EP4639941A1

EP4639941A1 - Method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology, and network node therefor

Info

Publication number: EP4639941A1
Application number: EP22839361.7A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Patrick Maguire
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Current assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Priority date: 2022-12-22
Filing date: 2022-12-22
Publication date: 2025-10-29
Also published as: WO2024132169A1

Abstract

Provided is a method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology, comprising the following steps of determining, based on a parameter used in radio resource management, an amount of a resource to be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology, inhibiting reallocating of a resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology, if the determined amount of the resource is larger or equal to a value related to a proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology, wherein the parameter is a resource category, which indicates that a resource is guaranteed for a use or that a resource is exclusively assigned to a use.

Description

Method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology, and network node therefor.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology, and a network node therefor.

TECHNICAL BACKGROUND

Conventional radio resource management, RRM, techniques reserve or prioritize radio resources of a radio access technology for a specific group of users or uses in a cell. In spectrum sharing techniques, radio resources are dynamically shared between long term evolution, LTE/4G, radio access technologies and new radio, NR/5G, radio access technologies. A combination of both techniques, RRM and spectrum, can lead to cases where the amount of resources reserved by NR RRM for subsequent transmissions exceeds the amount of resources reallocated by spectrum sharing for subsequent NR transmissions. This can have a negative impact on critical services that require the NR resources reserved by RRM, which are reallocated to LTE by spectrum sharing prior to a subsequent transmission. During the following transmissions, the critical services then lack the radio resources required to work. This can result in security risks and reduce resource utilization efficiency.

SUMMARY

One of the objects of the present disclosure is to overcome at least one of the above- mentioned prior art problems or to improve at least one of the prior art solutions. The object is achieved by the subject-matter of the independent claims. Further preferred embodiments are given by the subject-matter of the dependent claims.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology, comprising the following steps: determining, based on a parameter used in radio resource management, an amount of a resource to be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology; inhibiting, if the amount of the resource is larger or equal to a value related to the first radio access technology, a reallocating of a resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the present invention, which are presented for better understanding the inventive concepts, but which are not to be seen as limiting the invention, will now be described with reference to the figures in which:

Fig. 1 shows a first embodiment of the method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology.

Fig. 2 shows parts of a second and a third embodiment of the method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology.

Fig. 3 shows parts of fourth and a fifth embodiment of the method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology.

Fig. 4 shows a sixth embodiment of the method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology.

Fig. 5 shows parts of a seventh and eighth embodiment of the method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology.

Fig. 6 shows an aspect of the first embodiment of the method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology. Fig. 7 shows parts of a ninth, tenth, and eleventh embodiment of the method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology.

Fig. 8 shows an embodiment of a network node configured to perform resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As explained above, combining the approaches of radio resource management and spectrum sharing in cells providing radio resources for LTE and NR communications has disadvantages like critical services not being provided with the required resources. In order to overcome at least one of these disadvantages, the inventors have conceived, amongst other aspects, a reallocation of radio resources from LTE to NR or from NR to LTE, which is usually performed by spectrum sharing techniques, being inhibited if the reallocation would lead to a case where the reallocated amount (quantity) of resources is below a quantity of resources reserved by radio resource management techniques. In other words, spectrum sharing is prevented from reallocating these resources required by critical services to LTE uses. Thereby, it is ensured that critical services, which require specific resources to work, are provided with the required resources. Moreover, utilization of radio resources is improved further.

Figure 1 shows a flow-chart of an embodiment of the method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology, RATI, and a second radio access technology, RAT2, comprising the steps of determining, 101, based on a parameter, P, used in radio resource management, RRM, an amount, A, of a resource to be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology, and inhibiting 102 reallocating of a resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology, if the determined amount of the resource is larger or equal to a value related to a proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology, wherein the parameter is a resource category, which indicates that a resource is guaranteed for a use or that a resource is exclusively assigned to a use. Fig. 2 shows an aspect of the method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology, wherein the parameter P is a resource category, which indicates that a resource is guaranteed for a use or that a resource is exclusively assigned to a use.

Thanks to this solution, in particular by introducing the conditional relationship between the amount of a resource to be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology, which is determined based on the mentioned parameter, and the value related to the first radio access technology, one of the advantages lies in that it is possible to further improve resource utilization efficiency and mitigate security risks when using critical services.

The method for resource allocation may be performed on entities of conventional telecommunications networks. Telecommunications networks are networks which provide a system which allows communication between two endpoints, such as user equipment (UE), terminals, user terminals, or the like, and which are deployed or attached to the network, using radio resources, e.g., intervals in time and frequency. Examples of conventional telecommunications networks are a 5G, new radio, NR, 5th generation mobile network or an LTE, 4G, 4th generation mobile network. Examples of entities providing cells of such networks are a network node, a node of the core network, a node of the radio access network, RAN, in a 5G telecommunications network. Further examples comprise a base station, BS, a g-node-B, gNB, or a next generation e-node-B, ng-eNB.

A cell is a geographic area that is covered by a node, e.g., a base station, of a telecommunications network. Such a telecommunications network may comprise a plurality of base stations to efficiently use radio resources to cover a service area, and provide transmission resources for communication between two end-points. Specific examples of a cell comprise a micro-cell, macro-cell, primary cell, secondary cell, femtocell, and a pico-cell.

Determining an amount of a resource refers to determining a number, value, indicator, or data-structure which represents or indicates an amount of a resource. This value/number is in a format, such that it can be compared to the above-mentioned value related to the first radio access technology. The amount of a resource may be encoded in various formats, such as bits, bytes, hexadecimal notation or decimal notation. The operation "determining" may also be referred to as computing or deriving the amount of resource.

As also further discussed below, an amount of a resource may refer to a share of the radio resources available at the cell. The amount may furthermore indicate a specific set of the radio resources available at the cell. The amount may correspond to an indicator related to the set of resources which are reserved and thus guaranteed for specific uses linked to the parameter.

Determining the amount, A, based on a parameter, P, may be rephrased as the amount being computed taking the parameter as an input. Then, an algorithm may be used to compute the amount of resources linked to the input parameter. The parameter may indicate a certain type of transmission resources. This aspect is reflected in the formulation A P) used in Fig. 1 where the amount A may be interpreted as a function of parameter P.

Inhibiting the reallocating refers to stopping or preventing a reallocating (reconfiguring, reconfiguration) of resources in between two sequential time-intervals, which is usually performed using various techniques, for example, spectrum sharing.

Moreover, the resource may be reallocated based on the value related to a proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology. The reallocating may be performed by spectrum sharing techniques. The resource mentioned in "proposed allocation of the resource of the radio access technology" may refer to the resource to be reallocated. The "proposed allocation" may also be referred to as "proposed reallocation". As an example, the value may indicate resources, such as a part of the available spectrum, which shall be reallocated from the first radio access technology to the second radio access technology. As non-limiting example, the value may indicate that a spectrum-share of 40 percent of the available spectrum, e.g., the frequency-range covered or provided by the cell, which is presently provided for communications using 5G as first radio access technology, shall be reconfigured to 20 percent of the available spectrum during following transmissions. The 20 percent freed thereby may then be allocated to communications using 4G radio access technology.

The conditional expression "if the determined amount of the resource is larger or equal to a value related to a proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology" may also be rephrased as "if the value related to a proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology is smaller than the determined amount of the resource". In general, this expression comprises all alternative expressions in (formal) logic of "(A > V)". Furthermore, it is noted that this expression comprises the case of "(A > V)" and all its alternative (formal) logic expressions.

A proposed (re)allocation of a resource of the first radio access technology refers to an allocation of a radio resource which shall be used for transmissions during subsequent time steps, wherein the allocation may be different from an allocation of a radio resource which is (currently) being used, and wherein the transmissions may be performed using new radio as first radio access technology.

A resource category may also be referred to as a resource type. A resource category is an attribute associated with radio resources which can be used for transmissions, such as transmissions between members of a telecommunications network. The resource category may be used in LTE radio resource management, LTE RRM, or NR radio resource management, NR RRM. Radio resource management may also be referred to as radio resource partitioning. The resource category may also be referred to as a RRM Resource Category. The resource category may indicate how radio resources are to be used for transmissions in radio access technologies applying radio resource management. For example, the parameter may indicate that a share of the available spectrum provided by the cell (or available to the cell) may be reserved for specific services. As another example, the resource category may indicate if said resources, such as a part of the available spectrum, are reserved for uses or services. These uses or services may be indicated by a so-called rRMPolicyMemberlist, or not. A rRMPolicyMemberlist here may be comprised in a RRMPolicyRatio. The RRMPolicyRatio may be used in an LTE system applying radio resource management. The RRMPolicyRatio may be used in an NR system applying radio resource management.

A use refers to the use of radio resources for transmitting or receiving data in the cell. For example, the resources may be reserved or allocated for uses such as user and bearer related requests. Examples of user and bearer related requests comprise a user connection, a PDU session, etc . Further non-limiting examples of said "use" comprise specific types of traffic, e.g .MBB, MTC, URLLC. The transmitting or receiving may be caused by an entity in the cell. E.g., a terminal may request transmission resources for critical services by using resources which are exclusively assigned to such critical services. As another example, a user equipment may request an ultra-low latency connection. As a further example, a node may reserve a specific part of the available spectrum for ultra-reliable transmissions to a set of terminals, wherein the terminals may be indicated in a list at the node. An example of such a list may be the aforementioned rRMPolicyMemberlist.

A resource being guaranteed for a use may be referred to as the said resource being reserved for a use on the condition that said resource is provided to a specific service involving transmission or reception of data, wherein, if the resource is not used by said service, the resource may be made available for other services. For example, specific parts of the spectrum may be reserved for critical services provided by a node to a set of terminals. However, if none of these terminals uses said parts of the spectrum, these parts of the spectrum may be used by another terminal comprised in another, second list for transmission / reception of data or not at all comprised in such a list.

A resource being exclusively assigned to a use may be referred to as the said resource being unconditionally reserved for a use. In other words, said resource may be excluded from being used for other services. For example, a specific part of a spectrum in a cell may be reserved for critical services provided by a node to a plurality of terminals. Irrespective of whether these reserved parts of the spectrum are actually used, these parts then may be excluded from being available for other terminals or UEs, which are not comprised in the mentioned plurality of terminals.

Specific examples of a resource category may be the RRM resource categories "shared resources", "prioritized resources", and "dedicated resources". Fig. 2 shows the two latter categories. The category "prioritized resources" may indicate that a resource is guaranteed for a use. The category "dedicated resource" may indicate that a resource is exclusively assigned to a use.

"Shared resources" may mean that the resources can be shared with other rRMPolicyMemberList(s). E.g., the rRMPolicyMemberList(s) which are defined in RRMPolicyRatio(s) which are name-contained by a same ManagedEntity. These shared resources may not be guaranteed for use by the associated rRMPolicyMemenberlist.

"Prioritized resources" may mean that the resources are preferentially used by an associated RRMPolicyMemberlist. These resources may be guaranteed for use by the associated RRMPolicyMemberList when it needs to use them. However, when not used by the associated RRMPolicyMemberList, these resources may be used by other rRMPolicyMemberList(s), such as the rRMPolicyMemberList(s) defined in RRMPolicyRatio(s) name-contained by a same ManagedEntity.

"Dedicated resources" means that the resources are dedicated for use by an associated RRMPolicyMemberList. These resources cannot be shared even if the associated RRMPolicyMember does not use them.

Advantageously, the above embodiment further improves resource utilization efficiency and mitigates security risks when using critical services. Specifically, resources which are reserved by radio resource management techniques for critical services remain available, even if a reallocation of transmission resources by spectrum sharing would result in allocating at least parts of said radio resources to another radio access technology. Moreover, using a resource category as a parameter based on which the amount of resources to be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology is determined allows for flexible and versatile determination of this amount for various resource categories related to different uses. Furthermore, using resource categories indicating that a resource is guaranteed for a use or that a resource is exclusively assigned to a use allows for an efficient way of determining the resources either guaranteed for a use or being exclusively assigned to a use when applying radio resource management.

The above embodiment may optionally comprise the additional steps and configurations and definitions discussed throughout the following embodiments.

In a further embodiment, the method comprises the further step of reallocating 103 the resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology, if the amount A of the resource is smaller than the value V related to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology.

Here, the conditional expression "if the amount of the resource is smaller than the value related to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology" may also be rephrased as "if the amount of the resource is not larger or equal to the value related to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology", or "if the value related to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology is larger than the amount of the resource". In general, this expression comprises all alternative expressions in (formal) logic of "(A>V)". Furthermore, it is noted that this expression comprises the case of "(A>V)" and all its alternative (formal) logic expressions.

The reallocating may be performed by spectrum sharing techniques in the manner discussed above. The herein discussed reallocating comprises the reallocating which is inhibited if the amount of the resource is larger or equal to the value related to the first radio access technology.

Fig. 3 shows a further embodiment of the method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology, wherein the amount of the resource to be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology is a total amount of a resource associated with the parameter.

The total amount of a resource associated with the parameter refers to (all, the complete set of) the radio resources in time and/or frequency which are linked to a given parameter. For example, for a parameter, such as one of the above resource categories used in RRM, the resources, for example, a part of the available spectrum, which are used for transmission and reception of data between a node and at least one terminal may be determined. For instance, given the RRM category "dedicated resources", the parts of the spectrum dedicated solely for use by terminals indicated as RRMPolicyMember in the RRMPolicyMemberList may be determined.

Moreover, the total amount may be a sum. The sum may refer to the result of mathematical operations, such as taking a cumulative sum, which take a type of resource as input and yield a value indicating the complete set of resources linked to the type of resource (resource category) as output. E.g., the frequency intervals, such as a first interval ranging from 3.3 GHz to 3.5 GHz and a second interval ranging from 4 GHz to 4.2 GHz, which are indicated by the parameter, such as the resource category "dedicated resources", may be added to each other. For the given example, the sum may be 0.4 GHz or 400 MHz for the resource category "dedicated resources". Of course, this example can also be extended to other resource categories, such as "prioritized resources" and more than two frequency intervals.

Advantageously, defining the amount of the resource to be provided by the cell in the manner discussed above allows for an efficient computation of a "full" set of resources required for transmission and reception of data by entities linked to the parameter. Thereby, more efficient adjustment of data rates and radio resource configuration is made possible.

The above embodiment may optionally comprise the additional steps and configurations, definitions discussed throughout the following embodiments.

Fig. 4 shows a further embodiment of the method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology, wherein the value related to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology indicates a quantity of a resource which shall be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology by the reallocating.

A quantity of a resource refers to the quantity, number, amount, sum of radio resources, or any other indicator indicating the radio resources provided for transmission or reception of information or data between a node and a terminal of a cell. For instance, the quantity may be a sum of frequency intervals, as discussed above.

The quantity of a resource being provided by the cell using the first radio access technology refers to the set of resources which are to be reallocated from a first allocation, which is used during a first time interval, to a second allocation, which is used during a second, subsequent time interval. The reallocating may be made using spectrum sharing techniques, as discussed above. As an example, the quantity of a resource may be a part or share of the available spectrum. Moreover, the first radio access technology may be an NR radio access technology and the remaining parts of the spectrum may be assigned or allocated to the second radio access technology, which may be an LTE RAT. As a further example, initially, for a first transmission period, 70 percent of the available spectrum in a cell may be allocated to NR communications and 30 percent of the available spectrum in the cell may be allocated to LTE communications. Then, for a second transmission period, 40 percent of the available spectrum may be allocated to NR communications and the remining 60 percent of the available spectrum may be allocated to LTE communications.

An example of the value related to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology indicating a quantity of a resource which shall be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology is that the value indicates that a part of the spectrum available in the cell which is currently assigned to NR communication shall be reallocated to LTE communications. For example, while 70 percent of the total available spectrum are provided for NR communications during a first interval, 90 percent of the total available spectrum shall be configured for NR communication during a second, subsequent time interval. The corresponding 20 percent of the spectrum would thus be reallocated to NR from LTE radio resources.

Advantageously, defining the value related to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology as indicating a quantity of a resource which shall be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology provides an efficient way of indicating the quantity of resources that shall be provided using the first radio access technology.

Fig. 5 shows a further embodiment of the method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology, wherein the reallocating 103 of the resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology comprises changing of a first allocation of the resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology to a second allocation of the resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology based on the value related to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology.

Fig. 5 shows a sketch of a corresponding frequency-time diagram. The reallocating may be performed using spectrum sharing techniques. Here, a (first or second) allocation of the resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology refers to a configuration of radio resources in frequency and time. An example of an allocation of a resource is a share of the frequency spectrum used by the cell over a time interval. As a further example of reallocating said resource, initially, for a first transmission period ranging from tO and tl, e.g., 70 percent (the range from fl to f2) of the available spectrum (the range from fl to f3) in a cell are allocated to NR communications, and 30 percent (the range from f2 to f3) of the available spectrum in the cell are allocated to LTE communications. Then, for a second transmission period (the range from tl to t2), 50 percent of the available spectrum are allocated to NR communications and the remaining 50 percent of the available spectrum are allocated to LTE communications. Further reallocations may happen in between or during further transmission periods, as also indicated by the further arrows on top of the diagram. The amount of resource provided to the first radio access technology may be increased or decreased by reallocating. The remaining part of the spectrum may then be assigned to the second radio access technology. Another example is given by a case where frequency ranges which are available in the cell, such as a range from 3.6 GHz to 4.4 GHz, are reassigned from the first radio access technology to the second radio access technology and therefore not available for communications using the first radio access technology. Yet another example is given by a case where frequency ranges which are available in the cell, such as a range from 3.6 GHz to 4.4 GHz, are reassigned from the second radio access technology to the first radio access technology and therefore available for communications using the first radio access technology. The allocation of a plurality of frequency ranges or spectrum-shares may be changed.

Changing a corresponding first allocation of the resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology to a second allocation of the resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology refers to reconfiguring a present, current configuration of radio resources. The reconfiguration may be performed such that radio resources used for transmissions during a first time interval (the "present" configuration), e.g., the interval reaching from tO to tl in Fig. 5, may not be used anymore during a subsequent, second time interval, e.g., the interval reaching from tl to t2 in Fig. 5. For example, parts of the spectrum reaching from fl to f2 which are provided for the NR transmissions during the interval reaching from tO to tl but which are not allocated to NR transmissions in the interval ranging from tl to t2 may be reassigned to LTE transmissions during the time interval reaching from tl to t2.

Advantageously, reallocating a resource in the manner discussed above allows for a flexible reallocation-mechanism of resources based on the value. The above embodiment may optionally comprise the additional steps and configurations, definitions discussed throughout the following embodiments.

In a further embodiment the resource to be provided by the cell or the resource provided by the cell is at least one of a share of a spectrum, an amount of a spectrum, and a part of frequency resources.

A share of a spectrum may indicate a percentage of the available spectrum of a cell. As a non-limiting example, the share of a spectrum may indicate 70 percent of the available spectrum. An amount of a spectrum may indicate at least one frequency range. As a non-limiting example, the amount of a spectrum may indicate the frequency range reaching from 3.6 GHz to 4.4 GHz. The spectrum may be referred to as frequency resources. The part of frequency resources may indicate a part of frequency resources of the total amount of frequency resources be available in the cell.

Advantageously, defining the resource to be provided by the cell or the resource provided by the cell as at least one of a share of a spectrum, an amount of a spectrum, and a part of frequency resources allows for the construction of a simple way of indicating the resources.

Fig. 6 shows an aspect of the first embodiment of the method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology.

Specifically, an example of the scenario of inhibiting 102 a reallocating of a resource if an amount of the resource to be provided by the cell, A2, is larger or equal to a value related to the first radio access technology, V2, is shown. Here, value VI, which is an example of the above-discussed value related to the first radio access technology, indicates a part of the spectrum (a frequency interval) ranging from fO to f2. In the example, this part of the spectrum has already been allocated by spectrum sharing in a first time interval ranging from tO to tl for NR transmissions. As indicated by Al, which is an example of the above-discussed amount of a resource to be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology, a part of the spectrum reserved by (NR) RRM as "dedicated" or "prioritized" does not exceed the part of the spectrum provided by spectrum sharing, indicated by VI, within this time interval. Hence, the "dedicated" or "prioritized" resources can be used without causing a conflict with allocated LTE resources.

Now, at a subsequent time interval ranging from tl to t2, the quantity of resources, e.g., share of the spectrum, provided by spectrum sharing for NR communications shall be reduced to the value indicated by V2. However, the amount of resources A2 that shall be allocated / are reserved by NR RRM during the subsequent time-interval spanning tl to t2 exceeds V2. In other words: i42(P) > 72 is true. In this case, for instance, critical services, which rely on NR resources being provided according to NR RRM reservations could try using said resources / parts of the spectrum, e.g., the interval ranging from V2 to A2. However, these resources then would not be available for NR communications. Thus, the critical services could not be provided with said resources, rendering the whole system unreliable and inefficient. Hence, reallocating is inhibited 102.

Advantageously, the inhibiting of reallocating as discussed herein, prevents such a situation.

Fig. 7 shows a further embodiment of the method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology RATI and a second radio access technology RAT2, wherein the first radio access technology is different from the second radio access technology.

The cell may be provided by a network node 700 supporting the first radio access technology, RATI and the second radio access technology, RAT2. A plurality of terminals Tl, T2, T3 may be deployed within the cell, wherein a respective terminal may perform communications using the radio resources provided by the network node. A first terminal Tl may perform communications using only the first radio access technology. A second terminal T2 may perform communications using both the first radio access technology and the second radio access technology. A third terminal T3 may perform communications using only the second radio access technology.

The first radio access technology and the second radio access technology may be different (unalike, non-identical, distinct) from each other in their functionalities and/or capabilities of performing radio based communications. For instance, the second radio access technology may be constrained to using a narrower frequency range than the first radio access technology. However, both radio access technologies may be interoperable. That is, both radio access technologies may share certain functionalities and/or capabilities and, for some areas, may provide non-interoperable functionalities and/or capabilities. Moreover, the first radio access technology may provide functionalities and/or capabilities which comprise the functionalities and/or capabilities of the second radio access technology, which are extended or expanded by additional functionalities and/or additional capabilities. Specifically, the first radio access technology may be different from the second radio access technology in that each of the radio access technologies corresponds to a particular release of technical specifications which are developed by the third generation partnership project, 3GPP. The mentioned specifications may define the functionalities and/or capabilities provided for radio based communications (wireless transmission networks). A specific example of a release corresponding to the second radio access technology may be any release of version 8 to 13 of technical specifications released by 3GPP, e.g. release 10, which defines LTE-advanced, and release 13, which defines LTE-advanced pro. A specific example of a release corresponding to the first radio access technology may be any release starting from version 14 of technical specifications released by 3GPP.

Advantageously, the first radio access technology, RAT, being different from the second radio access technology provides that the method for resource allocation in a cell can be applied to a setting of two different radio access technologies, whereby the allocation of resources for each these RATs can be optimized in view of the resource allocation at the other RAT.

In a further embodiment the first radio access technology is new radio, NR, and/or the second radio access technology is long-term evolution, LTE.

New radio may also be referred to as 5G. New radio may correspond to functionalities and/or capabilities in wireless transmission networks defined in technical specifications provided and developed by 3GG, wherein the technical specifications have a release version 14 or larger. LTE may also be referred to as 4G. LTE may correspond to functionalities and/or capabilities in telecommunications networks defined in technical specifications provided and developed by 3GG, wherein the technical specifications have a release version of 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 or 13.

Advantageously, the combination of an NR and an LTE system provides for an improved usage of radio resources while NR and LTE functionalities and/or capabilities are provided by a cell.

In a further embodiment, the radio resource management is new radio radio resource management.

New radio radio resource management, NR RRM, refers to radio resource management techniques applied based on the functionalities and capabilities of new radio (5G) networks. NR RRM may comprise the functionalities provided by LTE radio resource management but provide further definitions and configurations which, based on using the NR configurations, provide an improved controllability of allocation of radio resources. Specifically, NR RRM may provide policies, RRM policies, which share attributes inherited from LTE RRM, such as the attributes DN, resourceType, and rRMPolicyMemberList, and which, in addition to the inherited attributes, have additional attributes. Definitions of RRM Policies may be provided in the technical specifications released by 3GPP. The additional attributes may be at least three attributes. The first additional attribute may be "rRMPolicyMaxRatio". The second additional attribute may be "rRMPolicyMinRatio". The third additional attribute may be "rRMPolicyDedicatedRatio". These three attributes may be defined in TS 26.541, version 18.

Advantageously, using NR RRM techniques allows for a more accurate allocation of resources in NR transmissions. Moreover, using NR RRM techniques in combination with spectrum sharing in the manner discussed above reduces security risks and improves transmission quality since it is made sure that critical services are provided with required radio resources. The above embodiment may optionally comprise the additional steps and configurations, definitions discussed throughout the following embodiments.

Fig. 8 shows an embodiment of a network node 800 configured to perform resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology, comprising a processor 801; and a memory 802, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor, whereby said network node is operative to determine, based on a parameter used in radio resource management, an amount of a resource to be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology, and to inhibit reallocating of a resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology, if the determined amount of the resource is larger or equal to a value related to a proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology, wherein the parameter is a resource category which indicates that a resource is guaranteed for a use or that a resource is exclusively assigned to a use.

A network node is a device comprised in a telecommunications network. The network node provides the network's radio resources for performing transmissions between the network node and terminals residing within the cell. In other words, the network node generates the cell using the supported radio access technologies.

A network node may be configured with a transmitter and a receiver for communicating with terminals, UEs and other devices in the cell. The network node may be either part of the core network, CN, or the radio access network, RAN, in radio access technologies, such as LTE radio access technologies or NR radio access technologies. The network node 500 for example be, or have its functionality incorporated as part of: the MME; the eNB; the RNC; a mobile CN node; or a RAN node. A network node may be a node, gNodeB, eNodeB, base station, etc.

The network node may be a separate node or have its functionality incorporated into another RAN or mobile CN node.

A processor 801 refers to a device which is configured to process data by performing (logical, mathematical) operations. The data is usually stored in a memory. Non-limiting examples of a processor comprise a central processing unit, a field programmable gate array, a microprocessor, an integrated circuit on chip. A memory may also be referred to as a computer memory. Memory refers to a device that is configured to store (save) information or data, wherein the data is usually provided to a processor. Memory may be volatile or non-volatile. Depending on the reading/writing performance required, memory may be either provided with high operating speed or low operating speed. For instance, memory may be a cache which may be implemented as a hardware device. As further non-limiting example, memory may be a random access memory, RAM, such as SRAM or DRAM. Further non limiting examples of a memory comprise a hard disk drive, or s solid-state drive. The memory may also be combination of the above examples, e.g., a combination of volatile and nonvolatile hardware structures.

In the above embodiment, the memory may contain further instructions executable by said processor, whereby said network node is operative to perform operations and use definitions according to the above discussed embodiments.

The following paragraphs provide further useful information about further details of the present invention.

A technical area the present invention relates to is the optimization of cell resource sharing which are configured to operate as spectrum sharing cells (NR + Other RAT(s)) and are also configured to support NR Resource Allocation Policies.

Radio Resource Partitioning / Radio Resource Monitoring, RRM, in NR is the capability to configure a percentage of NR radio spectrum for a specific group in the UL/DL/Both in a given cell. Groups of user plane traffic can be configured with a cell specific share of downlink and uplink spectrum resources (a "partition") for which the traffic within the group has priority to the usage. The traffic can be defined via combinations of PLMN, S-NSSAI, and 5QL In 3GPP, a Resource Partitioning / Radio Resource mangement is defined using the RRMPolicyRatio class. Partitions are defined as a percentage of the total cell spectrum resources (a "share") for an associated group of traffic. The share of the resources are prioritized for use by the associated traffic when it needs to use them. When not used, these free resources may be used by other traffic, if the partition is not permanently allocated. Partitions can be configured independently in different cells. Traffic not associated with any share of spectrum resources can only use free resource not needed by the partitions. A RRMPolicyRatio may have the following three attributes, apart from those inherited (DN, resourceType, rRMPolicyMemberList).

- The first attribute rRMPolicyMaxRatio defines the maximum resource usage quota for the associated rRMPolicyMemberList, including at least one of shared resources, prioritized resources and dedicated resources. The sum of the 'rRMPolicyMaxRatio' values assigned to all RRMPolicyRatio(s) name-contained by same MangedEntity can be greater than 100.

- The second attribute rRMPolicyMinRatio defines the minimum resource usage quota for the associated RRMPolicyMemberList, including at least one of prioritized resources and dedicated resources, which means the resources quota that need to be guaranteed for use by the associated rRMPolicyMemberList. The sum of the 'rRMPolicyMinRatio' values assigned to all RRMPolicyRatio(s) name-contained by same MangedEntity shall be less or equal 100.

- The third attribute rRMPolicyDedicatedRatio defines the dedicated resource usage quota for the RRMPolicyMemberList, including dedicated resources. The sum of the 'rRMPolicyDedicatedRatio' values assigned to all RRMPolicyRatio(s) name-contained by same MangedEntity shall be less or equal 100.

The following provides possible a definition for above mentioned three resource categories:

- Shared resources: means the resources that are shared with other rRMPolicyMemberList(s) (i.e. the rRMPolicyMemberList(s) defined in RRMPolicyRatio(s) name-contained by the same ManagedEntity). The shared resources are not guaranteed for use by the associated rRMPolicyMemberList. The shared resources quota is represented by [rRMPolicyMaxRatio-rRMPolicyMinRatio],

- Priortized resources: means the resources are preferentially used by the associated RRMPolicyMemberList. These resources are guaranteed for use by the associated RRMPolicyMemberList when it needs to use them. When not used, these resources may be used by other rRMPolicyMemberList(s) (i.e. the rRMPolicyMemberList(s) defined in RRMPolicyRatio(s) name-contained by the same ManagedEntity). The prioritized resources quota is represented by [rRMPolicyMinRatio-rRMPolicyDedicatedRatio] - Dedicated resources: means the resources are dedicated for use by the associated RRMPolicyMemberList. These resources can not be shared even if the associated RRMPolicyMember does not use them. The Dedicated resources quota is represented by [rRMPolicyDedicatedRatio],

NOTE: The resources could be reserved or allocated for user and bearer related requests, e.g. a user connection, a PDU session, etc., if the user is entitled to use the allocated resources according the ratios defined above.

The RRMPolicyRatio IOC includes attributes inherited from RRMPolicy_ IOC and the following attributes:

Attribute name S isReadable isWritable islnvariant isNotifyable rRMPolicyMaxRatio M T T F T rRMPolicyMinRatio M T T F T rRMPolicyDedicatedRatio O T T F T

In general, spectrum sharing cells are cells which are capable of supporting more than one radio access technology ( NR + other RAT(s) ).

In spectrum sharing techniques, NR users compete against LTE users for spectrum resources. LTE users are the dominant traffic in current networks. Because of this, the scheduling opportunity for NR users is reduced.

However, to address this potential unfair usage of shared resources, LTE-NR (FDD) Spectrum Sharing with Policy-based Biasing was introduced which prioritizes non- GBR traffic between LTE and NR based on operator configuration. This makes it possible to prioritize NR best effort traffic to overcome the competition against LTE best effort traffic. In some cases, it might be desirable to prioritize LTE best effort traffic over NR best effort traffic instead of treating them fairly ( NR trials/FOA's, etc.).

This provides an option to prioritize non-GBR traffic of one RAT over the other in spectrum sharing configuration. The non-GBR prioritization happens in time domain when traffic demand exists. If the prioritized RAT does not need all of the resources, the remaining resources can be assigned to the non-prioritized RAT. The feature uses a so-called SharingGroup.schedPolicy parameter that enables the function of favoring LTE non-GBR traffic by setting it to LTE_BIASED. In this case, when only NR and LTE non-GBR traffic is present, more slots are used for LTE non-GBR traffic. This SharingGroup.schedPolicy parameter may also enable the function of favoring NR non-GBR traffic by setting it to NR_BIASED. In this case, when only NR and LTE non-GBR traffic is present, more slots are used for NR non-GBR traffic.

Non-GBR traffic between LTE and NR is prioritized based on operator configuration.

The possible configurations of the SharingGroup.schedPolicy parameter are the following:

1. FAIR

2. LTE_BIASED

3. NR_BIASED

When the SharingGroup.schedPolicy parameter is set to LTE_BIASED, the ratio between the number of TTIs in which LTE non-GBR is prioritized over NR non-GBR is 2:1 in downlink, and 3:1 in uplink. In a TTI, when there is no demand from either RAT, 75% resources are given to LTE and 25% resources are given to NR.

When the SharingGroup.schedPolicy parameter is set to NR_BIASED, the ratio between the number of TTIs in which NR non-GBR is prioritized over LTE non-GBR is about 3:1 both in downlink and uplink. In a TTI, when there is no demand from either RAT, 75% resources are given to NR and 25% resources are given to LTE.

When the SharingGroup.schedPolicy parameter is set to the default FAIR, the RATs are handled with equal priority. In a TTI, when there is no demand from either RAT, 50% resources are given to each RAT.

For any configuration of SharingGroup.schedPolicy, if there is no demand from LTE in uplink, all uplink resources are given to NR.

Spectrum Sharing on the broader context can be taken as the capability to dynamically share spectrum between radio technologies on the same band, the same cell.

Note also that allocation of a percentage of all radio resources in a spectrum sharing cell, for example, NR and another RAT(s), may assume that 100% of the resources are available to any of the configured RAT's in the shared spectrum cell. A problem with an existing solution is that the business logic (with/without AI/ML) used to determine the spectrum share to each RAT in a spectrum sharing cell does not take into account the possibility that the spectrum sharing cell which supports NR also has NR radio resource partitions configured (by using RRM) in the spectrum sharing cell.

Here, it may be assumed that;

1. The baseline solution and associated prior art have a realization of determining how best to configure each spectrum sharing cell resources in a optimal way over time for the support radio technologies ( LTE, NR, etc.).

2. This solution will continuously evaluate using available PM data from the network the cell load of supported technologies in every spectrum sharing cell and reconfigure the resource allocation to each technology accordingly, with/without the support of AI/ML input.

An example for addressing the above may be that:

1. Before reducingthe allocation of spectrum to NR in a cell using spectrum sharing, the following steps may be performed: i. Determine if NR resource partitions are configured in the cell by NR RRM ii. Determine the ones with "Dedicated Resources" configured iii. Determine the (cumulative) sum of the allocated "Dedicated Resources"

2. If the new target for the NR resource allocation in the cell is less than this sum, do not proceed with spectrum sharing reconfiguration in the cell and raise an alarm

3. This evaluation could also include NR resource partitions with "Prioritized Resources" configured if operator policy considers it necessary to do so.

Advantageously, this results in that the spectrum sharing feature will not interfere negatively with preallocated NR resources in a spectrum sharing cell which support critical services as deemed so by the operator, and that the network management of its available resources and services are coordinated in an optimal manner across technologies (NR, LTE, etc.). List of features:

Determining step 101

Inhibiting step 102 Reallocating step 103

Amount of a resource to be provided by the cell A

Parameter used in radio resource management P

Value related to a proposed allocation of the resource V

Network node 700 First radio access technology RATI

Second radio access technology RAT2

First terminal T1

Second terminal T2

Third terminal T3 Network node 800

Processor 801

Memory 802

Claims

1. Method for resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology, comprising the following steps: determining, based on a parameter used in radio resource management, an amount of a resource to be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology; inhibiting reallocating of a resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology if the determined amount of the resource is larger or equal to a value related to a proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology; wherein the parameter is a resource category, which indicates that a resource is guaranteed for a use or that a resource is exclusively assigned to a use.

2. The method of claim 1, comprising the further step of reallocating the resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology according to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology, if the amount of the resource is smaller than the value related to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology.

3. The method of claim 1 to 2, wherein the amount of the resource to be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology is a total amount of a resource associated with the parameter.

4. The method of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the value related to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology indicates a quantity of a resource which shall be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology by the reallocating.

5. The method of any of claims 1 to 4, wherein the reallocating of the resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology comprises changing of a first allocation of the resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology to a second allocation of the resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology based on the value related to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology.

6. The method of any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the resource to be provided by the cell or the resource provided by the cell is at least one of a share of spectrum, an amount of spectrum, and a part of frequency resources.

7. The method of any of claims 1 to 6, wherein the first radio access technology is different from the second radio access technology.

8. The method of any of claims 1 to 7, wherein the first radio access technology is new radio, NR, and/or the second radio access technology is long-term evolution, LTE.

9. The method of any of claims 1 to 8, wherein the radio resource management is new radio radio resource management.

10. A network node configured to perform resource allocation in a cell which supports a first radio access technology and a second radio access technology, comprising: a processor; and a memory, said memory containing instructions executable by said processor, whereby said network node is operative to: determine, based on a parameter used in radio resource management, an amount of a resource to be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology; inhibit reallocating of a resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology, if the determined amount of the resource is larger or equal to a value related to a proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology; wherein the parameter is a resource category which indicates that a resource is guaranteed for a use or that a resource is exclusively assigned to a use.

11. The network node of claim 10, wherein said memory further contains instructions executable by said processor, whereby said network node is operative to: reallocate the resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology, if the amount of the resource is smaller than the value related to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology.

12. The network node of any of claim 10 to 11, wherein the amount of the resource to be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology is a total amount of a resource associated with the parameter.

13. The network node of any of claims 10 to 12, wherein the value related to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology is a quantity of a resource which shall be provided by the cell using the first radio access technology by the reallocating.

14. The network node of any of claims 10 to 13, wherein reallocating of the resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology comprises changing of a first allocation of the resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology to a second allocation of the resource provided by the cell using the first radio access technology based on the value related to the proposed allocation of the resource of the first radio access technology.

15. The network node of any of claims 10 to 14, wherein the resource to be provided by the cell or the resource provided by the cell is at least one of a share of spectrum, an amount of spectrum, and a part of frequency resources.

16. The network node of any of claims 10 to 15, wherein the first radio access technology is different from the second radio access technology.

17. The network node of any of claims 10 to 16, wherein the first radio access technology is new radio, NR, and/or the second radio access technology is long-term evolution, LTE.

18. The network node of any of claims 10 to 17, wherein the radio resource management is new radio radio resource management.