WO2017172450A1 - Optimisations de protocole de convergence de données par paquets pour une agrégation lte-wlan - Google Patents

Optimisations de protocole de convergence de données par paquets pour une agrégation lte-wlan Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2017172450A1
WO2017172450A1 PCT/US2017/023654 US2017023654W WO2017172450A1 WO 2017172450 A1 WO2017172450 A1 WO 2017172450A1 US 2017023654 W US2017023654 W US 2017023654W WO 2017172450 A1 WO2017172450 A1 WO 2017172450A1
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WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
pdcp
enb
wlan
encryption
pdcp layer
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PCT/US2017/023654
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English (en)
Inventor
Alexander Sirotkin
Umesh PHUYAL
Nageen Himayat
Candy YIU
Jerome Parron
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Intel IP Corporation
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Publication of WO2017172450A1 publication Critical patent/WO2017172450A1/fr

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L5/00—Arrangements affording multiple use of the transmission path
    • H04L5/003—Arrangements for allocating sub-channels of the transmission path
    • H04L5/0053—Allocation of signaling, i.e. of overhead other than pilot signals
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W12/00—Security arrangements; Authentication; Protecting privacy or anonymity
    • H04W12/03—Protecting confidentiality, e.g. by encryption
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W36/00—Hand-off or reselection arrangements
    • H04W36/14—Reselecting a network or an air interface
    • H04W36/144—Reselecting a network or an air interface over a different radio air interface technology
    • H04W36/1446—Reselecting a network or an air interface over a different radio air interface technology wherein at least one of the networks is unlicensed
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W84/00—Network topologies
    • H04W84/02—Hierarchically pre-organised networks, e.g. paging networks, cellular networks, WLAN [Wireless Local Area Network] or WLL [Wireless Local Loop]
    • H04W84/10—Small scale networks; Flat hierarchical networks
    • H04W84/12—WLAN [Wireless Local Area Networks]
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W88/00—Devices specially adapted for wireless communication networks, e.g. terminals, base stations or access point devices
    • H04W88/02—Terminal devices
    • H04W88/06—Terminal devices adapted for operation in multiple networks or having at least two operational modes, e.g. multi-mode terminals

Definitions

  • LTE-WLAN aggregation LTE-WLAN aggregation
  • LWA LTE-WLAN aggregation
  • LTE Long Term Evolution
  • WLAN Wireless Local Arena Network, e.g. Wi-Fi, 802. l lx, etc.
  • LWA offers seamless usage of both cellular carriers' LTE networks, and the almost ubiquitous Wi-Fi networks, and can substantially increase overall performance.
  • Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram illustration of a wireless communication system, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments.
  • Fig. 2 is an example PDCP Data PDU format, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments.
  • Fig. 3 is an example Information Element, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments.
  • Fig. 4 is an example LWAAP header, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments.
  • Fig. 5 is a schematic block diagram illustration of a system, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments.
  • Fig. 6 is a schematic flow-chart illustration of a first aspect of a method of processing PDCP PDUs at a UE or basestation, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments.
  • Fig. 7 is a schematic flow-chart illustration of a second aspect of a method of processing PDCP PDUs at a UE or basestation, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments.
  • Fig. 8 is a schematic flow-chart illustration of a decision tree for deciding how to process PDCP PDUs at a UE or basestation, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments.
  • Fig. 9 is a schematic block diagram illustration of a system, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments.
  • calculating", “determining”, “establishing”, “analyzing”, “checking”, or the like may refer to operation(s) and/or process(es) of a computer, a computing platform, a computing system, or other electronic computing device, that manipulate and/or transform data represented as physical (e.g., electronic) quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer's registers and/or memories or other information storage medium that may store instructions to perform operations and/or processes.
  • plural and “a plurality”, as used herein, include, for example, “multiple” or “two or more”.
  • a plurality of items includes two or more items.
  • Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with various devices and systems, for example, a Personal Computer (PC), a desktop computer, a mobile computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, a Smartphone device, a server computer, a handheld computer, a handheld device, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) device, a handheld PDA device, an on-board device, an off-board device, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a sensor device, a wearable device, a hybrid device, a vehicular device, a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a consumer device, a non-mobile or non-portable device, a wireless communication station, a wireless communication device, a wireless Access Point (AP), a wired or wireless router, a wired or wireless modem, a video device, an audio device, an audio-video (A/V) device, a wired or wireless network, a wireless area network, a cellular network, a cellular node, a cellular
  • Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with devices and/or networks operating in accordance with existing 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and/or Long Term Evolution (LTE) specifications (including, but not limited to, 3GPP TS 36.300 ( "TS 36.300 Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Release 13 onwards”); and/or 3 GPP TS 36.323 (£757 TS 136 323 LTE; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) specification (3GPP TS 36.323 Release 13 onwards) and/or 3GPP TS 36.360 (“Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) - LTE-WLAN Aggregation Adaptation Protocol (LWAAP) specification” Release 13 onwards)) and/or future versions and/or derivatives thereof, devices and/or networks operating in accordance with existing Wireless-
  • Some embodiments may be used in conjunction with one or more types of wireless communication signals and/or systems, for example, Radio Frequency (RF), Frequency-Division Multiplexing (FDM), Orthogonal FDM (OFDM), Single Carrier Frequency Division Multiple Access (SC-FDMA), Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM), Time-Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Extended TDMA (E-TDMA), General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), extended GPRS, Code-Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Wideband CDMA (WCDMA), CDMA 2000, single- carrier CDMA, multi-carrier CDMA, Multi-Carrier Modulation (MDM), Discrete Multi-Tone (DMT), Bluetooth®, Global Positioning System (GPS), Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi), Wi-Max, ZigBeeTM, Ultra-Wideband (UWB), Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), second generation (2G), 2.5G, 3G, 3.5G, 4G, Fifth Generation (5G) mobile networks,
  • wireless device includes, for example, a device capable of wireless communication, a communication device capable of wireless communication, a communication station capable of wireless communication, a portable or non-portable device capable of wireless communication, or the like.
  • a wireless device may be or may include a peripheral that is integrated with a computer, or a peripheral that is attached to a computer.
  • the term "wireless device” may optionally include a wireless service.
  • a communication unit which is capable of communicating a communication signal, may include a transmitter to transmit the communication signal to at least one other communication unit, and/or a communication receiver to receive the communication signal from at least one other communication unit.
  • the verb communicating may be used to refer to the action of transmitting or the action of receiving.
  • the phrase “communicating a signal” may refer to the action of transmitting the signal by a first device, and may not necessarily include the action of receiving the signal by a second device.
  • the phrase “communicating a signal” may refer to the action of receiving the signal by a first device, and may not necessarily include the action of transmitting the signal by a second device.
  • circuitry may refer to, be part of, or include, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an integrated circuit, an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group), that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality.
  • ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit
  • the circuitry may be implemented in, or functions associated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or more software or firmware modules.
  • circuitry may include logic, at least partially operable in hardware.
  • antenna may include any suitable configuration, structure and/or arrangement of one or more antenna elements, components, units, assemblies and/or arrays.
  • the antenna may implement transmit and receive functionalities using separate transmit and receive antenna elements.
  • the antenna may implement transmit and receive functionalities using common and/or integrated transmit/receive elements.
  • the antenna may include, for example, a phased array antenna, a single element antenna, a dipole antenna, a set of switched beam antennas, and/or the like.
  • the term "cell”, as used herein, may include a combination of network resources, for example, downlink and optionally uplink resources.
  • the resources may be controlled and/or allocated, for example, by a node (which may also be referred to as a "base station”, “e B", “g B” (where a g B is merely a name for a more up to date eNB - i.e. one from a later 3GPP Release than Release 13 or below, and may also reference the similar entity used in 5G implementations), and the like), or the like), or the like).
  • the linking between a carrier frequency of the downlink resources and a carrier frequency of the uplink resources may be indicated in system information transmitted on the downlink resources.
  • UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
  • GSM Global System for Mobile communications
  • 3G cellular network a 4G cellular network
  • 4G cellular network a 4.5G network
  • 5G cellular network a WiMAX cellular network, and the like.
  • WiMAX WiMAX
  • Some demonstrative embodiments are described herein with respect to a WLAN system portion, a WiFi system, and/or a WiGig system. However, other embodiments may be implemented with non-cellular portions according to any other suitable non-cellular network technologies.
  • WLAN Access Point AP
  • other embodiments may be implemented in any other WLAN entity, such as a WLAN Termination (WT) node.
  • the WT node may be formed as part of another entity, for example the AP, or as a standalone entity, connectable to the AP over a suitable interface (this interface has not been defined at this stage, and is down to implementation choices made by the various equipment vendors, or the like).
  • the WT node provides the connectivity between the cellular portion (eNB) and the WLAN portion (AP).
  • HetNet Heterogeneous Network
  • the HetNet may utilize a deployment of a mix of technologies, frequencies, cell sizes and/or network architectures, e.g., including cellular, millimeter wave ("mmWave” or "mmW"), and/or the like.
  • the HetNet may include a radio access network having layers of different-sized cells ranging from large macrocells to small cells, for example, picocells and femtocells.
  • Other embodiments may be used in conjunction with any other suitable wireless communication network.
  • FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a block diagram of a system 100, in accordance with some demonstrative embodiments.
  • system 100 may include one or more wireless communication devices, e.g. User Equipment 160, capable of communicating content, data, information and/or signals with one or more base station(s) 140 and/or access point(s) 150, via one or more wireless connections (e.g. over LWA connection 155, or LTE connections 165a (direct) or 165b (indirect, via another eNB)).
  • system 100 may include at least one User Equipment (UE) 160 capable of communicating with one or more wireless communication networks, e.g., as described below.
  • the wireless communications network(s) may comprise one or more cellular base stations 140 (e.g. eNBs, gNBs, etc) and/or one or more WLAN APs 150.
  • the base stations 140 may be connected to the APs via a suitable interface, e.g. the "Xw" interface 145, typically via a WT node 152 (which may be co-located with, or formed as part of, the AP 150, as shown, or may be separate, not shown). Put another way, the WT 152 may be integrated into the WLAN AP 150 (or any other suitable WLAN entity), but may also be a "standalone WT", which is connected to AP or AC via a network interface.
  • the base stations 140 may be connected to each other via a suitable interface, e.g. the X2 interface 147.
  • the LTE connection(s) may be formed of a direct wireless connection from the UE 60 to the (main i.e.
  • the LTE connection(s) may be formed of an indirect wireless connection to the main/anchor base station, i.e. operating through an intermediate base station (e.g. secondary /booster eNB - see LTE connection 165b.
  • the LWA connection(s) 155 are generally indirect, as they operate through an Access Point, but some examples may co-locate the eNB and Access Point functionality into a single entity (e.g. have both LTE and WLAN access technology).
  • the interface links, e.g. X2, Xw, and any other interface link(s) in use in the cellular network, core network, or even the WLAN portions may be assumed secure, for example by physical security, or encryption at any layer in use.
  • Wireless connections may include, for example, a radio channel, a cellular channel, an RF channel, a WiFi channel, and the like.
  • One or more elements of system 100 may optionally be capable of communicating over any suitable wired communication links.
  • UE 160 may include, for example, a Mobile Device (MD), a Station (STA), a mobile computer, a laptop computer, a notebook computer, a tablet computer, an UltrabookTM computer, an Internet of Things (IoT) device, a wearable device, a sensor device, a mobile internet device, a handheld computer, a handheld device, a storage device, a PDA device, a handheld PDA device, an on-board device, an off-board device, a hybrid device (e.g., combining cellular phone functionalities with PDA device functionalities), a consumer device, a vehicular device, a non-vehicular device, a mobile or portable device, a mobile phone, a cellular telephone, a PCS device, a mobile or portable GPS device, a DVB device, a relatively small computing device, a non-desktop computer, a "Carry Small Live Large” (CSLL) device, an Ultra Mobile Device (UMD), an Ultra Mobile PC (UMPC),
  • MD Mobile Device
  • UE 160, and/or WT node 150 may include one or more communication interfaces (i.e. interface links) to perform communication between UE 160, WT node 106 and/or with one or more other wireless communication devices, e.g., as described below.
  • one or more communication interfaces i.e. interface links
  • an interface "Xw” 145 (which may also be referred to as “the access device interface”, “the horizontal interface”, or “the cellularAVLAN interface”) may include circuitry and/or logic configured to interface, e.g., directly or indirectly, between a cellular network element, e.g., eNB 140, and a WLAN element, e.g., WT 152, and/or AP 150.
  • a cellular network element e.g., eNB 140
  • a WLAN element e.g., WT 152
  • interface Xw 145 may be implemented to interface between an eNB 140 and a WT node 152.
  • the cellularAVLAN interface 145 may be implemented to directly interface between any other cellular device and any other WLAN device.
  • the cellularAVLAN interface 145 may be implemented to directly interface between an eNB 140 and a WLAN AP 150.
  • Xw interface 145 may be utilized to enhance and/or increase the efficiency of interworking, integration and/or management of the cellular and WLAN radio access technologies.
  • interface Xw 145 may be configured to perform and/or support one or more aggregation operations and/or functionalities, for example, to transfer traffic, e.g., in addition to transferring control plane information.
  • interface Xw 145 may be utilized to improve efficiency of resource management, to provide efficient load balancing, and/or to improve mobility between Radio Access Technology (RAT) networks.
  • RAT Radio Access Technology
  • the wireless communications system 100 includes Serving Gateway (S-GW) 130 operably coupled to the eNB(s) 140 by an SI interface 135 operating according to an SI protocol.
  • the S-GW 130 may be operably coupled to a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway (P-GW) 120, which in turn is operably coupled to the wider Core Network (CN) 110, all in the usual way (the present disclosure is focused on the interface between a UE 160 and an eNB 140 and/or AP 150 (via a WT node 152), operating in the wireless communications network system 100).
  • PDN Packet Data Network
  • P-GW Packet Data Network Gateway
  • Some of the objectives for the enhancements were: Potential enhancements to support 60 GHz new bands and channels (e.g. in measurements) and increased data rates for the 802.1 lax, 802. Had, and 802. Hay protocols used, for example, by way of Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) optimizations, as defined in, for example, the RAN2, RAN3 Radio Access Network groups, respectively.
  • PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol
  • the Rel-13 LWA framework may be transparent to the 802.11 technologies used. However, extremely high (e.g. 802.1 lay operating at 20Gbps) data rates supported by the newer 802.11 technologies (e.g. 802.1 lax and 802.1 lad) may require prohibitively high user equipment (UE) processing power.
  • UE user equipment
  • the network operators want to protect (i.e. by encrypting) the whole path for the PDUs being sent between the eNB 140 and the UE 160 (i.e. sent to and received from the UE 160, or eNB 140. respectively).
  • all the PDCP PDUs are encrypted at the PDCP Layer level, in order to provide end-to-end fashion protection for the PDCP PDUs.
  • the PDCP PDU packets originate from the eNB 140 then they are sent over the network interface Xw 145 to the WT 152, and then from the WT 152 to AP 150 (either using internal or external interface) and then the Access Point 150 sends the packets over the 802.11 air interface to the UE 160 (and the "return path", i.e. from UE 160 to eNB 140 operates in the appropriate opposite directional fashion).
  • example embodiments define PDCP optimizations that use lower UE processing power to support LWA with high WLAN data rates, whilst still maintaining the expected level of security for the data packets involved.
  • Such enhancements are beneficial in the UE, where processing power is at a premium due to battery related power restrictions, and may be especially beneficial if the LWA is implemented in the UE using discrete LTE and WLAN chipsets since discrete component power consumption may be higher than that of an equivalent integrated component.
  • Example embodiments of the disclosure allow unencrypted PDCP Protocol Data Unit (PDU) transfer via WLAN for LWA.
  • PDU Packet Data Unit
  • the WLAN air interface is already encrypted in LWA, for example either using the encryption keys defined in the new procedure defined by SA3 in Rel-13 (which is, effectively, a modified version of WPA, in which the respective encryption keys are provided from the LTE/cellular network (hence operator) side, rather than another entity), or the legacy encryption protocol, for example Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP), Authentication and Key Agreement (AKA), Wi-Fi Protected Access (WPA), etc.
  • EAP Extensible Authentication Protocol
  • AKA Authentication and Key Agreement
  • WPA Wi-Fi Protected Access
  • the Xw network interface (for example, between the eNB and the Access Point) may be assumed to be protected and secure (it is common to use IPsec on all network interfaces, including X2 and Xw). Therefore, the PDCP communications link between the evolved nodeB (eNB or eNodeB) and the UE, which in an LWA configuration goes via the WLAN AP is always end-to-end encrypted, because it is formed of the concatenation of encrypted Xw link and encrypted 802.11 interface link. This concatenation together (in serial fashion) of two point to point encryption schemes maintains continuity of encryption of the PDCP data links. In this configuration, the additional encryption of the payload (i.e. PDCP data packets) does not necessarily add any security benefits.
  • the redundant further encryption can be avoided, which in turn avoids the associated further processing, and power requirements of those redundant further encryption process(es).
  • PDCP level encryption for the PDCP Protocol Data Units (PDUs) sent on the WLAN can be disabled (i.e. switched off, or at least indicated to be switched off) in various ways, including but not limited to: 1. In-band signaling (e.g., by defining a new PDCP PDU type). This option operates in the user-plane;
  • the eNB can broadcast if PDCP sent on WLAN is encrypted in system information block. This option operates in the control-plane; and/or
  • LWAAP LWA Adaptation Protocol
  • Example embodiments provide PDCP and Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling for disabling PDCP security (i.e. herein termed PDCP Layer level encryption, which is typically provided on all communications links between the UE and serving eNB, either directly via the LTE communications links, or via a WLAN (and hence the Access Point, AP, thereof) when LWA is in use.
  • RRC Radio Resource Control
  • PDCP Layer level encryption typically provided on all communications links between the UE and serving eNB, either directly via the LTE communications links, or via a WLAN (and hence the Access Point, AP, thereof) when LWA is in use.
  • PDCP Layer level encryption which is typically provided on all communications links between the UE and serving eNB, either directly via the LTE communications links, or via a WLAN (and hence the Access Point, AP, thereof) when LWA is in use.
  • the present disclosure relates to any UE to eNB communications, however the eNB is actually implemented (using direct links, via Radio Resource Heads (RRHs
  • LWA traffic sent on WLAN is encrypted twice.
  • example embodiments of the present disclosure propose to eliminate this redundant further encryption at the PDCP Layer, in order to reduce the UE processing time and power consumption. This may result in significant improvement in UE battery life in some implementations, and/or lower complexity in the UE which in turn provides power and/or cost savings.
  • the receiver e.g., the UE in downlink (DL) and the eNB in uplink (UL)
  • the receiver is made aware of whether this PDCP Layer level encryption is used or not (and optionally the encryption parameters used), so they may be able to correctly receive the respective data being carried in the PDCP PDUs involved.
  • Various options to support this functionality are exemplified below. Note that, although many examples are given assuming downlink communication where the eNB is a sender and the UE is a receiver, the solutions are applicable in the reverse situation as well, i.e. in uplink communication where the UE is the sender and the eNB is the receiver.
  • PDCP layer level encryption of PDUs it is meant to cover any encryption carried out in the PDCP layer, as opposed to encryption carried out in other layers.
  • the examples provide an advantage by using the other layers' encryption, so that the (further) PDCP level encryption is not required. This is to say that the examples still have encryption, it is just not solely (or additionally) provided at the PDCP layer level, as will become readily apparent to the skilled person on review of the present disclosure in its entirety. This provides the advantage of avoiding use of any resources (e.g. processing resources at the UE or eNB) on an encryption action that would otherwise occur, but does not in fact provide any security benefit.
  • resources e.g. processing resources at the UE or eNB
  • the sender uses a new PDCP PDU type with a one bit information element (IE) used to indicate whether the PDCP PDU is encrypted or not. That is, when the sender chooses not to use PDCP encryption it sends the respective PDCP PDU(s) "in the clear” and sets the “encrypted” bit to 0, otherwise it sends the respective PDCP PDU(s) encrypted as per the Rel-13 PDCP encryption provisions and sets the "encrypted” bit to 1.
  • IE information element
  • any one of the reserved bits available can be used to indicate whether the PDU is encrypted, or a new PDU type (i.e. Sequence Number, SN) can even be defined.
  • the former option is illustrated in Figure 2 for an 18 bit SN case 200. However, this option is not limited to the 18 bit SN case 200 shown, but is equally applicable to any other SN sizes as well.
  • there are many different types of PDUs with different SN sizes i.e. many different PDU types
  • examples of the present disclosure may use amended versions of any existing SNs, or create new SN versions, in order to provide data space to carry the indication of PDCP Layer level encryption being in use or not, on any basis (e.g.
  • some existing SNs have reserved bit(s) that may be re-purposed for the present disclosure. However, some do not, and as such, they may be the primary candidates for newly created versions of the respective SN to enable the present disclosure. This is to say, in cases where reserved bits are not available for this indication, a new PDU type (or types) can be defined to accommodate the PDCP Layer level encryption indication bit.
  • DRBs Data Radio Bearers
  • the disclosed PDCP PDU encryption indication bit may then be set to 1 when PDCP PDU is encrypted, and set to 0 when PDCP PDU is not encrypted. Note, that where the PDCP PDU is not encrypted, the respective communications are still encrypted, but by way of relying on the underlying encryption of the respective WLAN air interface (concatenated together with the inherent IPSec based LTE core network and air interface encryption schemes, e.g. on the Xw interface) rather than by an end-to-end PDCP layer level encryption scheme, as per the prior implementations.
  • This option is a user-plane implementation, and effectively involves using a previously reserved bit (i.e. a bit not yet assigned to any specific function in the standard) in a user-plane header, to now indicate the use of PDCP Layer level encryption or not. This may be done in any user plane header throughout the stack (see option 5 below).
  • the user-plane options (see option 5) allow the UE to determined PDCP Layer level encryption (instead of/as well as the eNB), whereas the Control-plane options (e.g. option 2) do not allow the UE to decide on the use of PDCP Layer level encryption or not (this eNB-centric decision methodology is the more typical in LTE networks to date).
  • This option operates in the control-plane, and may typically be a unicast message from the eNB to the (specified) UEs involved, telling them what to expect and how to operate.
  • This option may be allocated on a per UE basis, as the unicast signaling used is UE target specific. (For some example implementations the Broadcast RRC signaling may be used instead, details of which are discussed below for option 4).
  • this unicast example is an e B decision driven implementation, i.e. the eNB decides to disable PDCP Layer level encryption or not, and is using the RRC signaling to inform the UE what to expect on this PDCP Layer level encryption issue, and how to reply in accordance with the eNB decision.
  • the eNB when the LWA bearer (i.e. that which is carried, as a whole, by the combination of the LTE air interface portion and the WLAN air interface portion) is configured by the eNB, the eNB indicates (for example using RRC signaling) whether the WLAN part of the LWA bearer is PDCP encrypted or not. If it is not, PDCP PDUs are sent on the WLAN part of this bearer unencrypted at the PDCP layer level, but obviously not unencrypted at all, since the WLAN air interface is already encrypted.
  • a PDCP-Config RRC IE 300 can be modified as shown in Figure 3.
  • the IE PDCP-Config 300 is used to set the configurable PDCP parameters for data radio bearers.
  • the original content 310 has had a new PDCP encryption IE portion 320 appended at the end, which indicates to the UE/eNB whether PDCP layer level encryption is to be used or not.
  • the code semantics states that the UE is to apply the usual encryption parameters (i.e. it continues to encrypt at the PDCP Layer level) unless there is a positive indication to not do so. This ensures backwards compatibility with the previous releases.
  • IEs may be nested, that is, one IE may be nested into/within another.
  • the PDCP encryption IE portion 320 is nested into the greater PDCP-Config RRC IE 300.
  • Alternative implementations e.g. PDCP Layer level encryption is assumed off unless told otherwise may be used instead.
  • Option 3 PDCP encryption is never used for PDUs transmitted over WLAN portion in LWA
  • PDCP layer level encryption does not necessarily add value (e.g. further useful security) for the PDUs transmitted over the WLAN portion of the overall communication(s) link provided in LWA implementations, or even the LTE portion (i.e. Xw interface) due to their inherent existing encryption bring in place (noting here that no LWA implementation would be made on/over non-encrypted WLAN portions). Therefore, in this option, it can be simply defined (e.g. hard coded) in the respective standard specifications (e.g., in Release 14, or higher, of the 3GPP Technical Specification (TS) 36.323) that such PDCP Layer level encryption is not used for PDCP PDUs transmitted over WLAN. This may usefully further include signaling to indicate which Release is in use between respective UEs and eNBs, so that the correct hard coded standard is applied.
  • TS 3GPP Technical Specification
  • PDCP encryption is specifically hard coded to be on.
  • PDCP encryption also known as 'ciphering' in the standard
  • PDUs sent over WLAN link when LWA is configured. Then the only issue is to ensure all entities acting on the network (or relevant portion thereof) knows what Release version is being used.
  • the eNB can broadcast an indication on whether PDCP data PDUs sent on the WLAN portion are encrypted or not in a system information block (SIB).
  • SIB system information block
  • This option may be considered similar to option 2 described above, however it uses broadcast signaling as opposed to the dedicated (i.e. specific recipient)/unicast signaling of option 2. This may then be applied to all UEs in the same cell (whereas the dedicated signaling of option 2 may assign this PDCP Layer level encryption parameter on a per UE basis).
  • this broadcast example is also an eNB decision driven implementation.
  • the coding of a broadcast SIB information element would be similar to that shown in Figure 3, as explained with reference to option 2 above.
  • the SIB may be sent on per cell basis, because, in some example embodiments, the eNB can control multiple cells in the LTE network. This is to say, every cell in the LTE network according to example embodiments may have its own SIB, into which the PDCP Layer level encryption indication may be inserted/used.
  • the UE reads the respective system information block received from the eNB, it can determine whether PDCP encryption is used or not. For backward compatibility, if this indication is not present in the SIB broadcast(s) of a given eNB, then legacy behavior can be assumed (i.e., that PDCP layer level encryption is used for PDUs sent over the WLAN portion of the LWA bearer also).
  • this indication within the SIB can be one bit.
  • the example embodiments of this option of the present disclosure are not limited to any specific format (e.g. location of, size of, values used, etc) for the proposed SIB indication bit, and in fact the SIB indication bit may take any appropriate form.
  • This option may include using a single bit in the in-band signaling to indicate to the receiver that the PDU in question is PDCP encrypted or not, wherein the one bit is located in the LWAAP header. Any one of the spare bits of the LWAAP header may be designated for this purpose or a new LWAAP header can even be defined. In the latter case, all UEs supporting LWA according to this option of the present disclosure, which is currently envisaged could be any UE defined in Rel-14 of the LTE/5G standards, should use the new LWAAP format in order to enable this functionality.
  • FIG 4 shows an example of a LWAAP header and associated data.
  • the two remaining reserved bits 410 the newly proposed LWAAP header bit that indicates whether PDCP layer level encryption is used or not, which is shown in Figure 4 as the E-bit (Encryption Indication bit) 420, located before the Dedicated Radio Bearer ID (DRBID) 430.
  • the rest of the payload is the data to be sent.
  • LWAAP is a user-plane protocol, and as such, is conceptually similar to the first option, i.e. both this option, and the first, use a predetermined reserved bit in the user-plane to now indicate the use of PDCP Layer level encryption (or not) for a given frame/packet (or other data portion size) to which the respective header applies.
  • the data may be formed into data packets/frames having protocol stack "in the air" comprising a "normal" WLAN (i.e. 802.11) protocol stack, on top of which is an LWAAP protocol header, further on top of which is a PDCP protocol header.
  • headers may be used to provide the space for the proposed PDCP Layer level encryption indication bit, but option 1 calls out use in the PDCP header, and option 5 calls out the use of the LWAAP header in particular.
  • Other headers may be used in alternative example embodiments.
  • the term “encrypted”, “encryption”, etc. may instead be replaced by or interchanged with the term “ciphered”, “ciphering”, etc.
  • the term “un-ciphered”, etc. may be replaced by or interchanged with the terms “not encrypted”, “un-encrypted”, etc. and the like.
  • LTE Standards it is not uncommon for the LTE Standards to use the term “cipher”
  • WLAN (802.11xx) standard use the term encrypted for the same sort of thing, and clearly the present disclosure relates to now use of both together in future heterogeneous wireless communication network, hence the need to show they are in fact interchangeable terms. They are, in effect, synonyms, or synonymous actions in the context of the present disclosure.
  • option 4 or option 3 may be "from the beginning" (i.e. on setup, at least of a given UE with a serving eNB) e.g. for option 3, it may depend on the UE capability (i.e.
  • a UE will look for the broadcast information from the eNB to which it is about to attach to determine the parameters of the communications to be used.
  • Option 2 allows the eNB to decide whenever it would like to, where the decision will apply until such time as the eNB decides to change the parameters again.
  • circuitry may refer to, be part of, or include an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), an electronic circuit, a processor (shared, dedicated, or group), and/or memory (shared, dedicated, or group) that execute one or more software or firmware programs, a combinational logic circuit, and/or other suitable hardware components that provide the described functionality.
  • ASIC Application Specific Integrated Circuit
  • the circuitry may be implemented in, or functions associated with the circuitry may be implemented by, one or more software or firmware modules.
  • circuitry may include logic, at least partially operable in hardware.
  • Embodiments described herein may be implemented into a system using any suitably configured hardware and/or software, and is implementable wherever the PDCP Layer processing is carried out in an overall UE or eNB (or gNB) system.
  • Figure 5 shows, for one embodiment, example components of an electronic device 500.
  • the electronic device 500 may be, implement, be incorporated into, or otherwise be a part of a user equipment (UE), an evolved NodeB (eNB), Access Point (AP), or another network component.
  • the electronic device 500 may include application circuitry 510, baseband circuitry 520, Radio Frequency (RF) circuitry 530, front-end module (FEM) circuitry 540 and one or more antennas 550, coupled together at least as shown.
  • RF Radio Frequency
  • FEM front-end module
  • the application circuitry 510 may include one or more application processors.
  • the application circuitry 510 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors.
  • the processor(s) 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.
  • the baseband circuitry 520 may include circuitry such as, but not limited to, one or more single-core or multi-core processors.
  • the baseband circuitry 520 may include one or more baseband processors and/or control logic to process baseband signals received from a receive signal path of the RF circuitry 530 and to generate baseband signals for a transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 530.
  • Baseband processing circuitry 520 may interface with the application circuitry 510 for generation and processing of the baseband signals and for controlling operations of the RF circuitry 530.
  • the baseband circuitry 520 may include a second generation (2G) baseband processor 521, third generation (3G) baseband processor 522, fourth generation (4G) baseband processor 523, and/or other baseband processor(s) 524 for other existing generations, generations in development or to be developed in the future (e.g., fifth generation (5G), 6G, etc.).
  • the baseband circuitry 520 e.g., one or more of baseband processors 521-524) may handle various radio control functions that enable communication with one or more radio networks via the RF circuitry 530.
  • the radio control functions may include, but are not limited to, signal modulation/demodulation, encoding/decoding, radio frequency shifting, etc.
  • modulation/demodulation circuitry of the baseband circuitry 520 may include Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT), precoding, and/or constellation mapping/demapping functionality.
  • encoding/decoding circuitry of the baseband circuitry 520 may include convolution, tail-biting convolution, turbo, Viterbi, and/or Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder/decoder functionality.
  • LDPC Low Density Parity Check
  • the baseband circuitry 520 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.
  • EUTRAN evolved universal terrestrial radio access network
  • a central processing unit (CPU) 525 of the baseband circuitry 520 may be configured to run elements of the protocol stack for signaling of the PHY, MAC, RLC, PDCP and/or RRC Layers.
  • the baseband circuitry may include one or more audio digital signal processor(s) (DSP) 526.
  • the audio DSP(s) 526 may be include elements for compression/decompression and echo cancellation and may include other suitable processing elements in other embodiments.
  • the baseband circuitry 520 may further include memory/storage 527.
  • the memory/storage 527 may be used to load and store data and/or instructions for operations performed by the processors of the baseband circuitry 520.
  • Memory/storage for one embodiment may include any combination of suitable volatile memory and/or non-volatile memory.
  • the memory/storage 527 may include any combination of various levels of memory/storage including, but not limited to, read-only memory (ROM) having embedded software instructions (e.g., firmware), random access memory (e.g., dynamic random access memory (DRAM)), cache, buffers, etc.
  • ROM read-only memory
  • DRAM dynamic random access memory
  • the memory/storage 527 may be shared among the various processors or dedicated to particular processors.
  • 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.
  • some or all of the constituent components of the baseband circuitry 520 and the application circuitry 510 may be implemented together such as, for example, on a system on a chip (SOC).
  • SOC system on a chip
  • the baseband circuitry 520 may provide for communication compatible with one or more radio technologies.
  • the baseband circuitry 520 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).
  • EUTRAN evolved universal terrestrial radio access network
  • WMAN wireless metropolitan area networks
  • WLAN wireless local area network
  • WPAN wireless personal area network
  • multi-mode baseband circuitry Embodiments in which the baseband circuitry 520 is configured to support radio communications of more than one wireless protocol.
  • RF circuitry 530 may enable communication with wireless networks using modulated electromagnetic radiation through a non-solid medium.
  • the RF circuitry 530 may include switches, filters, amplifiers, etc. to facilitate the communication with the wireless network.
  • RF circuitry 530 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 540 and provide baseband signals to the baseband circuitry 520.
  • RF circuitry 530 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry to up-convert baseband signals provided by the baseband circuitry 520 and provide RF output signals to the FEM circuitry 540 for transmission.
  • the RF circuitry 530 may include a receive signal path and a transmit signal path.
  • the receive signal path of the RF circuitry 530 may include mixer circuitry 531, amplifier circuitry 532 and filter circuitry 533.
  • the transmit signal path of the RF circuitry 530 may include filter circuitry 533 and mixer circuitry 531.
  • RF circuitry 530 may also include synthesizer circuitry 534 for synthesizing a frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 531 of the receive signal path and the transmit signal path.
  • the mixer circuitry 531 of the receive signal path may be configured to down-convert RF signals received from the FEM circuitry 540 based on the synthesized frequency provided by synthesizer circuitry 534.
  • the amplifier circuitry 532 may be configured to amplify the down-converted signals and the filter circuitry 533 may be a low-pass filter (LPF) 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 520 for further processing.
  • the output baseband signals may be zero-frequency baseband signals, although this is not a requirement.
  • mixer circuitry 531 of the receive signal path may comprise passive mixers, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.
  • the mixer circuitry 531 of the transmit signal path may be configured to up-convert input baseband signals based on the synthesized frequency provided by the synthesizer circuitry 532 to generate RF output signals for the FEM circuitry 540.
  • the baseband signals may be provided by the baseband circuitry 520 and may be filtered by filter circuitry 533.
  • the filter circuitry 533 may include a low-pass filter (LPF), although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect.
  • LPF low-pass filter
  • the mixer circuitry 531 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 531 of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for quadrature downconversion and/or upconversion respectively.
  • the mixer circuitry 531 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 531 of the transmit signal path may include two or more mixers and may be arranged for image rejection (e.g., Hartley image rejection).
  • the mixer circuitry 531 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 531 may be arranged for direct downconversion and/or direct upconversion, respectively.
  • the mixer circuitry 531 of the receive signal path and the mixer circuitry 531 of the transmit signal path may be configured for super-heterodyne operation.
  • 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.
  • the output baseband signals and the input baseband signals may be digital baseband signals.
  • the RF circuitry 530 may include analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and digital-to-analog converter (DAC) circuitry and the baseband circuitry 520 may include a digital baseband interface to communicate with the RF circuitry 530.
  • ADC analog-to-digital converter
  • DAC digital-to-analog converter
  • 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.
  • the synthesizer circuitry 534 may be a fractional-N synthesizer or a fractional N/N+l synthesizer, although the scope of the embodiments is not limited in this respect as other types of frequency synthesizers may be suitable.
  • synthesizer circuitry 534 may be a delta-sigma synthesizer, a frequency multiplier, or a synthesizer comprising a phase-locked loop with a frequency divider.
  • the synthesizer circuitry 534 may be configured to synthesize an output frequency for use by the mixer circuitry 531 of the RF circuitry 530 based on a frequency input and a divider control input. In some embodiments, the synthesizer circuitry 534 may be a fractional N/N+l synthesizer.
  • frequency input may be provided by a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO), although that is not a requirement.
  • VCO voltage controlled oscillator
  • Divider control input may be provided by either the baseband circuitry 520 or the applications processor 510 depending on the desired output frequency.
  • a divider control input (e.g., N) may be determined from a look-up table based on a channel indicated by the applications processor 510.
  • Synthesizer circuitry 534 of the RF circuitry 530 may include a divider, a delay-locked loop (DLL), a multiplexer and a phase accumulator.
  • the divider may be a dual modulus divider (DMD) and the phase accumulator may be a digital phase accumulator (DP A).
  • the DMD may be configured to divide the input signal by either N or N+l (e.g., based on a carry out) to provide a fractional division ratio.
  • the DLL may include a set of cascaded, tunable, delay elements, a phase detector, a charge pump and a D-type flip-flop.
  • 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.
  • Nd is the number of delay elements in the delay line.
  • synthesizer circuitry 534 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 other.
  • the output frequency may be a LO frequency (fLO).
  • the RF circuitry 530 may include an IQ/polar converter.
  • FEM circuitry 540 may include a receive signal path which may include circuitry configured to operate on RF signals received from one or more antennas 550, amplify the received signals and provide the amplified versions of the received signals to the RF circuitry 530 for further processing.
  • FEM circuitry 540 may also include a transmit signal path which may include circuitry configured to amplify signals for transmission provided by the RF circuitry 530 for transmission by one or more of the one or more antennas 550.
  • the FEM circuitry 540 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 530).
  • the transmit signal path of the FEM circuitry 540 may include a power amplifier (PA) to amplify input RF signals (e.g., provided by RF circuitry 530), and one or more filters to generate RF signals for subsequent transmission (e.g., by one or more of the one or more antennas 550).
  • PA power amplifier
  • network interface controller (NIC) circuitry 560 may include one or more transmission and reception (TX/RX) signal paths, which may connect to one or more data packet networks via network interface circuitry 565.
  • TX/RX transmission and reception
  • NIC circuitry 560 may connect to the data packet networks via multiple network interface circuitries 565.
  • the NIC circuitry 560 may support one or more data link Layer standards, such as Ethernet, Fiber, Token Ring, asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), and/or any other suitable data link Layer standard(s).
  • TX/RX transmission and reception
  • ATM asynchronous transfer mode
  • each network element that the electronic device 500 may connect to may contain a same or similar network interface circuitry 565.
  • the NIC circuitry 560 may include, or may be associated with processing circuitry, such as one or more single-core or multi-core processors and/or logic circuits, to provide processing techniques suitable to carry out communications according to the one or more data link Layer standards used by the NIC circuitry.
  • the electronic device 500 may include additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, and/or input/output (I/O) interface.
  • additional elements such as, for example, memory/storage, display, camera, sensor, and/or input/output (I/O) interface.
  • the electronic device of Figure 5 may be configured to perform one or more processes, techniques, and/or methods as described herein, or portions thereof.
  • a first example method of such a process is depicted in Figure 6, which shows an example method that could operate in a UE (or in an eNB, or any other entity in the network that is to act on the issue of whether to use PDCP Layer level encryption or not, in accordance with directions from the entity in the network making this decision).
  • the method 600 comprises receiving 610 an indication (by any means described in detail above) that PDCP Layer level encryption is not to be used, and then acting in accordance with that indication, by henceforth sending or receiving 620 further PDCP PDUs without using PDCP Layer level encryption.
  • FIG. 7 is an example method 700 that may be used in an eNB (or in a UE, if the UE is the entity in the network deciding whether to use PDCP Layer level encryption).
  • This method 700 comprises sending 710 an indication (by any means described in detail above) that PDCP Layer level encryption is not to be used, and then acting in accordance with that indication, by henceforth sending or receiving 720 further PDCP PDUs (at least to the notified other entities in the network, but it could be all entities regardless of (successful) notification to them or not) without using PDCP Layer level encryption.
  • Figure 8 shows an example decision tree 800 of how an entity decides which methodology to use to provide the discussed indication that PDCP Layer level encryption is not to be used.
  • the indication can be sent by in-band signaling 810, out-of-band signaling 820 or broadcast 830 (which may be considered as a sub set of out-band signaling, but kept speared here).
  • in-band signaling 810 the choice may be by way of PDCP layer signaling 812 or LWAAP signaling 814.
  • Other in-band signaling methods may be used, but are not included in this figure for clarity.
  • For out-of-band signaling 820 this may be by way of RRC layer signaling 822.
  • Other out-of-band signaling methods may be used, but are not included in this figure for clarity.
  • broadcast signaling 830 this may be by way of SIB broadcast signaling 832. Other broadcast signaling methods may be used, but are not included in this figure for clarity.
  • implementation of the present disclosure in the relevant Standards may simply be by way of selecting one (or more) options as the standardized operation in this respect.
  • the device simply operates according to the option(s) standardized upon - for example, all devices according the standard may be configured simply to operate according to any one or more of: option 812, 814, 822 or 832.
  • Figure 9 is a block diagram illustrating components, according to some example embodiments, able to read instructions from a machine-readable or computer-readable medium (e.g., a machine-readable storage medium) and perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.
  • Figure 9 shows a diagrammatic representation of hardware resources 900 including one or more processors (or processor cores) 910, one or more memory/storage devices 920, and one or more communication resources 930, each of which are communicatively coupled via a bus 940.
  • the processors 910 may include, for example, a processor 912 and a processor 914.
  • the memory/storage devices 920 may include main memory, disk storage, or any suitable combination thereof.
  • the communication resources 930 may include interconnection and/or network interface components or other suitable devices to communicate with one or more peripheral devices 904 and/or one or more databases 906 via a network 908.
  • the communication resources 930 may include wired communication components (e.g., for coupling via a Universal Serial Bus (USB)), cellular communication components, Near Field Communication (NFC) components, Bluetooth® components (e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy), Wi-Fi® components, and other communication components.
  • wired communication components e.g., for coupling via a Universal Serial Bus (USB)
  • cellular communication components e.g., for coupling via a Universal Serial Bus (USB)
  • NFC Near Field Communication
  • Bluetooth® components e.g., Bluetooth® Low Energy
  • Wi-Fi® components e.g., Wi-Fi® components
  • Instructions 950 may comprise software, a program, an application, an applet, an app, or other executable code for causing at least any of the processors 910 to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.
  • the instructions 950 may reside, completely or partially, within at least one of the processors 910 (e.g., within the processor's cache memory), the memory/storage devices 920, or any suitable combination thereof.
  • any portion of the instructions 950 may be transferred to the hardware resources 900 from any combination of the peripheral devices 904 and/or the databases 906. Accordingly, the memory of processors 910, the memory/storage devices 920, the peripheral devices 904, and the databases 906 are examples of computer-readable and machine-readable media.
  • the disclosed methods (of disabling PDCP layer level encryption) is down in a fashion that is transparent to the Access Points (meaning that the Access Point may not know whether traffic is encrypted at the PDCP layer or not - for example, it may just routes packets according to their routing information).
  • Example 1 may include User Equipment (UE) comprising: a cellular transceiver to communicate via a cellular link, a WLAN transceiver to communicate via a WLAN link and a LTE-WLAN aggregation module.
  • UE User Equipment
  • Example 2 may include the UE of example 1 and/or some other example herein, configured to send or receive un-ciphered PDCP PDUs over WLAN.
  • Example 3 may include the UE of example 2 and/or some other example herein, configured to receive an indication whether the received downlink PDCP PDU is un-ciphered using in-band signaling.
  • Example 4 may include the UE of example 3 and/or some other example herein, wherein the said in-band signaling comprising PDCP signaling.
  • Example 5 may include the UE of example 3 and/or some other example herein, wherein the said in-band signaling comprising LWAAP signaling.
  • Example 6 may include the UE of example 2 and/or some other example herein, configured to receive an indication whether the received downlink PDCP PDCU is un-ciphered using out-of-band signaling.
  • Example 7 may include the UE of example 5 and/or some other example herein, said out- of-band signaling comprising RRC signaling.
  • Example 8 may include the network node such as e B comprising: a cellular transceiver to communicate via a cellular link, a WLAN transceiver to communicate via a WLAN link and a LTE-WLAN aggregation module.
  • Example 9 may include the eNB of example 8 and/or some other example herein, configured to send or receive un-ciphered PDCP PDUs over WLAN.
  • Example 10 may include the eNB of example 8 and/or some other example herein, configured to receive an indication whether the received uplink PDCP PDU is un-ciphered using in-band signaling.
  • Example 11 may include the eNB of example 8 and/or some other example herein, wherein the said in-band signaling comprising PDCP signaling.
  • Example 12 may include the eNB of example 8 and/or some other example herein, wherein the said in-band signaling comprising LWAAP signaling.
  • Example 13 may include the eNB of example 8 and/or some other example herein, configured to broadcast an indication whether the transmitted downlink PDCP PDCU is un- ciphered using out-of-band signaling.
  • Example 14 may include the eNB of example 13 and/or some other example herein, wherein the said out-of-band signaling comprising RRC signaling.
  • Example 15 may include the eNB of example 13 and/or some other example herein, wherein the said out-of-band signaling comprising of System Information Broadcast.
  • Example 16 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-15, or any other method or process described herein.
  • Example 17 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-15, or any other method or process described herein.
  • Example 18 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, and/or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 1-15, or any other method or process described herein.
  • Example 19 may include a method, technique, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-15, or portions or parts thereof.
  • Example 20 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method, techniques, or process as described in or related to any of examples 1-15, or portions thereof.
  • Example 21 may include a method of communicating in a wireless network as shown and described herein.
  • Example 22 may include a system for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.
  • Example 23 may include a device for providing wireless communication as shown and described herein.
  • Example 24 may include an apparatus for a User Equipment (UE) comprising a cellular transceiver to communicate via a cellular link, and a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) transceiver to communicate via a WLAN link, wherein the apparatus is to send or receive Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Packet Data Units (PDUs) over the WLAN link, or the cellular link, or both, that are not encrypted at the PDCP Layer level.
  • UE User Equipment
  • WLAN Wireless Local Area Network
  • Example 25 may include the apparatus of example 24 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is further to send or receive an indication whether a PDCP PDU is not encrypted at the PDCP Layer using in-band signaling.
  • Example 26 may include the apparatus of example 25 and/or some other example herein, wherein the in-band signaling comprises PDCP signaling.
  • Example 27 may include the apparatus of example 26 and/or some other example herein, wherein the PDCP signaling comprises use of a previously reserved bit in the PDCP header as an indication bit in the PDCP header to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • the indication bit(s) used may have been reserved bit(s) in a previous version of the standard.
  • Example 28 may include the apparatus of example 25 and/or some other example herein, wherein the in-band signaling comprises LTE-WLAN aggregation Adaptation Protocol (LWAAP) signaling.
  • Example 29 may include the apparatus of example 28 and/or some other example herein, wherein the LWAAP signaling comprises use of a previously reserved bit in the LWAAP header as an indication bit in the LWAAP header to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • LWAAP LTE-WLAN aggregation Adaptation Protocol
  • Example 30 may include the apparatus of example 24 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is further to send or receive an indication whether a PDCP PDU is not encrypted at the PDCP Layer using out-of-band signaling.
  • Example 31 may include the apparatus of example 30 and/or some other example herein, wherein, in a case where the UE is receiving the indication, the out-of-band signaling comprises Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.
  • RRC Radio Resource Control
  • Example 32 may include the apparatus of example 31 and/or some other example herein, wherein the RRC signaling comprises use of a modified RRC Information Element (IE) to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • IE modified RRC Information Element
  • Example 33 may include the apparatus of example 31 or 32 and/or some other example herein, wherein the RRC signaling operates on a per e B, or per cell served by the e B, basis.
  • Example 34 may include the apparatus of example 31 to 33 and/or some other example herein, wherein the RRC signaling comprises unicast messaging to a selected set of UEs.
  • Example 35 may include the apparatus of example 30 and/or some other example herein, wherein the out-of-band signaling comprises System Information Broadcast (SIB).
  • SIB System Information Broadcast
  • Example 36 may include the apparatus of any example herein, wherein the apparatus adheres to the 3GPP standard, Release 14 or higher and hence is configured to send or receive PDCP PDUs over the WLAN link or the cellular link that are not encrypted at the PDCP Layer in accordance with the 3GPP standard, Release 14 or higher.
  • Example 37 may include the apparatus of any example herein, wherein the apparatus is further to negotiate a Release version in use in communications from or to the UE and apply PDCP layer encryption accordingly.
  • Example 38 may include the apparatus of any example herein, wherein the PDCP PDU is a received downlink PDCP PDU.
  • Example 39 may include the apparatus of any of examples 24 to 38 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is to operate in a LTE-WLAN (LWA) implementation and a use of the PDCP PDU encryption is determined for LWA communications only.
  • Example 40 may include an apparatus for a base station (BS), comprising a cellular transceiver to communicate via a cellular link, and a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) transceiver to communicate via a WLAN link, wherein the apparatus is to send or receive Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Packet Data Units (PDUs) over the WLAN link, or the cellular link, or both, that are not encrypted at the PDCP Layer level.
  • BS base station
  • WLAN Wireless Local Area Network
  • Example 41 may include the apparatus of example 40 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is further to send or receive an indication whether a PDCP PDU is not encrypted at the PDCP Layer level using in-band signaling.
  • Example 42 may include the apparatus of example 41 and/or some other example herein, wherein the said in-band signaling comprises PDCP signaling.
  • Example 43 may include the apparatus of example 42 and/or some other example herein, wherein the PDCP signaling comprises use of a previously reserved bit in the PDCP header as an indication bit in the PDCP header to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled
  • Example 44 may include the apparatus of example 41 and/or some other example herein, wherein the said in-band signaling comprises LTE-WLAN aggregation Adaptation Protocol (LWAAP) signaling.
  • LWAAP LTE-WLAN aggregation Adaptation Protocol
  • Example 45 may include the apparatus of example 44 and/or some other example herein, wherein the LWAAP signaling comprises use of a previously reserved bit in the LWAAP header as an indication bit in the LWAAP header to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • Example 46 may include the apparatus of example 40 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is further to broadcast an indication whether the PDCP PDU is not encrypted at the PDCP Layer level using out-of-band signaling.
  • Example 47 may include the apparatus of example 46 and/or some other example herein, wherein, in a case where the eNB is sending the indication, the out-of-band signaling comprises Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.
  • RRC Radio Resource Control
  • Example 48 may include the apparatus of example 47 and/or some other example herein, wherein the RRC signaling comprises use of a modified RRC Information Element (IE) to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • Example 49 may include the apparatus of example 47 or 48 and/or some other example herein, wherein the RRC signaling operates on a per eNB, or per cell served by the eNB, basis.
  • IE modified RRC Information Element
  • Example 50 may include the apparatus of examples 47 to 49 and/or some other example herein, wherein the RRC signaling comprises unicast messaging to a selected set of UEs in communication with the eNB.
  • Example 51 may include the apparatus of example 46 and/or some other example herein, wherein the said out-of-band signaling comprises of System Information Broadcast (SIB).
  • SIB System Information Broadcast
  • Example 52 may include the apparatus of examples 40 to 46 and/or some other example herein, wherein the base station comprises an evolved Node B (eNB) or Access Point.
  • eNB evolved Node B
  • Access Point eNB
  • Example 53 may include the apparatus of any of examples 40 to 47 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus adheres to the 3 GPP standard, Release 14 or higher and hence is configured to send or receive PDCP PDUs over the WLAN link or the cellular link that are not encrypted at the PDCP Layer in accordance with the 3 GPP standard, Release 14 or higher.
  • Example 54 may include the apparatus of any of examples 40 to 48 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is further to negotiate a Release version in use in communications from or to the UE, and apply PDCP layer encryption accordingly.
  • Example 55 may include the apparatus of any of examples 40 to 49 and/or some other example herein, wherein the PDCP PDU is a transmitted downlink PDCP PDU.
  • Example 56 may include the apparatus of any of examples 40 to 50, wherein the apparatus is to operate in a LTE-WLAN (LWA) implementation and the PDCP PDU encryption is determined for LWA communications only.
  • LWA LTE-WLAN
  • Example 57 may include an apparatus for a User Equipment (UE) comprising a first interface coupleable to a transceiver to communicate with a base station over a cellular communications link, a second interface coupleable to a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) transceiver to communicate with an Access Point (AP) via a WLAN link, and one or more processors to send or receive Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Packet Data Units (PDUs) over the first or second interfaces, or both, that are not encrypted at the PDCP Layer.
  • the first and second interfaces may be baseband interfaces, in other examples the interfaces may be any suitable interfaces to the respective transceivers, including indirectly coupled interfaces.
  • Example 58 may include the apparatus of example 57 and/or some other example herein, wherein the UE is connected to the Access Point (AP) over the WLAN link, and the AP is connected to an eNB over an Xw interface link, wherein the eNB is to serve the UE, and wherein the PDCP PDUs are being sent by the UE to the eNB, or received by the UE from the eNB, via the AP over the WLAN link.
  • AP Access Point
  • Example 59 may include the apparatus of example 57, wherein the base station is an eNB, wherein the eNB is to serve the UE, and wherein the PDCP PDUs are being sent by the UE to the eNB, or received by the UE from the eNB over the cellular communications link.
  • the base station is an eNB
  • the eNB is to serve the UE
  • the PDCP PDUs are being sent by the UE to the eNB, or received by the UE from the eNB over the cellular communications link.
  • Example 60 may include the apparatus of any of examples 57 to 59 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is to send or receive Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Packet Data Units (PDUs) over the WLAN link, or the cellular communications link, or both that are not encrypted at the PDCP Layer, dependent upon an indication to not use encryption at the PDCP Layer level from another entity in a cellular network to which the UE is attached, or a decision to not use encryption at the PDCP Layer level by the UE itself, or by adherence to an agreed wireless communication standard.
  • PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol
  • PDUs Packet Data Units
  • Example 61 may include the apparatus of example 60 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is further to send or receive the indication to not use encryption at the PDCP Layer level from another entity in a cellular network using in-band signaling.
  • Example 62 may include the apparatus of example 61 and/or some other example herein, wherein the in-band signaling comprises PDCP signaling.
  • Example 63 may include the apparatus of example 62 and/or some other example herein, wherein the PDCP signaling comprises use of a previously reserved bit in the PDCP header as an indication bit in the PDCP header to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • Example 64 may include the apparatus of example 61 and/or some other example herein, wherein the in-band signaling comprises LTE-WLAN aggregation Adaptation Protocol (LWAAP) signaling.
  • LWAAP LTE-WLAN aggregation Adaptation Protocol
  • Example 65 may include the apparatus of example 64 and/or some other example herein, wherein the LWAAP signaling comprises use of a previously reserved bit in the LWAAP header as an indication bit in the LWAAP header to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • Example 66 may include the apparatus of example 60 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is further to send or receive the indication to not use encryption at the PDCP Layer level from another entity in a cellular network using out-of-band signaling.
  • Example 67 may include the apparatus of example 66 and/or some other example herein, wherein, in a case where the UE is receiving the indication, the out-of-band signaling comprises Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.
  • RRC Radio Resource Control
  • Example 68 may include the apparatus of example 67 and/or some other example herein, wherein the RRC signaling comprises use of a modified RRC Information Element (IE) to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • IE modified RRC Information Element
  • Example 69 may include the apparatus of example 67 or 68 and/or some other example herein, wherein the RRC signaling operates on a per e B, or per cell served by the e B, basis.
  • Example 70 may include the apparatus of examples 67 to 69 and/or some other example herein, wherein the RRC signaling comprises unicast messaging to a selected set of UEs.
  • Example 71 may include the apparatus of example 66, wherein the out-of-band signaling comprises System Information Broadcast (SIB).
  • SIB System Information Broadcast
  • Example 72 may include the apparatus of any of examples 57 to 71 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus adheres to the 3 GPP standard, Release 14 or higher and hence is configured to send or receive PDCP PDUs over the WLAN link or the cellular link that are not encrypted at the PDCP Layer in accordance with the 3 GPP standard, Release 14 or higher.
  • Example 73 may include the apparatus of any of examples 57 to 72 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is further to negotiate a Release version in use in communications from or to the UE and apply PDCP layer encryption accordingly.
  • Example 74 may include the apparatus of any of examples 57 to 73 and/or some other example herein, wherein the PDCP PDU is a received downlink PDCP PDU.
  • Example 75 may include the apparatus of any of examples 57 to 74 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is to operate in a LTE-WLAN (LWA) implementation and a use of the PDCP PDU encryption is determined for LWA communications only.
  • LWA LTE-WLAN
  • Example 76 may include an apparatus for a network node, comprising a first interface coupleable to a transceiver to communicate with an evolved Node B (eNB) over a communications link, a second interface coupleable to a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) transceiver to communicate with a UE via a WLAN link, and one or more processors to send or receive Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Packet Data Units (PDUs) over the first or second interfaces, or both, that are not encrypted at the PDCP Layer.
  • PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol
  • PDUs Packet Data Units
  • the first and second interfaces may be baseband interfaces, in other examples the interfaces may be any suitable interfaces to the respective transceivers, including indirectly coupled interfaces.
  • Example 77 may include the apparatus of example 76 and/or some other example herein, wherein the network node is an Access Point (AP) and the communications link is an Xw interface link to the eNB serving the UE.
  • AP Access Point
  • Example 78 may include the apparatus of example 76 and/or some other example herein, wherein the network node is an eNB, and wherein the communications link is an X2 interface link to another eNB serving the UE.
  • Example 79 may include the apparatus of any of examples 76 to 78 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is to send or receive Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Packet Data Units (PDUs) over the WLAN link, or the communications link, or both that are not encrypted at the PDCP Layer, dependent upon an indication to not use encryption at the PDCP Layer level from another entity in a cellular network to which the UE is attached, or a decision to not use encryption at the PDCP Layer level by the UE itself or by adherence to an agreed wireless communication standard in use in the network node.
  • PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol
  • PDUs Packet Data Units
  • Example 80 may include the apparatus of example 79 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is further to send or receive the indication to not use encryption at the PDCP Layer level from another entity in a cellular network using in-band signaling.
  • Example 81 may include the apparatus of example 80 and/or some other example herein, wherein the in-band signaling comprises PDCP signaling.
  • Example 82 may include the apparatus of example 81 and/or some other example herein, wherein the PDCP signaling comprises use of a previously reserved bit in the PDCP header as an indication bit in the PDCP header to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • Example 83 may include the apparatus of example 79 and/or some other example herein, wherein the in-band signaling comprises LTE-WLAN aggregation Adaptation Protocol (LWAAP) signaling.
  • Example 84 may include the apparatus of example 83 and/or some other example herein, wherein the LWAAP signaling comprises use of a previously reserved bit in the LWAAP header as an indication bit in the LWAAP header to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • LWAAP LTE-WLAN aggregation Adaptation Protocol
  • Example 85 may include the apparatus of example 79 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is further to send or receive the indication to not use encryption at the PDCP Layer level from another entity in a cellular network using out-of-band signaling.
  • Example 86 may include the apparatus of example 85 and/or some other example herein, wherein, in a case where the UE is receiving the indication, the out-of-band signaling comprises Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.
  • RRC Radio Resource Control
  • Example 87 may include the apparatus of example 86 and/or some other example herein, wherein the RRC signaling comprises use of a modified RRC Information Element (IE) to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • IE modified RRC Information Element
  • Example 88 may include the apparatus of example 86 or 87 and/or some other example herein, wherein the RRC signaling operates on a per e B, or per cell served by the e B, basis.
  • Example 89 may include the apparatus of examples 86 to 88 and/or some other example herein, wherein the RRC signaling comprises unicast messaging to a selected set of UEs.
  • Example 90 may include the apparatus of example 85 and/or some other example herein, wherein the out-of-band signaling comprises System Information Broadcast (SIB).
  • SIB System Information Broadcast
  • Example 91 may include the apparatus of any of examples 79 to 90 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus adheres to the 3 GPP standard, Release 14 or higher and hence is configured to send or receive PDCP PDUs over the WLAN link or the cellular link that are not encrypted at the PDCP Layer in accordance with the 3 GPP standard, Release 14 or higher.
  • Example 92 may include the apparatus of any of examples 76 to 91 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is further to negotiate a Release version in use in communications from or to the UE and apply PDCP layer encryption accordingly.
  • Example 93 may include the apparatus of any of examples 76 to 92 and/or some other example herein, wherein the PDCP PDU is a received downlink PDCP PDU.
  • Example 94 may include the apparatus of any of examples 76 to 93 and/or some other example herein, wherein the apparatus is to operate in a LTE-WLAN (LWA) implementation and a use of the PDCP PDU encryption is determined for LWA communications only.
  • LWA LTE-WLAN
  • Example 95 may include a method in an apparatus for a UE that is operational in a cellular communications network, comprising determining that Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Packet Data Units (PDUs) are to be sent over a WLAN link, or a communications link, or both, that are not encrypted at the PDCP Layer level, sending or receiving PDCP PDUs that do not have encryption applied at the PDCP Layer level.
  • PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol
  • PDUs Packet Data Units
  • Example 96 may include the method of example 95 and/or some other example herein, wherein determining that Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Packet Data Units (PDUs) are to be sent over a WLAN link, or a communications link, or both, that are not encrypted at the PDCP Layer level comprises receiving an indication from another entity in the cellular communications network that encryption is not to be used at the PDCP Layer level in predetermined communications, or sending an indication to other entities in the cellular communications network that encryption is not to be used at the PDCP Layer level in predetermined communications.
  • PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol
  • PDUs Packet Data Units
  • Example 97 may include the method of example 96 and/or some other example herein, wherein receiving the indication comprises any one or more of receiving the indication via in- band signaling, receiving the indication via out-of-band signaling, receiving the indication via broadcast signaling, applying the standard, Release 14 or higher, which states no encryption is to be used on the PDCP PDUs sent over a WLAN portion of a LWA implementation.
  • Example 98 may include the method of example 96 or 97 and/or some other example herein, wherein sending the indication comprises any one or more of sending the indication via in-band signaling, sending the indication via out-of-band signaling, applying the standard, Release 14 or higher, which states no encryption is to be used on the PDCP PDUs sent over a WLAN portion of a LWA implementation.
  • Example 99 may include the method of example 98 and/or some other example herein, wherein sending the indication via in-band signaling further comprises using PDCP signaling.
  • Example 100 may include the method of example 99 and/or some other example herein, wherein using PDCP signaling comprises providing an indication bit in the PDCP header to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • Example 101 may include the method of example 98 and/or some other example herein, wherein sending the indication via in-band signaling further comprises using LTE-WLAN aggregation Adaptation Protocol (LWAAP) signaling.
  • LWAAP LTE-WLAN aggregation Adaptation Protocol
  • Example 102 may include the method of example 101 and/or some other example herein, wherein using LWAAP signaling further comprises providing an indication bit in the LWAAP header to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • Example 103 may include the method of example 98 and/or some other example herein, wherein sending the indication via out-of-band signaling further comprises using Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.
  • RRC Radio Resource Control
  • Example 104 may include the method of example 103 and/or some other example herein, wherein using RRC signaling comprises providing a RRC Information Element (IE) to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • IE RRC Information Element
  • Example 105 may include the method of any of example 103 or 104 and/or some other example herein, wherein the RRC signaling operates on a per e B, or per cell served by the eNB, basis.
  • Example 106 may include the method of any of examples 103 to 105 and/or some other example herein, wherein the RRC signaling comprises unicast messaging to a selected set of UEs.
  • Example 107 may include the method of example 98 and/or some other example herein, wherein the out-of-band signaling comprises System Information Broadcast (SIB).
  • SIB System Information Broadcast
  • Example 108 may include the method of any of examples 95 to 107 and/or some other example herein, further comprising negotiating a Release version in use in communications from or to the UE and applying PDCP layer encryption accordingly.
  • Example 109 may include the method of any of examples 95 to 108 and/or some other example herein, further comprising determining a use of the PDCP PDU encryption for LWA communications only.
  • Example 110 may include a method in an apparatus for a base station that is operational in a cellular communications network, comprising determining that Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Packet Data Units (PDUs) are to be sent over a WLAN link, or a communications link, or both, that are not encrypted at the PDCP Layer level, sending or receiving PDCP PDUs that do not have encryption applied at the PDCP Layer level.
  • PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol
  • PDUs Packet Data Units
  • Example 111 may include the method of example 110 and/or some other example herein, wherein determining that Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) Packet Data Units (PDUs) are to be sent over a WLAN link, or a communications link, or both, that are not encrypted at the PDCP Layer level comprises receiving an indication from another entity in the cellular communications network that encryption is not to be used at the PDCP Layer level in predetermined communications, or sending an indication to other entities in the cellular communications network that encryption is not to be used at the PDCP Layer level in predetermined communications.
  • PDCP Packet Data Convergence Protocol
  • PDUs Packet Data Units
  • Example 112 may include the method of example 111 and/or some other example herein, wherein receiving the indication comprises any one or more of receiving the indication via in- band signaling, receiving the indication via out-of-band signaling, receiving the indication via broadcast signaling, applying the standard, Release 14 or higher, which states no encryption is to be used on the PDCP PDUs sent over a WLAN portion of a LWA implementation.
  • Example 113 may include the method of example 111 or 112, wherein sending the indication comprises any one or more of sending the indication via in-band signaling, sending the indication via out-of-band signaling, sending the indication via broadcast signaling, applying the standard, Release 14 or higher, which states no encryption is to be used on the PDCP PDUs sent over a WLAN portion of a LWA implementation.
  • Example 114 may include the method of example 113 and/or some other example herein, wherein sending the indication via in-band signaling further comprises using PDCP signaling.
  • Example 115 may include the method of example 114 and/or some other example herein, wherein using PDCP signaling comprises providing an indication bit in the PDCP header to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • Example 116 may include the method of example 113 and/or some other example herein, wherein sending the indication via in-band signaling further comprises using LTE-WLAN aggregation Adaptation Protocol (LWAAP) signaling.
  • LWAAP LTE-WLAN aggregation Adaptation Protocol
  • Example 117 may include the method of examplel l6 and/or some other example herein, wherein using LWAAP signaling further comprises providing an indication bit in the LWAAP header to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • Example 118 may include the method of example 113 and/or some other example herein, wherein sending the indication via out-of-band signaling further comprises using Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling.
  • RRC Radio Resource Control
  • Example 119 may include the method of example 118 and/or some other example herein, wherein using RRC signaling comprises providing a RRC Information Element (IE) to indicate that PDCP Layer level encryption is enabled or disabled.
  • IE RRC Information Element
  • Example 120 may include the method of any of example 118 or 119 and/or some other example herein, wherein the RRC signaling operates on a per e B, or per cell served by the e B, basis.
  • Example 121 may include the method of any of examples 118 to 120 and/or some other example herein, wherein the RRC signaling comprises unicast messaging to a selected set of UEs.
  • Example 122 may include the method of example 113 and/or some other example herein, wherein the out-of-band signaling comprises System Information Broadcast (SIB).
  • SIB System Information Broadcast
  • Example 123 may include the method of any of examples 110 to 122 and/or some other example herein, further comprising negotiating a Release version in use in communications from or to the UE and applying PDCP layer encryption accordingly.
  • Example 124 may include the method of any of examples 110 to 123 and/or some other example herein, further comprising determining a use of the PDCP PDU encryption for LWA communications only.
  • Example 125 may include an apparatus comprising means to perform one or more elements of a method described in or related to any of examples 95 to 124.
  • Example 126 may include one or more non-transitory computer-readable media comprising instructions to cause an electronic device, upon execution of the instructions by one or more processors of the electronic device, to perform one or more elements of a method of any of examples 95 to 124.
  • Example 127 may include an apparatus comprising logic, modules, means for and/or circuitry to perform one or more elements of a method of any of examples 95 to 124.
  • Example 128 may include an apparatus comprising: one or more processors and one or more computer readable media comprising instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the method of any of examples 95 to 124.
  • the PDCP Layer level encryption indication bit is provided in a reserved bit of an existing header in the user-plane protocol stack in use over the LWA communications links. In other examples, the PDCP Layer level encryption indication bit is provided in a newly defined Sequence Number (i.e. PDU type), or new plural SNs, created for the purpose.
  • the one or more processors configured according to the disclosed examples may comprise the, or a portion of, the base band processing system in a wireless communication device (on either, or both of, the UE or Base-station/eNB sides), or a functionally equivalent portion of future wireless communications devices.

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  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Signal Processing (AREA)
  • Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
  • Computer Security & Cryptography (AREA)
  • Mobile Radio Communication Systems (AREA)

Abstract

Des modes de réalisation de l'invention concernent un appareil pour un équipement utilisateur (UE) comprenant un émetteur-récepteur cellulaire pour communiquer par l'intermédiaire d'une liaison cellulaire, et un émetteur-récepteur de réseau local sans fil (WLAN) pour communiquer par l'intermédiaire d'une liaison WLAN, l'appareil étant destiné à envoyer ou à recevoir des unités de données par paquets (PDU) de protocole de convergence de données par paquets (PDCP) sur la liaison WLAN, ou sur la liaison cellulaire, ou les deux, qui ne sont pas chiffrées au niveau de la couche PDCP. Des modes de réalisation concernent également des équipements utilisateur et des procédés associés.
PCT/US2017/023654 2016-03-31 2017-03-22 Optimisations de protocole de convergence de données par paquets pour une agrégation lte-wlan WO2017172450A1 (fr)

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