EP3925299A1 - Équilibrage de charge de mobilité amélioré (mlb) accompagné d'un échange de charge basé sur un faisceau - Google Patents

Équilibrage de charge de mobilité amélioré (mlb) accompagné d'un échange de charge basé sur un faisceau

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Publication number
EP3925299A1
EP3925299A1 EP20703318.4A EP20703318A EP3925299A1 EP 3925299 A1 EP3925299 A1 EP 3925299A1 EP 20703318 A EP20703318 A EP 20703318A EP 3925299 A1 EP3925299 A1 EP 3925299A1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
resource information
node
network
beams
target
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Withdrawn
Application number
EP20703318.4A
Other languages
German (de)
English (en)
Inventor
Icaro L. J. Da Silva
Angelo Centonza
Pablo SOLDATI
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Original Assignee
Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB filed Critical Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Publication of EP3925299A1 publication Critical patent/EP3925299A1/fr
Withdrawn legal-status Critical Current

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W36/00—Hand-off or reselection arrangements
    • H04W36/16—Performing reselection for specific purposes
    • H04W36/22—Performing reselection for specific purposes for handling the traffic
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L47/00—Traffic control in data switching networks
    • H04L47/10—Flow control; Congestion control
    • H04L47/12—Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion
    • H04L47/125—Avoiding congestion; Recovering from congestion by balancing the load, e.g. traffic engineering
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W40/00—Communication routing or communication path finding
    • H04W40/02—Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing
    • H04W40/04—Communication route or path selection, e.g. power-based or shortest path routing based on wireless node resources
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W8/00—Network data management
    • H04W8/02—Processing of mobility data, e.g. registration information at HLR [Home Location Register] or VLR [Visitor Location Register]; Transfer of mobility data, e.g. between HLR, VLR or external networks
    • H04W8/04—Registration at HLR or HSS [Home Subscriber Server]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W88/00—Devices specially adapted for wireless communication networks, e.g. terminals, base stations or access point devices
    • H04W88/08—Access point devices

Definitions

  • the present application relates generally to the field of wireless communications, and more specifically to devices, methods, and computer-readable media that facilitate, enable, and/or improve mobility load balancing (MLB) between beams in a coverage area of a radio access network (RAN).
  • MLB mobility load balancing
  • LTE Long-Term Evolution
  • 4G fourth-generation
  • E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN
  • SAE System Architecture Evolution
  • EPC Evolved Packet Core
  • LTE continues to evolve through subsequent releases that are developed according to standards-setting processes with 3 GPP and its working groups (WGs), including the Radio Access Network (RAN) WG, and sub-working groups (e.g, RANI, RAN2, etc.).
  • LTE Release 10 supports bandwidths larger than 20 MHz.
  • One important requirement on Rel-10 is to assure backward compatibility with LTE Release-8.
  • a wideband LTE Rel-10 carrier e.g, wider than 20 MHz
  • Each such carrier can be referred to as a Component Carrier (CC).
  • CC Component Carrier
  • legacy terminals can be scheduled in all parts of the wideband LTE Rel-10 carrier.
  • CA Carrier Aggregation
  • LTE Rel-11 One of the enhancements in LTE Rel-11 is an enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (ePDCCH), which has the goals of increasing capacity and improving spatial reuse of control channel resources, improving inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC), and supporting antenna beamforming and/or transmit diversity for control channel.
  • ePDCCH enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel
  • LTE Rel-12 introduced dual connectivity (DC) whereby a UE can be connected to two network nodes simultaneously, thereby improving connection robustness and/or capacity.
  • DC dual connectivity
  • E-UTRAN 100 comprises one or more evolved Node B’s (eNB), such as eNBs 105, 110, and 115, and one or more user equipment (UE), such as UE 120.
  • eNB evolved Node B
  • UE user equipment
  • “user equipment” or“UE” means any wireless communication device (e.g ., smartphone or computing device) that is capable of communicating with 3GPP- standard-compliant network equipment, including E-UTRAN as well as UTRAN and/or GERAN, as the third- (“3G”) and second-generation (“2G”) 3 GPP radio access networks are commonly known.
  • 3G third-
  • 2G second-generation
  • E-UTRAN 100 is responsible for all radio-related functions in the network, including radio bearer control, radio admission control, radio mobility control, scheduling, and dynamic allocation of resources to UEs in uplink and downlink, as well as security of the communications with the UE. These functions reside in the eNBs, such as eNBs 105, 110, and 1 15.
  • the eNBs in the E-UTRAN communicate with each other via the XI interface, as shown in Figure 1.
  • the eNBs also are responsible for the E-UTRAN interface to the EPC 130, specifically the SI interface to the Mobility Management Entity (MME) and the Serving Gateway (SGW), shown collectively as MME/S-GWs 134 and 138 in Figure 1.
  • MME Mobility Management Entity
  • SGW Serving Gateway
  • the MME/S-GW handles both the overall control of the UE and data flow between the UE and the rest of the EPC. More specifically, the MME processes the signaling (e.g., control plane) protocols between the UE and the EPC, which are known as the Non- Access Stratum (NAS) protocols.
  • the S-GW handles all Internet Protocol (IP) data packets (e.g., data or user plane) between the UE and the EPC, and serves as the local mobility anchor for the data bearers when the UE moves between eNBs, such as eNBs 105, 110, and 115.
  • EPC 130 can also include a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 131, which manages user- and subscriber-related information. HSS 131 can also provide support functions in mobility management, call and session setup, user authentication and access authorization. The functions of HSS 131 can be related to the functions of legacy Home Location Register (HLR) and Authentication Centre (AuC) functions or operations.
  • HLR Home Location Register
  • AuC
  • HSS 131 can communicate with a user data repository (UDR) - labelled EPC-UDR 135 in Figure 1 - via a Ud interface.
  • the EPC-UDR 135 can store user credentials after they have been encrypted by AuC algorithms. These algorithms are not standardized (i.e., vendor-specific), such that encrypted credentials stored in EPC-UDR 135 are inaccessible by any other vendor than the vendor of HSS 131.
  • FIG. 2A shows a high-level block diagram of an exemplary LTE architecture in terms of its constituent entities - UE, E-UTRAN, and EPC - and high-level functional division into the Access Stratum (AS) and the Non-Access Stratum (NAS).
  • Figure 2A also illustrates two particular interface points, namely Uu (UE/E-UTRAN Radio Interface) and SI (E-UTRAN/EPC interface), each using a specific set of protocols, i.e., Radio Protocols and SI Protocols.
  • each of the protocol sets can be further segmented into user plane and control plane protocol functionality.
  • the user and control planes are also referred to as U-plane and C-plane, respectively.
  • the U- plane carries user information (e.g ., data packets) while the C-plane carries control information between UE and E-UTRAN.
  • FIG. 2B illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary C-plane protocol stack between a UE, an eNB, and an MME.
  • the exemplary protocol stack includes Physical (PHY), Medium Access Control (MAC), Radio Link Control (RLC), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), and Radio Resource Control (RRC) layers between the UE and eNB.
  • the PHY layer is concerned with how and what characteristics are used to transfer data over transport channels on the LTE radio interface.
  • the MAC layer provides data transfer services on logical channels, maps logical channels to PHY transport channels, and reallocates PHY resources to support these services.
  • the RLC layer provides error detection and/or correction, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly, reordering of data transferred to or from the upper layers.
  • the PHY, MAC, and RLC layers perform identical functions for both the U- plane and the C-plane.
  • the PDCP layer provides ciphering/deciphering and integrity protection for both U-plane and C-plane, as well as other functions for the U-plane such as header compression.
  • the exemplary protocol stack also includes non-access stratum (NAS) signaling between the UE and the MME.
  • Figure 2C shows a block diagram of an exemplary LTE radio interface protocol architecture from the perspective of the PHY layer.
  • the interfaces between the various layers are provided by Service Access Points (SAPs), indicated by the ovals in Figure 2C.
  • SAPs Service Access Points
  • the PHY layer interfaces with the MAC and RRC protocol layers described above.
  • the PHY, MAC, and RRC are also referred to as Layers 1-3, respectively, in the figure.
  • the MAC provides different logical channels to the RLC protocol layer (also described above), characterized by the type of information transferred, whereas the PHY provides a transport channel to the MAC, characterized by how the information is transferred over the radio interface.
  • the PHY performs various functions including error detection and correction; rate-matching and mapping of the coded transport channel onto physical channels; power weighting, modulation, and demodulation of physical channels; transmit diversity; and beamforming multiple input multiple output (MIMO) antenna processing.
  • the PHY layer also receives control information (e.g ., commands) from RRC and provides various information to RRC, such as radio measurements.
  • the RRC layer controls communications between a UE and an eNB at the radio interface, as well as the mobility of a UE between cells in the E-UTRAN.
  • a UE After a UE is powered ON it will be in the RRC__IDLE state until an RRC connection is established with the network, at which time the UE will transition to RRC CONNECTED state (e.g., where data transfer can occur).
  • the UE returns to RRC IDLE after the connection with the network is released.
  • RRC IDLE state the UE’s radio is active on a discontinuous reception (DRX) schedule configured by upper layers.
  • DRX discontinuous reception
  • an RRC IDLE UE receives system information (SI) broadcast by a serving cell, performs measurements of neighbor cells to support cell reselection, and monitors a paging channel on PDCCH for pages from the EPC via eNB.
  • SI system information
  • An RRC IDLE UE is known in the EPC and has an assigned IP address, but is not known to the serving eNB (e.g, there is no stored context).
  • a physical channel corresponds a set of resource elements carrying information that originates from higher layers.
  • Downlink (i.e., eNB to UE) physical channels provided by the LTE PHY include Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH), Physical Multicast Channel (PMCH), Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH), Relay Physical Downlink Control Channel (R-PDCCH), Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), Physical Control Format Indicator Channel (PCFICH), and Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel (PHICH).
  • PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel
  • PMCH Physical Multicast Channel
  • PCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel
  • R-PDCCH Relay Physical Downlink Control Channel
  • PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel
  • PCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator Channel
  • PHICH Physical Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel
  • the LTE PHY downlink includes various reference signals, synchronization signals, and discovery signals.
  • PBCH carries the basic system information, required by the UE to access the network.
  • PDSCH is the main physical channel used for unicast DL data transmission, but also for transmission of RAR (random access response), certain system information blocks, and paging information.
  • PHICH carries HARQ feedback (e.g ., ACK/NAK) for UL transmissions by the UEs.
  • PDCCH carries DL scheduling assignments (e.g., for PDSCH), UL resource grants (e.g, for PUSCH), channel quality feedback (e.g, CSI) for the UL channel, and other control information.
  • Uplink (i.e., UE to eNB) physical channels provided by the LTE PHY include Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH), Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH), and Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH).
  • PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel
  • PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel
  • PRACH Physical Random Access Channel
  • the LTE PHY uplink includes various reference signals including demodulation reference signals (DM-RS), which are transmitted to aid the eNB in the reception of an associated PUCCH or PUSCH; and sounding reference signals (SRS), which are not associated with any uplink channel.
  • DM-RS demodulation reference signals
  • SRS sounding reference signals
  • PRACH is used for random access preamble transmission.
  • PUSCH is the counterpart of PDSCH, used primarily for unicast UL data transmission.
  • PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI) such as scheduling requests, CSI for the DL channel, HARQ feedback for eNB DL transmissions, and other control information.
  • UCI uplink control information
  • the multiple access scheme for the LTE PHY is based on Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) with a cyclic prefix (CP) in the downlink, and on Single- Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA) with a cyclic prefix in the uplink.
  • OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
  • SC-FDMA Single- Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access
  • the LTE PHY supports both Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) (including both full- and half-duplex operation) and Time Division Duplexing (TDD).
  • FDD Frequency Division Duplexing
  • TDD Time Division Duplexing
  • the LTE FDD downlink (DL) radio frame has a fixed duration of 10 ms and consists of 20 slots, labeled 0 through 19, each with a fixed duration of 0.5 ms.
  • a 1-ms subframe comprises two consecutive slots where subframe / consists of slots 2i and 2/ + l
  • Each exemplary FDD DL slot consists of N DL sy mb OFDM symbols, each of which is comprised of N sc OFDM subcarriers.
  • Exemplary values of N DL sy mb can be 7 (with a normal CP) or 6 (with an extended-length CP) for subcarrier bandwidth of 15 kHz.
  • the value of N sc is configurable based upon the available channel bandwidth. Since persons of ordinary skill in the art are familiar with the principles of OFDM, further details are omitted in this description.
  • a combination of a particular subcarrier in a particular symbol is known as a resource element (RE).
  • RE resource element
  • Each RE is used to transmit a particular number of bits, depending on the type of modulation and/or bit-mapping constellation used for that RE. For example, some REs may carry two bits using QPSK modulation, while other REs may carry four or six bits using 16- or 64-QAM, respectively.
  • the radio resources of the LTE PHY are also defined in terms of physical resource blocks (PRBs).
  • a PRB spans N RB SC sub-carriers over the duration of a slot (i.e., N DL sy mb symbols), where N i se is typically either 12 (with a 15-kHz sub-carrier bandwidth) or 24 (7.5-kHz bandwidth).
  • a PRB spanning the same N RB SC subcarriers during an entire subframe is known as a PRB pair.
  • the resources available in a subframe of the LTE PHY DL comprise N DL RB PRB pairs, each of which comprises 2N DL sy mb* N RB SC REs.
  • a PRB pair comprises 168 REs.
  • each UL slot consists of N UL sy mb OFDM symbols, each of which is comprised of N sc OFDM subcarriers.
  • the LTE PHY maps the various DL and UL physical channels to the PHY resources.
  • the PHICH carries HARQ feedback (e.g., ACK/NAK) for UL transmissions by the UEs.
  • PDCCH carries scheduling assignments, channel quality feedback (e.g, CSI) for the UL channel, and other control information.
  • a PUCCH carries uplink control information such as scheduling requests, CSI for the downlink channel, HARQ feedback for network node DL transmissions, and other control information.
  • Both PDCCH and PUCCH can be transmitted on aggregations of one or several consecutive control channel elements (CCEs), and a CCE is mapped to the physical resource based on resource element groups (REGs), each of which is comprised of a plurality of REs.
  • CCE can comprise nine (9) REGs, each of which can comprise four (4) REs.
  • DL transmissions are dynamically scheduled, i.e., in each subframe the base station transmits control information indicating the terminal to which data is transmitted and upon which resource blocks the data is transmitted, in the current downlink subframe.
  • CFI Control Format Indicator
  • DM-RS can be carried in OFDM symbols in the sixth, seventh, thirteenth, and fourteenth symbols of the OFDM subframe, with the respective DM-RS REs distributed in the frequency domain within each of the symbols.
  • CDM Groups 1 and 2 code division multiplexing groups referred to as CDM Groups 1 and 2.
  • CDM groups are used in combination with length-2 orthogonal cover codes OCCs.
  • the OCCs are applied to clusters of two adjacent (i.e., in time domain) reference symbols in the same subcarrier in the frequency domain.
  • a UE can perform periodic cell search and measurements of signal power (e.g., reference signal received power, RSRP), signal quality (e.g, reference signal received quality, RSRQ), and/or signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) in both RRC CONNECTED and RRC IDLE states.
  • signal power e.g., reference signal received power, RSRP
  • signal quality e.g, reference signal received quality, RSRQ
  • SINR signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio
  • a UE is responsible for detecting new neighbor cells, and for tracking and monitoring already detected cells.
  • An LTE UE can perform such measurements on various downlink reference signals (RS) including, e.g, cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS), MBSFN reference signals, UE-specific DM-RS associated with PDSCH, DM-RS associated with (e/M/N)PDCCH, Positioning Reference Signal (PRS), and CSI Reference Signal (CSI-RS).
  • RS downlink reference signals
  • CRS cell-specific Reference Signal
  • MBSFN reference signals e.g., MBSFN reference signals, UE-specific DM-RS associated with PDSCH, DM-RS associated with (e/M/N)PDCCH, Positioning Reference Signal (PRS), and CSI Reference Signal (CSI-RS).
  • CSI-RS CSI Reference Signal
  • Detected cells and measurement values associated with monitored and/or detected cells are reported to the network.
  • Reports to the network can be configured to be periodic or aperiodic based a particular event. Such reports are commonly referred to as mobility measurement reports and contain channel state information (CSI). These reports can be used, e.g, to make decisions on UE mobility (e.g., handover) and/or dynamic activation or deactivation of SCells in a UE’s carrier aggregation (CA) configuration.
  • CSI channel state information
  • a radio access node contemplating handover of one or more served UEs to various neighbour (or“target”) cells has cell-level load information for the respective neighbour cells.
  • a neighbour cell s load distribution in the spatial domain is rarely uniform. This spatial load variation in a cell can create various problems, challenges, difficulties, and/or issues for load balancing in wireless networks.
  • exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure address these and other mobility-related issues in wireless communication networks by providing improvements to beam-level mobility operations, such as handovers (including conditional handovers) between one or more beams of a source node and one or more beams of a target node.
  • exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure include methods (e.g., procedures) for beam-level mobility load balancing (MLB) in a radio access network (RAN). These exemplary methods can be performed by a source node (e.g., base station, eNB, gNB, etc.
  • a gNB-CU or gNB-DU serving one or more user equipment (UEs, e.g., wireless devices, MTC devices, NB-IoT devices, modems, etc. or components thereof) with one or more beams and/or cells.
  • UEs user equipment
  • these exemplary methods can include receiving one or more measurement reports from a plurality of UEs.
  • Each measurement report can include radio measurements related to a source beam or a source cell associated with the source node and/or one or more target beams associated with one or more target nodes in the RAN.
  • the source node can have a split CU-DU architecture.
  • these exemplary methods can include receiving resource requests from one or more distributed units (DUs) associated with the source node central unit (CU), and aggregating the resource requests into a resource information request for the target node. Such operations can be performed by the source node CU.
  • DUs distributed units
  • CU central unit
  • These exemplary methods can also include sending a resource information request, to a target node in the RAN, for information about resources, associated with the target node, that are usable for mobility load balancing in the RAN.
  • the resource information request can identify at least one of the following: one or more first types of requested resource information; and one or more second types of resource granularity for which resource information is requested.
  • the resource information request can be based on the received measurement reports from the UEs.
  • the first types of resource information can include one or more of the following:
  • the second types of resource granularity can include one or more of the following, including combinations thereof:
  • CSI-RS channel state information reference signal
  • the resource information request can also identify one or more of the following for which resource information is requested: one or more specific beams or specific groups of beams associated with the target node; one or more cells associated with the specific beams or specific groups of beams; one or more of the first types; one or more specific types of traffic; and one or more specific network slices.
  • the resource information request can also identify a frequency or periodicity and/or timing of resource information reports from the target node. In some embodiments, these exemplary methods can include receiving, from the target node, a response acknowledging that resource information reports will be sent as requested by the source node.
  • These exemplary methods can also include receiving one or more resource information reports, from the target node, including resource information according to at least one of the first types and/or at least one of the second types identified in the resource information request.
  • the resource information in each resource information report can include one or more of the following:
  • these exemplary methods can include splitting each of the resource information reports (e.g., received from the target node) into a plurality of further resource information reports, each further resource information report associated with a different one of the DUs.
  • the source node can send the further resource information reports to the respective DUs.
  • Such operations can be performed by a CU of the source node.
  • the target node can be a further CU (e.g., part of a different gNB than the source node) or a further DU associated with the CU of the source node (e.g., part of the same gNB as the source node).
  • these exemplary methods can also include selecting at least one of the target beams for handover of a subset of the first plurality of UEs from the source beam. This selection can be based on the received resource information reports and, in some embodiments, the received UE measurement reports.
  • these exemplary methods can also include performing a handover procedure with the target node with respect to the subset of UEs.
  • performing the handover procedure can include sending, to the target node, an indication that a particular UE, of the subset of UEs, should be handed over to the selected target beams.
  • the selected target beams are respective SSBs having respective SSB coverage areas and associated with respective SSB indices.
  • the indication includes the respective SSB indices and indicates that the particular UE should be handed over to respective link beams having coverage areas overlapping with the SSB coverage areas.
  • the source node can send such an indication for each of the UEs individually.
  • exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure include additional methods (e.g., procedures) for beam-level mobility load balancing (MLB) in a radio access network (RAN).
  • MLB beam-level mobility load balancing
  • RAN radio access network
  • exemplary methods can be performed by a target node (e.g., base station, eNB, gNB, etc. or component thereof, such as a gNB-CU or gNB-DU) in the RAN that utilizes beams to communicate with UEs.
  • a target node e.g., base station, eNB, gNB, etc. or component thereof, such as a gNB-CU or gNB-DU
  • These exemplary methods can include receiving a resource information request, from a source node in the RAN, for information about resources, associated with the target node, that are usable for mobility load balancing in the RAN.
  • the resource information request can identify at least one of the following: one or more first types of requested resource information; and one or more second types of resource granularity for which resource information is requested.
  • the first types of resource information can include one or more of the following:
  • the second types of resource granularity can include one or more of the following, including combinations thereof:
  • CSI-RS channel state information reference signal
  • the resource information request can also identify one or more of the following for which resource information is requested: one or more specific beams or specific groups of beams associated with the target node; one or more cells associated with the specific beams or specific groups of beams; one or more of the first types; one or more specific types of traffic; and one or more specific network slices.
  • the resource information request can also identify a frequency or periodicity and/or timing of resource information reports (e.g., to the source node in response to the request).
  • these exemplary methods can include sending, to the source node, a response acknowledging that resource information reports will be sent as requested by the source node.
  • the response also indicates at least one of the following that can be, or will be, included in the resource information reports: one or more first types of resource information, and one or more second types of resource granularity for the resource information.
  • one or more first types and/or one or more second types indicated in the response can be different from the one or more first types and/or one or more second types indicated in the resource information request.
  • these exemplary methods can include configuring measurements by a second plurality of UEs based on the resource information request from the source node, and receiving measurement reports from the second plurality of UEs in response to the configured measurements.
  • Each measurement report can include radio measurements related to a plurality of target beams associated with the target node.
  • These exemplary methods can also include determining resource information, to be included in the resource information reports, based on the measurement reports.
  • each measurement report can include signal strengths for the plurality of target beams.
  • determining resource information can include, for each particular UE of the second plurality of UEs, associating the particular UE with the target beam for which the particular UE reports the highest signal strength, and correlating the particular UE’s associated target beam with resources scheduled by the target node for the particular UE and/or a traffic type requested by the particular UE.
  • the target node can have a split CU-DU architecture.
  • determining the resource information can be performed by a central unit (CU) of the target node, and can include splitting the resource information request into a plurality of further resource information requests for a respective plurality of distributed units (DUs) associated with the CU.
  • the target node i.e., the CU
  • the target node can send the further resource information requests to the respective DUs, receive a plurality of responses for the respective DUs, and aggregate the plurality of responses into resource information, e.g., to be included in resource information reports sent to the source node.
  • the source node can be a further CU (e.g., part of a different gNB than the target node) or a further DU associated with the CU of the target node (e.g., part of the same gNB as the target node).
  • These exemplary methods can also include sending one or more resource information reports, to the source node, including resource information according to at least one of the first types and/or at least one of the second types identified in the resource information request.
  • the resource information in each resource information report can include one or more of the following:
  • these exemplary methods can also include performing a handover procedure with the source node with respect to one or more UEs served by a source beam associated with the source node.
  • performing the handover procedure can include receiving, from the source node, an indication that a particular one of the UEs should be handed over to at least one of the target beams associated with the target node.
  • the at least one target beams are respective SSBs having respective SSB coverage areas and associated with respective SSB indices.
  • the indication includes the respective SSB indices and indicates that the particular UE should be handed over to respective link beams having coverage areas overlapping with the SSB coverage areas.
  • the target node can receive the indication for each of the UEs individually.
  • exemplary embodiments include network nodes (e.g., base stations, eNBs, gNBs, etc. or components thereof, such as gNB-CUs or gNB-DUs) configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the exemplary methods described herein.
  • network nodes e.g., base stations, eNBs, gNBs, etc. or components thereof, such as gNB-CUs or gNB-DUs
  • Other exemplary embodiments include non-transitory, computer-readable media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry comprising a network node, configure the network node to perform operations corresponding to any of the exemplary methods described herein.
  • FIG 1 is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary architecture of the Long-Term Evolution (LTE) Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN) and Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network, as standardized by 3 GPP.
  • LTE Long-Term Evolution
  • E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN
  • EPC Evolved Packet Core
  • FIG. 2A is a high-level block diagram of an exemplary E-UTRAN architecture in terms of its constituent components, protocols, and interfaces.
  • Figure 2B is a block diagram of exemplary protocol layers of the control-plane portion of the radio (Uu) interface between a user equipment (UE) and the E-UTRAN.
  • Figure 2C is a block diagram of an exemplary LTE radio interface protocol architecture from the perspective of the PHY layer.
  • Figures 3-4 show two high-level view of an exemplary 5G network architecture.
  • Figure 5 shows an exemplary Mobility Setting Change procedure.
  • Figure 6 shows an exemplary variation of cell load vs. time, with an exemplary predefined load threshold.
  • FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary LTE mobility load balancing (MLB) scenario involving three (3) eNBs.
  • MLB mobility load balancing
  • Figure 8 shows an exemplary configuration of a UE measurement model for NR.
  • Figure 9 illustrates an exemplary arrangement where a cell includes 65 different downlink beams associated with SSB indices 0-64 respectively.
  • Figure 10 shows an exemplary handover scenario of a UE from a beam of a source cell to one beam of a target cell.
  • Figure 11 shows an exemplary scenario involving a non-uniform distribution of UEs within beams of a cell.
  • Figure 12 shows a signaling flow of a dedicated procedure for beam-level mobility load balancing (MLB) in a RAN, according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • MLB beam-level mobility load balancing
  • Figure 13 is a signalling flow diagram illustrating successful initiation of resource status reporting between two network nodes (e.g., gNBs), according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • network nodes e.g., gNBs
  • Figure 14 is a signalling flow diagram illustrating successful resource status reporting between two LTE network nodes (e.g., eNBs), according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • LTE network nodes e.g., eNBs
  • Figure 15 illustrates an exemplary tabular encoding for the resource information reported between two network nodes (such as shown in Figure 14), according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • Figure 16 illustrates an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) performed by a source node in a radio access network (RAN, e.g., E-UTRAN, NG-RAN), according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • RAN radio access network
  • Figure 17 illustrates an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) performed by a target node in a RAN (e.g., NG-RAN), according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • a target node in a RAN e.g., NG-RAN
  • Figure 18 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a wireless network, in accordance with various aspects described herein.
  • Figure 19 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a UE, in accordance with various aspects described herein.
  • Figure 20 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary virtualization environment usable for implementation of various embodiments of network nodes described herein.
  • Figures 21-22 are block diagrams of various exemplary communication systems and/or networks, according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • Figures 23-26 are flow diagrams of exemplary methods for transmission and/or reception of user data, according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • Radio Node As used herein, a“radio node” can be either a“radio access node” or a “wireless device.”
  • a“radio access node” can be any node in a radio access network (RAN) of a cellular communications network that operates to wirelessly transmit and/or receive signals.
  • a radio access node include, but are not limited to, a base station (e.g ., a New Radio (NR) base station (gNB) in a 3GPP Fifth Generation (5G) NR network or an enhanced or evolved Node B (network node) in a 3 GPP LTE network), a high-power or macro base station, a low-power base station (e.g., a micro base station, a pico base station, a home eNB, or the like), an integrated access backhaul (LAB) node, and a relay node.
  • a base station e.g ., a New Radio (NR) base station (gNB) in a 3GPP Fifth Generation (5G) NR network or an enhanced or evolved Node B (network node) in a 3 GPP LTE network
  • 5G Fifth
  • a“core network node” is any type of node in a core network.
  • Some examples of a core network node include, e.g, a Mobility Management Entity (MME), a Packet Data Network Gateway (P-GW), a Service Capability Exposure Function (SCEF), or the like.
  • MME Mobility Management Entity
  • P-GW Packet Data Network Gateway
  • SCEF Service Capability Exposure Function
  • a“wireless device” (or“WD” for short) is any type of device that has access to (i.e., is served by) a cellular communications network by communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Communicating wirelessly can involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air.
  • the term“wireless device” is used interchangeably herein with“user equipment” (or“UE” for short).
  • Some examples of a wireless device include, but are not limited to, a UE in a 3GPP network and a Machine Type Communication (MTC) device. Communicating wirelessly can involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air.
  • MTC Machine Type Communication
  • a“network node” is any node that is either part of the radio access network or the core network of a cellular communications network.
  • a network node is equipment capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the cellular communications network, to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device, and/or to perform other functions (e.g ., administration) in the cellular communications network.
  • WCDMA Wide Band Code Division Multiple Access
  • WiMax Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
  • UMB Ultra Mobile Broadband
  • GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
  • functions and/or operations described herein as being performed by a wireless device or a network node may be distributed over a plurality of wireless devices and/or network nodes.
  • the term“cell” is used herein, it should be understood that (particularly with respect to 5G R) beams may be used instead of cells and, as such, concepts described herein apply equally to both cells and beams.
  • a radio access node contemplating handover of one or more served UEs to various neighbor (or“target”) cells has cell-level load information for the respective neighbor cells.
  • a neighbor cell s load distribution in the spatial domain is rarely uniform. This spatial load variation in a cell can create various problems, challenges, difficulties, and/or issues for load balancing in wireless networks.
  • 5G also referred to as“NR”
  • NR 5G
  • M2M machine-to-machine
  • the 5G radio interface also referred to as“New Radio” or“NR” targets a wide range of data services including eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broad Band) and URLLC (Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication). These services can have different requirements and objectives.
  • URLLC is intended to provide a data service with extremely strict error and latency requirements, e.g ., error probabilities as low as 10 -5 or lower and 1 ms end- to-end latency or lower.
  • error probabilities as low as 10 -5 or lower and 1 ms end- to-end latency or lower.
  • the requirements on latency and error probability can be less stringent whereas the required supported peak rate and/or spectral efficiency can be higher.
  • NR uses CP-OFDM (Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) in the downlink and both CP-OFDM and DFT-spread OFDM (DFT-S-OFDM) in the uplink.
  • CP-OFDM Cyclic Prefix Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing
  • DFT-S-OFDM DFT-spread OFDM
  • NR downlink and uplink physical resources are organized into equally-sized, 1-ms subframes. Each subframe includes one or more slots, and each slot includes 14 (for normal cyclic prefix) or 12 (for extended cyclic prefix) time-domain symbols.
  • NR data scheduling is done on a per-slot basis.
  • NR includes a Type-B scheduling, also known as“mini-slots.” These are shorter than slots, typically ranging from one symbol up to one less than the number of symbols in a slot and can start at any symbol of a slot. Mini-slots can be used if the transmission duration of a slot is too long and/or the occurrence of the next slot start (slot alignment) is too late.
  • Figure 3 shows a high-level view of an exemplary 5G network architecture, including a Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) 399 and a 5G Core (5GC) 398.
  • NG-RAN 399 can include gNBs 310 (e.g., 310a,b) and ng-eNBs 320 (e.g., 320a, b) that are interconnected with each other via respective Xn interfaces.
  • gNBs 310 e.g., 310a,b
  • ng-eNBs 320 e.g., 320a, b
  • the gNBs and ng-eNBs are also connected via the NG interfaces to 5GC 398, more specifically to the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) 230 (e.g., AMFs 230a, b) via respective NG-C interfaces and to the UPF (User Plane Function) 240 (e.g., UPFs 240a, b) via respective NG-U interfaces.
  • AMF Access and Mobility Management Function
  • UPF User Plane Function
  • Each of the gNBs 310 can support the NR radio interface, including frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination thereof.
  • each of ng-eNBs 320 supports the LTE radio interface but, unlike conventional LTE eNBs (such as shown in Figure 1), connect to the 5GC via the NG interface.
  • Figure 4 illustrates another high-level view of an exemplary 5G network architecture.
  • the network shown in Figure 4 includes NG-RAN 499 and 5GC 498, which can be similar to NG-RAN 399 and 5GC 398 illustrated in Figure 3.
  • NG-RAN 499 can include gNBs connected to the 5GC via one or more NG interfaces, such as gNBs 400, 450 connected via interfaces 402, 452, respectively.
  • the gNBs can be connected to i8
  • Xn interface 440 between gNBs 400 and 450.
  • NG-RAN nodes include a CU (or gNB-CU) and one or more DUs (or gNB-DUs).
  • gNB 400 in Figure 4 includes gNB-CU 410 and gNB-DUs 420 and 430.
  • CUs e.g., gNB-CU 410) are logical nodes that host higher-layer protocols and perform various gNB functions such controlling the operation of DUs.
  • DUs are logical nodes that host lower-layer protocols and can include, depending on the functional split, various subsets of the gNB functions.
  • each of the CUs and DUs can include various circuitry needed to perform their respective functions, including processing circuitry, interface and/or transceiver circuitry (e.g., for communication), and power supply circuitry.
  • processing circuitry e.g., for communication
  • transceiver circuitry e.g., for communication
  • power supply circuitry e.g., for power supply circuitry.
  • central unit and“centralized unit” are used interchangeably herein, as are the terms“distributed unit” and“decentralized unit.”
  • a gNB-CU connects to gNB-DUs over respective FI logical interfaces, such as interfaces 422 and 432 shown in Figure 4.
  • the gNB-CU and connected gNB-DUs are only visible to other gNBs and the 5GC as a gNB, e.g., the FI interface is not visible beyond gNB- CU.
  • a CU can host higher-layer protocols such as, e.g., FI application part protocol (Fl-AP), Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP), GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Internet Protocol (IP), and Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol.
  • a DU can host lower-layer protocols such as, e.g., Radio Link Control (RLC), Medium Access Control (MAC), and physical-layer (PHY) protocols.
  • RLC Radio Link Control
  • MAC Medium Access Control
  • PHY physical-layer
  • protocol distributions between CU and DU can exist, however, such as hosting the RRC, PDCP and part of the RLC protocol in the CU (e.g, Automatic Retransmission Request (ARQ) function), while hosting the remaining parts of the RLC protocol in the DU, together with MAC and PHY.
  • the CU can host RRC and PDCP, where PDCP is assumed to handle both UP traffic and CP traffic.
  • RRC Remote Control Protocol
  • PDCP is assumed to handle both UP traffic and CP traffic.
  • exemplary embodiments may utilize other protocol splits that by hosting certain protocols in the CU and certain others in the DU.
  • Exemplary embodiments can also locate centralized control plane protocols (e.g, PDCP-C and RRC) in a different CU with respect to the centralized user plane protocols (e.g, PDCP-U).
  • a UE in RRC CONNECTED mode can be configured by the network to perform measurements and send measurement reports to the network node hosting its current serving cell.
  • the network can configure a UE to perform measurements on various carrier frequencies and various radio access technologies (RATs) corresponding to neighbor cells, as well as for various purposes including, e.g ., mobility and positioning.
  • RATs radio access technologies
  • the configuration for each of these measurements is referred to as a “measurement object.”
  • the UE can be configured to perform the measurements according to a“measurement gap pattern” (or“gap pattern” for short), which can comprise a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP) (i.e., how often a regular gap available for measurements occurs) and a measurement gap length (MGL) (i.e., the length of each gap).
  • MGRP measurement gap repetition period
  • MTL measurement gap length
  • the network may send a handover command to the UE.
  • this command is an RRConnectionReconfiguration message with a mobilityControlInfo field.
  • this command is an RRCReconfiguration message with a reconfigurationWithSync field.
  • the basic mobility solution in NR shares some similarities to LTE.
  • the UE may be configured by the network to perform cell measurements and report them, to assist the network to take mobility decisions.
  • an NR UE may be configured to perform L3 beam measurements based on different reference signals and report them for each cell (serving and non-serving/candidate) fulfilling triggering conditions for measurement report (e.g., an “A3 event”).
  • NR UEs can be configured to perform/report measurements on SS/PBCH blocks (SSBs) in addition to the reference signals measured/reported by LTE UEs (e.g., CSI-RS).
  • SSB SS/PBCH blocks
  • Each SSB is carried in four (4) adjacent OFDM symbols, and comprises a combination of primary synchronization signal (PSS), secondary synchronization signal (SSS), DM-RS, and physical broadcast channel (PBCH).
  • PSS primary synchronization signal
  • SSS secondary synchronization signal
  • PBCH physical broadcast channel
  • an NR UE in RRC CONNECTED mode measures one or more detected beams of a cell and then averages the measurements results (e.g., power values) to derive the cell quality. In doing so, the UE is configured to consider a subset of the detected beams. Filtering takes place at two different levels: at the physical layer to derive beam quality and then at RRC level to derive cell quality from multiple beams. Cell quality from beam measurements is derived in the same way for the serving cell(s) and for the non-serving/candidate cell(s). Measurement reports may contain the measurement results of the Xbest beams if the UE is configured to do so by the gNB.
  • the term“beam” is used to refer to the coverage area of a reference signal that may be measured by a UE.
  • reference signals can include any of the following, alone or in combination: SSB; CSI-RS; tertiary reference signal (or any other sync signal); PRS; DM-RS; and any other reference signal that may be beamformed for transmission.
  • Such beams can be correlated and/or coextensive with other beams used by eNBs or gNBS to transmit and/or receive physical data channels (e.g., PDSCH, PUSCH) and/or physical control channels (e.g., PDCCH, PUCCH).
  • the network takes into account not only the UE -reported measurements but also the load of the respective cells in the network.
  • the term“load” (or equivalently “load information” or“load-related information”) can refer to a measure of resources being consumed (e.g., by the respective cells) or a measure of an available capacity (e.g., remaining in the respective cells).
  • the loads of cells served by a radio access node are typically measured frequently.
  • procedures can be triggered to transfer some UE traffic from the overloaded cell to either a neighbor cell of the same radio access technology (RAT), a different RAT, a different frequency, etc.
  • RAT radio access technology
  • a mobility load balancing (MLB) algorithm running at a radio access node (e.g., eNB or gNB) has to decide which UEs will be handed over (“UE selection”) and to which neighbor cells (“cell selection”). These decisions are typically made based on the load reports and any available radio measurements of source cell and neighbor cells, such as measurements reported by UEs operating in RRC CONNECTED and RRC IDLE states.
  • MLB mobility load balancing
  • a radio access node contemplating handover of one or more served UEs to various neighbour (or“target”) cells has cell-level load information for the respective neighbour cells.
  • a neighbour cell s load distribution in the spatial domain is rarely uniform.
  • the coverage of a cell may be further divided into the coverage of different beams.
  • the load distribution among the beams of a cell will typically be non-uniform and, in some cases, can vary significantly from beam to beam. This beam-level variation in a cell can create various problems, challenges, difficulties, and/or issues for MLB in wireless networks.
  • FIG. 5 shows an exemplary Mobility Setting Change procedure (e.g., as specified by 3GPP TS 36.423), which can be run before or after a MLB handover is performed.
  • This procedure is aimed at negotiating, between a source cell and potential target cell, a change on the *Handover Trigger event, which is used to trigger the UE mobility from one cell to another.
  • the Mobility Setting Change is performed after the HO.
  • the source eNB has selected the target eNB and which UE’s will be offloaded, it performs a Mobility Setting Change.
  • new mobility settings are negotiated between the source and target eNBs so that the UE’s handed over due to MLB will not be immediately handed over back to the source cell.
  • the procedure can either be followed or preceded by ordinary handovers, depending on the vendor implementation.
  • 3GPP specifies the following components and/or functions for MLB in LTE networks: 1) load reporting; 2) load balancing action based on handovers; and 3) adapting handover (HO) and/or cell reselection (CR) configuration so that load remains balanced.
  • the load reporting function is executed by exchanging cell specific load information between neighbor enhanced NodeBs (eNBs) over the X2 (intra-LTE scenario) or SI (inter-RAT scenario) interfaces.
  • eNBs neighbor enhanced NodeBs
  • X2 intra-LTE scenario
  • SI inter-RAT scenario
  • the source eNB may trigger a RESOURCE STATUS REQUEST message to potential target eNBs at any point in time, for example when the load is above a pre-defmed value and/or threshold.
  • Figure 6 is a graph showing an exemplary variation of cell load vs. time, with an exemplary predefined load threshold (i.e., Lte load threshold).
  • FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary LTE MLB scenario involving three (3) eNBs.
  • eNB l serves cells A1 and B l
  • eNB2 serves cells A2 and B2
  • eNB3 serves cells A3, B3, and C3.
  • eNB2 and eNB3 periodially report load values for their served cells to eNBl .
  • UEs operating in a cell served by eNBl e.g., Al
  • eNB l may decide to handover one or more UE from Al to a neighbour cell such as B3 or A2.
  • eNBl decides to offload a UE (e.g., to A2), it triggers an ordinary handover, including a handover preparation with a selected target node (e.g., eNB2).
  • This can also include a Mobility Setting Change for the offloaded UE, as described above with reference to Figure 5.
  • the“border” of a congested and/or heavily loaded cell can be effectively “moved” to reduce its coverage area.
  • the source eNB negotiates with target eNBs for the HO offset settings to avoid handover bouncing (also referred to as“ping-pong”) between source and target cells.
  • the agreed offset will be signalled to the UEs served by the source eNB and no specific set of UEs will be selected in this case.
  • a source eNB may command HOs to a specific set of UEs towards a selected target eNB (as discussed above.
  • the algorithms for UE/target cell selection are non-standardized (e.g., vendor-proprietary). Besides cell-specific information (e.g., source and target cell load and capacity), these algorithms take into account at least some of the following UE-specific information as input (e.g., depending on availability): radio measurement reports; traffic characteristics (e.g., heavy or light data usage); bearers (e.g., guaranteed bit-rate (GBR) or default); historical and/or current resource utilization; and UE profile (e.g.,“gold”,“silver”,“bronze”).
  • the UE radio measurement reports are important to select UEs that have acceptable radio quality in the target eNB.
  • algorithms with different targets may be developed, e.g. to prioritize heavy users, bronze users, default bear users, etc.
  • Figure 8 shows an exemplary configuration of a UE measurement model for NR, which was briefly mentioned above.
  • the UE measures k beams transmitted by a gNB for a particular cell. These k beams correspond to measurements on SSB or C SI RS resources configured for L3 mobility by the network (e.g., gNB) and detected by UE at LI . These beam-specific measurements are labelled“A”, and are typically internal to the PHY.
  • the UE filters each of these k measurements over time (referred to as“layer- 1 filtering”), resulting in k time-filtered beam measurements labelled“Al”. Neither the measurements themselves (“A”) nor the layer-1 filtering is standardized, i.e., it is typically implementation-dependent.
  • The“Al” measurements are reported to layer 3 (L3), e.g., the RRC layer.
  • the UE then consolidates these k beam measurements into a cell quality estimate (“B”) based on parameters configured by the network via RRC signalling.
  • the behaviour of the Beam consolidation/selection is standardised.
  • the cell-quality estimate“B” are reported to layer-3 at the same rate as the beam measurements“Al .”
  • the UE further time-filters the cell quality estimate (referred to as “layer 3 filtering”) resulting in filtered measurement“C” shown in the figure.
  • layer 3 filtering the cell quality estimate
  • the behaviour of these layer-3 filters is standardised and the configuration of the layer-3 filters is provided by RRC signalling. Filtering reporting period at“C” equals one measurement period at“B”.
  • the UE then checks whether actual measurement reporting is necessary at point D.
  • the evaluation can be based on more than one flow of measurements at reference point C, e.g., to compare between different measurements. This is illustrated by inputs C and C 1 .
  • the UE evaluates the reporting criteria at least every time a new measurement result is reported at point C, C 1 .
  • the reporting criteria are standardised and the configuration is provided from the network by RRC signalling.
  • the value“D” (which can be based on“C”) is reported to the network in an RRC measurement report.
  • time-filtered beam measurements“Al” are further filtered at the RRC layer (“layer 3”) based on a network provided configuration, resulting in filtered beam measurements ⁇ ”.
  • Filtering reporting period at ⁇ ” equals one measurement period at“Al”.
  • the UE selects X beam measurements from these k filtered beam measurements for beam- quality reporting to the network (labelled“F” in the figure).
  • the behaviour of the beam selection is standardised and the configuration is provided by the network by RRC signalling.
  • Measurement reports can have various characteristics depending on the particular scenario. Measurement reports typically include the measurement identity of the associated measurement configuration that triggered the reporting. As mentioned above, cell and beam measurement quantities to be included in measurement reports are configured by the network. For example, the network can configure beam measurements as beam identifier only, measurement result and beam identifier, or no beam reporting. Furthermore, the number of non-serving cells to be reported can be limited through configuration by the network. In addition, cells belonging to a blacklist configured by the network are not used in event evaluation and reporting; conversely, when a whitelist is configured by the network, only the cells belonging to the whitelist are used in event evaluation and reporting.
  • neighbour cell measurements can be intra- or inter-frequency with respect to the serving cell.
  • a measurement is defined as an“SSB based intra-frequency measurement” provided that the centre frequency of the SSB of the serving cell and the centre frequency of the SSB of the neighbour cell are the same, and the subcarrier spacing of the two SSBs is also the same.
  • a measurement is defined as an“SSB based inter-frequency measurement” provided that the centre frequency of the SSB of the serving cell and the centre frequency of the SSB of the neighbour cell are different, or the subcarrier spacing of the two SSBs is different.
  • a measurement is defined as a “CSI-RS based intra-frequency measurement” provided that the bandwidth of the CSI-RS resource on the neighbour cell configured for measurement is within the bandwidth of the CSI-RS resource on the serving cell configured for measurement, and the subcarrier spacing of the two CSI-RS resources is the same.
  • a measurement is defined as a“CSI-RS based inter-frequency measurement” provided that the bandwidth of the CSI-RS resource on the neighbour cell configured for measurement is not within the bandwidth of the CSI-RS resource on the serving cell configured for measurement, or the subcarrier spacing of the two CSI-RS resources is different.
  • handovers or PSCell change decisions are typically made based on the coverage and quality of a serving cell compared to the quality of a neighbour cell handover candidate.
  • Quality is typically measured in terms of RSRQ or SINR, while coverage is typically measured based on RSRP.
  • a cell may be comprised by a set of beams where PSS/SSS are transmitted in different downlink beams, each beam associated with a different SSB index.
  • Figure 9 illustrates an exemplary arrangement where a cell includes 65 different downlink beams associated with SSB indices 0-64 respectively.
  • beam measurement information may be included in measurement reports.
  • One of the purposes of these beam reports is to enable a source node to take educated UE mobility decisions to avoid UE ping-pong between serving cells. For example, if multiple neighbor cells are reported (e.g., based on a mobility event where the trigger condition is that the neighbor cell signal becomes better than the source by a certain offset), and these cells have somewhat similar quality/coverage (e.g. similar RSRP and/or RSRQ), beam-quality reports can be used to decide where to handover the UE. For example, network could prioritize the cells with more beams than another cell.
  • Figure 10 shows an exemplary scenario of handover of a UE from a beam of a source cell to one beam of a target cell having 65 total downlink beams.
  • RAN centric Data utilization e.g., SON features including mobility optimization (cell and beam based), RACH optimization, load sharing/balancing related optimization, coverage and capacity optimisation, Minimization of Drive testing (MDT), URLLC optimisation, LTE-V2X (i.e., PC5 and uu), etc., applicable to different scenarios in NG-RAN, MR-DC connected to 5GC and EPC and LTE and take NR new features, e.g., beam, network slice, BWP, duplication etc. into account [RAN3, RAN2]
  • MDT Minimization of Drive testing
  • LI measurement quantities e.g. Timing Advance in RAR
  • Sensor data for UE orientation/altitude to log in addition to location e.g., digital compass, gyroscope, barometer
  • Figure 11 shows an exemplary scenario involving a non-uniform distribution of UEs within beams of a cell.
  • a serving cell is highly loaded at least in an area corresponding to the three beams shown.
  • a neighbour cell A is highly loaded in two beams but unloaded in two other beams.
  • a served UE-1 reports measurements (possibly including beam measurements) indicating that a neighbour cell A is detected with good radio condition.
  • UE-1 also reports another neighbour cell B that is more distant than neighbour cell A.
  • the serving node may then request the neighbour cell A to provide its load conditions.
  • the node serving neighbour cell A will indicate a relatively high load in cell A, as at least the same number of UEs and same traffic as in the serving cell itself. This can lead the serving node to conclude that neighbour cell A is overloaded, although cell A has sufficient capacity to accept UE-1 in the beam(s) covering UE-l’s current location. Based on this determination, the serving node may offload UE-1 to neighbour cell B instead, which can result in unacceptable and/or undesirable radio conditions for UE-1.
  • Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure address these and other problems, challenges, and/or issues by providing specific enhancements and/or improvements to mobility load balancing (MLB) in wireless communication networks.
  • MLB mobility load balancing
  • exemplary embodiments include techniques and/or mechanisms that facilitate MLB between a source node and a target node on a per-beam basis, thereby avoiding and/or overcoming various challenges, problems, and/or drawbacks experienced by conventional per-cell MLB.
  • a source node can request beam-level (e.g. per beam, per beam group, etc.) load-related information (e.g., load and/or capacity) from a target candidate node.
  • load-related information e.g., load and/or capacity
  • Such beam-level load-related information can enable and/or facilitate the source node to take better-informed MLB decisions according to the spatial distribution of load and/or available capacity.
  • load information from the target node can be provided in a format and/or granularity that is compatible with UE measurements of target node cells and/or beams, so that upon receiving target-node load information and correlating such information with UE measurements, a source is capable of deciding whether particular target node beams are capable to successfully accepting a load-related handover of one or more UEs, including all the services used by these UEs.
  • per-beam target load information allows the source to know whether any available target node capacity is useful for handovers from the source node.
  • Such beam-level load information can be on different levels of granularity, such as for individual beams, groups of beams, all beams for a particular cell, narrow beams, wide beams, etc. Such beam-level load information can also be correlated with beams transmitting data channels and/or control channels.
  • the source node can include in the request at least a target candidate cell for which it wants beam-level load information.
  • the target candidate cell can be a cell reported within an earlier-received UE measurement report that was triggered by the source node.
  • the source node can include in the request at least a beam or set (e.g., group) of beams for which it wants beam-level load information.
  • the beam or beam-set can be identified in an earlier-received UE measurement report that included beam measurement information for a particular cell.
  • the measurement reports can comprise SSB and/or CSI-RS measurements, and the obtained load reports can indicate load on a per-SSB and/or per-CSI-RS basis.
  • both the measurement reports and the load reports are related to a particular RS type, e.g., SSB or CSI-RS.
  • the source node can request the load information to be reported on an SSB level.
  • each SSB signal is associated with one or more beams within which the SSB is transmitted.
  • the source node may be aware of the SSB signals signaled by a neighbor node cell, e.g., if such information is signaled over an Xn interface to the source node.
  • the target node can identify the beam coverage area where the SSB signal is broadcast, and can also identify link beams (e.g., data channel beams utilizing data channel resources) serving UEs within this coverage area. In this manner, the target reports load and/or capacity per SSB by providing an indication of the traffic load experienced and/or the available resource capacity in the link beams corresponding to the SSB coverage area.
  • the source node can also obtain the load report from the target candidate node, e.g., according to the request.
  • the source node can send a load report concerning one or more source beams. This sending and receiving load reports can be referred to as a“load exchange.”
  • the source node can obtain measurement reports per beam for a cell in a target candidate node, and can correlate this obtained cell and beam measurement information with the per-beam load information obtained from the target node (e.g., via the load report).
  • the source node can also decide to perform a load-triggered handover (i.e., for MLB) from the source node (e.g., from a beam or cell served by the source node) to a target candidate node if it determines that the UE has sufficient coverage in at least a target beam of the target node, for which the load report also indicates sufficient available capacity for the UE at the target node (e.g., associated with the target beam).
  • a load-triggered handover i.e., for MLB
  • the source node can decide not to perform such a load-triggered handover from the source node to a target candidate node if it determines that the UE does not have sufficient coverage in a target beam of the target node, and/or the load report indicates there is insufficient available capacity for the UE at the target node (e.g., in any target beams suitable for the UE).
  • the load exchange process can be omitted, and instead an overloaded source node triggers a handover request to a target candidate node, in which the source node includes beam measurements (e.g., from one or more UEs served by the source node) for that target node.
  • the target node can be made aware of the UE coverage and/or spatial location.
  • the target node can determine whether or not the UE(s) is(are) in a coverage area (e.g., of one or more target beams) that is overload. If so, admission control can fail during handover preparation for the UE(s), such that the handover would be rejected.
  • FIG 11 shows a signaling flow of a dedicated procedure for beam-level mobility load balancing (MLB) in a RAN, according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • MLB beam-level mobility load balancing
  • the exemplary procedure is illustrated in Figure 11 by specific operations in a particular order, the operations can be performed in different orders than shown and can be combined and/or divided into blocks and/or operations having different functionality than shown.
  • the exemplary procedure shown in Figure 11 can be complementary to other exemplary procedures disclosed herein, such that they are capable of being used cooperatively to provide the benefits, advantages, and/or solutions to problems described herein.
  • a source node 1220 and a target node 1230 engage in a signaling procedure to trigger load reporting from one of the nodes.
  • the first node is a serving (or source) node, serving a UE that could potentially handover to a different RAN node.
  • the second node is a target node, e.g., a node selected as a potential mobility target for the UE.
  • the source node requests the target node to setup load reporting signaling.
  • a UE served by the source node may have been configured to report measurements made on beams associated with one or more neighbor cells, including beams associated with the target node shown.
  • the UE reports such measurements to the source node (operation labelled“0” in Figure 12). These measurements can be reported, e.g., together with measurements made on one or more beams transmitted by the source node (also referred to as“source beams”).
  • the source node can then initiate a Resource Information Request (“1”) to the target node for beam-level load-related information.
  • the source node can request a single resource information report pertaining to one or more beam of the target node (which can be indicated in the request), or it can request periodic reporting by also specifying a reporting period.
  • the requested“resource information report” can be a report comprising information about experienced traffic load, available traffic capacity, overload or congestion, etc. More generally, a resource information report can include any load-related information that helps the receiving node to better understand the availability of beam-specific radio resources at the sending node.
  • the source node can also indicate, in the Resource Information Request, a specific beam or set of beams transmitted by the target node for which beam -level information (i.e., beam-specific or beam-group-specific information) is requested. For instance, such beams could have been selected by the source node based on the received UE measurement reports (e.g., in operation“0”).
  • the request for beam-level information may include an identifier for each beam or group of beams for which the target candidate node is requested to report beam-level information.
  • a group of beams could be specified, for instance, as a list of narrow beams, or as a combination of narrow beams into a wider beam.
  • exemplary embodiments By enabling the source node to request beam-specific or beam-group specific information from the target node in this manner, exemplary embodiments reduce and/or minimize the amount of data to be reported by the target node, thereby reducing the computational costs for the target node as well as the traffic load over the node-to-node interface (e.g., X2 or Xn interface). Exemplary embodiments provide the further advantage of providing the source node with an increased spatial resolution (e.g., smaller spatial granularity) of the load, resource utilization, and/or capacity in the target node.
  • an increased spatial resolution e.g., smaller spatial granularity
  • the source node can specify, in the request to the target node, a granularity, resolution, and/or type of resource information being requested.
  • the source node can specify that the requested resource information report is for one or more of the following load types (including combinations thereof):
  • the source node can rely on its knowledge of SSB signals transmitted in one or more cells of the target node.
  • the target node can determine the coverage area of the SSB(s) for which reports are requested. This can be done, for example, by considering coverage areas of beams within which the requested SSB is transmitted; data channels and data-channel resources used in such SSB coverage area (e.g., all data channels active in the data channel beams within the SSB coverage area). In this manner, the target node can determine radio resources available for data channel communication within the SSB coverage area.
  • the source node can rely on its knowledge of CSI-RS signals transmitted in one or more cells of the target node.
  • the target node can determine the coverage area of the CSI-RS(s) for which reports are requested. This can be done, for example, by considering the coverage of beams within which the CSI-RS is transmitted; data channels and data-channel resources used in such CSI-RS coverage area (e.g., all data channels active in the data channel beams within the CSI-RS coverage area). In this manner, the target node can determine radio resources available for data channel communication within the CSI-RS coverage area.
  • Per link beam The source node can rely on its knowledge of link beam signals transmitted in one or more cells of the target node. Upon receiving a request for resource information report per link beam, the target node can determine the coverage area of the link beam(s) for which reports are requested. This can be done, for example, by considering the coverage area of the individual link beams; data channels and data-channel resources used in such link beam coverage area (e.g., all data channels active within the link beam coverage area). In this manner, the target node can determine radio resources available for data channel communication within the link beam coverage area.
  • BWP Per Bandwidth Part
  • Per slice or type of traffic the source RAN may further specify a type of traffic or a network slice for which resource information shall be reported by the target RAN network node. This has the advantage of enabling MLB functionalities dedicated to a particular type of traffic, e.g., URLLC, MBB, etc, or dedicated to specific network slices.
  • the target node can respond with a Resource Information Response (“2”) acknowledging that Resource Information Updates will be sent as requested by the source node. Subsequently, after the target node is determines the resource information as requested by the source node (e.g., according to the requested granularlity, resolution, and/or type), the target node can send a resource information report (“3”) to the source node.
  • a Resource Information Response (“2”) acknowledging that Resource Information Updates will be sent as requested by the source node.
  • the target node can send a resource information report (“3”) to the source node.
  • the source node can also receive one or more further measurement reports from UEs that it serves (“4”).
  • these measurement reports can include measurements on the same source and target beams as previously measured and/or reported (e.g., in“0”). In any event, such measurements can be useful in MLB operations between source beams and target beams, e.g., of the target node.
  • the source node can perform a MLB operation with respect to the target node (“5”). This can include selecting one or more target beams handover of one or more UEs served by one or more source beams.
  • This selection can be based on the UE measurements reported earlier (e.g., in“0” and/or“4”), as well as the beam-level load information reported from the target node (e.g., in“3”), as well as the source node’s own beam-level load information (e.g., of source beam).
  • the source node is able to decide the best handover target for the UE.
  • the source node can provide to the target node an indication of the coverage area or radio resources where the UE should be handed over, such indication being derived from received load information.
  • the source node could indicate to the target node in the handover preparation procedure that the UE should be handed over to a specific SSB. This should be interpreted by the target node as to indicate that the UE should be handed over to the data channel beams covering the specific SSB coverage area.
  • each RAN node e.g., gNB
  • CU central unit
  • DUs distributed units
  • the functionality of the Resource Information Request/Response/Update procedures discussed above can also be distributed among DU and CU.
  • requested resource information can be generated by a gNB- DU, which is aware of the resources utilized (and available) according to the requested granularity, resolution, and/or type, e.g., per SSB, per CSI-RS, etc.
  • a source gNB-CU can trigger a Resource Information Request towards a neighbor node (e.g., gNB-CU) without engaging in signaling with its directly connected gNB-DUs.
  • the target gNB-CU receiving the Resource Information Request would then forward the request to the gNB-DU serving the beams, reference signals, and/or network slices to which the request applies.
  • the target gNB-DU can evaluate whether the requested load information can be provided, and reply to the target gNB-CU with a response (positive) or a failure (negative). This is similar to the response in the non-split architecture discussed above; however, the target gNB-CU receiving a Resource Information Response/Failure from the target gNB-DU also forwards it to the source gNB-CU that originated the request.
  • the gNB- DU After the Resource Information Request/Response have been concluded, the gNB- DU would have to generate the Resource Information Update and signal it to its connected gNB-CU. The gNB-CU would have to forward the Resource Information update to the source node that requested the update in the first place. It needs to be noted that the content of the messages exchanged between gNB-CU and gNB-DU may be identical to the content of the messages exchanged between source and target nodes. However, differences in such messages may exist.
  • a gNB-CU can split, parse, merge, and/or aggregate messages to and from the gNB DUs related to resource information reporting and configuration.
  • communication between gNB-CUs or between RAN nodes can occur via interfaces such as the X2 or Xn, while communication between gNB-CU and gNB-DU may occur via interfaces such as the F 1.
  • the target gNB-CU may aggregate multiple Resource Information Requests from different neighbor nodes that pertain to the same gNB-DU, and send them in one message to that gNB-DU.
  • the target gNB-CU may split a Resource Information Request received from a source node (e.g., another gNB/gNB-CU or a gNB- DU associated with the target gNB-CU) into requests towards different gNB-DUs, each of which may be responsible for a subset of the target beams identified in the request.
  • a source node e.g., another gNB/gNB-CU or a gNB- DU associated with the target gNB-CU
  • a target gNB-CU can aggregate Resource Information Update messages from different gNB-DUs into one Resource information update towards the source node that requested the update. This could happen in cases where the beams, coverage areas, slices - or in general, the entities for which the load reporting has been requested - are distributed across several gNB-DUs. In such case, the gNBN-CU can aggregate the load information sent by each gNB-DU for each entity (per SSB, CSI-RS, etc.), and signal the overall resource information to the source node that requested it.
  • the Resource Information Request (“1”) can include specify a type of resource information to be reported, such as traffic load information, resource utilization, resource availability, capacity, etc.
  • the type of resource information requested by the source node to be reported can be the same for all beams or groups of beams or different for different beams or groups of beams.
  • reported beam-level load information can identify a number of users (e.g., in RRC CONNECTED, RRC IDLE, or both) being present in the coverage area of a beam or group of beams.
  • the load information can identify the number of users (e.g., in RRC CONNECTED, RRC IDLE, or both) present in the entire cell.
  • beam -level load information can identify UE time-frequency resource utilization within the coverage area of a beam or group of beams. Such resource utilization can be expressed for different granularity, such as per resource block (RB), per resource block group (RBG), for the entire frequency spectrum (i.e., wideband), or per BWP.
  • the source node may further specify a type of traffic or a network slice for which beam-level information should be reported by the target candidate network node. Reporting of this beam- and traffic/slice-specific load-related information can facilitate MLB operations in the source node that are focused on a particular type of traffic (e.g., URLLC, MBB, etc.) or on specific network slices.
  • a type of traffic e.g., URLLC, MBB, etc.
  • the Resource Information Request (“1”) can include a requested periodicity (e.g., frequency) of the requested beam-level information report.
  • This periodicity can be selected, adapted, and/or determined based on user mobility or traffic patterns in the source cell and/or the target cell, so as to improve mobility load balancing and handover procedures.
  • the target node Upon receiving the Resource Information Request, the target node can configure UE measurements within its coverage area based on the contents of this request from the source node. For example, beam-level load information can be determined by the target node based on UE measurement reports associated to downlink radio beams transmitted by the target node and measured by UEs served by the target node (e.g., via SSB and CSI-RS).
  • the load of a beam may be expressed, for instance, in terms of UEs present in the coverage area of the beam.
  • the target node can consider a particular UE as present in the coverage area of the beam for which the UE reports the highest signal strength. In this manner, the target node can determine the distribution of UEs that it serves within the respective beams that the target node transmits.
  • the target node can combine and/or correlate UE-to-beam association information (determined, e.g., based on signal strength measurements per beam) with layer-2 (L2) scheduling decisions for different RBs in different transmission time intervals (TTIs). In this manner, the target node can determine a distribution of load for a beam or a group of beams not only spatially, but also over time and/or frequency.
  • UE-to-beam association information determined, e.g., based on signal strength measurements per beam
  • L2 layer-2
  • TTIs transmission time intervals
  • the target node can combine and/or correlate the UE-to-beam association information with the type of traffic requested by the UEs associated with the beam. In this manner, the target node can determine a spatial distribution of different traffic types on a per-beam or a per-beam-group within the overall coverage area of the target node.
  • the target node can combine and/or correlate the UE-to-beam association information with mobility reports so as to determine a spatial distribution of mobility patterns for a beam or a group of beams. In this manner, the target node can identify coverage areas (e.g., beams or beam groups) with high-mobility UEs and/or coverage areas with low-mobility UEs within the overall coverage area of the target node.
  • coverage areas e.g., beams or beam groups
  • the target node can combine and/or correlate the UE-to-beam association information with the network slices used by the UEs associated with the beam. In this manner, the target node can determine a spatial distribution of different network slices on a per-beam or a per-beam-group within the coverage area of the target node.
  • 3GPP TS 36.423 specifies the X2-AP interface between eNBs in an LTE RAN (or between gNBs that support the X2 interface).
  • 3GPP TS 36.423 specifies the X2-AP interface between eNBs in an LTE RAN (or between gNBs that support the X2 interface).
  • Xn the Xn interface between gNBs in an NG-RAN.
  • This procedure is used by an gNB to request the reporting of load measurements to another gNB, which may include load measurements per beam.
  • FIG. 13 is a signalling flow diagram illustrating successful initiation of resource status reporting between two network nodes (e.g., gNBs). The procedure is initiated with a RESOURCE INFORMATION REQUEST message sent from gNBi to gNB2. Upon receipt, gNB 2 :
  • Resource Information Request message includes an indication to "start" the Resource Information reporting, then an indication on the characteristics of the resource information report, e.g. resource granularity, shall be included in RESOURCE INFORMATION REQUEST message.
  • eNE shall use its value as the time interval between two subsequent RESOURCE INFORMATION UPDATE messages that include the requested resource information.
  • eNB2 If eNB2 is capable to provide all requested resource information, it shall initiate the measurement as requested by eNBi, and respond with the RESOURCE INFORMATION RESPONSE message. If eNB2 is capable to provide some but not all of the requested resource information and an indication of partial success is present in the RESOURCE INFORMATION REQUEST message, it shall initiate the measurement for the admitted measurement objects.
  • Figure 14 is a signalling flow diagram illustrating successful resource status reporting between two LTE network nodes (e.g., eNBs).
  • the eNE shall report the results of the admitted measurements in RESOURCE INFORMATION UPDATE message.
  • the admitted measurements are the measurements that were successfully initiated during the preceding Resource Information Reporting Initiation procedure.
  • the eNBi receives the RESOURCE Information UPDATE message, which includes an indication to stop reporting for one or more cells or beams .
  • the eNBi should initialise the Resource Information Reporting Initiation procedure (see 8.3.6 above) to remove all or some of the corresponding cells or beams from the measurement.
  • Figure 15 illustrates an exemplary tabular encoding for the resource information reported between two network nodes, such as shown in Figure 14.
  • the Available Resources IE can be expressed relative to a cell class.
  • the value may be associated with another value that identifies the type of cell for which available resources are calculated.
  • the cell may be deployed over low bands or high bands, or it might have a variable total bandwidth. Since the Available Resource value is an index on a linear scale, the cell class is used as an index to identify the full capacity of the referenced cell in absolute terms. In this manner, it is possible to identify the capacity in terms of resources indicated by the Available Resources IE.
  • Figures 16-17 depict exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) performed by a source node and a target node, respectively.
  • Figure 16 illustrates an exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for beam- level mobility load balancing (MLB) in a radio access network (RAN), according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • the exemplary method can be performed by a source node (e.g., base station, eNB, gNB, etc. or component thereof, such as a gNB-CU or gNB-DU) in the RAN, serving one or more user equipment (UEs, e.g., wireless devices, MTC devices, NB-IoT devices, modems, etc. or components thereof) with one or more beams and/or cells, such as illustrated in other figures described herein.
  • UEs user equipment
  • the exemplary method can include the operations of block 1610, where the source node can receive one or more measurement reports from a plurality of UEs. Each measurement report can include radio measurements related to a source beam or a source cell associated with the source node and/or one or more target beams associated with one or more target nodes in the RAN.
  • the source node can have a split CU-DU architecture.
  • the exemplary method can include the operations of blocks 1620-1630, which can be performed by the source node CU.
  • the source node can receive resource requests from one or more distributed units (DUs) associated with the CU.
  • the source node can aggregate the resource requests into a resource information request for the target node (e.g., sent to the target node in block 1640, described below).
  • DUs distributed units
  • the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1640, where the source node can send a resource information request, to a target node in the RAN, for information about resources, associated with the target node, that are usable for mobility load balancing in the RAN.
  • the resource information request can identify at least one of the following: one or more first types of requested resource information; and one or more second types of resource granularity for which resource information is requested.
  • the resource information request can be based on the received measurement reports from the UEs (e.g., received in block 1610).
  • the first types of resource information can include one or more of the following:
  • the second types of resource granularity can include one or more of the following, including combinations thereof:
  • CSI-RS channel state information reference signal
  • the resource information request can also identify one or more of the following for which resource information is requested: one or more specific beams or specific groups of beams associated with the target node; one or more cells associated with the specific beams or specific groups of beams; one or more of the first types; one or more specific types of traffic; and one or more specific network slices.
  • the resource information request can also identify a frequency or periodicity and/or timing of resource information reports (e.g., from the target node in response to the request).
  • the exemplary method can include the operations of block 1650, where the source node can receive, from the target node, a response acknowledging that resource information reports will be sent as requested by the source node.
  • the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1660, where the source node can receive one or more resource information reports, from the target node, including resource information according to at least one of the first types (i.e., of requested resource information) and/or at least one of the second types (i.e., of resource granularity) identified in the resource information request.
  • the resource information in each resource information report can include one or more of the following:
  • the exemplary method can include the operations of blocks 1670-1680, which can be performed by the source node CU.
  • blocks 1670-1680 can be performed together with blocks 1620-1630, discussed above.
  • the source node can split each of the resource information reports (e.g., received from the target node in block 1660) into a plurality of further resource information reports, each further resource information report associated with a different one of the DUs.
  • the source node can send the further resource information reports to the respective DUs.
  • the target node can be a further CU (e.g., part of a different gNB than the source node) or a further DU associated with the CU of the source node (e.g., part of the same gNB as the source node).
  • the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1690, where the source node can select at least one of the target beams for handover of a subset of the first plurality of UEs from the source beam. This selection can be based on the the resource information reports (e.g., received in block 1660) and, in some embodiments, the UE measurement reports (e.g., received in block 1610).
  • the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1695, where the source node can perform a handover procedure with the target node with respect to the subset of UEs.
  • the operations of block 1695 can include the operations of sub-block 1696, where the source node can send, to the target node, an indication that a particular UE, of the subset of UEs, should be handed over to the selected target beams.
  • the selected target beams are respective SSBs having respective SSB coverage areas and associated with respective SSB indices.
  • the indication includes the respective SSB indices and indicates that the particular UE should be handed over to respective link beams having coverage areas overlapping with the SSB coverage areas.
  • the source node can repeat the operations of block 1696 for each of the UEs individually.
  • Figure 17 illustrates another exemplary method (e.g., procedure) for beam-level mobility load balancing (MLB) in a radio access network (RAN), according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.
  • the exemplary method shown in Figure 17 can be performed by a target node e.g., base station, eNB, gNB, etc. or component thereof, such as a gNB-CU or gNB-DU) in the RAN that utilizes beams to communicate with UEs, such as illustrated in other figures described herein.
  • a target node e.g., base station, eNB, gNB, etc. or component thereof, such as a gNB-CU or gNB-DU
  • the exemplary method is illustrated in Figure 17 by specific blocks in a particular order, the operations corresponding to the blocks can be performed in different orders than shown and can be combined and/or divided into blocks having different functionality than shown.
  • Figure 17 can be complementary to other exemplary methods disclosed herein (e.g., Figure 16), such that they can be used cooperatively to provide the benefits, advantages, and/or solutions to problems described herein.
  • Optional blocks and/or operations are indicated by dashed lines.
  • the exemplary method can include the operations of block 1710, where the target node can receive a resource information request, from a source node in the RAN, for information about resources, associated with the target node, that are usable for mobility load balancing in the RAN.
  • the resource information request can identify at least one of the following: one or more first types of requested resource information; and one or more second types of resource granularity for which resource information is requested.
  • the first types of resource information can include one or more of the following:
  • the second types of resource granularity can include one or more of the following, including combinations thereof:
  • CSI-RS channel state information reference signal
  • the resource information request can also identify one or more of the following for which resource information is requested: one or more specific beams or specific groups of beams associated with the target node; one or more cells associated with the specific beams or specific groups of beams; one or more of the first types; one or more specific types of traffic; and one or more specific network slices.
  • the resource information request can also identify a frequency or periodicity and/or timing of resource information reports (e.g., to the source node in response to the request).
  • the exemplary method can include the operations of block 1720, where the target node can send, to the source node, a response acknowledging that resource information reports will be sent as requested by the source node.
  • the response also indicates at least one of the following that can be, or will be, included in the resource information reports: one or more first types of resource information, and one or more second types of resource granularity for the resource information.
  • the one or more first types and/or one or more second types indicated in the response can be different from the one or more first types and/or one or more second types indicated in the resource information request (e.g., received in block 1710).
  • the exemplary method can include the operations of blocks 1730-1750.
  • the target node can configure measurements by a second plurality of UEs based on the resource information request from the source node.
  • the target node can receive measurement reports from the second plurality of UEs in response to the configured measurements.
  • Each measurement report can include radio measurements related to a plurality of target beams associated with the target node.
  • the target node can determine resource information, to be included in the resource information reports, based on the measurement reports.
  • each measurement report can include signal strengths for the plurality of target beams.
  • the operations of block 1750 can include the operations of block 1751, where the target node can, for each particular UE of the second plurality of UEs, associate the particular UE with the target beam for which the particular UE reports the highest signal strength.
  • the operations of block 1750 can also include the operations of block 1752, where the target node can correlate the particular UE’s associated target beam with resources scheduled by the target node for the particular UE and/or a traffic type requested by the particular UE.
  • the target node can have a split CU-DU architecture.
  • the operations of block 1750 can include the operations of sub-blocks 1753- 1756, which can be performed by a central unit (CU) of the target node.
  • the target node can split the resource information request into a plurality of further resource information requests for a respective plurality of distributed units (DUs) associated with the CU.
  • the target node can send the further resource information requests to the respective DUs, and receive a plurality of responses for the respective DUs.
  • the target node can aggregate the plurality of responses into resource information, e.g., to be included in resource information reports sent to the source node in block 1760, discussed below.
  • the source node can be a further CU (e.g., part of a different gNB than the target node) or a further DU associated with the CU of the target node (e.g., part of the same gNB as the target node).
  • the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1760, where the target node can send one or more resource information reports, to the source node, including resource information according to at least one of the first types (i.e., of requested resource information) and/or at least one of the second types (i.e., of resource granularity) identified in the resource information request.
  • the resource information in each resource information report can include one or more of the following: • available capacity for one or more specific SSB beams or specific groups of SSB beams associated with the target node;
  • the exemplary method can also include the operations of block 1770, where the target node can perform a handover procedure with the source node with respect to one or more UEs served by a source beam associated with the source node.
  • the operations of block 1770 can include the operations of sub-block 1772, where the target node can receive, from the source node, an indication that a particular one of the UEs should be handed over to at least one of the target beams associated with the target node.
  • the at least one target beams are respective SSBs having respective SSB coverage areas and associated with respective SSB indices.
  • the indication includes the respective SSB indices and indicates that the particular UE should be handed over to respective link beams having coverage areas overlapping with the SSB coverage areas.
  • the target node can repeat the operations of block 1772 for each of the UEs individually.
  • a wireless network such as the example wireless network illustrated in Figure 18.
  • the wireless network of Figure 18 only depicts network 1806, network nodes 1860 and 1860b, and WDs 1810, 1810b, and 1810c.
  • a wireless network can include any additional elements suitable to support communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, a service provider, or any other network node or end device.
  • network node 1860 and wireless device (WD) 1810 are depicted with additional detail.
  • the wireless network can provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate the wireless devices’ access to and/or use of the services provided by, or via, the wireless network.
  • the wireless network can comprise and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio network or other similar type of system.
  • the wireless network can be configured to operate according to specific standards or other types of predefined rules or procedures.
  • particular embodiments of the wireless network can implement communication standards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.
  • GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
  • UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
  • LTE Long Term Evolution
  • WLAN wireless local area network
  • WiMax Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access
  • Bluetooth Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.
  • Network 1806 can comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet data networks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.
  • PSTNs public switched telephone networks
  • WANs wide-area networks
  • LANs local area networks
  • WLANs wireless local area networks
  • wired networks wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.
  • Network node 1860 and WD 1810 comprise various components described in more detail below. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network.
  • the wireless network can comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that can facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections.
  • network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the wireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g ., administration) in the wireless network.
  • network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g, radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)).
  • APs access points
  • BSs base stations
  • eNBs evolved Node Bs
  • gNBs NR NodeBs
  • Base stations can be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and can then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations.
  • a base station can be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay.
  • a network node can also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio.
  • RRUs remote radio units
  • RRHs Remote Radio Heads
  • Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio.
  • Parts of a distributed radio base station can also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).
  • DAS distributed antenna system
  • network nodes include multi-standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi-cell/multicast coordination entities (MCEs), core network nodes (e.g ., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or MDTs.
  • MSR multi-standard radio
  • RNCs radio network controllers
  • BSCs base station controllers
  • BTSs base transceiver stations
  • transmission points transmission nodes
  • MCEs multi-cell/multicast coordination entities
  • core network nodes e.g ., MSCs, MMEs
  • O&M nodes e.g., OSS nodes
  • SON nodes e.g., SON nodes
  • positioning nodes e.g.
  • network nodes can represent any suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to enable and/or provide a wireless device with access to the wireless network or to provide some service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network.
  • network node 1860 includes processing circuitry 1870, device readable medium 1880, interface 1890, auxiliary equipment 1884, power source 1886, power circuitry 1887, and antenna 1862.
  • network node 1860 illustrated in the example wireless network of Figure 18 can represent a device that includes the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments can comprise network nodes with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that a network node comprises any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods and/or procedures disclosed herein.
  • network node 1860 can comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g, device readable medium 1880 can comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).
  • network node 1860 can be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g, a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which can each have their own respective components.
  • network node 1860 comprises multiple separate components (e.g, BTS and BSC components)
  • one or more of the separate components can be shared among several network nodes.
  • a single RNC can control multiple NodeB’s.
  • each unique NodeB and RNC pair can in some instances be considered a single separate network node.
  • network node 1860 can be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs).
  • RATs radio access technologies
  • Network node 1860 can also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 1860, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies can be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 1860.
  • Processing circuitry 1870 can be configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by a network node. These operations performed by processing circuitry 1870 can include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 1870 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.
  • processing information obtained by processing circuitry 1870 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.
  • Processing circuitry 1870 can comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 1860 components, such as device readable medium 1880, network node 1860 functionality.
  • Such functionality can include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein.
  • processing circuitry 1870 can execute instructions stored in device readable medium 1880 or in memory within processing circuitry 1870.
  • processing circuitry 1870 can include a system on a chip (SOC).
  • SOC system on a chip
  • instructions (also referred to as a computer program product) stored in medium 1880 can include instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry 1870, can configure network node 1860 to perform operations corresponding to various exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) described herein.
  • processing circuitry 1870 can include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1872 and baseband processing circuitry 1874.
  • radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 1872 and baseband processing circuitry 1874 can be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units.
  • part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1872 and baseband processing circuitry 1874 can be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units
  • processing circuitry 1870 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 1880 or memory within processing circuitry 1870.
  • some or all of the functionality can be provided by processing circuitry 1870 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner.
  • processing circuitry 1870 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 1870 alone or to other components of network node 1860, but are enjoyed by network node 1860 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.
  • Device readable medium 1880 can comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that can be used by processing circuitry 1870.
  • volatile or non-volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or
  • Device readable medium 1880 can store any suitable instructions, data or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 1870 and, utilized by network node 1860.
  • Device readable medium 1880 can be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry 1870 and/or any data received via interface 1890.
  • processing circuitry 1870 and device readable medium 1880 can be considered to be integrated.
  • Interface 1890 is used in the wired or wireless communication of signalling and/or data between network node 1860, network 1806, and/or WDs 1810. As illustrated, interface 1890 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 1894 to send and receive data, for example to and from network 1806 over a wired connection. Interface 1890 also includes radio front end circuitry 1892 that can be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 1862. Radio front end circuitry 1892 comprises filters 1898 and amplifiers 1896. Radio front end circuitry 1892 can be connected to antenna 1862 and processing circuitry 1870. Radio front end circuitry can be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1862 and processing circuitry 1870.
  • Radio front end circuitry 1892 can receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 1892 can convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1898 and/or amplifiers 1896. The radio signal can then be transmitted via antenna 1862. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 1862 can collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 1892. The digital data can be passed to processing circuitry 1870. In other embodiments, the interface can comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.
  • network node 1860 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 1892, instead, processing circuitry 1870 can comprise radio front end circuitry and can be connected to antenna 1862 without separate radio front end circuitry 1892.
  • processing circuitry 1870 can comprise radio front end circuitry and can be connected to antenna 1862 without separate radio front end circuitry 1892.
  • all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 1872 can be considered a part of interface 1890.
  • interface 1890 can include one or more ports or terminals 1894, radio front end circuitry 1892, and RF transceiver circuitry 1872, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface 1890 can communicate with baseband processing circuitry 1874, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).
  • Antenna 1862 can include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals.
  • Antenna 1862 can be coupled to radio front end circuitry 1890 and can be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly.
  • antenna 1862 can comprise one or more omni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to transmit/receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz.
  • An omni-directional antenna can be used to transmit/receive radio signals in any direction
  • a sector antenna can be used to transmit/receive radio signals from devices within a particular area
  • a panel antenna can be a line of sight antenna used to transmit/receive radio signals in a relatively straight line.
  • the use of more than one antenna can be referred to as MIMO.
  • antenna 1862 can be separate from network node 1860 and can be connectable to network node 1860 through an interface or port.
  • Antenna 1862, interface 1890, and/or processing circuitry 1870 can be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals can be received from a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 1862, interface 1890, and/or processing circuitry 1870 can be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals can be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment.
  • Power circuitry 1887 can comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry and can be configured to supply the components of network node 1860 with power for performing the functionality described herein. Power circuitry 1887 can receive power from power source 1886. Power source 1886 and/or power circuitry 1887 can be configured to provide power to the various components of network node 1860 in a form suitable for the respective components ( e.g ., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source 1886 can either be included in, or external to, power circuitry 1887 and/or network node 1860.
  • network node 1860 can be connectable to an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry 1887.
  • power source 1886 can comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry 1887. The battery can provide backup power should the external power source fail.
  • Other types of power sources such as photovoltaic devices, can also be used.
  • network node 1860 can include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 18 that can be responsible for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein.
  • network node 1860 can include user interface equipment to allow and/or facilitate input of information into network node 1860 and to allow and/or facilitate output of information from network node 1860. This can allow and/or facilitate a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node 1860.
  • a WD (e.g., WD 2010) can be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction.
  • a WD can be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the network.
  • Examples of a WD include, but are not limited to, smart phones, mobile phones, cell phones, voice over IP (VoIP) phones, wireless local loop (WLL) phones, desktop computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), wireless cameras, gaming consoles or devices, music storage devices, playback appliances, wearable terminal devices (e.g., smart watches), wireless endpoints, mobile stations, tablets, laptops, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart devices, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, etc.
  • VoIP voice over IP
  • WLL wireless local loop
  • PDAs personal digital assistants
  • WLL wireless cameras
  • gaming consoles or devices music storage devices
  • playback appliances wearable terminal devices
  • wearable terminal devices e.g., smart watches
  • wireless endpoints mobile stations, tablets, laptops, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart devices, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle-mounted wireless terminal devices, etc.
  • a WD can support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3 GPP standard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and can in this case be referred to as a D2D communication device.
  • D2D device-to-device
  • V2V vehicle-to-vehicle
  • V2I vehicle-to-infrastructure
  • V2X vehicle-to-everything
  • a WD can represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another WD and/or a network node.
  • the WD can in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which can in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device.
  • M2M machine-to-machine
  • the WD can be a UE implementing the 3 GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) standard.
  • NB-IoT narrow band internet of things
  • machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances (e.g ., refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.).
  • a WD can represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.
  • a WD as described above can represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device can be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described above can be mobile, in which case it can also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.
  • wireless device 1810 includes antenna 1811, interface 1814, processing circuitry 1820, device readable medium 1830, user interface equipment 1832, auxiliary equipment 1834, power source 1836 and power circuitry 1837.
  • WD 1810 can include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by WD 1810, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. These wireless technologies can be integrated into the same or different chips or set of chips as other components within WD 1810.
  • Antenna 1811 can include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface 1814.
  • antenna 1811 can be separate from WD 1810 and be connectable to WD 1810 through an interface or port.
  • Antenna 1811, interface 1814, and/or processing circuitry 1820 can be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, data and/or signals can be received from a network node and/or another WD.
  • radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 1811 can be considered an interface.
  • interface 1814 comprises radio front end circuitry 1812 and antenna 1811.
  • Radio front end circuitry 1812 comprise one or more filters 1818 and amplifiers 1816.
  • Radio front end circuitry 1814 is connected to antenna 1811 and processing circuitry 1820, and can be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 1811 and processing circuitry 1820.
  • Radio front end circuitry 1812 can be coupled to or a part of antenna 1811.
  • WD 1810 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 1812; rather, processing circuitry 1820 can comprise radio front end circuitry and can be connected to antenna 1811.
  • some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1822 can be considered a part of interface 1814.
  • Radio front end circuitry 1812 can receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 1812 can convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 1818 and/or amplifiers 1816. The radio signal can then be transmitted via antenna 1811. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 1811 can collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 1812. The digital data can be passed to processing circuitry 1820. In other embodiments, the interface can comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.
  • Processing circuitry 1820 can comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other WD 1810 components, such as device readable medium 1830, WD 1810 functionality.
  • Such functionality can include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein.
  • processing circuitry 1820 can execute instructions stored in device readable medium 1830 or in memory within processing circuitry 1820 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.
  • instructions (also referred to as a computer program product) stored in medium 1830 can include instructions that, when executed by processor 1820, can configure wireless device 1810 to perform operations corresponding to various exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) described herein.
  • processing circuitry 1820 includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry 1822, baseband processing circuitry 1824, and application processing circuitry 1826.
  • the processing circuitry can comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.
  • processing circuitry 1820 of WD 1810 can comprise a SOC.
  • RF transceiver circuitry 1822, baseband processing circuitry 1824, and application processing circuitry 1826 can be on separate chips or sets of chips.
  • part or all of baseband processing circuitry 1824 and application processing circuitry 1826 can be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry 1822 can be on a separate chip or set of chips.
  • part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1822 and baseband processing circuitry 1824 can be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processing circuitry 1826 can be on a separate chip or set of chips.
  • part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 1822, baseband processing circuitry 1824, and application processing circuitry 1826 can be combined in the same chip or set of chips.
  • RF transceiver circuitry 1822 can be a part of interface 1814.
  • RF transceiver circuitry 1822 can condition RF signals for processing circuitry 1820.
  • processing circuitry 1820 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 1830, which in certain embodiments can be a computer- readable storage medium.
  • some or all of the functionality can be provided by processing circuitry 1820 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner.
  • processing circuitry 1820 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 1820 alone or to other components of WD 1810, but are enjoyed by WD 1810 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.
  • Processing circuitry 1820 can be configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g ., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by a WD. These operations, as performed by processing circuitry 1820, can include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 1820 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by WD 1810, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.
  • Device readable medium 1830 can be operable to store a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 1820.
  • Device readable medium 1830 can include computer memory (e.g ., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media (e.g, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non- transitory device readable and/or computer executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that can be used by processing circuitry 1820.
  • processing circuitry 1820 and device readable medium 1830 can be considered to be integrated.
  • User interface equipment 1832 can include components that allow and/or facilitate a human user to interact with WD 1810. Such interaction can be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment 1832 can be operable to produce output to the user and to allow and/or facilitate the user to provide input to WD 1810. The type of interaction can vary depending on the type of user interface equipment 1832 installed in WD 1810. For example, if WD 1810 is a smart phone, the interaction can be via a touch screen; if WD 1810 is a smart meter, the interaction can be through a screen that provides usage (e.g, the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alert (e.g, if smoke is detected).
  • usage e.g, the number of gallons used
  • a speaker that provides an audible alert
  • User interface equipment 1832 can include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interface equipment 1832 can be configured to allow and/or facilitate input of information into WD 1810, and is connected to processing circuitry 1820 to allow and/or facilitate processing circuitry 1820 to process the input information. User interface equipment 1832 can include, for example, a microphone, a proximity or other sensor, keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuitry. User interface equipment 1832 is also configured to allow and/or facilitate output of information from WD 1810, and to allow and/or facilitate processing circuitry 1820 to output information from WD 1810.
  • User interface equipment 1832 can include, for example, a speaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, of user interface equipment 1832, WD 1810 can communicate with end users and/or the wireless network, and allow and/or facilitate them to benefit from the functionality described herein.
  • Auxiliary equipment 1834 is operable to provide more specific functionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This can comprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliary equipment 1834 can vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.
  • Power source 1836 can, in some embodiments, be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g ., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or power cells, can also be used.
  • WD 1810 can further comprise power circuitry 1837 for delivering power from power source 1836 to the various parts of WD 1810 which need power from power source 1836 to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein.
  • Power circuitry 1837 can in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry.
  • Power circuitry 1837 can additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case WD 1810 can be connectable to the external power source (such as an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable.
  • Power circuitry 1837 can also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source 1836. This can be, for example, for the charging of power source 1836. Power circuitry 1837 can perform any converting or other modification to the power from power source 1836 to make it suitable for supply to the respective components of WD 1810.
  • Figure 19 illustrates one embodiment of a UE in accordance with various aspects described herein.
  • a user equipment or UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device.
  • a UE can represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller).
  • a UE can represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which can be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g, a smart power meter).
  • UE 19200 can be any UE identified by the 3 rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE.
  • UE 1900 is one example of a WD configured for communication in accordance with one or more communication standards promulgated by the 3 rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP’s GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards.
  • 3GPP 3 rd Generation Partnership Project
  • the term WD and UE can be used interchangeable. Accordingly, although Figure 19 is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a WD, and vice-versa.
  • UE 1900 includes processing circuitry 1901 that is operatively coupled to input/output interface 1905, radio frequency (RF) interface 1909, network connection interface 1911, memory 1915 including random access memory (RAM) 1917, read-only memory (ROM) 1919, and storage medium 1921 or the like, communication subsystem 1931, power source 1933, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof.
  • Storage medium 1921 includes operating system 1923, application program 1925, and data 1927. In other embodiments, storage medium 1921 can include other similar types of information.
  • Certain UEs can utilize all of the components shown in Figure 19, or only a subset of the components. The level of integration between the components can vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs can contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.
  • processing circuitry 1901 can be configured to process computer instructions and data.
  • Processing circuitry 1901 can be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute machine instructions stored as machine- readable computer programs in the memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g ., in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored program, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above.
  • the processing circuitry 1901 can include two central processing units (CPUs). Data can be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.
  • input/output interface 1905 can be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, output device, or input and output device.
  • UE 1900 can be configured to use an output device via input/output interface 1905.
  • An output device can use the same type of interface port as an input device.
  • a USB port can be used to provide input to and output from UE 1900.
  • the output device can be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof.
  • UE 1900 can be configured to use an input device via input/output interface 1905 to allow and/or facilitate a user to capture information into UE 1900.
  • the input device can include a touch-sensitive or presence- sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like.
  • the presence-sensitive display can include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user.
  • a sensor can be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another like sensor, or any combination thereof.
  • the input device can be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.
  • RF interface 1909 can be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna.
  • Network connection interface 1911 can be configured to provide a communication interface to network 1943a.
  • Network 1943a can encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof.
  • network 1943a can comprise a Wi-Fi network.
  • Network connection interface 1911 can be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface used to communicate with one or more other devices over a communication network according to one or more communication protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, SONET, ATM, or the like.
  • Network connection interface 1911 can implement receiver and transmitter functionality appropriate to the communication network links ( e.g ., optical, electrical, and the like).
  • the transmitter and receiver functions can share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively can be implemented separately.
  • RAM 1917 can be configured to interface via bus 1902 to processing circuitry 1901 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as the operating system, application programs, and device drivers.
  • ROM 1919 can be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuitry 1901.
  • ROM 1919 can be configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basic input and output (EO), startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory.
  • EO basic input and output
  • Storage medium 1921 can be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, or flash drives.
  • memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, or flash drives.
  • storage medium 1919 can be configured to include operating system 1923, application program 1925 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application, and data file 1927.
  • Storage medium 1919 can store, for use by UE 1900, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.
  • application program 1925 can include executable program instructions (also referred to as a computer program product) that, when executed by processor 1901, can configure UE 1900 to perform operations corresponding to various exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) described herein.
  • Storage medium 1921 can be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppy disk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD-DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof.
  • RAID redundant array of independent disks
  • HD-DVD high-density digital versatile disc
  • HDDS holographic digital data storage
  • DIMM mini-dual in-line memory module
  • SDRAM synchronous dynamic random access memory
  • SIM/RUIM removable user identity
  • Storage medium 1921 can allow and/or facilitate UE 1900 to access computer-executable instructions, application programs or the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data.
  • An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system can be tangibly embodied in storage medium 1921, which can comprise a device readable medium.
  • processing circuitry 1901 can be configured to communicate with network 1943b using communication subsystem 1931.
  • Network 1943a and network 1943b can be the same network or networks or different network or networks.
  • Communication subsystem 1931 can be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with network 1943b.
  • communication subsystem 1931 can be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication such as another WD, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN) according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.19, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like.
  • RAN radio access network
  • Each transceiver can include transmitter 1933 and/or receiver 1935 to implement transmitter or receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links ( e.g ., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter 1933 and receiver 1935 of each transceiver can share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively can be implemented separately.
  • the communication functions of communication subsystem 1931 can include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short-range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof.
  • communication subsystem 1931 can include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication.
  • Network 1943b can encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof.
  • network 1943b can be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-field network.
  • Power source 1913 can be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE 1900.
  • communication subsystem 1931 can be configured to include any of the components described herein.
  • processing circuitry 1901 can be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus 1902.
  • any of such components can be represented by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry 1901 perform the corresponding functions described herein.
  • the functionality of any of such components can be partitioned between processing circuitry 1901 and communication subsystem 1931.
  • the non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components can be implemented in software or firmware and the computationally intensive functions can be implemented in hardware.
  • FIG 20 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 2000 in which functions implemented by some embodiments can be virtualized.
  • virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which can include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources.
  • virtualization can be applied to a node (e.g ., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or to a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device or any other type of communication device) or components thereof and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g, via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines or containers executing on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).
  • some or all of the functions described herein can be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 2000 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes 2030. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radio connectivity (e.g, a core network node), then the network node can be entirely virtualized.
  • the functions can be implemented by one or more applications 2020 (which can alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.
  • Applications 2020 are run in virtualization environment 2000 which provides hardware 2030 comprising processing circuitry 2060 and memory 2090.
  • Memory 2090 contains instructions 2095 executable by processing circuitry 2060 whereby application 2020 is operative to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.
  • Virtualization environment 2000 comprises general-purpose or special-purpose network hardware devices 2030 comprising a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry 2060, which can be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitry including digital or analog hardware components or special purpose processors.
  • Each hardware device can comprise memory 2090-1 which can be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 2095 or software executed by processing circuitry 2060.
  • instructions 2095 can include program instructions (also referred to as a computer program product) that, when executed by processing circuitry 2060, can configure hardware node 2020 to perform operations corresponding to various exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) described herein. Such operations can also be attributed to virtual node(s) 2020 that is/are hosted by hardware node 2030.
  • Each hardware device can comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 2070, also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interface 2080.
  • NICs network interface controllers
  • Each hardware device can also include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media 2090-2 having stored therein software 2095 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry 2060.
  • Software 2095 can include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 2050 (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines 2040 as well as software allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein.
  • Virtual machines 2040 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and can be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 2050 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual appliance 2020 can be implemented on one or more of virtual machines 2040, and the implementations can be made in different ways.
  • processing circuitry 2060 executes software 2095 to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 2050, which can sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM).
  • Virtualization layer 2050 can present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine 2040.
  • hardware 2030 can be a standalone network node with generic or specific components.
  • Hardware 2030 can comprise antenna 20225 and can implement some functions via virtualization.
  • hardware 2030 can be part of a larger cluster of hardware A. ., such as in a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE)) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration (MANO) 20100, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 2020.
  • CPE customer premise equipment
  • MANO management and orchestration
  • NFV network function virtualization
  • NFV can be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.
  • virtual machine 2040 can be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine.
  • Each of virtual machines 2040, and that part of hardware 2030 that executes that virtual machine be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and/or hardware shared by that virtual machine with others of the virtual machines 2040, forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE).
  • VNE virtual network elements
  • VNF Virtual Network Function
  • one or more radio units 20200 that each include one or more transmitters 20220 and one or more receivers 20210 can be coupled to one or more antennas 20225.
  • Radio units 20200 can communicate directly with hardware nodes 2030 via one or more appropriate network interfaces and can be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station.
  • control system 20230 which can alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes 2030 and radio units 20200.
  • a communication system includes telecommunication network 2110, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, 6q
  • Access network 2111 comprises a plurality of base stations 2112a, 2112b, 2112c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 2113a, 2113b, 2113c.
  • Each base station 2112a, 2112b, 2112c is connectable to core network 2114 over a wired or wireless connection 2115.
  • a first UE 2191 located in coverage area 2113c can be configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 2112c.
  • a second UE 2192 in coverage area 2113a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 2112a. While a plurality of UEs 2191, 2192 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the base station 2112a.
  • Telecommunication network 2110 is itself connected to host computer 2130, which can be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm.
  • Host computer 2130 can be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or can be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider.
  • Connections 2121 and 2122 between telecommunication network 2110 and host computer 2130 can extend directly from core network 2114 to host computer 2130 or can go via an optional intermediate network 2120.
  • Intermediate network 2120 can be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network 2120, if any, can be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network 2120 can comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).
  • the communication system of Figure 21 as a whole enables connectivity between the connected UEs 2191, 2192 and host computer 2130.
  • the connectivity can be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 2150.
  • Host computer 2130 and the connected UEs 2191, 2192 are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection 2150, using access network 2111, core network 2114, any intermediate network 2120 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries.
  • OTT connection 2150 can be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which OTT connection 2150 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications.
  • base station 2112 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from host computer 2130 to be forwarded ( e.g ., handed over) to a connected UE 2191. Similarly, base station 2112 need not be aware of the future 6i
  • host computer 2210 comprises hardware 2215 including communication interface 2216 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 2200.
  • Host computer 2210 further comprises processing circuitry 2218, which can have storage and/or processing capabilities.
  • processing circuitry 2218 can comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions.
  • Host computer 2210 further comprises software 2211, which is stored in or accessible by host computer 2210 and executable by processing circuitry 2218.
  • Software 2211 includes host application 2212.
  • Host application 2212 can be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE 2230 connecting via OTT connection 2250 terminating at UE 2230 and host computer 2210. In providing the service to the remote user, host application 2212 can provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection 2250.
  • Communication system 2200 can also include base station 2220 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 2225 enabling it to communicate with host computer 2210 and with UE 2230.
  • Hardware 2225 can include communication interface
  • Communication interface 2226 can be configured to facilitate connection 2260 to host computer 2210. Connection 2260 can be direct, or it can pass through a core network (not shown in Figure 22) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system.
  • hardware 2225 of base station 2220 can also include processing circuitry 2228, which can comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions.
  • Base station 2220 also includes software 2221 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.
  • software 2221 can include program instructions (also referred to as a computer program product) that, when executed by processing circuitry 2228, can configure base station 2220 to perform operations corresponding to various exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) described herein.
  • Communication system 2200 can also include UE 2230 already referred to.
  • the UE hardware 2235 can include radio interface 2237 configured to set up and maintain wireless connection 2270 with a base station serving a coverage area in which TIE 2230 is currently located.
  • Hardware 2235 of TIE 2230 can also include processing circuitry 2238, which can comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions.
  • UE 2230 also includes software 2231, which is stored in or accessible by UE 2230 and executable by processing circuitry 2238.
  • Software 2231 includes client application 2232.
  • Client application 2232 can be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 2230, with the support of host computer 2210.
  • an executing host application 2212 can communicate with the executing client application 2232 via OTT connection 2250 terminating at UE 2230 and host computer 2210.
  • client application 2232 can receive request data from host application 2212 and provide user data in response to the request data.
  • OTT connection 2250 can transfer both the request data and the user data.
  • Client application 2232 can interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.
  • Software 2231 can also include program instructions (also referred to as a computer program product) that, when executed by processing circuitry 2238, can configure UE 2230 to perform operations corresponding to various exemplary methods (e.g., procedures) described herein.
  • host computer 2210, base station 2220 and UE 2230 illustrated in Figure 22 can be similar or identical to host computer 2130, one of base stations 2112a, 2112b, 2112c and one of UEs 2191, 2192 of Figure 21, respectively.
  • the inner workings of these entities can be as shown in Figure 22 and independently, the surrounding network topology can be that of Figure 21.
  • OTT connection 2250 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host computer 2210 and UE 2230 via base station 2220, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.
  • Network infrastructure can determine the routing, which it can be configured to hide from UE 2230 or from the service provider operating host computer 2210, or both. While OTT connection 2250 is active, the network infrastructure can further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g ., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).
  • Wireless connection 2270 between UE 2230 and base station 2220 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.
  • One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE 2230 using OTT connection 2250, in which wireless connection 2270 forms the last segment.
  • the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein can improve flexibility for the network to monitor end-to-end quality-of-service (QoS) of data flows, including their corresponding radio bearers, associated with data sessions between a user equipment (UE) and another entity, such as an OTT data application or service external to the 5G network.
  • QoS quality-of-service
  • a measurement procedure can be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other network operational aspects on which the one or more embodiments improve.
  • the measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 2250 can be implemented in software 2211 and hardware 2215 of host computer 2210 or in software 2231 and hardware 2235 of UE 2230, or both.
  • sensors can be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which OTT connection 2250 passes; the sensors can participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software 2211, 2231 can compute or estimate the monitored quantities.
  • the reconfiguring of OTT connection 2250 can include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station 2220, and it can be unknown or imperceptible to base station 2220. Such procedures and functionalities can be known and practiced in the art.
  • measurements can involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating host computer 2210’s measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like.
  • FIG. 23 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method and/or procedure implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment.
  • the communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which, in some exemplary embodiments, can be those described with reference to Figures 21 and 22. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 23 will be included in this section.
  • the host computer provides user data.
  • substep 2311 (which can be optional) of step 2310, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application.
  • step 2320 the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE.
  • step 2330 (which can be optional)
  • the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.
  • step 2340 (which can also be optional)
  • the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.
  • FIG. 24 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method and/or procedure implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment.
  • the communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which can be those described with reference to Figures 21 and 22. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 24 will be included in this section.
  • the host computer provides user data.
  • the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application.
  • the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE.
  • the transmission can pass via the base station, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.
  • step 2430 (which can be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.
  • FIG. 25 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method and/or procedure implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment.
  • the communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which can be those described with reference to Figures 21 and 22. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 25 will be included in this section.
  • step 2510 the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 2520, the UE provides user data.
  • substep 2521 (which can be optional) of step 2520, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application.
  • substep 2511 (which can be optional) of step 2510, the UE executes a client application which provides the user data in reaction to the received input data provided by the host computer.
  • the executed client application can further consider user input received from the user.
  • the UE initiates, in substep 2530 (which can be optional), transmission of the user data to the host computer.
  • step 2540 of the method the host computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.
  • FIG. 26 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method and/or procedure implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment.
  • the communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which can be those described with reference to Figures 21 and 22. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 26 will be included in this section.
  • the base station receives user data from the UE.
  • the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer.
  • step 2630 (which can be optional)
  • the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.
  • device and/or apparatus can be represented by a semiconductor chip, a chipset, or a (hardware) module comprising such chip or chipset; this, however, does not exclude the possibility that a functionality of a device or apparatus, instead of being hardware implemented, be implemented as a software module such as a computer program or a computer program product comprising executable software code portions for execution or being run on a processor.
  • functionality of a device or apparatus can be implemented by any combination of hardware and software.
  • a device or apparatus can also be regarded as an assembly of multiple devices and/or apparatuses, whether functionally in cooperation with or independently of each other.
  • devices and apparatuses can be implemented in a distributed fashion throughout a system, so long as the functionality of the device or apparatus is preserved. Such and similar principles are considered as known to a skilled person.
  • functions described herein as being performed by a wireless device or a network node may be distributed over a plurality of wireless devices and/or network nodes.
  • the functions of the network node and wireless device described herein are not limited to performance by a single physical device and, in fact, can be distributed among several physical devices.
  • the term unit can have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and can include, for example, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are described herein.
  • phrases“at least one of’ and“one or more of,” followed by a conjunctive list of enumerated items are intended to mean“at least one item, with each item selected from the list consisting of’ the enumerated items.
  • “at least one of A and B” is intended to mean any of the following: A; B; A and B.
  • “one or more of A, B, and C” is intended to mean any of the following: A; B; C; A and B; B and C; A and C; A, B, and C.
  • phrase“a plurality of’ followed by a conjunctive list of enumerated items is intended to mean“multiple items, with each item selected from the list consisting of’ the enumerated items.
  • “a plurality of A and B” is intended to mean any of the following: more than one A; more than one B; or at least one A and at least one B.
  • Example embodiments of the techniques and apparatus described herein include, but are not limited to, the following enumerated examples:
  • measurement report comprising radio measurements related to: a source beam transmitted by the source node;
  • performing the handover procecdure comprises sending, to the target node, that an indication the subset of UEs should be handed over to the selected target beams.
  • the resource information request comprises information identifying one or more of the following for which reporting is requested:
  • the type of resource information comprises one or more of the following: traffic load, number of users, resource utilization, resource availability, and resource capacity.
  • the granularity of resource information comprises one or more of the following: per SS/PBCH block (SSB), per channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), per link beam, and per bandwidth part (BWP).
  • SSB SS/PBCH block
  • CSI-RS channel state information reference signal
  • BWP bandwidth part
  • each measurement report comprising radio measurements related to a plurality of target beams of the target node
  • performing the handover procecdure comprises receiving, from the source node, an indication that the subset of UEs should be handed over to the selected target beams.
  • each measurement report comprises signal strengths for each of the plurality of target beams
  • determining beam-level load-related information comprises, for each particular UE of the plurality of UEs, associating the particular UE with the target beam for which the particular UE reports the highest signal strength.
  • the method is performed by a centralized unit (CU) of the source node; and determining the beam-level load-related information comprises requesting, and receiving, the beam-level load-related information from one or more distributed units (DUs) associated with the CU.
  • CU centralized unit
  • DUs distributed units
  • determining the beam-level load-related information comprises:
  • the resource information request comprises information identifying one or more of the following for which reporting is requested:
  • the type of resource information comprises one or more of the following: traffic load, number of users, resource utilization, resource availability, and resource capacity.
  • the granularity of resource information comprises one or more of the following: per SS/PBCH block (SSB), per channel state information reference signal (CSI-RS), per link beam, and per bandwidth part (BWP).
  • SSB SS/PBCH block
  • CSI-RS channel state information reference signal
  • BWP bandwidth part
  • a network node in a radio access network comprising:
  • communication circuitry configured to communicate with one or more other
  • UE user equipment
  • processing circuitry operably coupled to the communication circuitry and configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments 1-19.
  • a network node configured for beam -level mobility load balancing (MLB) in a radio access network (RAN), the network node being arranged to perform operations
  • MLB beam -level mobility load balancing
  • a non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry comprising a network node in radio access network (RAN), configure the network node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments 1-19.
  • a communication system including a host computer, the host computer comprising: a. processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and
  • a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE) through a core network (CN) and a radio access network (RAN);
  • UE user equipment
  • CN core network
  • RAN radio access network
  • the RAN comprises first and second nodes
  • the first node comprises a communication transceiver and processing
  • circuitry configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments 1-7;
  • the second node comprises a communication transceiver and processing circuitry configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments 8-19.
  • the communication system of the previous embodiment further comprising the UE.
  • the communication system of any of the previous two embodiments wherein: f. the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and
  • the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client
  • the host computer initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising an radio access network (RAN); and c. operations, performed by first and second nodes of the RAN, corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments 1-19.
  • the data message comprises the user data, and further comprising transmitting the user data to the UE via the first node or the second node.
  • the user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application, the method further comprising, at the UE, executing a client application associated with the host application.
  • a communication system including a host computer comprising a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) via a first node or a second node in a radio access network (RAN), wherein:
  • the first node comprises a communication interface and processing circuitry configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments 1-7;
  • the second node comprises a communication interface and processing
  • circuitry configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of embodiments 8-19.
  • the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application
  • the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data to be received by the host computer.

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Abstract

Des modes de réalisation comprennent des procédés, mis en œuvre par un nœud source, pour assurer un équilibrage de charge de mobilité (MLB) dans un réseau d'accès radio (RAN). De tels procédés consistent à envoyer une demande d'informations de ressources, à un nœud cible dans le RAN, liée à des informations concernant des ressources, associées au nœud cible, qui sont utilisables pour des opérations MLB dans le RAN. La demande d'informations de ressources identifie au moins l'un des éléments suivants : un ou plusieurs premiers types d'informations de ressources demandées ; et un ou plusieurs seconds types de granularité de ressources pour lesquels des informations de ressources sont demandées. De tels procédés consistent à recevoir un ou plusieurs rapports d'informations de ressources, du nœud cible, comprenant des informations de ressources selon un ou plusieurs des éléments suivants : au moins l'un des premiers types, et au moins l'un des seconds types. Des modes de réalisation comprennent également des procédés complémentaires effectués par un nœud cible, et des nœuds source/cible configurés pour effectuer des opérations correspondant à ces procédés.
EP20703318.4A 2019-02-11 2020-01-24 Équilibrage de charge de mobilité amélioré (mlb) accompagné d'un échange de charge basé sur un faisceau Withdrawn EP3925299A1 (fr)

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