WO2017127126A1

WO2017127126A1 - Devices and methods for providing 5g uplink request

Info

Publication number: WO2017127126A1
Application number: PCT/US2016/023952
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gang Xiong; Wenting CHANG; Yushu Zhang; Huaning Niu; Yuan Zhu
Original assignee: Intel IP Corporation
Priority date: 2016-01-19
Filing date: 2016-03-24
Publication date: 2017-07-27
Also published as: TW201735676A; CN108476513A; TWI721065B; CN108476513B; HK1258283A1

Abstract

Devices and methods of scheduling uplink data requests in 5G systems are generally described. A UE transmits a scheduling request (SR) or an 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH) to an eNB on a 5G or LTE link resource reserved for 5G scheduling requests or unreserved. The message is dependent on which of link is used for the transmission. Depending on whether a reserved resource and a reserved logical channel ID is used, the UE transmits the eNB with a BSR and perhaps a beam measurement report after sending an SR and in response to receiving an uplink grant for the same. The UE then transmits a 5G physical uplink shared channel in response to receiving on an optimal beam an 5G physical downlink control channel containing a 5G uplink grant for the data. When an xPRACH is transmitted, a reduced random access response is used.

Description

DEVICES AND METHODS FOR PROVIDING SG UPLINK REQUEST

PRIORITY CLAIM

[00011 This application claims the benefit of priority to United States

Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 62/280,574, filed January 19, 2016, and entitled "ON THE UPLINK REQUEST IN 5G SYSTEM," which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0002] Embodiments pertain to radio access networks. Some embodiments relate to providing data in cellular and wireless local area network (WLAN) networks, including Third Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution (3GPP LTE,) networks and LTE advanced (LTE-A) networks as well as 4^th generation (4G) networks and 5^th generation (5G) networks. Some embodiments relate to uplink request design in 5G networks.

BACKGROUND

[0003] With the increase in different types of devices communicating with various network device, usage of 3GPP LTE systems has increased. This has increased both the number of user equipment (UEs) and bandwidth used by these UEs with the advent of sen/ices such as video streaming, and has put LTE networks growing strain. To increase capacity, the next generation of LTE networks are likely to employ Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO). MIMO systems use multipara signal propagation to communicate with UEs via multiple signals transmitted by the same evolved NodeB (eNB) on the same or overlapping frequencies that would interfere with each oilier if they were on the same path. This increase in uplink or downli k data may be dedicated to one UE, increasing the effective bandwidth for that UE by the number of beams (Single User MIMO or SU-MIMO) or may be spread across multiple UEs using different beams for each UE (Multiple User MIMO or MU-MIMO).

[0004] Beamforming, however, may complicate a variety of transmission and reception matters. For example, the eNB may not know the beam used by the UE for scheduling request reception when the UE intends to request a resource for uplink data transmission. To address this, repeated scheduling request transmissions may be used to allow eNB to perform beam sweeping for robust scheduling request detection. This may undesirably increase system overhead related to scheduling request transmissions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0005] In the figures, which are not necessarily drawn to scale, like numerals may describe similar components in different views. Like numerals having different letter suffixes may represent different instances of similar components. The figures illustrate generally, by way of example, but not by way of limitation, various embodiments discussed in the present document.

[0006] FIG. 1 is a functional diagram of a wireless network in accordance with some embodiments.

[0007] FIG. 2 illustrates components of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0008] FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments.

Θ009] FIG. 4 illustrates another block diagram of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments.

[0010] FIG. 5 illustrates an uplink request design for a non-standalone

LTE system in accordance with some embodiments.

[0011] FIG. 6 illustrates another uplink request design for a non- standalone LTE system in accordance with some embodiments.

[0012] FIG. 7 illustrates another uplink request design for a non- standalone LTE system in accordance with some embodiments.

[0013] FIG. 8 illustrates another uplink request design for a non- standalone LTE system in accordance with some embodiments.

[0014] FIG. 9 illustrates another uplink request design for a standalone

LTE system in accordance with some embodiments.

[0015] FIG. 10 illustrates another uplink request design for a standalone

LTE system in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [0016] The following description and the drawings sufficiently illustrate specific embodiments to enable those skilled in the art to practice them. Other embodiments may incorporate structural, logical, electrical, process, and other changes. Portions and features of some embodiments may be included in, or substituted for, those of other embodiments. Embodiments set forth in the claims encompass ail available equivalents of those claims.

[0017] FIG. 1 shows an example of a portion of an end-to-end network architecture of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network with various components of the network in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, an LTE network refers to both LTE and LTE Advanced (LTE-A) networks as well as other versions of LTE networks to be developed. The network 100 may comprise a radio access network (RAN) (e.g., as depicted, the E-UTRAN or evolved universal terrestrial radio access network) 101 and core network 120 (e.g., shown as an evolved packet core (EPC)) coupled together through an S I interface 1 15. For convenience and brevity, only a portion of the core network 120, as well as the RAN 101, is shown in the example.

[0018] The core network 120 may include a mobility management entity

(MME) 122, sendng gateway (serving GW) 124, and packet data, network gateway (PDN GW) 126. The RAN 101 may include evolved node Bs (eNBs) 104 (which may operate as base stations) for communicating with user equipment (UE) 102. The eNBs 104 may include macro eNBs 104a and low power (LP) eNBs 104b. The eNBs 104 and UEs 102 may employ the synchronization techniques as described herein.

[0019] The MME 122 may be similar in function to the control plane of legacy Serving GPRS Support Nodes (SGSN). The MME 122 may manage mobility aspects in access such as gateway selection and tracking area list management. The serving GW 124 may terminate the interface toward the RAN 101, and route data packets between the RAN 101 and the core network 120. In addition, the serving GW 124 may be a local mobility anchor point for inter-eNB handovers and also may provide an anchor for inter-3GPP mobility. Other responsibilities may include lawful intercept, charging, and some policy enforcement. The serving GW 124 and the MME 122 may be implemented in one physical node or separate physical nodes. [0020] The PDN GW 126 may terminate a SGi interface toward the packet data network (PDN). The PDN GW 126 may route data packets between the EPC 120 and the external PDN, and may perform policy enforcement and charging data collection. The PDN GW 126 may also provide an anchor point for mobility devices with non-LTE access. The external PDN can be any kind of IP network, as well as an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) domain. The PDN GW 126 and the serving GW 124 may be implemented in a single physical node or separate physical nodes.

[0021] The eNBs 104 (macro and micro) may terminate the air interface protocol and may be the first point of contact for a UE 102. In some embodiments, an eNB 104 may fulfill various logical functions for the RAN 101 including, but not limited to, RNC (radio network controller functions) such as radio bearer management, uplink and downlink dynamic radio resource management and data packet scheduling, and mobility management. In accordance with embodiments, UEs 102 may be configured to communicate ortliogonal frequency division multiplexed (OFDM) communication signals with an eNB 104 over a multicarrier communication channel in accordance with an OFDMA communication technique. The OFDM signals may comprise a plurali ty of orthogonal subcarriers.

[0022 J The S I interface 1 15 may be the interface that separates the RAN

101 and the EPC 120. It may be split into two parts: the S l-U, which may cany traffic data between the eNBs 104 and the serving GW 124, and the S 1 -MME, which may be a signaling interface between the eNBs 104 and the MME 122. The X2 interface may be the interface between eNBs 104. The X2 interface may comprise two parts, the X2-C and X2-U. The X2-C may be the control plane interface between the eNBs 104, while the X2-U may be the user plane interface between the eNBs 104.

[0023] With cellular networks, LP cells 104b may be typically used to extend coverage to indoor areas where outdoor signals do not reach well, or to add network capacity in areas with dense usage. In particular, it may be desirable to enhance the coverage of a wireless communication system using cells of different sizes, macrocells, microcells, picocells, and femtocells, to boost system performance. The cells of different sizes may operate on the same frequency band, or may operate on different frequency bands with each cell operating in a different frequency band or only cells of different sizes operating on different frequency bands. As used herein, the term LP eNB refers to any suitable relatively LP eNB for implementing a smaller cell (smaller than a macro cell) such as a femtocell, a picocell, or a microcell. Femtocell eNBs may be typically provided by a mobile network operator to its residential or enterprise customers. A femtocell may be typically the size of a residential gateway or smaller and generally connect to a broadband line. The femtocell may connect to the mobile operator's mobile network and provide extra coverage in a range of typically 30 to 50 meters. Thus, a LP eNB 104b might be a femtocell eNB since it is coupled through the PDN GW 126. Similarly, a picocell may be a wireless communication system typically covering a small area, such as in-building (offices, shopping mails, train stations, etc.), or more recently in-aircraft. A picocell eNB may generally connect through the X2 link to another eNB such as a macro eNB through its base station controller (BSC) functionality. Thus, LP eNB may be implemented with a picocell eNB since it may be coupled to a macro eNB 104a via an X2 interface. Picocell eNBs or other LP eNBs LP eNB 104b may incorporate some or all functionality of a macro eNB LP eNB 104a . In some cases, this may be referred to as an access point base station or enterprise femtocell.

[0024 J Communication over an LTE network may be split up into 10ms frames, each of which may contain ten 1ms subframes. Each subframe of the frame, in turn, may contain two slots of 0.5ms. Each subframe may be used for uplink (UL) communications from the UE to the eNB or downlink (DL) communications from the eNB to the UE. In one embodiment, the eNB may- allocate a greater number of DL communications than UL communications in a particular frame. The eNB may schedule transmissions over a variety of frequency bands (fi and f?.). The allocation of resources in subframes used in one frequency band and may differ from those in another frequency band. Each slot of the subframe may contain 6-7 OFDM symbols, depending on the system used. In one embodiment, the subframe may contain 12 subcarriers. A downlink resource grid may be used for downlink transmissions from an eNB to a UE, while an uplink resource grid may be used for uplink transmissions from a UE to an eNB or from a UE to another UE. The resource grid may be a time- frequency grid, which is the physical resource in the downlink in each slot. The smallest time-frequency unit in a resource grid may be denoted as a resource element (RE). Each column and each row of the resource grid may correspond to one OFDM symbol and one OFDM subcarrier, respectively. The resource grid may contain resource blocks (RBs) that describe the mapping of physical channels to resource elements and physical RBs (PRBs). A PRE may be the smallest unit of resources that can be allocated to a UE. A resource block may be 180 kHz wide in frequency and 1 slot long in time. In frequency, resource blocks may be either 12 x 15 kHz subcarriers or 24 x 7.5 kHz subcarriers wide. For most channels and signals, 12 subcarriers may be used per resource block, dependent on the system bandwidth. In Frequency Div sion Duplexed (FDD) mode, both the uplink and downlink frames may be 10ms and frequency (full- duplex) or time (half-duplex) separated. In Time Division Duplexed (TDD), the uplink and downlink subframes may be transmitted on the same frequency and are multiplexed in the time domain. The duration of the resource gri d 400 in the time domain corresponds to one suhframe or two resource blocks. Each resource grid may comprise 12 (subcarriers) * 14 (symbols) = 168 resource elements.

[0025] Each OFDM symbol may contain a cyclic prefix (CP) which may^¬ be used to effectively eliminate Inter Symbol Interference (ISI), and a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) period. The duration of the CP may be determined by the highest anticipated degree of delay spread. Although distortion from the preceding OFDM symbol may exist within the CP, with a CP of sufficient duration, preceding OFDM symbols do not enter the FFT period. Once the FFT period signal is received and digitized, the receiver may ignore the signal in the CP.

[0026] There may be several different physical downlink channels that are conveyed using such resource blocks, including the physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) and the physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH). Each downlink subframe may be partitioned into the PDCCH and the PDSCH. The PDCCH may normally occupy the first two symbols of each subframe and carry, among other things, information about the transport format and resource allocations related to the PDSCH channel, as well as H-ARQ information related to the uplink shared channel. The PDSCH may carry user data and higher layer signaling to a UE and occupy the remainder of the subframe. Typically, downlink scheduling (assigning control and shared channel resource blocks to UEs withm a cell) may be performed at the eNB based on channel quality information provided from the UEs to the eNB, and then the downlink resource assignment information may be sent to each UE on the PDCCH used for (assigned to) the UE. The PDCCH may contain downlink control information (DCI) in one of a number of formats that indicate to the UE how to find and decode data, transmitted on PDSCH in the same subframe, from the resource grid. The DCI format may provide details such as number of resource blocks, resource allocation type, modulation scheme, transport block, redundancy version, coding rate etc. Each DCI format may have a cyclic redundancy code (CRC) and be scrambled with a Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RNTI) that identifies the target UE for which the PDSCH is intended. Use of the UE- specific R TI may limit decoding of the DCI format (and hence the

corresponding PDSCH) to only the intended UE.

[0027] In addition to the PDCCH, an enhanced PDCCH (EPDCCH) may^¬ be used by the eNB and UE. Unlike the PDCCH, the EPDCCH may be disposed in the resource blocks normally allocated for the PDSCH. Different UEs may have different EPDCCH configurations that are configured via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling. Each UE may be configured with sets of EPDCCHs, and the configuration can also be different between the sets. Each EPDCCH set may have 2, 4, or 8 PRB pairs. In some embodiments, resource blocks configured for EPDCCHs in a particular subframe may be used for PDSCH transmission if the resource blocks are not used for the EPDCCH transmissions during the subframe.

Θ028] Embodiments described herein may be implemented into a system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software. FIG. 2 illustrates components of a UE in accordance with some embodiments. At least some of the components shown may be used in an eNB or MME, for example, such as the UE 102 or eNB 104 shown in FIG. 1. The UE 200 and other components may be configured to use the synchronization signals as described herein. The UE 200 may be one of the UEs 102 shown in FIG. 1 and may be a stationary, non-mobile device or may be a mobile device. In some

embodiments, the UE 200 may include application circuitry 202, baseband circuitry 204, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 206, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 208 and one or more antennas 210, coupled together at least as shown. At least some of the baseband Circuitry 204, RF circuitry 206, and FEM circuitry 208 may form, a transceiver. In some embodiments, other network elements, such as the eNB may contain some or all of the components shown in FIG. 2. Other of the network elements, such as the MME, may contain an interface, such as the S 1 interface, to communicate with the eNB o ver a wired connection regarding the UE.

[0029] The application or processing circuitry 202 may include one or more application processors. For example, the application circuitry 202 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi- core processors. The processors) may include any combination of general- purpose processors and dedicated processors (e.g., graphics processors, application processors, etc.). The processors may be coupled with and/or may include memory/storage and may be configured to execute instructions stored in the memory/storage to enable various applications and/or operating systems to run on the system.

[0030] The baseband circuitry 204 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors. The baseband circuitry 204 may include one or more baseband processors and/or control logic to process baseband signals received from a recei ve signal path of the RF circuitry 206 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 206. Baseband processing circuity 204 may interface with the application circuitry 202 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 206. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 204 may include a second generation (2G) baseband processor 204a, third generation (3G) baseband processor 204b, fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 204c, and/or other baseband processor(s) 204d for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., fifth generation (5G), 5G, etc.). The baseband circuitry 204 (e.g., one or more of baseband processors 204a-d) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 206. The radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation,

encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. In some embodiments, modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 204 may include FFT, preceding, and/or constellation mapping/demapping functionality. In some embodiments, encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 204 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, and/or Low Density- Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality. Embodiments of modulation/demodulation and encoder/decoder functionality are not limited to these examples and may include other suitable functionality in other embodiments.

[0031] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 204 may include elements of a protocol stack such as, for example, elements of an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) protocol including, for example, physical (PHY), media access control (MAC), radio link control (RLC), packet data convergence protocol (PDCP), and/or radio resource control (RRC) elements. A central processing unit (CPU) 204e of the baseband circuitry 204 may be configured to run elements of the protocol stack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP and or RRC layers. In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry may include one or more audio digital signal processors) (DSP) 204f. The audio DSP(s) 204f may be include elements for

compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments. Components of the baseband circuitry may be suitably combined in a single chip, a single chipset, or disposed on a same circuit board in some embodiments. In some embodiments, some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 204 and the application circuitry 202 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).

[0032] In some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 204 may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies. For example, in some embodiments, the baseband circuitry 204 may support communication with an evolved universal terrestrial radio access network (EUTRAN) and/or other wireless metropolitan area networks (WMAN), a wireless local area network (WLAN), a wireless personal area network (WPAN). Embodiments in which the baseband circuitsy 204 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol may be referred to as multi-mode baseband circuitry. In some embodiments, the device can be configured to operate in accordance with communication standards or other protocols or standards, including Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 wireless technology (WiMax), IEEE 802.11 wireless technology (WiFi) including IEEE 802.1 1 ad, which operates in the 60 GHz millimeter wave spectrum, various other wireless technologies such as global system for mobile communications (GSM), enhanced data rates for GSM evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE radio access network (GERAN), universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), UMTS terrestrial radio access network (UTRAN), or other 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, etc. technologies either already developed or to be developed.

ΘΘ33] RF circuitry 206 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium. In various embodiments, the RF circuitry 206 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network. RF circuitry 206 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 208 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 204. RF circuitry 206 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 204 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 208 for transmission.

[0034] In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 206 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the RF circuitry 206 may include mixer circuitry 206a, amplifier circuitry 206b and filter circuitry 206c. The transmit signal path of the RF^" circuitry 206 may include filter circuitry' 206c and mixer circuitry 206a. RF circuitry 206 may also include synthesizer circuitry 206d for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 208 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 206d. The amplifier circuitry 206b may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 206c may be a low-pass filter (EPF) or band-pass filter (BPF) configured to remove unwanted signals from the down-converted signals to generate output baseband signals. Output baseband signals may be provided to the baseband circuitry 204 for further processing. In sorne embodiments, the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement. In some embodiments, mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[00351 In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 206d to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 208. The baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 204 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 206c. The filter circuitr ' 206c may include a low-pass filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.

[00361 In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path an d the mixer circuitry 206a of the transmit sign al path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and/or upconversion respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 206a of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection). In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 206a may be arranged for direct downconversion and/or direct upconversion, respectively. In some embodiments, the mixer circuitry 206a of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 206a of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.

[0037] In some embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be analog baseband signals, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. In some alternate embodiments, the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals. In these alternate embodiments, the RF circuitry 206 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry 204 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF^' circuitry 206.

[0038] In some dual-mode embodiments, a separate radio IC circuitry may be provided for processing signals for each spectrum, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect. [0039] In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 206d may be a fractional -N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, altliough the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable. For example, synthesizer circuitry 206d may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.

[0040] The synthesizer circuitry 206d may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 206a of the RF circuitry 206 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 206d may be a fractional N/N+l synthesizer.

[0041] In some embodiments, frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement. Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 204 or the applications processor 202 depending on the desired output frequency. In some embodiments, a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a lookup table based on a channel indicated by the applications processor 202.

[0042] Synthesizer circuitry 206d of the RF circuitry 206 may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator. In some embodiments, the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DPA). In some embodiments, the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+1 (e.g., based on a cany out) to provide a fractional division ratio. In some example embodiments, the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop. In these embodiments, the delay elements may be configured to break a VCO period up into Nd equal packets of phase, where Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line. In this way, the DLL provides negative feedback to help ensure that the total delay through the delay line is one VCO cycle.

[0043] In some embodiments, synthesizer circuitry 206d may be configured to generate a carrier frequency as the output frequency, while in other embodiments, the output frequency may be a multiple of the carrier frequency (e.g., twice the carrier frequency, four times the carrier frequency) and used in conjunction with quadrature generator and divider circuitry to generate multiple signals at the carrier frequency with multiple different phases with respect to each oilier. In some embodiments, the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fi.o). In some embodiments, the RF circuitry 206 may include an IQ/ olar converter.

Θ044] FEM circuitr ' 208 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitiy configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 210, ampliiy the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 206 for further processing, FEM circuitry 208 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 206 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 210.

Θ045] In some embodiments, the FEM circuitry 208 may include a

TX RX switch to switch between transmit mode and receive mode operation. The FEM circuitry may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path. The receive signal path of the FEM circuitry may include a low-noise amplifier (LNA) to amplify received RF signals and provide the amplified received RF signals as an output (e.g., to the RF circuitry 206). The transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 208 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitiy 206), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 210.

[0046] In some embodiments, the UE 200 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, and/or input'Output (I/O) interface as described in more detail below. In some embodiments, the UE 200 described herein may be part of a portable wireless communication device, such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop or portable computer with wireless communication capability, a web tablet, a wireless telephone, a smartphone, a wireless headset, a pager, an instant messaging device, a digital camera, an access point, a television, a medical device (e.g., a heart rate monitor, a blood pressure monitor, etc.), or other device that may receive and/or transmit information wirelessiy. In some embodiments, the UE 200 may include one or more user interfaces designed to enable user interaction with the system and/or peripheral component interfaces designed to enable peripheral component interaction with the system. For example, the UE 200 may include one or more of a keyboard, a keypad, a touchpad, a display, a sensor, a non-volatile memory port, a universal serial bus (USB) port, an audio jack, a power supply interface, one or more antennas, a graphics processor, an application processor, a speaker, a microphone, and other I/O components. The display may be an LCD or LED screen including a touch screen . The sensor may include a gyro sensor, an accelerometer, a proximity sensor, an ambient light sensor, and a positioning unit. The positioning unit may communicate with components of a positioning network, e.g., a global positioning system. (GPS) satellite.

[0047] The antennas 210 may comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) embodiments, the antennas 210 may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result.

[0048] Although the UE 200 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including digital signal processors (DSPs), and/or other hardware elements. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), radio-frequency integrated circuits (RFICs) and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

[0049 J Embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware and software. Embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may be read and executed by at least one processor to perform the operations described herein. A computer-readable storage device may include any non-transitory mechanism for storing information in a form readable by a machine (e.g., a computer). For example, a computer-readable storage device may include readonly memory (ROM), random-access memory (RAM), magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media, flash-memory devices, and other storage devices and media. Some embodiments may include one or more processors and may be configured with instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device. Θ050] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments. The device may be a UE or eNB, for example, such as the UE 102 or eNB 104 shown in FIG. 1 that may be configured to track the UE as described herein. The physical layer circuitry 302 may perform various encoding and decoding functions that may include formation of baseband signals for transmission and decoding of received signals. The communication device 300 may also include medium access control layer (MAC) circuitry 304 for controlling access to the wireless medium. The communication device 300 may also include processing circuitry 306, such as one or more single-core or multi-core processors, and memory 308 arranged to perform the operations described herein. The physical layer circuitry 302, MAC circuitr ' 304 and processing circuitry 306 may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks compatible with one or more radio technologies. The radio control functions may include signal modulation, encoding, decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc. For example, similar to the device shown in FIG. 2, in some embodiments, communication may be enabled with one or more of a WMAN, a VVLAN, and a WPAN. In some embodiments, the communication device 300 can be configured to operate in accordance with 3GPP standards or other protocols or standards, including WiMax, WiFi, WiGig, GSM, EDGE, GERAN, UMTS, UTRAN, or other 3G, 3G, 4G, 5G, etc. technologies either already developed or to be developed. The communication device 300 may include transceiver circuitry 312 to enable communication with other external devices wirelessly and interfaces 314 to enable wired communication with other external devices. As another example, the transceiver circuitry 312 may perform various transmission and reception functions such as conversion of signals between a baseband range and a Radio Frequency (RF) range.

[0051] The antennas 301 may comprise one or more directional or omnidirectional antennas, including, for example, dipole antennas, monopole antennas, patch antennas, loop antennas, microstrip antennas or other types of antennas suitable for transmission of RF signals. In some MIMO embodiments, the antennas 301 may be effectively separated to take advantage of spatial diversity and the different channel characteristics that may result.

[0052] Although the communication device 300 is illustrated as having several separate functional elements, one or more of the functional elements may be combined and may be implemented by combinations of software-configured elements, such as processing elements including DSPs, and/or other hardware elements, or one or more of the functional elements may be implemented in a plurality of different devices. For example, some elements may comprise one or more microprocessors, DSPs, FPGAs, ASICs, RFlCs and combinations of various hardware and logic circuitry for performing at least the functions described herein. In some embodiments, the functional elements may refer to one or more processes operating on one or more processing elements.

Embodiments may be implemented in one or a combination of hardware, firmware and software. Embodiments may also be implemented as instructions stored on a computer-readable storage device, which may be read and executed by at lease one processor to perform the operations described herein.

[0053] FIG. 4 illustrates another block diagram of a communication device in accordance with some embodiments. In alternative embodiments, the communication device 400 may operate as a standalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to other communication devices. In a networked deployment, the communication device 400 may operate in the capacity of a server communication device, a client communication device, or both in server- client network environments. In an example, the communication device 400 may act as a peer communication device in peer-to-peer (P2P) (or oilier distributed) network environment. The communication device 400 may be a UE, eNB, PC, a tablet PC, a STB, a PDA, a mobile telephone, a smart phone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge, or any communication device capable of executing instructions (sequential or otheroise) that specify actions to be taken by that communication device. Further, while only a single communication device is illustrated, the term "communication device" shall also be taken to include any collection of communication devices that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, such as cloud computing, software as a service (SaaS), other computer cluster configurations. [0054] Examples, as described herein, may include, or may operate on, logic or a number of components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules are tangible entities (e.g., hardware) capable of performing specified operations and may be configured or arranged in a certain manner. In an example, circuits may^¬ be arranged (e.g., internally or with respect to external entities such as other circuits) in a specified manner as a module. In an example, the whole or part of one or more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or more hardware processors may be configured by firmware or software (e.g., instructions, an application portion, or an application) as a module that operates to perform, specified operations. In an example, the software may reside on a communication device readable medium. In an example, the software, when executed by the underlying hardware of the module, causes the hardware to perform the specified operations.

[0055] Accordingly, the term "module" is understood to encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physically constructed, specifically configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarily (e.g., transitorily) configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a specified manner or to perform part or all of any operation described herein. Considering examples in which modules are temporarily configured, each of the modules need not be instantiated at any one moment in time. For example, where the modules comprise a general -purpose hardware processor configured using software, the general-purpose hardware processor may be configured as respective different modules at different times. Software may accordingly configure a hardware processor, for example, to constitute a particular module at one instance of time and to constitute a different module at a different instance of time.

[0056] Communication device (e.g., computer system) 400 may include a hardware processor 402 (e.g., a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a hardware processor core, or any combination thereof), a mam memory 404 and a static memory 406, some or all of which may communicate with each other via an interlink (e.g., bus) 408. The

communication device 400 may further include a display unit 410, an alphanumeric input device 412 (e.g., a keyboard), and a user interface (UI) navigation device 414 (e.g., a mouse). In an example, the display unit 410, input device 412 and UI navigation device 414 may be a touch screen display. The communication device 400 may additionally include a storage device (e.g., drive unit) 416, a signal generation device 418 (e.g., a speaker), a network interface device 420, and one or more sensors 42, 1 , such as a global positioning system (GPS) sensor, compass, accelerometer, or other sensor. The communication device 400 may include an output controller 428, such as a serial (e.g., universal serial bus (USB), parallel, or other wired or wireless (e.g., infrared (IR), near field communication (NFC), etc.) connection to communicate or control one or more peripheral devices (e.g., a printer, card reader, etc.).

[0057] The storage device 416 may include a communication device readable medium 422, on which is stored one or more sets of data structures or instructions 424 (e.g., software) embodying or utilized by any one or more of the techniques or functions described herein. The instructions 424 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory 404, within static memory 406, or within the hardware processor 402, during execution thereof by the communication device 400. In an example, one or any combination of the hardware processor 402, the main memory 404, the static memory 406, or the storage device 416 may constitute communication device readable media. Θ058] While the communication device readable medium 422 is illustrated as a single medium, the term "communication device readable medium" may include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) configured to store the one or more instructions 424.

[0059] The term "communication device readable medium" may include any medium that is capable of storing, encoding, or earning instructions for execution by the communication device 400 and that cause the communication device 400 to perform any one or more of the techniques of the present disclosure, or that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying data structures used by or associated with such instructions. Non-limiting communication device readable medium examples may include solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media. Specific examples of communication device readable media may include: non-volatile memory, such as semiconductor memory devices (e.g., Electrically Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPRQM), Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM)) and flash memory- devices; magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks and removable disks; magneto-optical disks; Random Access Memory (RAM); and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks. In some examples, communication device readable media may include non-transitory communication device readable media. In some examples, communication device readable media may include communication device readable media that is not a transitory propagating signal .

[0060J The instructions 424 may further be transmitted or received over a communications network 426 using a transmission medium via the network interface device 420 utilizing any one of a number of transfer protocols (e.g., frame relay , internet protocol (IP), transmission control protocol (TCP), user datagram protocol (UDP), hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), etc.). Example communication networks may include a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), a packet data network (e.g., the Internet), mobile telephone networks (e.g., cellular networks), Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless data networks (e.g., Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 family of standards known as Wi-Fi®, IEEE 802.16 family of standards known as WiMax®), IEEE 802.15.4 family of standards, a Long Term Evolution (LTE) family of standards, a Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) family of standards, peer-to-peer (P2P) networks, among others. In an example, the network interface device 420 may include one or more physical jacks (e.g., Ethernet, coaxial, or phone jacks) or one or more antennas to connect to the communications network 426. In an example, the network interface device 420 may include a plurality of antennas to vvirelessly communicate using at least one of single-input multiple-output (SIMO), MIMO, or multiple-input single-output (MISO) techniques. In some examples, the network interface device 420 may vvirelessly communicate using Multiple User MIMO techniques. The term "transmission medium" shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capable of storing, encoding or carrying instractions for execution by the communication device 400, and includes digital or analog communications signals or other intangible medium to facilitate communication of such software.

[0061] In addition to various types of MIMO that may be used by 5G systems, 5G systems are also likely to use high frequency bands (cmWave and mm Wave) for communications between the eNB and UE (or UE to UE) as these wavelengths may be able to provide wider bandwidth to support future integrated communication systems. Combined with MIMO, the use of high frequency bands may thus decrease the amount of strain on the various networks due to the increased bandwidth availability. To implement communications using high frequency bands, MIMO beam forming gam may be able to compensate potential severe path loss caused by atmospheric attenuation at tliese higher frequency bands, as well as improve the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and enlarge the coverage area. By aligning a particular transmission beam, to a target UE, the radiated energy may be focused for higher energy efficiency and suppress mutual UE interference.

[0062] In MIMO systems, however, the UE may select an optimal beam of a plurality of beams transmitted by the eNB for reception of various signals and transmit signals to the eNB using the direction indicated by the optimal beam. While it would be desirable for the eNB to know which beam is optimal for communication with the UE, this information may, unfortunately, be unavailable to the eNB, This is to say that the eNB may not know which beam is being used by the UE and thus, which direction to use to receive the scheduling request (SR). The eNB may thus sweep through all of the directions of all of the beams, causing the UE to repeat transmission of the SR for a number of times equal to at least the number of beams. This may be exacerbated when multiple eNBs, such as an LTE eNB and 5G eNB, provide different services to the UE, as well as when the UE has a relatively high mobility such that the optimal beam changes fairly quickly (e.g., the UE is moving at at least a few km say 30 per hour). To avoid this, either a particular SR or 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH) may be used to initiate 5G data transmission by the UE. Specifically, the S in the LTE link can be used for an uplink request in a 5G link for non-standalone deployment and the xPRACH can be used for standalone deployment, as described in relation to the various embodiments below.

[0063] FIG. 5 illustrates an uplink request design for a non-standalone LTE system in accordance with some embodiments. As shown, the 5G system includes a UE 502 in communication with an LTE eNB 504 and a 5G eNB 506. The UE 502, LTE eNB 504 and 5G eNB 506 may be shown in FIGS. 1-4. The LTE eNB 504 and 5G eNB 506 may be connected via an X2 interface such that information provided from the UE 502 to the LTE eNB 504 may be forwarded as desired to the 5G eNB 506. In some embodiments, the UE 502 may initiate the 5G uplink scheduling procedure by transmitting a SR to the LTE eNB 504 using a dedicated resource on the LTE link. The SR can be used for a request for upHnk resources for the 5G link.

[0064] Similar to the above, different physical uplink channels may include the Physical UpHnk Control Channel (PUCCH) or 5G PUCCH

(xPUCCH) (hereinafter referred to merely as xPUCCH for convenience) used by the UE 502 to send Uplink Control Information (UCI) to the LTE eNB 504 or 5G eNB 506 and request a Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH) or 5G PUSCH (xPUSCH) (hereinafter referred to merely as xPUSCH for convenience) to provide uplink data to the LTE eNB 504 or 5G eNB 506. The xPUCCH may be mapped to an UL control channel resource defined by an orthogonal cover code and two resource blocks, consecutive in time, with hopping potentially at the boundary betw een adjacent slots. The xPUCCH may take several different formats, with the UCI containing information dependent on the format.

Specifically, the xPUCCH may contain a SR used by the UE to request resources to transmit uplink data using PUCCH format 1. The xPUCCH may also contain acknowledgement responses/retransmission requests (ACK/NACK) or a Channel Quality Indication (CQI)/Channel State Information (CSI). The CQI/CS1 may indicate to the LTE eNB 504 or 5G eNB 506 an estimate of the current downlink channel conditions as seen by the UE 502 to aid channel- dependent scheduling and may include MIMO-related feedback (e.g. Precoder matrix indication, PMI).

[0065] As shown in FIG. 5, at operation 512 the UE 502 may use a dedicated SR resource to request the resources. The dedicated SR resource can be configured by the LTE eNB 504 or 5G eNB 506 via previous Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling with the UE 502. The UE 502 may be configured with only one SR resource (for the 5G link) or with two SR resources, one for an uplink request in LTE link and another for an uplink request for a 5G link. The dedicated resource may be UE-specific and may be associated with a resource allocation index. The resource may have one or more of a dedicated time, frequency or code allocation.

[0066] After successful detection of the SR, the LTE eNB 504 may at operation 514 transmit a PDCCH formed in accordance with a DCI format containing an uplink grant for beam-related information. Specifically, the LTE eNB 504 may allocate the uplink resource for transmission of a buffer status report (BSR) in the LTE link by the UE 502. Although not shown, the LTE eNB 504 may at this point indicate to the 5G eNB 506 over the X2 interface that an uplink grant is desired by the UE 502, or may wait until later to inform the 5G eNB 506.

[0067] As shown in FIG. 5, the UE 502 may receive the uplink resource allocation from the LTE eNB 504. The UE 502 may in response, at operation 516 transmit the BSR on the PUSCH in the allocated uplink resource, carried in a Medium. Access Control (MAC) Protocol Data Unit (PDU). The MA C PDU may be used to inform the eNB of the amount of data in the UE buffer to be transmitted. In addition to the BSR, the UE 502 may use the allocated resource to report a 5G beam measurement. The 5G beam measurement may allow the 5G eNB 506 to transmit signals using the appropriate beam in the 5G link. The 5G beam measurement may contain information of the optimal beam from the 5G eNB 506 for reception by the LTE 502 as acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) or BRS received power (BRS-RP) measurement made by the UE 502. The optimal beam can be represented as a unique identifier that correlates the beam with a transmission point known to the network. The UE 506 may continue to listen to periodic beam transmissions (reference signals) by the 5G eNB 506 for this measurement.

[0068] Upon reception of the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report by the LTE eNB 504 using the LTE link, the LTE eNB 504 may determine the appropriate allocation and in some embodiments the optimal beam.

Alternatively, the LTE eNB 504 may provide the information of the 5G beam measurement report over the X2 interface to the 5G eNB 506 for the 5G eNB 506 to determine the appropriate allocation and/or the optimal beam. The 5G eNB 506 may use the optimal beam, to transmit an xPDCCH using the 5G link at operation 518, The xPDCCH may contain an uplink grant for transmission of the uplink data on the 5G link. In particular, based on the BSR information, the 5G eNB 506 may allocate the appropriate resource and modulation and coding scheme (MCS) included in the uplink grant for the uplink data as indicated by the UE 502. [0069] After receiving the uplink grant, the UE 502 may transmit the uplink data on the xPUSCH 520 using the 5G link. Thus, although initially transmitting the SR and BSR/5G beam report on the LTE link, the UE 502 may both receive the allocation and transmit the data on the 5G link.

[0070] FIG. 6 illustrates another uplink request design for a non- standalone LTE system in accordance with some embodiments. As shown, the 5G system includes a UE 602 in communication with an LTE eNB 604 and a 5G eNB 606. The UE 602, LTE eNB 604 and 5G eNB 606 may be shown in FIGS. 1-4 and may act in a manner similar to the same entities in FIG. 5. In some embodiments, the UE 602 may initiate the 5G uplink scheduling procedure by transmitting a SR to the LTE eNB 604 using a dedicated resource on LTE link. The SR can be used for a request for uplink resources for the 5G link. Unlike the embodiment of FIG. 5, however, the resource for the BSR may be allocated using the 5G link. In this case, beam alignment between the 5G eNB 606 and UE 602 may already exist.

[0071] Similar to the above, at operation 612 the UE 602 may use a dedicated SR resource to request the resources. The dedicated SR resource can be configured by the LTE eNB 604 or 5G eNB 606 via RR.C signaling with the UE 602. The UE 602 may be configured with only one SR resource (for the 5G link) or with two SR resources, one for an uplink request in LTE link and another for an uplink request for a 5G link.

[0072] After successful detection of the SR, the LTE eNB 604 may determine that 5G resources are desired and provide this information over the X2 interface to the 5G eNB 606. Unlike the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, however, the LTE eNB 504 may refrain from undertaking further actions. At operation 614, the 5G eNB 606 may transmit an xPDCCH formed in accordance with a DCI format containing an uplink grant for beam-related information. The 5G eNB 606 may already have information regarding the optimal beam for

communication with the UE 602, For example, the 5G eNB 606 may use the beam information determined or provided within a predetermined amount of time (which may be based on the UE 602 mobility) from when the SR was received. The 5G eNB 606 may allocate the uplink resource for transmission by the UE 602 of a BSR in the 5G link. In some embodiments, the 5G eNB 606 may allocate additional uplink resources for transmission by the UE 602 of a 5G beam measurement report in the 5G link to update the information. The 5G eNB 606 may use the optimal beam to transmit this information to the UE 602.

[0073] The UE 602 may receive the uplink resource allocation from the

5G eNB 606. The UE 602 may in response, at operation 616 transmit the BSR to the 5G eNB 606 in the allocated uplink resource on the 5G link. In this case, as the 5G eNB 606 may know the optimal beam for communication with the UE 602, the UE 602 may avoid transmitting the 5G measurement report and thus fewer resources may be allocated by the 5G eNB 606 and used by the UE 602.

[0074] Upon reception of the BSR by the 5G eNB 606 using the 5G link, the 5G eNB 606 may use the optimal beam to transmit an xPDCCH using the 5G link at operation 618. The xPDCCH may contain an uplink grant for transmission of the uplink data. The appropriate resource and MCS may be allocated by the 5G eNB 606 in the uplink grant transmitted by the 5G eNB 606 based on the BSR information.

[0075] After receiving the uplink grant, the UE 602 may transmit the uplink data on the xPUSCH 620 using the 5G link. Thus, although initially transmitting the SR on the LTE link, the UE 602 may thereafter communicate with the 5G eNB 606, sending the BSR, receiving the allocation and transmitting the data on the 5G link.

[0076] FIG. 7 illustrates another uplink request design for a non- standalone LTE system in accordance with some embodiments. The 5G system, includes a UE 702 in communication with an LTE eNB 704 and a 5G eNB 706. The UE 702, LTE eNB 704 and 5G eNB 706 may be shown in FIGS. 1 -4 and perform at least some of the same functionality of similar devices as in FIGS. 5 and 6. In some embodiments, the UE 702 may initiate the 5G uplink scheduling procedure by transmitting a SR to the LTE eNB 704. The SR can be used for a request for uplink resources for the 5G link. However, unlike the embodiments shown in FIGS. 5 or 6, the SR in the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 may not be transmitted using resources dedicated to 5G uplink data transmission requests.

[0077] This is to say that, at operation 712 the UE 702 may use a non- dedicated SR resource to request resources for uplink transmission of data using the 5G link. In this case, the UE 702 may be configured with only one SR resource, which is for the LTE link. Despite a non-dedicated SR resource being used however, a new Logical Channel ID (LC1D) in the MAC layer may be defined for the UE 702 to request the uplink resource in the 5G link. The LCID can be used to differentiate whether the uplink request is for a LTE link or a 5G link. The UE 702 may thus use the LCID in the SR transmission in the LTE link to indicate that a 5G resource is being requested. The LCID may be defined per 3GPP Technical Specification 36.321.

[0078 J This is to say that the MAC header may be of variable size (in octets) and contain the LCID, a length field, a format field and an extension field. The length field may indicate the length of the corresponding MAC SDU or variable-sized MAC control element in bytes. The format field may indicate the size of the length field. The extension field may indicate whether further fields are present in the MAC header. The LCID (5 bits) may identify the logical channel instance of the corresponding MAC SDU or the type of the corresponding MAC control element or padding for the DL-SCH, UL-SCH and MCH respectively.

[0079] After successful detection of the SR, the LTE eNB 704 may extract the LCID and determine that the UE 702 is requesting 5G resources. The LTE eNB 704 may thus at operation 714 transmit a PDCCH containing an uplink grant for beam-related information to the 5G eNB 706, The LTE eNB 704 may allocate the uplink resource for transmission of the beam-related information in the LTE link by the UE 702.

[0080] The UE 702 may receive the uplink resource allocation from the

LTE eNB 704 and act accordingly. In particular, the UE 702 may at operation 716 transmit the BSR and the 5G beam measurement on the PUSCH in the allocated uplink resource. The 5G beam measurement may, as above, contain information of the optimal beam for reception by the UE 702 as acquired from the BRS or BRS-RP measurement made by the UE 702. The BSR and 5G beam report may, in addition to (or instead of) the SR at operation 712, use the LCID. Specifically, a corresponding MAC control element may be defined that may include the 5G beam measurement report. This MAC control element may be transmitted at operation 716 in the LTE RACH procedure or transmitted together with the BSR for uplink data transmission triggered by the SR at operation 712.

[0081] Upon reception of the 5G beam measurement report by the LTE eNB 704 via the LTE link, similar to FIG. 5, the LTE eNB 704 may indicate to the 5G eNB 706 that a resource request for the 5G link is to be allocated for the UE 702 and may provide either or both the BSR and/or 5G beam report via the X2 interface. The 5G eNB 706 may subsequently determine the optimal beam and use the optimal beam, to transmit an xPDCCH using the 5G link at operation 71 8. The xPDCCH may contain an uplink grant for transmission of the uplink data. As above, based on the BSR information, the 5G eNB 706 may allocate the appropriate resource and MCS included in the uplink grant for the uplink data based on the BSR.

[0082] After receiving the uplink grant, the UE 702 may transmit the uplink data on the xPUSCH 720 using the 5G link. As in FIGS. 5 and 6, in FIG. 7, although initially transmitting the SR and BSR/5G beam report on the LTE link, the UE 702 may both receive the allocation and transmit the data on the 5G link.

[0083J FIG. 8 illustrates another uplink request design for a non- standalone LTE system in accordance with some embodiments. The 5G system. may include a UE 802 in communication with an LTE eNB 804 and a 5G eNB 806. The UE 802, LTE eNB 804 and 5G eNB 806 may be shown in FIGS. 1 -4. As in the above embodiments, the UE 802 may initiate the 5G uplink, scheduling procedure by transmitting a SR for uplink resources for the 5G link to the LTE eNB 804. At operation 812 the UE 802 may use a non-dedicated SR resource to request the resources.

ΘΘ84] Unlike the previous embodiments, rather than transmit resources for the BSR and perhaps the 5G beam measurement report, at operation 814 the LTE eNB 804 may in response transmit a PDCCH order for a contention free RACH procedure on the 5G link. Specifically, the LTE eNB 804 may transmit an xPRACH transmission with a designated preamble signature indicating a contention free RACH procedure. The PDCCH order, similar to the PDCCH containing resources for the BSR, may be transmitted on the LTE link. The preamble index indicating the xPRACH transmission, may be a predetermined preamble index (e.g., a single preamble index defined for xPRACH) or may be selected from among a preamble index group indicating the xPRACH transmission. The preamble index group ID can be obtained via a previous BRS-RP measurement result. The information to indicate that the preamble index or preamble group index group ID is related to an order for transmission of the xPRACH may be obtained by the UE 802 through RRC signaling prior to transmission of the SR.

[0085] In some embodiments, the xPDCCH order may be transmitted by the 5G eNB 806 via the 5G link rather than being transmitted by the LTE eNB 804 via the LTE link, the information of the SR for the 5G link being provided from the LTE eNB 804 to the 5G eNB 806 over the X2 interface prior to transmission of the xPDCCH containing the xPRACH order. Moreover, in some embodiments, if no PDCCH (or xPDCCH) order is received within a time window configured by RRC or other high layer signaling, the UE 802 may determine that the SR has expired or not been received by the LTE eNB 804 and transmit another SR. The time period for expiration may be dependent on the type of UE (UE priority), data to be transmitted by the UE 802 (data priority), network load as measured, e.g., by interference, and other factors.

[0086] The UE 802 may decode the xPDCCH order for initiation of the contention free RACH procedure via the 5G link. The UE 802 may at operation 816 transmit the xPRACH to the 5G eNB 806. The UE 802 may select one of the available RACH preambles and a Random Access Radio Network

Temporary Identifier (RA-RNTI) determined from the time slot number in which the preamble is sent

[0087] Upon reception of the xPRACH, the 5G eNB 806 may subsequently perform the beam, scanning based on the xPRACH to determine the optimal beam. The 5G eNB 806 may use the optimal beam to transmit an xPDCCH using the 5G link at operation 818. Hie xPDCCH may contain an uplink grant for transmission of the uplink data. As above, based on the BSR information, the 5G eNB 806 may allocate the appropriate resource and MCS included in the uplink grant for the uplink data.

[0088] After receiving the uplink grant, the UE 802 may transmit the uplink data, on the xPUSCH 820 using the 5G link. In some embodiments, the UE 802 may also transmit the BSR with the uplink data.

[0089] FIG. 9 illustrates an uplink request design for a standalone LTE system in accordance with some embodiments. The 5G system may include a UE 902 in communication with a 5G eNB 904. The UE 902 and a 5G eNB 904 may be shown in FIGS. 1-4. In general, as discussed above, for 5G systems, repeated xPRACH transmissions may be used to ensure robust detection by the 5G eNB using beam sweeping. Similar to the above non-standalone embodiments in which an SR may be employed to indicate a request to provide uplink data via the 5G link, in a standalone embodiment the xPRACH can be utilized by the UE 902 to achieve uplink synchronization.

[0090] Similar to some of the above embodiments, the UE 902 may initiate the 5G uplink contention-free scheduling procedure by transmitting an xPRACH for uplink resources for the 5G link to the 5G eNB 904. As shown, at operation 912 the UE 902 may use a dedicated xPRACH resource to request the uplink data resource. Information regarding the xPRACH may be transmitted to the UE 902 via RRC or other higher layer signaling. As the number of users in the 5G cell may be limited, allocating one or more dedicated xPRACH resources for a resource request may avoid introduction of a dedicated SR channel for the 5G system. The UE 902 may select one of the available xPRACH preambles and a Random Access Radio Network Temporary Identifier (RA-RNTI) determined from the time slot number in which the preamble is sent.

[0091] The xPRACH resource for the SR and for random access can be mu ltiplexed using one or more of time division multiplexing (TDM), frequency division multiplexing (FDM) or code division multiplexing (COM). The configuration for the xPRACH resource for the SR may be configured via RRC signaling from an anchor LTE cell or 5G cell. In one embodiment, the frequency resource and sequence group of xPRACH for random access m ay be one-to-one mapped to a frequency resource and sequence group of the BRS. An additional resource can be assigned to the xPRACH for the SR, e.g., the n+-P^h subframe where n is the subframe index of the xPRACH for random access. In another embodiment, a dedicated xPRACH preamble signature can be allocated E-specific manner (e.g., RRC signaling) for the SR.

[0092] The 5G eNB 904 may detect the xPRACH. In response, at operation 914, the 5G eNB 904 may transmit via the 5G link an xPDCCH with an uplink grant. The xPDCCH may contain resources for the BSR and possibly the 5G beam report. Unlike a conventional RACH procedure, however, the xPDCCH in response to the xPRACH may contain a reduced random access response (RAR). Typically, a full RAR may be addressed to the RA-RNTI and may contain, in addition to the uplink grant resource, a Temporary Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) and a Timing Advance Value to compensate for the round trip delay between the UE 902 and the 5G eNB 904. In some embodiments, instead of full RAR information such as the timing advance and the C-RNTI, may already be known prior to transmitting the xPRACH, such as through an RRC_CONNECTED message. Thus, the 5G eNB 904 may avoid transmitting this information to save the overhead and simplify the procedure. Moreover, as C-RNTl may be known by the UE 902, the reduced RAR message carried in the xPDCCH may be scrambled using the C-RNTI in the cyclic redundancy check (CRC).

[0093] Upon receiving the xPDCCH at operation 914, the UE 902 may decode the xPDCCH and determine the resource allocation. The UE 902 may at operation 916 subsequently transmit the BSR and/or 5G beam measurement report to the 5G eNB 904 using the 5G link.

[0094J Upon reception of the xPRACH, the 5G eNB 904 may subsequently perform beam scanning based on the xPRACH to determ ine the optimal beam for communication with the UE 902. The 5G eNB 904 may use the optimal beam to transmit an xPDCCH using the 5G link at operation 918.

The xPDCCH may contain an uplink grant for transmission of the uplink data.

As above, based on the BSR information, the 5G eNB 904 may allocate the appropriate resource and MCS included in the uplink grant for the uplink data.

[0095] After receiving the uplink grant, the UE 902 may transmit the uplink data, on the xPUSCH at operation 920. The uplink data may be transmitted to the 5G eNB 904 using the 5G link.

[0096] FIG. 10 illustrates another uplink request design for a standalone

LTE system in accordance with some embodiments. The 5G system may include a UE 1002 in communication with a 5G eNB 1004. The UE 002 and a 5G eNB 1004 may be shown in FIGS. 1 -4. In this embodiment, a contention free xPRACH procedure with fast uplink access is introduced.

[0097] The UE 1002 may initiate the 5G uplink contention-free scheduling procedure by transmitting at operation 1012 an xPRACH for uplink resources for the 5G link to the 5G eNB 1004. The xPRACH may be transmitted together with the BSR (and perhaps the 5G beam measurement report). The UE 1002 may use a dedicated xPRACH resource to request the uplink data resource. Information regarding the xPRACH may be transmitted to the UE 1002 via RRC or other higher layer signaling. [0098] The 5G eNB 1004 may detect the xPRACH and perform beam scanning based on the xPRACH to determine the optimal beam for

communication with the UE 1002. At operation 1014, the 5G eNB 1004 may transmit via the 5G link an xPDCCH with an uplink grant for transmission of the uplink data. The xPDCCH may contain the reduced RAR information, as in FIG. 9. The xPDCCH may contain an uplink grant. As above, based on the BSR information, the 5G eNB 1004 may allocate the appropriate resource and MCS included in the uplink grant for the uplink data.

[0099] After receiving the uplink grant, the UE 1002 may transmit the uplink data on the xPUSCH at operation 1016. The uplink data may be transmitted to the 5G eNB 1004 using the 5G link. As the number of messages between the UE 1002 and the 5G eNB 1004 is reduced compared with FIG. 9, the uplink access latency may also be reduced substantially.

[00100] Example 1 is apparatus of user equipment (UE) comprising processing circuitry arranged to: generate a message indicating uplink data to be transmitted to a fifth generation (5G) evolved NodeB (eNB), the message dependent on to which of a Long Term. Evolution (LTE) eNB and the 5G eNB the message is to be transmitted; decode, after transmission of the message, a 5G physical downlink control channel (xPDCCH) containing a 5G uplink grant received from the 5G eNB on a selected beam, the 5G uplink grant comprising resources allocated for transmission of the uplink data to the 5G eNB; and generate, for transmission to the 5G eNB using the resources, a 5G physical uplink shared channel (xPUSCH) comprising the data.

[00101] In Example 2, the subject matter of Example 1 optionally includes that the message comprises a scheduling request, the scheduling request transmitted to the LTE eNB.

[00102] In Example 3, the subject matter of Example 2 optionally includes that the processing circuitry is further arranged to: generate the scheduling request for transmission via a dedicated resource.

[00103] In Example 4, the subject matter of Example 3 optionally includes that the processing circuitry is further arranged to: decode, in response to transmission of the scheduling request, an uplink grant from the eNB to transmit to the eNB at least one of a buffer status report (BSR) and a 5G beam measurement report dependent on from which of the LTE eNB and the 5G eNB the uplink grant is received, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of the selected beam acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BRS-RP) measurement of the selected beam.

[00104] In Example 5, the subject matter of Example 4 optionally includes that the processing circuitry is further arranged to: generate the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report in response to reception of the uplink grant from the LTE eNB, reception of the PDCCH in response to transmission of the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report.

[00105] In Example 6, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples

4-5 optionally include that the processing circuitry is further arranged to:

generate the BSR in response to reception of the uplink grant from the 5G eNB, at least one of reception of the xPDCCH in response to transmission of the BSR and transmission of the 5G beam measurement report.

[00106] In Example 7, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples

2-6 optionally include that the processing circuitry is further arranged to:

generate the scheduling request for an undedicated resource; and decode, in response to transmission of the scheduling request, an uplink grant from the LTE eNB to transmit to the LTE eNB a buffer status report (BSR) and a 5G beam measurement report, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of the selected beam acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BRS-RP) measurement of the selected beam.

[00107] In Example 8, the subject matter of Example 7 optionally includes that the processing circuitry is further arranged to: generate, in response to reception of the uplmk grant, the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report using a Logical Channel Identification (LCID) for transmission of a resource allocation request to the 5G eN B, the LCID to provide differentiation of between an uplink request for the LTE eNB and the 5G eNB, reception of the PDCCH in response to transmission of the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report.

[00108] In Example 9, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples

2-8 optionally include that the processing circuitry is further arranged to:

generate the scheduling request for an undedicated resource; and decode, in response to transmission of the scheduling request, a PDCCH from the LTE eNB, the PDCCH comprising a request for the UE to undertake a contention-free random access channel procedure with the 5G eNB; and generate, in response to reception of the PDCCH, a 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH) with a designated preamble signature for transmission to the 5G eNB, reception of the xPDCCH in response to transmission of the xPRACH.

[00109] In Example 10, the subject matter of Example 9 optionally includes that the designated preamble signature comprises a preamble index within a preamble index group, the preamble index group identit ' obtained by via a beam reference signal received power (BRS-RP) m easurem ent of the selected beam.

[00110] In Example 11, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 9-10 optionally include that the xPDCCH comprises a reduced random access response (RAR) free from a timing advance and temporary' Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) and scrambled by the C-RNTI in a cyclic redundancy check (CRC).

[00111] In Example 12, the subject matter of any one or more of Examples 1-11 optionally include that the message comprises a 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH) for transmission via a dedicated resource.

[00112] In Example 13, the subject matter of Example 12 optionally includes that the processing circuitry is further arranged to: decode, in response to transmission of the xPRACH and from the 5G eNB, an uplink grant to transmit to the 5G eNB a buffer status report (BSR) and a 5G beam

measurement report, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of the selected MIMO beam acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BRS-RP) measurement of the selected beam: and generate the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report in response to reception of the uplink grant, reception of the xPDCCH in response to transmission of the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report.

[00113] In Example 14, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 12-13 optionally include that the message comprises an xPRACH and a buffer status report (BSR) for transmission via a dedicated resource, reception of the xPDCCH in response to transmission of the message.

[00114] In Example 15, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 1-14 optionally include that the processing circuitry comprises baseband circuitry arranged to determine, from the LTE eNB via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, an uplink dedicated LTE resource for transmission of an uplink request from the LTE eNB and an uplink dedicated 5G resource for transmission of an uplink request to the 5G eNB, the message for transmission on one of the uplink dedicated LTE resource and the uplink dedicated 5G resource,

[00115] In Example 16, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 1- 15 optionally include, further comprising: an antenna configured to provide communications between the UE and the eNB,

[00116] Example 17 is an apparatus of an evolved NodeB (eNB) comprising processing circuitry arranged to: generate, for transmission via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, one of an uplink dedicated LTE resource for transmission of an uplink request to a Long Term Evolution (LTE) eNB and an uplink dedicated fifth generation (5G) resource for transmission of an uplink request to a 5G eNB; and decode one of a message, transmitted on one of the uplink dedicated LTE resource and the uplink dedicated 5G resource, indicating that the uplink data is to be transmitted to the 5G eNB, the message comprising one of a scheduling request (SR) and a 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH), the m essage dependent on to which of the LTE eNB and the 5G eNB the message was transmitted,

[00117] In Example 18, the subject matter of Example 17 optionally includes that the eNB comprises the LTE eNB, and the processing circuitry is further arranged to: generate, in response to reception of the scheduling request via the uplink dedicated LTE resource, an uplink grant to transmit at least one of a buffer status report (BSR) and a 5G beam measurement report, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of a selected beam acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BR.S-RP) measurement of the selected beam; and decode the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report after transmission of the uplink grant.

[001 18] In Example 19, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 17-18 optionally include that the eNB comprises the 5G eNB, and the processing circuitry is further arranged to: generate, in response to use of the uplink dedicated LTE resource to transmit the scheduling request, an uplink grant to transmit at least one of a buffer status report (BSR.) and a 5G beam measurement report, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of a selected beam acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BRS-RP) measurement of the selected beam; decode the BSR after transmission of the uplink grant; and generate a 5G physical downlink control channel (xPDCCH) containing a 5G uplink grant for transmission on the selected beam, the 5G uplink grant comprising resources allocated for transmission of the uplink data.

[00119] In Example 20, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 17-19 optionally include that the eNB comprises the LTE eNB, and the processing circuitry is further arranged to: generate, in response to reception of the scheduling request via the uplink dedicated LTE resource, an uplink grant to transmit a buffer status report (BSR) and a 5G beam measurement report, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of a selected beam acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BRS- RP) measurement of the selected beam; and decode, after transmission of the uplink grant, the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report, the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report comprising a Logical Channel Identification (LCID) for transmission of a resource allocation request, the LCID to provide differentiation between an uplink request for the LTE eNB and the 5G eNB.

[00120] In Example 21, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 17-20 optionally include that the eNB comprises the 5G eNB, and the processing circuitry is further arranged to: decode, after transmission of a PDCCH comprising a request for the UE to undertake a contention-free random access channel procedure with the 5G eNB and in response to reception of the scheduling request via an undedicated resource from the LTE eNB, a 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH) with a designated preamble signature, the xPDCCH comprising a reduced random access response (RAR) free from a timing advance and temporary Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) and scrambled by the C-RNT1 in a cyclic redundancy check (CRC); and generate a 5G physical downlink control channel (xPDCCH) containing a 5G uplink grant for transmission on a selected beam.

[00121] In Example 22, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 17-21 optionally include that the eNB comprises the 5G eNB, and the processing circuitry is further arranged to: generate, in response to reception of a 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH) via the dedicated 5G resource, an upimk grant to transmit a buffer status report (BSR) and a 5G beam measurement report, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of the selected beam acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BRS-RP) measurement of the selected beam; decode the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report after transmission of the uplink grant; and generate a 5G physical downlink control channel (xPDCCH) containing a 5G uplink grant for transmission on a selected beam.

[00122] In Example 2,3, the subject matter of any one or more of

Examples 17-22 optionally include that the eNB comprises the 5G eNB, and the processing circuitry is further arranged to: generate, in response to reception of a 5G physical random, access channel (xPRACH) and a buffer status report (BSR) via the uplink dedicated 5G resource, a 5G physical downlink control channel (xPDCCH) containing a 5G uplink grant for transmission on a selected beam.

[00123] In Example 24 is a computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of user equipm ent (UE), the one or more processors to configure the UE to: obtain at least one of an uplink dedicated LTE resource for transmission of an uplink request to a Long Term Evolution (LTE) evolved NodeB (eNB) and an uplink dedicated fifth generation (5G) resource for transmission of an uplink request to a 5G eNB; generate one of a scheduling request (SR.) and a 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH) indicating the uplink data to be transmitted to the 5G eNB, transmission of the one of the SR and the xPRACH on one of the upl ink dedicated LTE resource and the uplink dedicated 5G resource and selected dependent on which of the LTE link and the 5G link the one of the SR and the xPRACH is transmitted; and decode a 5G physical downlink control channel (xPDCCH) comprising a 5G uplink grant from the 5G eNB on a, selected beam after transmission of the message, the 5G uplink grant comprising resources allocated for transmission of the uplink data.

[00124] In Example 25, the subject matter of Example 24 optionally includes that the one or more processors further configure the UE to one of: generate the SR for the LTE eNB, and in response to transmission of the scheduling request, decode an uplink grant to transmit a buffer status report (BSR) and a 5G beam measurement report, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of the selected beam acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BRS-RP) measurement of the selected beam; generate, in response to reception of the uplink grant, the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report using a Logical Channel

Identification (LCID) for transmission of a resource allocation request for the 5G link, the LCID to provide differentiation between an uplink request for the LTE link and the 5G link; and decode a PDCCH received from the LTE eNB, the PDCCH comprising a request for the UE to undertake a contention-free random access channel procedure with the 5G eNB, and generate a 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH) with a designated preamble signature via the 5G link, the xPDCCH comprising a reduced random access response (RAR) free from a timing advance and temporary Cell Radio Network Temporary identifier (C~ R TI) and scrambled by the C-RNTI in a cyclic redundancy check (CRC).

[00125] Example 26 is a method of scheduling user equipment (UE) data transmission, the method comprising: obtaining at least one of an uplink dedicated LTE resource for transmission of an uplink request to a Long Term Evolution (LTE) evolved NodeB (eNB) and an uplink dedicated fifth generation (5G) resource for transmission of an uplink request to a 5G eNB; generating one of a scheduling request (SR) and a 5G physical random access channel

(xPRACH) indicating the uplink data to be transmitted to the 5G eNB, transmission of the one of the SR and the xPRACH on one of the uplink dedicated LTE resource and the uplink dedicated 5G resource and selected dependent on which of the LTE link and the 5G link the one of the SR and the xPRACH is transmitted; and decoding a 5G physical downlink control channel (xPDCCH) comprising a 5G uplink grant from the 5G eNB on a selected beam after transmission of the message, the 5G uplink grant comprising resources allocated for transmission of the uplink data.

[00126] In Example 27, the subject matter of Example 26 optionally further comprises one of: generating the SR for the LTE eNB, and in response to transmission of the scheduling request, decode an uplink grant to transmit a buffer status report (BSR) and a 5G beam measurement report, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of the selected beam acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BRS- RP) measurement of the selected beam; generating, in response to reception of the uplink grant, the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report using a Logical Channel Identification (LCID) for transmission of a resource allocation request for the 5G link, the LCID to provide differentiation between an uplink request for the LTE link and the 5G link: and decoding a PDCCH received from the LTE eNB, the PDCCH comprising a request for the UE to undertake a contention -free random access channel procedure with the 5G eNB, and generate a 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH) with a designated preamble signature via the 5G link, the xPDCCH comprising a reduced random access response (RAR) free from a timing advance and temporary Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) and scrambled by the C-RNTI in a cyclic redundancy check (CRC).

[00127] Example 28 is user equipment (UE) comprising: means for obtaining at least one of an uplink dedicated LTE resource for transmission of an uplink request to a Long Term Evolution (LTE) evolved NodeB (eNB) and an uplink dedicated fifth generation (5G) resource for transmission of an uplink request to a 5G eNB; means for generating one of a scheduling request (SR) and a 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH) indicating the uplink data to be transmitted to the 5G eNB, transmission of the one of the SR and the xPRACH on one of the uplink dedicated LTE resource and the uplink dedicated 5G resource and selected dependent on which of the LTE link and the 5G link the one of the SR and the xPRACH is transmitted; and means for decoding a 5G physical downlink control channel (xPDCCH) comprising a 5G uplink grant from the 5G eNB on a selected beam after transmission of the message, the 5G uplink grant comprising resources allocated for transmission of the uplink data.

[00128] In Example 29, the subject matter of Example 28 optionally further comprises one of: means for generating the SR for the LTE eNB, and in response to transmission of the scheduling request, decode an uplink grant to transmit a buffer status report (BSR) and a 5G beam measurement report, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of the selected beam acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BRS- RP) measurement of the selected beam; means for generating, in response to reception of the uplink grant, the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report using a Logical Channel Identification (LCID) for transmission of a resource allocation request for the 5G link, the LCID to provide differentiation between an uplink request for the LTE link and the 5G link; and means for decoding a PDCCH received from the LTE eNB, the PDCCH comprising a request for the UE to undertake a contention-free random access channel procedure with the 5G eNB, and generate a 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH) with a designated preamble signature via the 5G link, the xPDCCH comprising a reduced random access response (RAR) free from a timing advance and temporary Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C- NTI) and scrambled by the C-RNTI in a cyclic redundancy check (CRC).

[00129] Although an embodiment has been described with reference to specific example embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the present disclosure. Accordingly, the specification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that fonn a part hereof show, by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specific embodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. The embodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enable those skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein. Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such that structural and logical substitutions and changes may be made without departing from the scope of this disclosure. This Detailed Description, therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope of various embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along with the full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

[00130] Such embodiments of the subject matter may be referred to herein, individually and/or collectively, by the term "embodiment" merely for convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope of this application to any single invention or inventive concept if more than one is in fact disclosed. Tims, although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that any arrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substituted for the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to cover any and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments. Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments not specifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in the art upon reviewing the above description.

[00131] In this document, the terms "a" or "an" are used, as is common in patent documents, to include one or more than one, independent of any other instances or usages of "at least one" or "one or more." In this document, the term "or" is used to refer to a nonexclusive or, such that "A or B" includes "A but not B," "B but not A," and "A and B," unless otherwise indicated. In this document, the terms "including" and "in which" are used as the plain-English equivalents of the respective terms "comprising" and "wherein." Also, in the following claims, the terms "including" and "comprising" are open-ended, that is, a system, UE, article, composition, formulation, or process that includes elements in addition to those listed after such a term in a claim are still deemed to fall within the scope of that claim. Moreover, in the following claims, the terms "first," "second," and "third," etc. are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.

[00132] Hie Abstract of the Disclosure is provided to comply with 37 C.F.R. § 1.72(b), requiring an abstract that will allow the reader to quickly ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. It is submitted with the understanding that it will not be used to interpret or limit the scope or meaning of the claims. In addition, in the foregoing Detailed Description, it can be seen that various features are grouped together in a single embodiment for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure. This method of disclosure is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed embodiments require more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive subject matter lies in less than all features of a single disclosed embodiment. Thus the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. An apparatus of user equipment (UE) comprising memory and processing circuitry arranged to:

generate a message indicating uplink data to be transmitted to a fifth generation (5G) evolved NodeB (eNB), the message dependent on to which of a Long Term Evolution (LTE) eNB and the 5G eNB the message is to be transmitted;

decode, after transmission of the message, a 5G physical downlink control channel (xPDCCH) containing a 5G uplink grant received from the 5G eNB on a selected beam, the 5G uplink grant comprising resources allocated for transmission of the uplink data to the 5G eNB; and

generate, for transmission to the 5G eNB using the resources, a 5G physical uplink shared channel (xPUSCH) comprising the data.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein:

the message comprises a scheduling request, the scheduling request transmitted to the LTE eNB.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processing circuitry is further arranged to:

generate the scheduling request for transmission via a dedicated resource.

4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the processing circuitry is further arranged to:

decode, in response to transmission of the scheduling request, an uplink grant from the eNB to transmit to the eNB at least one of a buffer status report (BSR) and a 5G beam measurement report dependent on from which of the LTE eNB and the 5G eNB the uplink grant is received, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of the selected beam acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BRS-RP) measurement of the selected beam.

5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the processing circuitry is further arranged to:

generate the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report in response to reception of the uplink grant from the LTE eNB, reception of the PDCCH in response to transmission of the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report.

6. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein the processing circuitry is further arranged to:

generate the BSR in response to reception of the uplink grant from the 5G eNB, at least one of reception of the xPDCCH in response to transmission of the BSR and transmission of the 5G beam measurement report,

7. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processing circuitry is further arranged to:

8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein the processing circuitry is further arranged to:

generate, in response to reception of the uplink grant, the BSR and the

5G beam measurement report using a Logical Channel Identification (LCID) for transmission of a resource allocation request to the 5G eNB, the LCID to pro vide differentiation of between an uplink request for the LTE eNB and the 5G eNB, reception of the PDCCH in response to transmission of the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report.

9. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein the processing circuitry is further arranged to:

generate the scheduling request for an undedicated resource; and decode, in response to transmission of the scheduling request, a PDCCH from the LTE eNB, the PDCCH comprising a request for the UE to undertalie a contention -free random access channel procedure with the 5G eNB; and

generate, in response to reception of the PDCCH, a 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH) with a designated preamble signature for transmission to the 5G eNB, reception of the xPDCCH in response to transmission of the xPRACH.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the designated preamble signature comprises a preamble index within a preamble index group, the preamble index group identity obtained by via a beam reference signal received power (BRS- RP) measurement of the selected beam.

11 . The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the xPDCCH comprises a reduced random access response (RAR) free from a timing advance and temporary Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) and scrambled by the C-RNTI in a cyclic redundancy check (CRC).

12. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein:

the message comprises a 5G physical random, access channel (xPRACH) for transmission via a dedicated resource.

13. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein the processing circuitry is further arranged to:

decode, in response to transmission of the xPRACH and from the 5G eNB, an uplink grant to transmit to the 5G eNB a buffer status report (BSR) and a 5G beam measurement report, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of the selected MIMO beam acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BRS-RP) measurement of the selected beam; and

generate the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report in response to reception of the uplink grant, reception of the xPDCCH in response to transmission of the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report.

14. The apparatus of claim 12, wherein:

the message comprises an xPRACH and a buffer status report (BSR) for transmission via a dedicated resource, reception of the xPDCCH in response to transmission of the message.

15. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein:

the processing circuitry comprises baseband circuitry arranged to determine, from the LTE eNB via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, an uplink dedicated LTE resource for transmission of an uplink request from the LTE eNB and an uplink dedicated 5G resource for transmission of an uplink request to the 5G eNB, the message for transmission on one of the uplink dedicated LTE resource and the uplink dedicated 5G resource.

16. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, further comprising:

an antenna configured to provide communications between the UE and the eNB.

17. An apparatus of an evolved NodeB (eNB) comprising processing circuitry arranged to:

generate, for transmission via Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling, one of an uplink dedicated LTE resource for transmission of an uplink request to a Long Term Evolution (LTE) eNB and an uplink dedicated fifth generation (5G) resource for transmission of an uplink request to a 5G eNB; and

decode one of a message, transmitted on one of the uplink dedicated LTE resource and the uplink dedicated 5G resource, indicating that the uplink data is to be transmitted to the 5G eNB, the message comprising one of a scheduling request (SR) and a 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH), the message dependent on to which of the LTE eNB and the 5G eNB the message was transmitted.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein:

the eNB comprises the LTE eNB, and

the processing circuitry is further arranged to: generate, in response to reception of the scheduling request via the uplink dedicated LTE resource, an uplink grant to transmit at least one of a buffer status report (BSR) and a 5G beam, measurement report, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of a selected beam acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BRS-RP) measurement of the selected beam; and

decode the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report after transmission of the uplink grant. 19. The apparatus of claim 17 or .18, wherein:

the eNB comprises the 5G eNB, and

the processing circuitry is further arranged to:

generate, in response to use of the uplink dedicated LTE resource to transmit the scheduling request, an uplink grant to transmit at least one of a buffer status report (BSR) and a 5G beam measurement report, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of a selected beam, acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BRS-RP) measurement of the selected beam;

decode the BSR after transmission of the uplink grant; and generate a 5G physical downlink control channel (xPDCCH) containing a 5G uplink grant for transmission on the selected beam, the 5G uplink grant comprising resources allocated for transmission of the uplink data.

The apparatus of claim 17 or 18, wherein:

the eNB comprises the LTE eNB, and

the processing circuitry is further arranged to:

generate, in response to reception of the scheduling request via the uplink dedicated LTE resource, an uplink grant to transmit a buffer status report (BSR) and a 5G beam measurement report, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of a selected beam acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BRS-RP) measurement of the selected beam; and decode, after transmission of the uplink grant, the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report, the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report comprising a Logical Channel Identification (LCID) for transmission of a resource allocation request, the LCID to provide differentiation between an uplink request for the LTE eNB and the 5G eNB.

The apparatus of claim 17 or 18, wherein:

the eNB comprises the 5G eNB, and

the processing circuitry is further arranged to:

decode, after transmission of a PDCCH comprising a request for the UE to undertake a contention-free random access channel procedure with the 5G eNB and in response to reception of the scheduling request via an undedicated resource from the LTE eNB, a 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH) with a designated preamble signature, the xPDCCH comprising a reduced random access response (RAR) free from a tim ing advance and temporary Cell Radio Network Tempo an' Identifier (C-RNTI) and scrambled by the C-RNTI in a cyclic redundancy check (CRC); and

generate a 5G physical downlink control channel (xPDCCH) containing a 5G uplink grant for transmission on a selected beam.

The apparatus of claim 17 or 18, wherein:

the eNB comprises the 5G eNB, and

the processing circuitr ' is further arranged to:

generate, in response to reception of a 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH) via the dedicated 5G resource, an uplink grant to transmit a buffer status report (BSR) and a 5G beam measurement report, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of the selected beam acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BRS-RP) measurement of the selected beam;

decode the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report after transmission of the uplink grant; and generate a 5G physical downlink control channel (xPDCCH) containing a 5G uplmk grant for transmission on a selected beam.

23. The apparatus of claim 17 or 18, wherein:

the eNB comprises the 5G eNB, and

the processing circuitry is further arranged to:

generate, in response to reception of a 5G physical random, access channel (xPRACH) and a buffer status report (BSR) via the uplink dedicated 5G resource, a 5G physical downlink control channel (xPDCCH) containing a 5G uplink grant for transmission on a selected beam.

24. A computer-readable storage medium that stores instructions for execution by one or more processors of user equipment (UE), the one or more processors to configure the UE to:

obtain at least one of an uplink dedicated LTE resource for transmission of an uplink request to a Long Term Evolution (LTE) evolved NodeB (eNB) and an uplink dedicated fifth generation (5G) resource for transmission of an uplink request to a 5G eNB;

generate one of a scheduling request (SR) and a 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH) indicating the uplink data, to be transmitted to the 5G eNB, transmission of the one of the SR and the xPRACH on one of the uplink dedicated LTE resource and the uplink dedicated 5G resource and selected dependent on w hich of the LTE link and the 5G link the one of the SR and the xPRACH is transmitted; and

decode a 5G physical downlink control channel (xPDCCH) comprising a 5G uplink grant from the 5G eNB on a selected beam after transmission of the message, the 5G uplink grant comprising resources allocated for transmission of the uplink data.

25. The medium of claim 24, wherein the one or more processors further configure the UE to one of:

generate the SR for the LTE- eNB, and in response to transmission of the scheduling request, decode an uplink grant to transmit a buffer status report (BSR) and a 5G beam measurement report, the 5G beam measurement comprising at least one of an identity of the selected beam acquired from a beam reference signal (BRS) and a BRS received power (BRS-RP) measurement of the selected beam;

generate, in response to reception of the uplink grant, the BSR and the 5G beam measurement report using a Logical Channel Identification (LCID) for transmission of a resource allocation request for the 5G link, the LCID to provide differentiation between an uplink request for the LTE link and the 5G link; and

decode a PDCCH received from the LTE eNB, the PDCCH comprising a request for the UE to undertake a contention-free random access channel procedure with the 5G eNB, and generate a 5G physical random access channel (xPRACH) with a designated preamble signature via the 5G link, the xPDCCH comprising a reduced random access response (RAR) free from a timing advance and temporary Cell Radio Network Temporary Identifier (C-RNTI) and scrambled by the C-RNTI in a cyclic redundancy check (CRC).