communication system, comprising:

means for establishing a connection with a user equipment device in the cell-free communication system by means of a random access procedure;

Means for transmitting the quality of an uplink signal received from the user equipment device to a central processing unit in the cell-free communication system;

Means for receiving an access threshold from the central processing unit specific to the user equipment device; and

Means for transmitting the access threshold to the user equipment device.

19. An apparatus as a network device associated with a central processing unit in a cell-free communication system, comprising:

Means for receiving, from a plurality of access points in the non-cellular communication system, quality of uplink signals received by respective access points from a plurality of user equipment devices of the non-cellular communication system;

Means for determining an access threshold specific to a user equipment device of the plurality of user equipment devices based on a quality of the uplink signal; and

Means for transmitting the access threshold to a master access point of the user equipment device of the plurality of access points.

20. A computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus, which is a user equipment apparatus in a cell-free communication system, to perform the operations of:

21. A computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus, which is a network device associated with an access point in a cell-free communication system, to perform operations comprising:

The access threshold is transmitted to the user equipment device.

22. A computer readable medium comprising program instructions for causing an apparatus, which is a network device associated with a central processing unit in a cell-free communication system, to perform operations comprising: