WO2019193194A1

WO2019193194A1 - Methods for controlling measurements that are mutually-exclusive with other measurements

Info

Publication number: WO2019193194A1
Application number: PCT/EP2019/058732
Authority: WO
Inventors: Iana Siomina; Christopher Callender; Joakim Axmon; Muhammad Kazmi
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2018-04-06
Filing date: 2019-04-05
Publication date: 2019-10-10

Abstract

Embodiments include methods performed by a user equipment for scheduling a plurality of measurement activities in a wireless network. Embodiments include receiving from the wireless network first and second measurement configurations related to first and second measurement activities, and identification of a measurement gap pattern, comprising a plurality of measurement occasions, for performing the first and second measurement activities. Embodiments include categorizing measurement activities related to one of the first or the second measurement configurations as a more-sparse type, and measurement activities related to the other of the first or the second measurement configurations as a less-sparse type. Embodiments include categorizing each measurement activity comprising the less-sparse type as part of a continuous less-sparse group or a non-continuous less-sparse group. Embodiments include determining, over the plurality of measurement occasions, a schedule for the plurality of measurement activities comprising the more-sparse type, the continuous less-sparse group, and the non-continuous less-sparse group.

Description

METHODS FOR CONTROLLING MEASUREMENTS THAT ARE MUTUALLY-

EXCLUSIVE WITH OTHER MEASUREMENTS

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates generally to the field of wireless communication systems and methods, and more specifically to devices, methods, and computer-readable media that improve measurement scheduling by a device or user equipment (UE) operating in a wireless communication network.

INTRODUCTION

Generally, all terms used herein are to be interpreted according to their ordinary meaning in the relevant technical field, unless a different meaning is clearly given and/or is implied from the context in which it is used. All references to a/an/the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc. are to be interpreted openly as referring to at least one instance of the element, apparatus, component, means, step, etc., unless explicitly stated otherwise. The steps of any methods and/or procedures disclosed herein do not have to be performed in the exact order disclosed, unless a step is explicitly described as following or preceding another step and/or where it is implicit that a step must follow or precede another step. Any feature of any of the embodiments disclosed herein can be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments can apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

Long Term Evolution (LTE) is an umbrella term for so-called fourth-generation (4G) radio access technologies developed within the Third-Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) and initially standardized in Releases 8 and 9, also known as Evolved UTRAN (E-UTRAN). LTE is targeted at various licensed frequency bands, including the 700-MHz band in the United States. LTE is accompanied by improvements to non-radio aspects commonly referred to as System Architecture Evolution (SAE), which includes Evolved Packet Core (EPC) network. LTE continues to evolve through subsequent releases. One of the features of Release 11 is an enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel (ePDCCH), which has the goals of increasing capacity and improving spatial reuse of control channel resources, improving inter-cell interference coordination (ICIC), and supporting antenna beamforming and/or transmit diversity for control channel.

A feature added in LTE Rel-lO (Rel-lO) is support for bandwidths larger than 20 MHz, while remaining backward compatible with Rel-8. As such, a wideband (e.g., >20MHz) LTE Rel- lO carrier should appear as a number of component carriers (CCs) to an LTE Rel-8 terminal. For an efficient use of a wideband Rel-lO carrier, legacy (e.g., Rel-8) terminals can be scheduled in all parts of the wideband LTE Rel-lO carrier. One way to achieve this is by means of Carrier Aggregation (CA), whereby an LTE Rel-lO UE can receive multiple CCs, each preferably having the same structure as a Rel-8 carrier.

Each of the CCs allocated to a UE also corresponds to a cell. In particular, the UE is assigned a primary serving cell (PCell) as the“main” cell serving the UE. Both data and control signaling can be transmitted over the PCell, which is always activated. In addition, the UE can be assigned one or more supplementary or secondary serving cells (SCells) that are typically used for transmitting data only. For example, the Scell(s) can provide extra bandwidth to enable greater data throughput, and can be activated or deactivated dynamically.

While LTE was primarily designed for user-to-user communications, 5G (also referred to as “NR”) cellular networks are envisioned to support both high single-user data rates (e.g., 1 Gb/s) and large-scale, machine-to-machine communication involving short, bursty transmissions from many different devices that share the frequency bandwidth. The 5G radio standards (also referred to as“New Radio” or“NR”) are currently targeting a wide range of data services including eMBB (enhanced Mobile Broad Band) and URLLC (Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication). These services can have different requirements and objectives. For example, URLLC is intended to provide a data service with extremely strict error and latency requirements, e.g., error probabilities as low as 10^-5 or lower and 1 ms end-to-end latency or lower. For eMBB, the requirements on latency and error probability can be less stringent whereas the required supported peak rate and/or spectral efficiency can be higher.

Figure 1 illustrates a high-level view of the 5G network architecture, consisting of a Next Generation RAN (NG-RAN) 199 and a 5G Core (5GC) 198. NG-RAN 199 can include a set of gNodeB’s (gNBs) connected to the 5GC via one or more NG interfaces, such as gNBs 100, 150 connected via interfaces 102, 152, respectively. In addition, the gNBs can be connected to each other via one or more Xn interfaces, such as Xn interface 140 between gNBs 100 and 150. With respect to the NR interface to UEs, each of the gNBs can support frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination thereof.

The NG RAN logical nodes shown in Figure 1 (and described in TS 18.401 and TR 18.801) include a central (or centralized) unit (CU or gNB-CU) and one or more distributed (or decentralized) units (DU or gNB-DU). For example, gNB 100 in Figure 1 includes gNB-CU 1 10 and gNB-DUs 120 and 130. CUs (e.g., gNB-CU 110) are logical nodes that host higher-layer protocols and perform various gNB functions such controlling the operation of DUs. Each DU is a logical node that hosts lower-layer protocols and can include, depending on the functional split, various subsets of the gNB functions. As such, each of the CUs and DUs can include various circuitry needed to perform their respective functions, including processing circuitry, transceiver circuitry (e.g., for communication), and power supply circuitry. Moreover, the terms“central unit” and“centralized unit” are used interchangeably herein, as are the terms“distributed unit” and “decentralized unit.”

A gNB-CU connects to gNB-DUs over respective Fl logical interfaces, such as interfaces 122 and 132 shown in Figure 1. The gNB-CU and connected gNB-DUs are only visible to other gNBs and the 5GC as a gNB, e.g., the Fl interface is not visible beyond gNB-CU. Furthermore, a gNB-CU (or“CU” for short) can host higher-layer protocols such as, e.g., Fl application part protocol (Fl-AP), Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP), GPRS Tunneling Protocol (GTP), Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Internet Protocol (IP), and Radio Resource Control (RRC) protocol. In contrast, a gNB-DU (or“DU” for short) can host lower-layer protocols such as, e.g., Radio Link Control (RLC), Medium Access Control (MAC), and physical-layer (PHY) protocols.

Other variants of protocol distributions between CU and DU can exist, however, such as hosting the RRC, PDCP and part of the RLC protocol in the CU (e.g., Automatic Retransmission Request (ARQ) function), while hosting the remaining parts of the RLC protocol in the DU, together with MAC and PHY. In some embodiments, the CU can host RRC and PDCP, where PDCP is assumed to handle both UP traffic and CP traffic. Nevertheless, other exemplary embodiments may utilize other protocol splits that by hosting certain protocols in the CU and certain others in the DU. Exemplary embodiments can also locate centralized control plane protocols (e.g., PDCP-C and RRC) in a different CU with respect to the centralized user plane protocols (e.g., PDCP-U).

Furthemore, the Fl interface between the gNB-CU and gNB-DU is specified, or based on, the following general principles:

• Fl is an open interface;

• Fl supports the exchange of signalling information between respective endpoints, as well as data transmission to the respective endpoints;

• from a logical standpoint, Fl is a point-to-point interface between the endpoints (even in the absence of a physical direct connection between the endpoints);

• Fl supports control plane (CP) and user plane (UP) separation, such that a gNB-CU may be separated in CP and UP;

• Fl separates Radio Network Layer (RNL) and Transport Network Layer (TNL);

• Fl enables exchange of user-quipment (UE) associated information and non-UE associated information;

• Fl is defined to be future proof with respect to new requirements, services, and functions; • A gNB terminates X2, Xn, NG and Sl-U interfaces; and

• In the CU-DU split architecture, dual connectivity (DC) can be achieved by means of allowing a UE to connect to multiple DUs served by the same CU or by allowing a UE to connect to multiple DUs served by different CUs. As illustrated in Figure 1, a gNB can include a gNB-CU connected to one or more gNB-DUs via respective Fl interfaces, all of which are described hereinafter in greater detail. In the NG-RAN architecture, however, a gNB-DU can be connected to only a single gNB-CU.

The NG-RAN is layered into a Radio Network Layer (RNL) and a Transport Network Layer (TNL). The NG-RAN architecture, i.e., the NG-RAN logical nodes and interfaces between them, is defined as part of the RNL. For each NG-RAN interface (NG, Xn, Fl) the related TNL protocol and the functionality are specified. The TNL provides services for user plane transport and signaling transport. In NG-Flex configuration, each gNB is connected to all 5GC nodes within a pool area. The pool area is defined in 3GPP TS 23.501. If security protection for control plane and user plane data on TNL ofNG-RAN interfaces has to be supported, NDS/IP (3GPP TS 33.401) shall be applied.

Figure 2 shows a high-level view of an exemplary 5G network architecture, including a Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) 299 and a 5G Core (5GC) 298. As shown in the figure, NG-RAN 299 can include gNBs 210 (e.g., 2l0a,b) and ng-eNBs 220 (e.g., 220a, b) that are interconnected with each other via respective Xn interfaces. The gNBs and ng-eNBs are also connected via the NG interfaces to 5GC 298, more specifically to the AMF (Access and Mobility Management Function) 230 (e.g., AMFs 230a, b) via respective NG-C interfaces and to the UPF (User Plane Function) 240 (e.g., UPFs 240a, b) via respective NG-U interfaces.

Each of the gNBs 210 can support the NR radio interface, including frequency division duplexing (FDD), time division duplexing (TDD), or a combination thereof. In contrast, each of ng-eNBs 220 supports the LTE radio interface but, unlike conventional LTE eNBs (such as shown in Figure 1), connects to the 5GC via the NG interface.

Furthermore, multi-RAT (radio access technology) dual connectivity (MR-DC) can also be envisioned as an important feature in 5G RAN architectures to deliver enhanced end-user bit rate. One such MR-DC arrangement is commonly referred to as E-UTRAN-NR Dual Connectivity (or EN-DC for short) and identified in 3GPP TS 38.301 as“option 3.” In EN-DC, a node providing E-UTRA resources (e.g., LTE eNB) acts as master node (MN, i.e., anchors the UE control-plane connection) and an NR node (e.g., gNB) acts as secondary node (SN) providing additional UP resources. In another example, the gNBs 2l0a,b and ng-eNBs 220a, b connected to the 5GC can provide other types of MR-DC to UEs. For example, this network arrangement show in Figure 2 can provide NG-RAN E-UTRA/NR Dual Connectivity (NGEN-DC). Deployments based on different 3GPP architecture options (e.g., EPC-based or 5GC- based) and UEs with different capabilities (e.g., EPC NAS and 5GC NAS) may coexist at the same time within one network (e.g., PLMN). It is generally assumed that a UE that can support 5GC NAS procedures can also support EPC NAS procedures (e.g., as defined in 3GPP TS 24.301) to operate in legacy networks, such as when roaming. As such, the UE will use EPC NAS or 5GC NAS procedures depending on the core network (CN) by which it is served.

Another change in 5G networks (e.g., in 5GC) is that traditional peer-to-peer interfaces and protocols (e.g., those found in LTE/EPC networks) are modified by a so-called Service Based Architecture (SBA) in which Network Functions (NFs) provide one or more services to one or more service consumers. This can be done, for example, by Hyper Text Transfer Protocol/Representational State Transfer (HTTP/REST) application programming interfaces (APIs). In general, the various services are self-contained functionalities that can be changed and modified in an isolated manner without affecting other services.

Furthermore, the services are composed of various“service operations”, which are more granular divisions of the overall service functionality. In order to access a service, both the service name and the targeted service operation must be indicated. The interactions between service consumers and producers can be of the type“request/response” or“subscribe/notify”. In the 5G SBA, network repository functions (NRF) allow every network function to discover the services offered by other network functions, and Data Storage Functions (DSF) allow every network function to store its context.

Figure 3 shows an exemplary non-roaming 5G reference architecture with service-based interfaces and various 3GPP-defined NFs within the Control Plane (CP), including:

• Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF) with Namf interface;

• Session Management Function (SMF) with Nsmf interface;

• User Plane Function (UPF) with Nupf interface;

• Policy Control Function (PCF) with Npcf interface;

• Network Exposure Function (NEF) with Nnef interface;

• Network Repository Function (NRF) with Nnrf interface;

• Network Slice Selection Function (NSSF) with Nnssf interface;

• Authentication Server Function (AUSF) with Nausf interface;

• Application Function (AF) with Naf interface; and

• Unified Data Management (UDM) with Nudm interface.

Figure 3 further illustrates the 5G network architecture from a reference point perspective. In the architecture shown in Figure 3, the following reference points are defined: • Nl: Reference point between the user equipment (UE) and the AMF.

• N2: Reference point between the (R)AN (e.g. , NG-RAN) and the AMF.

• N3: Reference point between the (R)AN (e.g. , NG-RAN) and the UPF.

• N4: Reference point between the Session Management Function (SMF) and the UPF.

• N6: Reference point between the UPF and a Data Network (DN) (e.g., Internet).

As shown in Figure 3, UPF(s) handle the user plane path of PDU Sessions between a UE and the DN. 3GPP specifications support deployments with a single UPF or multiple UPFs for a given PDU Session. UPF selection is performed by SMF. The number of UPFs supported for a PDU Session is unrestricted. For IPv4 or IPv6 type PDU Sessions, the PDU Session Anchor may be IP anchor point of the IP address/prefix allocated to the UE. For an IPv4 type PDU Session or an IPv6 type PDU Session without multi-homing, when multiple PDU Session Anchors are used, only one PDU Session Anchor is the IP anchor point for the PDU Session.

Positioning has been an important feature in FTE. In FTE the positioning node (e.g. E- SMFC or location server) configures the target device (e.g. UE), eNode B, or a radio node dedicated for positioning measurements (e.g. EMU) to perform one or more positioning measurements depending upon the positioning method. The positioning measurements are used by the target device or by a measuring node or by the positioning node to determine the location of the target device. In FTE the positioning node communicates with UE using FTE positioning protocol (FPP) and with eNode B using FTE positioning protocol annex (FPPa).

Figure 4 shows a high-level network diagram of the FTE positioning architecture. Three important elements in this architecture are the ECS Client, the ECS target and the ECS Server. The ECS Server is a physical or logical entity managing positioning for a ECS target device by collecting measurements and other location information, assisting the terminal in measurements when necessary, and estimating the ECS target location. A ECS Client is a software and/or hardware entity that interacts with a LCS Server for the purpose of obtaining location information for one or more LCS targets, i.e. the entities being positioned. LCS Clients may also reside in the LCS targets themselves. An LCS Client sends a request to LCS Server to obtain location information, and LCS Server processes and serves the received requests and sends the positioning result and optionally a velocity estimate to the LCS Client. A positioning request can be originated from the terminal or a network node or external client. Position calculation can be performed, for example, by a positioning server (e.g. E- SMLC or SLP in LTE) or a UE. The former approach corresponds to the UE-assisted positioning mode when it is based on UE measurements, while the latter corresponds to the UE-based positioning mode. In LTE the positioning measurements for OTDOA are performed by the UE using at least positioning reference signals (PRS). The UE can be configured with OTDOA assistance information containing PRS related information, e.g., PRS occasion length, PRS occasion periodicity, etc. The UE can further be configured with dense PRS for which a positioning occasion length (Nprs) can be any number of subframes up to 160 subframes (in addition to the legacy positioning occasion length of: 1, 2, 4 and 6 subframes). Nprs is the number of consecutive downlink (DL) subframes in a positioning occasion, wherein “consecutive” also includes two DL subframes with an uplink and/or special subframe in between, since they are consecutive from the DL point of view. Positioning occasions occur with a certain PRS periodicity (Tprs), e.g. 160 ms, 320 ms, 640 ms, 1280 ms, but recently also 5 ms, 10 ms, 20 ms, 40 ms, and 80 ms have also been included in the LTE standard.

In both LTE and NR, a UE is also required to measure various downlink (DL) signals to support radio resource management (RRM) and mobility operations, such as handover, cell reselection, etc. PRS and RRM measurements can often be mutually exclusive, such that the UE can perform both during the same time resources. In these cases, a UE must determine a schedule for sharing measurement opportunities among PRS and RRM measurements. Compared to LTE, however, NR DL signals available for UE RRM measurements can occur much more sparsely, or over a longer time period. At the same time, a NR UE may be required to measure LTE PRS with periodicity as low as 5 ms, as explained above. This combination can create various problems, issues, and/or drawbacks in scheduling mutually-exclusive measurements, such as PRS and RRM measurements.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure address these and other shortcomings, thereby facilitating efficient scheduling of various measurements with overlapping measurement occasions.

Such exemplary embodiments can include methods and/or procedures for scheduling a plurality of measurement activities in a wireless network. The exemplary methods and/or procedures can be performed by a user equipment (UE, e.g., wireless device, or component thereof such as a modem) in communication with a serving network node (e.g., eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, en- gNB, base station, etc., or component thereof) in the wireless network. The exemplary methods and/or procedures can include receiving the following from the wireless network: a first measurement configuration related to first measurement activities, a second measurement configuration related to second measurement activities, and identification of a measurement gap pattern, comprising a plurality of measurement occasions, for performing the first and second measurement activities. In some embodiments, the first measurement configuration and the identification of the measurement gap pattern can be received from a first network node in the wireless network (e.g., a serving RAN node), while the second measurement configuration can be received from a second network node in the wireless network (e.g., a positioning node, such as SMLC). In some embodiments, the first measurement activities can be related to radio resource management, while the second measurement activities can be related to UE positioning.

The exemplary method and/or procedure can also include categorizing measurement activities related to one of the first or the second measurement configurations as a more-sparse type, and measurement activities related to the other of the first or the second measurement configurations as a less-sparse type. The exemplary method and/or procedure can also include categorizing each of the measurement activities comprising the less-sparse type as part of a continuous less-sparse group or a non-continuous less-sparse group, based on whether the particular measurement activity has continuous measurement occasions according to the measurement gap pattern.

The exemplary method and/or procedure can also include determining, over the plurality of measurement occasions, a schedule for the plurality of measurement activities comprising the more-sparse type, the continuous less-sparse group, and the non-continuous less-sparse group. In some embodiments, determining operations can include selecting a first portion of the plurality of measurement occasions that involve the measurement activities comprising the more-sparse type that are overlapping and mutually exclusive with one of the following: measurement activities comprising the non-continuous less-sparse group, or measurement activities comprising the continuous less-sparse group. In such embodiments, the determining operations can also include applying a resource sharing factor (RSF) to the first portion of the plurality of measurement occasions.

In some embodiments, the exemplary method and/or procedure can also performing the plurality of measurement activities according to the determined schedule.

Other exemplary embodiments can include methods and/or procedures for scheduling a plurality of measurement activities in a wireless network. The exemplary methods and/or procedures can be performed by a network node (e.g., eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, en-gNB, base station, positioning node, etc., or component thereof) in communication with a user equipment (UE, e.g., wireless device, or component thereof such as a modem) in the wireless network.

The exemplary methods and/or procedures can include obtaining the following information with respect to the UE: a first measurement configuration related to first measurement activities, a second measurement configuration related to second measurement activities, and identification of a measurement gap pattern, comprising a plurality of measurement occasions, for performing the first and second measurement activities. In some embodiments, the first measurement activities can be related to radio resource management, while the second measurement activities can be related to UE positioning.

The exemplary method and/or procedure can also include determining, over the plurality of measurement occasions, a schedule for the plurality of measurement activities comprising the more-sparse type, the continuous less-sparse group, and the non-continuous less-sparse group. In some embodiments, the determining operations can include selecting a first portion of the plurality of measurement occasions that involve the measurement activities comprising the more-sparse type that are overlapping and mutually exclusive with one of the following: measurement activities comprising the non-continuous less-sparse group, or measurement activities comprising the continuous less-sparse group. In such embodiments, the determining operations can also include applying a resource sharing factor (RSF) to the first portion of the plurality of measurement occasions.

The exemplary methods and/or procedures can also include determining a revised measurement configuration based on the determined schedule. In some embodiments, the exemplary methods and/or procedures can also include sending the revised measurement configuration to the UE.

Exemplary embodiments also include user equipment (UE, e.g., wireless device, or component thereof such as a modem) or network nodes (e.g., eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, en-gNB, base station, positioning nodes, etc., or components thereof) configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the exemplary methods and/or procedures described herein. Exemplary embodments also include non-transitory, computer-readable media storing program instructions that, when executed by at least one processor comprising a UE or network node, configures the UE or network node to perform operations corresponding to any of the exemplary methods and/or procedures described herein.

These and other exemplary embodiments can provide various advantages, including the ability to apply different measurement approaches for sparse and non-sparse measurements, when those measurements overlap with another type of measurements during the same measurement occasions. For example, sparse masurements can be performed based on a priority, while resource sharing is applied for non-sparse measurements in the overlapping occasions while accounting for the actual amount of overlap. This provides a specific improvement compared to legacy/existing approaches, which employ scaling depending on the number of carrier frequencies.

Other exemplary benefits, improvements, and/or advantages include: more efficient use of UE resources such as memory, processing capacity, etc.; faster measurements, resulting in better mobility performance and improved system performance due to reduced risk of downlink buffer overrun and/or staying too long on a cell when there is a better neighbor cell; and avoiding and/or reducing blocking and/or unnecessary delays of sparse measurements. These and other advantages provided by disclosed exemplary embodiments can facilitate more timely design, implementation, and deployment of 5G networks.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figures 1-2 show two high-level view of an exemplary 5G network architecture, including a Next Generation Radio Access Network (NG-RAN) and a 5G Core (5GC).

Figure 3 shows an exemplary non-roaming 5G reference architecture with service-based interfaces and various 3GPP-defined NFs within the Control Plane (CP).

Figure 4 shows a high-level network diagram of an FTE positioning architecture.

Figures 5a-5c show various exemplary time- frequency configurations of NR SS/PBCH blocks (SSBs).

Figure 6 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method and/or procedure performed by a user equipment (UE), according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 7 is a flow diagram of an exemplary method and/or procedure performed by a network node, according to various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure.

Figure 8 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a wireless network, in accordance with various aspects described herein. Figure 9 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a UE, in accordance with various aspects described herein.

Figure 10 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary virtualization environment usable for implementation of various embodiments of network nodes described herein.

Figures 1 1-12 are block diagrams of various exemplary communication systems and/or networks, in accordance with various aspects described herein.

Figures 13-16 are flow diagrams of exemplary methods and/or procedures for transmission and/or reception of user data that can be implemented, for example, in the exemplary communication systems and/or networks illustrated in Figures 1 1-12.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Exemplary embodiments briefly summarized above will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. These descriptions are provided by way of example to explain the subject matter to those skilled in the art, and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the subject matter to only the embodiments described herein. More specifically, examples are provided below that illustrate the operation of various embodiments according to the advantages discussed above.

The term“network node” is used in description of various exemplary embodiments, and it can correspond to any type of radio network node or any network node, which communicates with a UE and/or with another network node. Examples of network nodes are NodeB, MeNB, SeNB, a network node belonging to MCG or SCG, base station (BS), multi-standard radio (MSR) radio node such as MSR BS, eNodeB, gNodeB, network controller, radio network controller (RNC), base station controller (BSC), relay, donor node controlling relay, base transceiver station (BTS), access point (AP), transmission points, transmission nodes, RRU, RRH, nodes in distributed antenna system (DAS), core network node (e.g. MSC, MME, etc), O&M, OSS, SON, positioning node (e.g. E-SMFC), MDT, test equipment (physical node or software), etc.

The terms “user equipment,” “UE” (for short), and “wireless device” are used interchangeably in description of various exemplary embodiments, and they can refer to any type of wireless device communicating with a network node and/or with another UE in a cellular or mobile communication system. Examples of UE are target device, device to device (D2D) UE, machine type UE or UE capable of machine to machine (M2M) communication, PDA, PAD, Tablet, mobile terminals, smart phone, laptop embedded equipped (LEE), laptop mounted equipment (LME), USB dongles, ProSe UE, V2V UE, V2X UE, etc. The term“radio measurement” (also referred to as“measurement” or“measurement activity”) is used in description of various exemplary embodiments, and it can refer to any measurement performed on reference signals (RS). Examples of RS are discovery reference signals (DRS). Examples of DRS are PRS, CRS, CSI-RS, PSS, SSS, NRS, NSSS, NPSS, etc. In another example, DRS can be any periodic signal with a configurable or pre-defined periodicity or signals based on a time-domain pattern. In another more narrow and specific example, DRS signals are as specified in 3GPP 36.211. Radio measurements can be absolute or relative. Radio measurements can be e.g. intra-frequency, inter-frequency, CA, etc. Radio measurements can be unidirectional (e.g., DL or UL) or bidirectional (e.g., RTT, Rx-Tx, etc.). Some examples of radio measurements: timing measurements (e.g., TOA, timing advance, RTT, RSTD, SSTD, Rx-Tx, propagation delay, etc.), angle measurements (e.g., angle of arrival), power-based measurements (e.g., received signal power, RSRP; received signal quality, RSRQ; signal to interference plus noise ration, SINR; signal to noise ratio, SNR; interference power; total interference plus noise; received signal strength indicator, RSSI; noise power; channel quality indicator, CQI; channel state information, CSI; precoding matrix indicator, PMI; etc.), cell detection or cell identification, beam detection or beam identification, RLM, system information reading, etc.

The term“time resource” is used in description of various exemplary embodiments, and it can refer and/or correspond to any type of physical resource or radio resource expressed in terms of length of time. Examples of time resources are: symbol, mini-slot, time slot, subframe, radio frame, TTI, interleaving time, etc.

The term“TTI” (short for“transmission time interval”) is used in description of various exemplary embodiments, and it can correspond to any time period over which a physical channel can be encoded and interleaved for transmission. The physical channel is decoded by the receiver over the same time period (TO) over which it was encoded. A TTI may also be referred to a short TTI (sTTI), transmission time, slot, sub-slot, mini-slot, short subframe (SSF), mini-subframe etc.

Likewise, the embodiments described herein can be applied to any RRC state, e.g., RRC CONNECTED or RRC IDLE or INACTIVE. Although the embodiments are described in the context of LTE, they are also applicable to any RAT or multi-RAT systems, where the UE receives and/or transmit signals (e.g. data) e.g. LTE FDD/TDD, WCDMA/HSPA, GSM/GERAN, Wi Fi, WLAN, CDMA2000, 5G, NR (standalone or non- standalone), etc.

As briefly mentioned above, positioning (e.g., PRS) and other types (e.g., RRM) of measurements can be mutually exclusive, such that a UE cannot perform both during the same time resources. In these cases, a UE must determine a schedule for sharing measurement opportunities among PRS and RRM measurements. Compared to LTE, however, NR DL signals available for UE RRM measurements can occur much more sparsely, or over a longer time period. At the same time, a NR UE may be required to measure LTE PRS with periodicity as low as 5 ms, as explained above. This combination can create various problems, issues, and/or drawbacks in scheduling mutually- exclusive measurements, such as PRS and RRM measurements.

A UE can perform periodic cell search and measurements of signal power and quality (e.g., reference signal received power, RSRP, and Reference signal received quality, RSRQ) in both Connected and Idle modes. The UE is responsible for detecting new neighbor cells, and for tracking and monitoring already detected cells. The detected cells and the associated measurement values are reported to the network. An LTE UE can perform such measurements on various downlink reference signals (RS) including, e.g., cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS), MBSFN reference signals, UE-specific Reference Signal (DM-RS) associated with PDSCH, Demodulation Reference Signal (DM-RS) associated with EPDCCH or MPDCCH, Positioning Reference Signal (PRS), and CSI Reference Signal (CSI-RS)

UE measurement reports to the network can be configured to be periodic or aperiodic based a particular event. For example, the network can configure a UE to perform measurements on various carrier frequencies and various RATs corresponding to neighbor cells, as well as for various purposes including, e.g., RRM and positioning. The configuration for each of these measurements is referred to as a“measurement object.” Furthermore, the UE can be configured to perform the measurements according to a“measurement gap pattern” (or“gap pattern” for short), which can comprise a measurement gap repetition period (MGRP) (i.e., how often a regular gap available for measurements occurs) and a measurement gap length (MGL) (i.e., the length of each regularly-occurring gap).

NR UEs can be configured to perform RRM measurements based on the synchronization signal and PBCH block (SSB) transmitted by each gNB. An exemplary NR SSB configuration for is illustrated in Figure 5a. An NR SSB comprises a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS), a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), a Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH), and Demodulation Reference Symbols (DM-RS). As also shown in Figure 5a, an individual SSB spans four adjacent OFDM symbols within a PRB. Multiple SSBs comprise an SSB burst, which is transmitted within a half- frame (e.g., 5 ms). Moreover, within the half- frame, multiple SSBs for different cells or different beams may be transmitted, as illustrated with SSB indices 0-7 in Figure 5b. The number of SSB locations in a burst depends on the frequency range (e.g., 0-3 or 0-6 GHz as shown in Figure lb), as well as on the particular NR radio interface configuration. The SSB burst (and, hence, the individual SSBs) are transmitted according to an SSB measurement timing configuration (SMTC) cycle, which may be 5, 10, 20, 40, 80 or 160 ms, as illustrated in Figure 5c.

The UE is configured by the network node (e.g., base station, eNB, gNB, etc.) with an SMTC for each NR carrier to be measured. The SMTC can include information such as a period and an offset. The SMTC offset can be expressed as a number of subframes, each of length lms, within the range 0 to SMTC period- 1, and is using the frame border of system frame number 0 of the serving cell as reference.

With respect to NR UE positioning measurements, Rel-l5 NR only supports positioning based on LTE carriers with LTE PRS configurations. For standalone NR, these are inter-RAT RSTD measurements based on LTE PRS for UE served by NR PC ell. Likewise, for non- standalone NR (e.g., EN-DC), these are either intra-RAT/intra-frequency or inter-frequency RSTD measurements configured by the LTE PCell for UE opering in EN-DC or GNEN-DC modes (i.e., dual connectivity with LTE PCell and NR PSCell). The positioning protocols may be the same (e.g., in non-standalone NR) or similar (e.g., in standalone NR) to those for LTE, since LPP is transparent to the serving base station and is between a positioning node (typically in the core network) and UE.

Cuurently only measurement gap pattern #0 (defined in Table 1 below) can be used for RSTD measurements based on LTE PRS. Since PRS are relatively sparse (e.g., positioning occasion periodicity Tprs is 160 ms or longer), even if some gaps of the same measurement gap pattern are used for RRM measurements, the gaps are always used for RSTD measurements whenever PRS is configured on an inter- frequency LTE carrier to be measured for RSTD.

Table 1.

In previous approaches, the first priority has been given to PRS-based measurements and the remaining gaps that cannot be used for RSTD (e.g., PRS are not available in the gaps, because PRS periodicity is always longer than MGRP) can be used for other RRM measurements requiring gaps. And the measurement period for RRM measurements is extended accordingly to compensate for the number of gaps overlapping with positioning occasions.

In the context of NR, when the positioning occasion periodicity Tprs can be 40 ms or less (e.g., as low as 5 ms), if the same prioritization of RSTD over RRM is used, then RRM measurements will never be performed since PRS occur in every measurement gap. The measurement period for RRM measurements can be scaled but this does not help since all gaps may overlap with positioning occasions and, thus, all the gaps will still be used for RSTD and not RRM.

Furthermore, when positioning occasions are more sparse than gap periodicity and some gaps are remaining after giving the first priority to RSTD, the RRM measurement period would be scaled for all carrier frequencies, even if no SMTC overlaps with gaps used for RSTD. This is unnecessary and can result in excessive RRM measurement period for no valid reason. Furthemore, some UEs following this unnecessary long measurement period may also delay measurement reporting and may not be able use the memory efficiently.

For NR UEs, not only can positioning occasions be more sparse, but also SSB-based measurements can be configured more sparsely. For example, an SMTC period (a window configured to perform SSB-based measurements on the corresponding carrier frequency) may be 160 ms or even 320 ms, which may result in the RRM measurements being more sparse than positioning occasions in some scenarios, which is not considered in the prior art where CRS used for RRM were assumed to be available in any subframe. The current term sharing is defined only for gaps (gap sharing) but the UE may also be unable to perform simultaneous measurements (e.g., two non-overlapping bandwidths of a large size, which can be typical for NR) for other reasons, including memory and processing overhead.

It is desirable, then, to provide an improved technique for facilitating a sharing of measurement opportunities (e.g., in measurement gaps) between positioning and RRM mesaurements in UEs operating in NR/5GC networks, which can address various techincal issues and provide various benefits and improvements as described herein.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure provide a novel technique for categorizing and/or identifying measurements as more sparse or less sparse (also referred to as “sparse” or“non-sparse”, respectively). The more sparse type of measurements can then be performed based on a priority over a less sparse type of measurements. The more sparse type of measurements relate to measurement occasions that are not available continuously (e.g., in every time unit such as a subframe or a slot), unlike measurement occasions for CRS-based LTE measurements which are available in every LTE subframe. In various embodiments, the less sparse type of measurements can be: • Less-sparse group A, with non-continuously measurement occasions, at least some of which are mutually exclusive with the measurement occasions of the more sparse type of measurements (also referred to as“non-continuous less-sparse group”), and

• Less-sparse group B, having continuous measurement occasions (also referred to as “continuous less-sparse group”).

Less-sparse group A can have varying degrees of sparseness, but are generally less sparse than the more-sparse type of measurements. Due to their continuous measurement occasions, group B measurements are generally less sparse than group A. In general, continuous less-sparse measurements are the least sparse of all types or groups of measurements.

Once categorized in the exemplary manner described above, the measurements can be scheduled and/or performed based on a resource sharing factor (RSF) if the occasions for the more- sparse type measurements: 1) overlap with measurement occasions corresponding to less-sparse type measurements, and 2) are mutually exclusive with the less-sparse type measurements, such that only measurements of one type can be performed in each individual measurement occasion. For example, a RSF can be applied to measurements of less-sparse group B (continuous occasions) or less-sparse group A (non-continuous occasions). As another example, a RSF can be applied to more-sparse type measurements together with non-continuous less-sparse measurements or continuous less-sparse measurements. In yet another example, priority is applied in those measurement occasions of the more sparse type that are mututally exclusive with measurement occasions of the less sparse type. In this example, a RSF can be applied in remaining measurement occasions of the less sparse measurements.

Moreover, measurements can be mutually exclusive (e.g., cannot be performed in the same time resources) if at least one of the following applies:

• based on different subcarrier spacings (SCSs), e.g., measurements of the more-sparse type are based on 15 kHz while measurements of the less-sparse type are based on 30 kHz, even if they have the same center frequency

• on different carrier frequencies, different carrier components (CCs), or different RATs, e.g., measurements of the more-sparse type are on Fl and measurements of the less-sparse type are on F2, or measurements of the more-sparse type are on CC1 and measurements of the less-sparse type are on CC2 and may not be performed at the same time e.g. due to a large amount of memory and excessive processing

• on different transmit beams from the same location (e.g., of the same measured cell)

• measurements on different transmit beams from different locations (e.g., from different cells or different transmission points (TRPs)) • using different receive beams, e.g., measurements of the more-sparse type are based on signals received with a first receive beam, and measurements of the less-sparse type are based on signals received with a second receive beam (a UE may not be able to receive in two different directions at the same time due to the need for beam sweeping)

• measurements of the more-sparse type (e.g., inter-frequency) are performed in gaps, and measurements of the less-sparse type (e.g., intra-frequency without gaps) are performed when there is no gap, and cannot be performed at the same time if their measurement occasions (subframes with the signals to measure) overlap in time

• measurements of the more-sparse type over bandwidth BW1 , and measurements of the less-sparse type over bandwidth BW2, where at least one of BW1 and BW are above a threshold, and one of BW1 and BW2 is not comprised in another one.

Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure include exemplary methods and/or procedures performed by user equipment (UE). In some exemplary embodiments, the UE can receive, from a wireless network, a first measurement configuration related to first measurement activities and a second measurement configuration related to second measurement activities. The UE can also receive an identification of a measurement gap pattern, comprising a plurality of measurement occasions, for performing the first and second measurement activities. Each of the measurement activities can comprise one or more measurement activities. Subsequently, the UE can categorize and/or identify the measurement activitiess comprising the respective configurations into a more-sparse type and a less-sparse type.

Different measurements may be more or less sparse due to different purposes (e.g., positioning, RRM, mobility, MDT, SON, RLM, channel estimation, cell detection or identification, beam detection or identification, beam management, GSM BSIC identification, GSM BSIC verification, etc.), periodicities, configuring nodes, measurement objects, and/or characteristics of the radio signals or channels on which they are performed (e.g., subcarrier spacing (SCS), frequency ranges (e.g., FR1 and FR2), etc.). Any of these aspects can be a basis for, or result of, the categorization by types.

Furthermore, the UE can categorize the measurements as a more-sparse type and a less- sparse type based on periodic availability of signals to measure. For example, measurements of the more-sparse type can have measurement occasions 01 determined by periodic availability with periodicity Tl) of the corresponding signals (Sl) to measure. Measurements of the less-sparse type have can measurement occasions 02 determined byperiodic availability (with periodicity T2) of the corresponding signals (S2) to measure. The periodic availability of signals to measure can be determined based on one or more of: • transmission pattern or transmission periodicity of the signals to measure (e.g., positioning occasion periodicity such as Tprs; SSB periodicity),

• transmission pattern or transmission periodicity of signals with the same or similar characteristics as, or associated with, the signals to measure (e.g., via the same beam, same SCS, etc.),

• measurement occasion/measurement window pattern or periodicity (e.g., SMTC, periodic search window - for example not all transmitted signals to measure may be contained in SMTC so the periodic availability would be determined by the signals within SMTC),

• MGRP and/or MGL covering the signals to measure and the gaps are needed for measuring the signals. For example, not all transmitted signals may fall into each gap if the transmission periodicity is longer than gap periodicity or the gap periodicity is not a multiple of the transmission periodicity if the gap periodicity is longer than transmission periodicity. In such case, the periodic availability is determined by the signals to measure which are actually falling into gaps; for example the periodic availavility may depend on the least common multiple of the transmission periodicity and gap periodicity as well as their alignment),

• UE activity (e.g., UE DRX so that the UE can measure the signals during active time periods such as during ON durations and not all transmitted signals are necessarily falling into ON periods as well as not necessarily all ON periods contain the transmitted signals to measure), etc.

• Muting pattern (e.g., not all configured signals to measure may be actually transmitted which may depend on a muting pattern or muting periodicity or non-muting periodicity) In various embodiments, the periodic availability can be based on any of the above. In some specific examples, the periodic availability can be a function of one or more of the above, e.g:

LCM(Tprs, MGRP, DRX cycle length),

where“LCM” is the least common multiple of all the arguments, or

max (SMTC periodicity, non-muted SSB transmission periodicity,

MGRP, DRX cycle length),

where“max” is the maximum of all the arguments. As another example, the function can be a common (but non-least) multiple of all the arguments.

In some exemplary embodiments, a measurement can be categorized as more sparse if its periodic availability (discussed above) is above a threshold T sparse. Otherwise, the measurement can be categorized as less sparse. T_sparse may be a pre-defined fixed value (e.g., max(MGRP,Tprs) or LCM(MGRP,Tprs) > 640 ms), may be derived based on a function or rule, or may be calculated as a function of other parameters such as parameters determining the periodic availability (e.g., as a function of gap periodicity, SMTC, DRS periodicity, DRX cycle length etc.: T sparse = k 1 *MGRP where k2 is a pre-defined scaling factor e.g. kl=l or 2; or T sparse = k2*Tsmtc where Tsmtc is the SMTC periodicity; or T sparse = LCM(MGRP, SMTC, DRX cycle length) or T sparse = max(MGRP, SMTC, DRX cycle length) where LCM is the least common multiple function and max is the max- function).

In another exemplary embodiment, the threshold T sparse can depend on the measurement type and/or frequency range, e.g., T_sparse = 640 ms if the more sparse type of the measurements is for positioning purpose, and T sparse = 160 ms if the less sparse type of the measurements is for mobility or RRM purpose; or T sparse = 640 ms if the more sparse type of the measurements is for positioning purpose in frequency range FR1, and T sparse = 1280 ms if the more sparse type of the measurements is for positioning purpose in frequency range FR2.

In another exemplary embodiment, a measurement of a more sparse type can be categorized as more sparse if the number of its measurement occasions 01 is below a threshold Nl sparse over a certain time period tl sparse, e.g., no more than two (2) positioning occasions (which are not necessarily periodic but may be based on a certain measurement occasion patterm) during 1.28 seconds.

In another exemplary embodiment, a measurement can be categorized as more sparse if the number of subframes comprised in its measurement occasions 01 (e.g., based on a measurement occasions pattern or measurement occasion periodicity and measurement occasion length) is below a threshold N2_sparse over a certain time period t2_sparse, e.g., no more than 12 measurement subframes comprised in all measurement occasions during 1.28 seconds. The difference from the previous example is that the measurement occasions in 01 do not need to be periodic, since they are just counted over a certain time.

In another exemplary embodiment, a measurement can be categorized as more sparse type considering the subset of the possible measurement occasions 01 actually falling into measurement gaps, e.g., when the gap periodicity is not a multiple of the transmission periodicity of the first signals to measure so that the periodic availability is determined by both gap periodicity and signal transmission periodicity as well as their alignment and can be e.g. the least common multiple of both periodicities. This example may be combined with other examples, i.e. the subset of 01 which corresponds to measurement gaps is above a threshold Tsparse, the subset of 01 which corresponds to measurement gaps is below a threshold Nl sparse over a certain time period tl sparse or the subset of 01 which corresponds to measurement gaps is below a threshold N2_sparse over a certain time period t2_sparse. An example is GSM BSIC (basestation idendity code) which is identified and verified by a UE using the GSM broadcast channel (BCH), which consists of BCCH, SCH and FCCH. FCCH and SCH are used to decode the BSIC. Many instances of GSM FCCH or SCH will not correspond to measurement gaps, so measurements of these types may become more sparse even though the relevant signals are be transmitted every 10 or 11 GSM frames within a 51 frame control hyper- frame (a single GSM frame having a duration of 120 ms/26).

As briefly mentioned above, the UE can further categorize and/or identify the less sparse type of measurements as one of the following:

• Non-continuous less-sparse group (“group A”), with non-continuously measurement occasions, at least some of which are mutually exclusive with the measurement occasions of the more sparse type of measurements, and

• Continuous less-sparse group (“group B”), having continuous measurement occasions. Group A can have varying degrees of sparseness, but are generally less sparse than the more-sparse type of measurements. Due to their continuous measurement occasions, group B measurements are generally less sparse than group A. In general, continuous less-sparse measurements are the least sparse of all types or groups of measurements.

The UE can use similar techniques for categorizing the less-sparse type into groupps A and B as for the categorization between more-sparse and less-sparse types, which are discussed above. For example, the group categorization can be based on the periodic availability. Furthermore, the group categorization can be based on comparing the periodic availability to a second threshold (e.g,. T continuous), while the type categorization described above can be based on comparing the periodic availability to a first threshold (e.g., T sparse), such as discussed above. The two thresholds can be different, but can be determined in a same or similar manner according to any of the factors discussed above.

The UE can then schedule and/or perform the more-sparse type of measurements based on a priority over the less-sparse type of measurements, during the measurement occasions where the more-sparse type of measurements and the less-sparse type of measurements are mutually exclusive. For example, in the measurement occasions comprising 01 that overlap with measurement occasions comprising 02, the UE can exclusively perform measurements of the more-sparse type, thereby giving the priority to these measurements.

If two measurements of the more-sparse type are overlapping and mutually exclusive, then the UE can determine which measurements are given priority to be performed in the measurement occasions in 01 that overlap with measurement occasions in 02, by applying one or more rules, heuristics, and/or procedures. In various embodiments, such rules, heuristics, and/or procedures for determining priority between the measurements can be:

• Pre-defined, based on the measurement type; • Configured by a network node;

• Degree of sparseness (e.g., measurements with longer periodicity or a smaller number of subframes comprised in the measurement occasions during a certain interval have a higher priority);

• Based on one or more resource share factors (e.g., more-sparse type performed based on RSF2, while less-sparse type are performed based on RSF1) based on principles described below.

As mentioned above, the UE can schedule and/or perform measurements of two types based on a resource sharing factor (RSF) if the occasions for the more-sparse type measurements: 1) overlap with measurement occasions corresponding to less-sparse type measurements, and 2) are mutually exclusive with the less-sparse type measurements, such that only measurements of one type can be performed in each individual measurement occasion

The RSF can be applied not on every measurement occasion but only in the overlapping parts of 01 and 02 determined by 012=01 n02. The overlap 012 can be determined over a certain limited time period in various ways. For example, 012 can be determined over the maximum periodicity of the overlapping measurements. In another example, 012 can be determined over the least common multiple (LCM) of the periodicities of the overlapping measurements. 012 can also be determined based on a non-least common multiple of these periodicities.

Moreover, the RSF can be determined by the UE based on pre-defined rules, or can be received, by the UE, from a network node. The parameters or relations used to determine the RSF can also be pre-defined (e.g., in a specification), derived based on pre-defined rules (e.g., in a specification), or received from a network node. For example, a rule usable to determine RSF is “X % or share or the number of of measurement occasions in 012 are to be used for the more sparse type of measuerments, and Y % or share or the number of measurement occasions in 012 are to be used for the less sparse type of measurements.”

In various other exemplary embodiments, the RSF can be determined based on one or more of the following parameters, rules, relations, heuristics, and/or procedures:

• Purpose of more sparse type and less sparse type (e.g., the RSF is determined by relation kl_l :kl_2 = 1 :3 for two measurement purposes)

• Frequency range of the more sparse type and frequency range of the less sparse type (e.g., the RSF is determined by relation k2_l :k2_2 = 1 : 1 if the frequency ranges are the same and k2_l :k2_2=l :2 if the frequency ranges are FR1 and FR2 respectively)

• bandwidths of the more sparse type and the less sparse type (e.g., the RSF is determined by relation k3_l :k3_2=l : l if the bandwidths are the same or within a threshold, and k3_l :k3_2=l :2 if the bandwidth of the more sparse type is larger than the less-sparse type by a threshold)

• at least one of: measurement occasion length of the more sparse type and the less sparse type, number of measurement occasions over a time period, and the measurement period for the corresponding type of measurement (e.g., the RSF may be determined by relation k4_l :k4_2=l : l if the measurement occasions lengths are the same or similar for both, or by k4_l :k4_2=l :2 if the measurement occasions lengths of the more sparse type are two times longer than the measurement occasions of the less sparse type. In another example, the RSF can be determined by relation k4_l :k4_2=(L_Ol *N_Ol/Tl) :

( ( L_02 * N O 2/T 2 ) ) where L_Ol and L_02 are the lengths of an individual measurement occasion of the more sparse type and less sparse type of measurements respectively, N_Ol and N_02 are the numbers of such measurement occasions over Tl and T2 respectively, and Tl and T2 (which may be the same) are the reference time periods or measurement periods for the more sparse and the less sparse type of measurements respectively as if the meaurements would be performed without resource sharing)

• the number of measurements of the more sparse type and the number of measurements of the less sparse type (e.g,, the RSF may be determined by relation k5_l :k5_2=l : l if there is one intra-frequency measurement and one inter-frequency measurement which are the more sparse and the less sparse types respectively, or by relation k5_l :k5_2=2: l if there are two intra- frequency measurements and one inter- frequency measurement which are the more sparse and the less sparse type respectively, i.e., to allow more frequent useage of the overlapping measurement occasions for the type of measurements which comprise more moreasurements (especially if measured on different signals or in different symbols) e.g. there can be configured SSB-based RLM, CSI-RS based RSRP, and PRS-based RSTD for intra- frequency but only inter- frequency RSRP so the intra-frequency measurements may need more resources based on this criterion)

The resulting RSF, determined according to any of the exemplary methods discussed above, can be a function of kl_l :kl_2, k2_l :k2_2, k3_l :k3_2, etc. or more generally a function of the applicable ki_l :ki_2. In one example, RSF may be determined by relation

(kl_l *k2_l *k3_l) : (kl_2*k2_2*k3_2).

In another example, RSF, can be calculated as:

(kl_l *k2_l *k3_l) / [(kl_l *k2_l *k3_l) + (kl_2*k2_2*k3_2)] * 100%. In some embodiments of the exemplary method and/or procedure, the UE can use the calculated RSF to select and/or schedule the type of measurements to perform in each of the overlapping parts of 01 and 02. For example, based on RSF, the UE can determine that the measurements of the more sparse type are measured in X overlapping occasions and the measurements of the less sparse type are measured in the other Y overlapping occasions during a certain time interval, and then repeat again with X measurement occasions for the more sparse type and Y measurement occasions for the less sparse type.

In other exemplary embodiments, the RSF can be used to determine the measurement period and/or reporting delay for the measurements of the more sparse and less sparse types.

Although exemplary embodiments have been described above as methods and/or procedures peformed by a UE, other exemplary embodiments include methods and/or procedures peformed by a network node for configuring a UE. Such exemplary methods and/or procedures performed in a network node can include the same, or similar, operations as described above in relation to UEs. Furthermore, the network node can utilize the exemplary methods and/or procedures to configure a UE to perform a plurality of measurements in an optimal, desirable, and/or improved manner such as by one or more of the following:

• Avoiding configuring or minimizing the number of measurement occasions of more sparse type of measurements which are overlapping with the less sparse type of measurements, which may comprise, e.g. :

o Controlling periodic availability parameters (see Section 5.2) for the more sparse type of signals,

o Controlling periodic availability parameters for the less sparse type of signals o Controlling offset of the more sparse and/or the less sparse types of measurements (e.g., with respect to a reference time such as SFNO) or relative offset between the two types.

• Controlling the priority of the more sparse type of measurements over the less sparse type of measurements, if the less sparse type of measurements are also relatively sparse (e.g., non- continuous less-sparse).

• Determining (e.g., see methods of determining RSF in the UE embodiments which may also be used herein), controlling and signaling to the UE the resource share factor (RSF) between more sparse type and less sparse type.

• Determining (e.g., based on priority or RSF, depending on whether the measurement is sparse or not) measurement periods and/or the expected measurement reporting time for the more sparse and the less sparse type of measurements, receiving the measurements results based on the determined measurement and/or reporting periods (if the measurements are delay, the network node may reconfigure the measurements, declare a failure, etc. - the action may depend on the measurement type).

Figure 6 illustrates an exemplary method and/or procedure for scheduling a plurality of measurement activities in a wireless network, in accordance with particular exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The exemplary method and/or procedure shown in Figure 6 can be performed by a user equipment (UE, e.g., wireless device, or component thereof such as a modem) in communication with a serving network node (e.g., eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, en-gNB, base station, etc., or component thereof) in the wireless network, as shown in or described in relation to other figures herein.

Furthermore, exemplary method and/or procedure shown in Figure 6 can be complimentary to exemplary method and/or procedure illustrated in Figure 7 below. In other words, exemplary methods and/or procedures shown in Figures 6 and 7 are capable of being used cooperatively to provide benefits, advantages, and/or solutions to problems described herein. Although Figure 6 shows blocks in a particular order, this order is merely exemplary and the operations shown in Figure 6 can be performed in a different order than shown, and can be combined and/or divided into blocks having different functionality than shown. Optional operations are indicated by dashed lines.

The exemplary method and/or procedure can include the operations of block 610, where the UE can receive the following from the wireless network: a first measurement configuration related to first measurement activities, a second measurement configuration related to second measurement activities, and identification of a measurement gap pattern, comprising a plurality of measurement occasions, for performing the first and second measurement activities. In some embodiments, the first measurement configuration can be received from a first network node in the wireless network (e.g., a serving RAN node), while the second measurement configuration is received from a second network node in the wireless network (e.g., a positioning node, such as SMLC). The identification of the measurement gap pattern can be received from the first or second network node. In some embodiments, the first measurement activities can be related to radio resource management, while the second measurement activities can be related to UE positioning.

The exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 620, where the UE can categorize measurement activities related to one of the first or the second measurement configurations as a more-sparse type, and measurement activities related to the other of the first or the second measurement configurations as a less-sparse type. In some embodiments, the categorizing operations of block 620 can be based on one or more of the following first factors: transmission pattern or transmission periodicity of signals to measure; transmission pattern or transmission periodicity of signals associated with the signals to measure; measurement gap repetition period (MGRP) and/or measurement gap length (MGL) associated with the measurement gap pattern; SSB measurement timing configuration (SMTC) cycle; discovery reference signal (DRS) periodicity; reference signal muting pattern; and UE discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle length.

In some embodiments, the categorizing operations of block 620 can be based on periodic availibity of the signals to measure in relation to a first threshold. In such embodiments, the periodic availability can be based on a function of one or more of the first factors (i.e., the first factors listed above), with the function being least common multiple, common multiple, or maximum. In some embodiments, the first threshold can be based on one or more of the following: purpose of measurement, frequency range of measurement, MGRP, SMTC cycle, DRS periodicity, reference signal muting pattern, and UE DRX cycle length.

The exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 630, where the UE can categorize each of the measurement activities comprising the less-sparse type as part of a continuous less-sparse group or a non-continuous less-sparse group, based on whether the particular measurement activity has continuous measurement occasions according to the measurement gap pattern. In some embodiments, the categorizing operations of block 630 can be based on the periodic availibity (discussed in context of block 620 above) in relation to a second threshold different than the first threshold.

In some embodiments, measurement activities of the more-sparse type can correspond to LTE positioning reference signal (PRS) or reference signal time difference (RSTD) measurements. Likewise, in such embodiments, measurement activities of the non-continuous less-sparse group can correspond to NR SSB measurements using an SMTC. Similarly, in such embodiments, measurement activities of the continuous less-sparse group correspond to one or more of the following measurements: LTE cell-specific reference signals (CRS), UMTS common pilot channel (CPICH), and GSM received signal strength indicator (RSSI).

The exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 640, where the UE can determine, over the plurality of measurement occasions, a schedule for the plurality of measurement activities comprising the more-sparse type, the continuous less-sparse group, and the non-continuous less-sparse group. In some embodiments, the operations of block 640 can include the operations of sub-block 642, where the UE can select a first portion of the plurality of measurement occasions that involve the measurement activities comprising the more- sparse type that are overlapping and mutually exclusive with one of the following: measurement activities comprising the non-continuous less-sparse group, or measurement activities comprising the continuous less-sparse group. In some embodiments, the operations of block 640 can include the operations of sub-block 646, where the UE can apply a resource sharing factor (RSF) to the first portion of the plurality of measurement occasions. In some embodiments, the operations of block 640 can include the operations of sub-block 644, where the UE can determine the RSF based on a function of one or more of the following characteristics with respect to the overlapping and mutually exclusive measurements: measurement purpose, frequency range, bandwidth, measurement occasion length or duration, number of measurements, radio access technology (RAT), and availability of reference signals associated with the more-sparse type in the measurement occasions. In some embodiments, the RSF can be determine such that measurements of the more-sparse type are performed in all measurement occasions where reference signals associated with the more-sparse type are present.

In some embodiments, the operations of block 640 can include the operations of sub-block 648, where the UE can schedule the more-sparse type of measurements in priority over the less- sparse type of measurements during the first portion of measurement occasions. In some embodiments, the operations of block 640 can include the operations of sub-block 649, where the UE can schedule the less-sparse type of measurements based on a resource sharing factor (RSF) during a second portion of the measurement occasions. For example, the second portion can be the remainder of the measurement occasions other than the first portion.

In some embodiments, the exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 650, where the UE can perform the plurality of measurement activities according to the determined schedule. In some embodiments, the exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 660, where the UE can send, to a network node in the wireless network, a measurement report based on the first measurement activities and/or the second measurement activities performed according to the determined schedule. In such embodiments, the exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 670, where the UE can receive, from the network node, a revised first measurement configuration and/or a revised second measurement configuration (e.g., based on the measurement report).

Figure 7 illustrates an exemplary method and/or procedure for scheduling a plurality of measurement activities in a wireless network, in accordance with particular exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. The exemplary method and/or procedure shown in Figure 7 can be performed by a network node (e.g., eNB, gNB, ng-eNB, en-gNB, base station, etc., or component thereof) serving a user equipment (UE, e.g., wireless device, or component thereof such as a modem) in the wireless network, as shown in or described in relation to other figures herein. Furthermore, exemplary method and/or procedure shown in Figure 7 can be complimentary to exemplary method and/or procedure illustrated in Figure 6 above. In other words, exemplary methods and/or procedures shown in Figures 6 and 7 are capable of being used cooperatively to provide benefits, advantages, and/or solutions to problems described herein. Although Figure 7 shows blocks in a particular order, this order is merely exemplary and the operations shown in Figure 7 can be performed in a different order than shown, and can be combined and/or divided into blocks having different functionality than shown. Optional operations are indicated by dashed lines.

The exemplary method and/or procedure can include the operations of block 710, where the network node can obtain the following information with respect to the UE: a first measurement configuration related to first measurement activities, a second measurement configuration related to second measurement activities, and identification of a measurement gap pattern, comprising a plurality of measurement occasions, for performing the first and second measurement activities. In some embodiments, the first measurement activities can be related to radio resource management, while the second measurement activities can be related to UE positioning.

In some embodiments, the operations of block 710 can include the operations of sub-block 712, where the network node can determine the first measurement configuration and the measurement gap pattern, and block 714, where the network node can receive the second measurement configuration from another network node in the wireless network (e.g., a positioning node). In other embodiments, the operations of block 710 can include the operations of sub-block 716, where the network node can receive the first measurement configuration and the measurement gap pattern from another network node in the wireless network (e.g., from a network node serving the UE), and the operations of sub-block 718, where the network node can determine the second measurement configuration.

In some embodiments, the exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 720, where the network node can send at least one of the following to the UE: the first measurement configuration and the identification of the measurement gap pattern; and the second measurement configuration. In some embodiments, the exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 730, where the network node can receive a measurement report from the UE. For example, the measurement report can pertain to measurements performed according to the first and/or second measurement configurations. In such embodiments that include blocks 720 and 730), the further operations described below can be performed in response to the received measurement report.

The exemplary method and/or procedure can include the operations of block 740, where the network node can categorize measurement activities related to one of the first or the second measurement configurations as a more-sparse type, and measurement activities related to the other of the first or the second measurement configurations as a less-sparse type. In some embodiments, the categorizing operations of block 740 can be based on one or more of the following first factors: transmission pattern or transmission periodicity of signals to measure; transmission pattern or transmission periodicity of signals associated with the signals to measure; measurement gap repetition period (MGRP) and/or measurement gap length (MGL) associated with the measurement gap pattern; SSB measurement timing configuration (SMTC) cycle; discovery reference signal (DRS) periodicity; reference signal muting pattern; and UE discontinuous reception (DRX) cycle length.

In some embodiments, the categorizing operations of block 740 can be based on periodic availibity of the signals to measure in relation to a first threshold. In such embodiments, the periodic availability can be based on a function of one or more of the first factors (i.e., the first factors listed above), with the function being least common multiple, common multiple, or maximum. In some embodiments, the first threshold can be based on one or more of the following: purpose of measurement, frequency range of measurement, MGRP, SMTC cycle, DRS periodicity, reference signal muting pattern, and UE DRX cycle length.

The exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 750, where the network node can categorize each of the measurement activities comprising the less- sparse type as part of a continuous less-sparse group or a non-continuous less-sparse group, based on whether the particular measurement activity has continuous measurement occasions according to the measurement gap pattern. In some embodiments, the categorizing operations of block 750 can be based on the periodic availibity (discussed in context of block 740 above) in relation to a second threshold different than the first threshold.

The exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 760, where the network node can determine, over the plurality of measurement occasions, a schedule for the plurality of measurement activities comprising the more-sparse type, the continuous less- sparse group, and the non-continuous less-sparse group. In some embodiments, the operations of block 760 can include the operations of sub-block 762, where the network node can select a first portion of the plurality of measurement occasions that involve the measurement activities comprising the more-sparse type that are overlapping and mutually exclusive with one of the following: measurement activities comprising the non-continuous less-sparse group, or measurement activities comprising the continuous less-sparse group.

In some embodiments, the operations of block 760 can include the operations of sub-block 766, where the network node can apply a resource sharing factor (RSF) to the first portion of the plurality of measurement occasions. In some embodiments, the operations of block 760 can include the operations of sub-block 764, where the network node can determine the RSF based on a function of one or more of the following characteristics with respect to the overlapping and mutually exclusive measurements: measurement purpose, frequency range, bandwidth, measurement occasion length or duration, number of measurements, radio access technology (RAT), and availability of reference signals associated with the more-sparse type in the measurement occasions. In some embodiments, the RSF can be determined such that measurements of the more-sparse type are performed in all measurement occasions where reference signals associated with the more-sparse type are present.

In some embodiments, the operations of block 760 can include the operations of sub-block 768, where the network node can schedule the more-sparse type of measurements in priority over the less-sparse type of measurements during the first portion of measurement occasions. In some embodiments, the operations of block 760 can include the operations of sub-block 769, where the network node can schedule the less-sparse type of measurements based on a resource sharing factor (RSF) during a second portion of the measurement occasions. For example, the second portion can be the remainder of the measurement occasions other than the first portion.

The exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 770, where the network node can determine a revised measurement configuration based on the determined schedule (e.g., determined in block 760). In some embodiments, the operations of block 770 can include the operations of sub-block 772, where the network node can modify one or more parameters comprising the initial measurement configuration to reduce the number of measurement occasions comprising the first portion. In various embodiments, any of the following parameters can be modified by the operations in sub-block 772:

• periodic availability parameters related to the more-sparse type;

• periodic availability parameters related to the less-sparse type;

• offsets related to the more-sparse type, the less-sparse type, and/or between the more- sparse and less-sparse types;

• relative priorities of the more sparse type, the non-continuous less-sparse group, and the continuous less-sparse group; • resource sharing factor (RSF) between the more sparse type and one or more of the non- continuous less-sparse group, and the continuous less-sparse group; and

• measurement periods and/or the expected measurement reporting time for the more-sparse type and the less-sparse type.

In some embodiments, the exemplary method and/or procedure can also include the operations of block 780, where the network node can send the revised measurement configuration to the UE.

Although the subject matter described herein can be implemented in any appropriate type of system using any suitable components, the embodiments disclosed herein are described in relation to a wireless network, such as the example wireless network illustrated in Figure 8. For simplicity, the wireless network of Figure 8 only depicts network 806, network nodes 860 and 860b, and WDs 810, 810b, and 8l0c. In practice, a wireless network can further include any additional elements suitable to support communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, a service provider, or any other network node or end device. Of the illustrated components, network node 860 and wireless device (WD) 810 are depicted with additional detail. The wireless network can provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate the wireless devices’ access to and/or use of the services provided by, or via, the wireless network.

The wireless network can comprise and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, and/or radio network or other similar type of system. In some embodiments, the wireless network can be configured to operate according to specific standards or other types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particular embodiments of the wireless network can implement communication standards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Fong Term Evolution (FTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WEAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.

Network 806 can comprise one or more backhaul networks, core networks, IP networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), packet data networks, optical networks, wide-area networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), wireless local area networks (WLANs), wired networks, wireless networks, metropolitan area networks, and other networks to enable communication between devices.

Network node 860 and WD 810 comprise various components described in more detail below. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network can comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that can facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections.

As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the wireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations can be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and can then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station can be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node can also include one or more (or all) parts of a distributed radio base station such as centralized digital units and/or remote radio units (RRUs), sometimes referred to as Remote Radio Heads (RRHs). Such remote radio units may or may not be integrated with an antenna as an antenna integrated radio. Parts of a distributed radio base station can also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS).

Further examples of network nodes include multi- standard radio (MSR) equipment such as MSR BSs, network controllers such as radio network controllers (RNCs) or base station controllers (BSCs), base transceiver stations (BTSs), transmission points, transmission nodes, multi- cell/multicast coordination entities (MCEs), core network nodes (e.g., MSCs, MMEs), O&M nodes, OSS nodes, SON nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., E-SMLCs), and/or MDTs. As another example, a network node can be a virtual network node as described in more detail below. More generally, however, network nodes can represent any suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to enable and/or provide a wireless device with access to the wireless network or to provide some service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network.

In Figure 8, network node 860 includes processing circuitry 870, device readable medium 880, interface 890, auxiliary equipment 884, power source 886, power circuitry 887, and antenna 862. Although network node 860 illustrated in the example wireless network of Figure 8 can represent a device that includes the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments can comprise network nodes with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that a network node comprises any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods and/or procedures disclosed herein. Moreover, while the components of network node 860 are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, a network node can comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g., device readable medium 880 can comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

Similarly, network node 860 can be composed of multiple physically separate components (e.g., a NodeB component and a RNC component, or a BTS component and a BSC component, etc.), which can each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which network node 860 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components can be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC can control multiple NodeB’ s. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, can in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, network node 860 can be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components can be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium 880 for the different RATs) and some components can be reused (e.g., the same antenna 862 can be shared by the RATs). Network node 860 can also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 860, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies. These wireless technologies can be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 860.

Processing circuitry 870 can be configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations (e.g., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being provided by a network node. These operations performed by processing circuitry 870 can include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 870 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored in the network node, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.

Processing circuitry 870 can comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other network node 860 components, such as device readable medium 880, network node 860 functionality. For example, processing circuitry 870 can execute instructions stored in device readable medium 880 or in memory within processing circuitry 870. Such functionality can include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 870 can include a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 870 can include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 872 and baseband processing circuitry 874. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 872 and baseband processing circuitry 874 can be on separate chips (or sets of chips), boards, or units, such as radio units and digital units. In alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 872 and baseband processing circuitry 874 can be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being provided by a network node, base station, eNB or other such network device can be performed by processing circuitry 870 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 880 or memory within processing circuitry 870. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality can be provided by processing circuitry 870 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry 870 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 870 alone or to other components of network node 860, but are enjoyed by network node 860 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Device readable medium 880 can comprise any form of volatile or non-volatile computer readable memory including, without limitation, persistent storage, solid-state memory, remotely mounted memory, magnetic media, optical media, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), mass storage media (for example, a hard disk), removable storage media (for example, a flash drive, a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer-executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that can be used by processing circuitry 870. Device readable medium 880 can store any suitable instructions, data or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 870 and, utilized by network node 860. Device readable medium 880 can be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry 870 and/or any data received via interface 890. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 870 and device readable medium 880 can be considered to be integrated. Interface 890 is used in the wired or wireless communication of signalling and/or data between network node 860, network 806, and/or WDs 810. As illustrated, interface 890 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 894 to send and receive data, for example to and from network 806 over a wired connection. Interface 890 also includes radio front end circuitry 892 that can be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 862. Radio front end circuitry 892 comprises filters 898 and amplifiers 896. Radio front end circuitry 892 can be connected to antenna 862 and processing circuitry 870. Radio front end circuitry can be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 862 and processing circuitry 870. Radio front end circuitry 892 can receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 892 can convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 898 and/or amplifiers 896. The radio signal can then be transmitted via antenna 862. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 862 can collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 892. The digital data can be passed to processing circuitry 870. In other embodiments, the interface can comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, network node 860 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 892, instead, processing circuitry 870 can comprise radio front end circuitry and can be connected to antenna 862 without separate radio front end circuitry 892. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 872 can be considered a part of interface 890. In still other embodiments, interface 890 can include one or more ports or terminals 894, radio front end circuitry 892, and RF transceiver circuitry 872, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface 890 can communicate with baseband processing circuitry 874, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

Antenna 862 can include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna 862 can be coupled to radio front end circuitry 890 and can be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna 862 can comprise one or more omni-directional, sector or panel antennas operable to transmit/receive radio signals between, for example, 2 GHz and 66 GHz. An omni directional antenna can be used to transmit/receive radio signals in any direction, a sector antenna can be used to transmit/receive radio signals from devices within a particular area, and a panel antenna can be a line of sight antenna used to transmit/receive radio signals in a relatively straight line. In some instances, the use of more than one antenna can be referred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna 862 can be separate from network node 860 and can be connectable to network node 860 through an interface or port. Antenna 862, interface 890, and/or processing circuitry 870 can be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals can be received from a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 862, interface 890, and/or processing circuitry 870 can be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals can be transmitted to a wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment.

Power circuitry 887 can comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry and can be configured to supply the components of network node 860 with power for performing the functionality described herein. Power circuitry 887 can receive power from power source 886. Power source 886 and/or power circuitry 887 can be configured to provide power to the various components of network node 860 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source 886 can either be included in, or external to, power circuitry 887 and/or network node 860. For example, network node 860 can be connectable to an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry 887. As a further example, power source 886 can comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry 887. The battery can provide backup power should the external power source fail. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, can also be used.

Alternative embodiments of network node 860 can include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 8 that can be responsible for providing certain aspects of the network node’s functionality, including any of the functionality described herein and/or any functionality necessary to support the subject matter described herein. For example, network node 860 can include user interface equipment to allow and/or facilitate input of information into network node 860 and to allow and/or facilitate output of information from network node 860. This can allow and/or facilitate a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node 860.

As used herein, wireless device (WD) refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, the term WD can be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE). Communicating wirelessly can involve transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information through air. In some embodiments, a WD can be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a WD can be designed to transmit information to a network on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the network. Examples of a WD include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, a mobile phone, a cell phone, a voice over IP (VoIP) phone, a wireless local loop phone, a desktop computer, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a wireless cameras, a gaming console or device, a music storage device, a playback appliance, a wearable terminal device, a wireless endpoint, a mobile station, a tablet, a laptop, a laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), a laptop-mounted equipment (LME), a smart device, a wireless customer- premise equipment (CPE) a vehicle-mounted wireless terminal device, etc..

A WD can support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and can in this case be referred to as a D2D communication device. As yet another specific example, in an Internet of Things (IoT) scenario, a WD can represent a machine or other device that performs monitoring and/or measurements, and transmits the results of such monitoring and/or measurements to another WD and/or a network node. The WD can in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which can in a 3 GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the WD can be a UE implementing the 3 GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances (e.g., refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, a WD can represent a vehicle or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation. A WD as described above can represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device can be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described above can be mobile, in which case it can also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

As illustrated, wireless device 810 includes antenna 811, interface 814, processing circuitry 820, device readable medium 830, user interface equipment 832, auxiliary equipment 834, power source 836 and power circuitry 837. WD 810 can include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by WD 810, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. These wireless technologies can be integrated into the same or different chips or set of chips as other components within WD 810.

Antenna 811 can include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface 814. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna 811 can be separate from WD 810 and be connectable to WD 810 through an interface or port. Antenna 811, interface 814, and/or processing circuitry 820 can be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, data and/or signals can be received from a network node and/or another WD. In some embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 811 can be considered an interface.

As illustrated, interface 814 comprises radio front end circuitry 812 and antenna 811. Radio front end circuitry 812 comprise one or more filters 818 and amplifiers 816. Radio front end circuitry 814 is connected to antenna 811 and processing circuitry 820, and can be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 811 and processing circuitry 820. Radio front end circuitry 812 can be coupled to or a part of antenna 811. In some embodiments, WD 810 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 812; rather, processing circuitry 820 can comprise radio front end circuitry and can be connected to antenna 811. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 822 can be considered a part of interface 814. Radio front end circuitry 812 can receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 812 can convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 818 and/or amplifiers 816. The radio signal can then be transmitted via antenna 811. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 811 can collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 812. The digital data can be passed to processing circuitry 820. In other embodiments, the interface can comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

Processing circuitry 820 can comprise a combination of one or more of a microprocessor, controller, microcontroller, central processing unit, digital signal processor, application-specific integrated circuit, field programmable gate array, or any other suitable computing device, resource, or combination of hardware, software, and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other WD 810 components, such as device readable medium 830, WD 810 functionality. Such functionality can include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry 820 can execute instructions stored in device readable medium 830 or in memory within processing circuitry 820 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

As illustrated, processing circuitry 820 includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry 822, baseband processing circuitry 824, and application processing circuitry 826. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry can comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry 820 of WD 810 can comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 822, baseband processing circuitry 824, and application processing circuitry 826 can be on separate chips or sets of chips. In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry 824 and application processing circuitry 826 can be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry 822 can be on a separate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 822 and baseband processing circuitry 824 can be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processing circuitry 826 can be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 822, baseband processing circuitry 824, and application processing circuitry 826 can be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 822 can be a part of interface 814. RF transceiver circuitry 822 can condition RF signals for processing circuitry 820.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by a WD can be provided by processing circuitry 820 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 830, which in certain embodiments can be a computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality can be provided by processing circuitry 820 without executing instructions stored on a separate or discrete device readable storage medium, such as in a hard-wired manner. In any of those particular embodiments, whether executing instructions stored on a device readable storage medium or not, processing circuitry 820 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 820 alone or to other components of WD 810, but are enjoyed by WD 810 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Processing circuitry 820 can be configured to perform any determining, calculating, or similar operations ( e.g ., certain obtaining operations) described herein as being performed by a WD. These operations, as performed by processing circuitry 820, can include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 820 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by WD 810, and/or performing one or more operations based on the obtained information or converted information, and as a result of said processing making a determination.

Device readable medium 830 can be operable to store a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, etc. and/or other instructions capable of being executed by processing circuitry 820. Device readable medium 830 can include computer memory (e.g., Random Access Memory (RAM) or Read Only Memory (ROM)), mass storage media (e.g., a hard disk), removable storage media (e.g., a Compact Disk (CD) or a Digital Video Disk (DVD)), and/or any other volatile or non-volatile, non-transitory device readable and/or computer executable memory devices that store information, data, and/or instructions that can be used by processing circuitry 820. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 820 and device readable medium 830 can be considered to be integrated. User interface equipment 832 can include components that allow and/or facilitate a human user to interact with WD 810. Such interaction can be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment 832 can be operable to produce output to the user and to allow and/or facilitate the user to provide input to WD 810. The type of interaction can vary depending on the type of user interface equipment 832 installed in WD 810. For example, if WD 810 is a smart phone, the interaction can be via a touch screen; if WD 810 is a smart meter, the interaction can be through a screen that provides usage ( e.g ., the number of gallons used) or a speaker that provides an audible alert (e.g., if smoke is detected). User interface equipment 832 can include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interface equipment 832 can be configured to allow and/or facilitate input of information into WD 810, and is connected to processing circuitry 820 to allow and/or facilitate processing circuitry 820 to process the input information. User interface equipment 832 can include, for example, a microphone, a proximity or other sensor, keys/buttons, a touch display, one or more cameras, a USB port, or other input circuitry. User interface equipment 832 is also configured to allow and/or facilitate output of information from WD 810, and to allow and/or facilitate processing circuitry 820 to output information from WD 810. User interface equipment 832 can include, for example, a speaker, a display, vibrating circuitry, a USB port, a headphone interface, or other output circuitry. Using one or more input and output interfaces, devices, and circuits, of user interface equipment 832, WD 810 can communicate with end users and/or the wireless network, and allow and/or facilitate them to benefit from the functionality described herein.

Auxiliary equipment 834 is operable to provide more specific functionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This can comprise specialized sensors for doing measurements for various purposes, interfaces for additional types of communication such as wired communications etc. The inclusion and type of components of auxiliary equipment 834 can vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.

Power source 836 can, in some embodiments, be in the form of a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic devices or power cells, can also be used. WD 810 can further comprise power circuitry 837 for delivering power from power source 836 to the various parts of WD 810 which need power from power source 836 to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry 837 can in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry 837 can additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case WD 810 can be connectable to the external power source (such as an electricity outlet) via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Power circuitry 837 can also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source 836. This can be, for example, for the charging of power source 836. Power circuitry 837 can perform any converting or other modification to the power from power source 836 to make it suitable for supply to the respective components of WD 810.

Figure 9 illustrates one embodiment of a UE in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE can represent a device that is intended for sale to, or operation by, a human user but which may not, or which may not initially, be associated with a specific human user (e.g., a smart sprinkler controller). Alternatively, a UE can represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which can be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter). UE 9200 can be any UE identified by the 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. UE 900, as illustrated in Figure 9, is one example of a WD configured for communication in accordance with one or more communication standards promulgated by the 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), such as 3GPP’s GSM, UMTS, LTE, and/or 5G standards. As mentioned previously, the term WD and UE can be used interchangeable. Accordingly, although Figure 9 is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a WD, and vice-versa.

In Figure 9, UE 900 includes processing circuitry 901 that is operatively coupled to input/output interface 905, radio frequency (RF) interface 909, network connection interface 911 , memory 915 including random access memory (RAM) 917, read-only memory (ROM) 919, and storage medium 921 or the like, communication subsystem 931, power source 933, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 921 includes operating system 923, application program 925, and data 927. In other embodiments, storage medium 921 can include other similar types of information. Certain UEs can utilize all of the components shown in Figure 9, or only a subset of the components. The level of integration between the components can vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs can contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

In Figure 9, processing circuitry 901 can be configured to process computer instructions and data. Processing circuitry 901 can be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute machine instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory, such as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g. , in discrete logic, FPGA, ASIC, etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored program, general-purpose processors, such as a microprocessor or Digital Signal Processor (DSP), together with appropriate software; or any combination of the above. For example, the processing circuitry 901 can include two central processing units (CPUs). Data can be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface 905 can be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, output device, or input and output device. UE 900 can be configured to use an output device via input/output interface 905. An output device can use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a USB port can be used to provide input to and output from UE 900. The output device can be a speaker, a sound card, a video card, a display, a monitor, a printer, an actuator, an emitter, a smartcard, another output device, or any combination thereof. UE 900 can be configured to use an input device via input/output interface 905 to allow and/or facilitate a user to capture information into UE 900. The input device can include a touch-sensitive or presence-sensitive display, a camera (e.g., a digital camera, a digital video camera, a web camera, etc.), a microphone, a sensor, a mouse, a trackball, a directional pad, a trackpad, a scroll wheel, a smartcard, and the like. The presence-sensitive display can include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor can be, for instance, an accelerometer, a gyroscope, a tilt sensor, a force sensor, a magnetometer, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, another like sensor, or any combination thereof. For example, the input device can be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

In Figure 9, RF interface 909 can be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface 911 can be configured to provide a communication interface to network 943a. Network 943a can encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (FAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network 943a can comprise a Wi-Fi network. Network connection interface 911 can be configured to include a receiver and a transmitter interface used to communicate with one or more other devices over a communication network according to one or more communication protocols, such as Ethernet, TCP/IP, SONET, ATM, or the like. Network connection interface 911 can implement receiver and transmitter functionality appropriate to the communication network links (e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter and receiver functions can share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively can be implemented separately.

RAM 917 can be configured to interface via bus 902 to processing circuitry 901 to provide storage or caching of data or computer instructions during the execution of software programs such as the operating system, application programs, and device drivers. ROM 919 can be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuitry 901. For example, ROM 919 can be configured to store invariant low-level system code or data for basic system functions such as basic input and output (I/O), startup, or reception of keystrokes from a keyboard that are stored in a non-volatile memory. Storage medium 921 can be configured to include memory such as RAM, ROM, programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, floppy disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, or flash drives. In one example, storage medium 921 can be configured to include operating system 923, application program 925 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application, and data file 927. Storage medium 921 can store, for use by UE 900, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

Storage medium 921 can be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), floppy disk drive, flash memory, USB flash drive, external hard disk drive, thumb drive, pen drive, key drive, high-density digital versatile disc (HD- DVD) optical disc drive, internal hard disk drive, Blu-Ray optical disc drive, holographic digital data storage (HDDS) optical disc drive, external mini-dual in-line memory module (DIMM), synchronous dynamic random access memory (SDRAM), external micro-DIMM SDRAM, smartcard memory such as a subscriber identity module or a removable user identity (SIM/RUIM) module, other memory, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 921 can allow and/or facilitate UE 900 to access computer-executable instructions, application programs or the like, stored on transitory or non-transitory memory media, to off-load data, or to upload data. An article of manufacture, such as one utilizing a communication system can be tangibly embodied in storage medium 921, which can comprise a device readable medium.

In Figure 9, processing circuitry 901 can be configured to communicate with network 943b using communication subsystem 931. Network 943a and network 943b can be the same network or networks or different network or networks. Communication subsystem 931 can be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with network 943b. For example, communication subsystem 931 can be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication such as another WD, UE, or base station of a radio access network (RAN) according to one or more communication protocols, such as IEEE 802.9, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver can include transmitter 933 and/or receiver 935 to implement transmitter or receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links (e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter 933 and receiver 935 of each transceiver can share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively can be implemented separately. In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of communication subsystem 931 can include data communication, voice communication, multimedia communication, short- range communications such as Bluetooth, near-field communication, location-based communication such as the use of the global positioning system (GPS) to determine a location, another like communication function, or any combination thereof. For example, communication subsystem 931 can include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. Network 943b can encompass wired and/or wireless networks such as a local-area network (LAN), a wide-area network (WAN), a computer network, a wireless network, a telecommunications network, another like network or any combination thereof. For example, network 943b can be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near field network. Power source 913 can be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE 900.

The features, benefits and/or functions described herein can be implemented in one of the components of UE 900 or partitioned across multiple components of UE 900. Further, the features, benefits, and/or functions described herein can be implemented in any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example, communication subsystem 931 can be configured to include any of the components described herein. Further, processing circuitry 901 can be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus 902. In another example, any of such components can be represented by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry 901 perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any of such components can be partitioned between processing circuitry 901 and communication subsystem 931. In another example, the non- computationally intensive functions of any of such components can be implemented in software or firmware and the computationally intensive functions can be implemented in hardware.

Figure 10 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 1000 in which functions implemented by some embodiments can be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which can include virtualizing hardware platforms, storage devices and networking resources. As used herein, virtualization can be applied to a node (e.g., a virtualized base station or a virtualized radio access node) or to a device (e.g., a UE, a wireless device or any other type of communication device) or components thereof and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g. , via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines or containers executing on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks). In some embodiments, some or all of the functions described herein can be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 1000 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes 1030. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node is not a radio access node or does not require radio connectivity (e.g. , a core network node), then the network node can be entirely virtualized.

The functions can be implemented by one or more applications 1020 (which can alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) operative to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein. Applications 1020 are run in virtualization environment 1000 which provides hardware 1030 comprising processing circuitry 1060 and memory 1090. Memory 1090 contains instructions 1095 executable by processing circuitry 1060 whereby application 1020 is operative to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

Virtualization environment 1000, comprises general-purpose or special-purpose network hardware devices 1030 comprising a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry 1060, which can be commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) processors, dedicated Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), or any other type of processing circuitry including digital or analog hardware components or special purpose processors. Each hardware device can comprise memory 1090-1 which can be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 1095 or software executed by processing circuitry 1060. Each hardware device can comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 1070, also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interface 1080. Each hardware device can also include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media 1090-2 having stored therein software 1095 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry 1060. Software 1095 can include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 1050 (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines 1040 as well as software allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein.

Virtual machines 1040, comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and can be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 1050 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual appliance 1020 can be implemented on one or more of virtual machines 1040, and the implementations can be made in different ways.

During operation, processing circuitry 1060 executes software 1095 to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 1050, which can sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer 1050 can present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine 1040. As shown in Figure 10, hardware 1030 can be a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 1030 can comprise antenna 10225 and can implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 1030 can be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g.,such as in a data center or customer premise equipment (CPE)) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration (MANO) 10100, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 1020.

Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV can be used to consolidate many network equipment types onto industry standard high volume server hardware, physical switches, and physical storage, which can be located in data centers, and customer premise equipment.

In the context of NFV, virtual machine 1040 can be a software implementation of a physical machine that runs programs as if they were executing on a physical, non-virtualized machine. Each of virtual machines 1040, and that part of hardware 1030 that executes that virtual machine, be it hardware dedicated to that virtual machine and/or hardware shared by that virtual machine with others of the virtual machines 1040, forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE).

Still in the context of NFV, Virtual Network Function (VNF) is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more virtual machines 1040 on top of hardware networking infrastructure 1030 and corresponds to application 1020 in Figure 10.

In some embodiments, one or more radio units 10200 that each include one or more transmitters 10220 and one or more receivers 10210 can be coupled to one or more antennas 10225. Radio units 10200 can communicate directly with hardware nodes 1030 via one or more appropriate network interfaces and can be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station.

In some embodiments, some signalling can be effected with the use of control system 10230 which can alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes 1030 and radio units 10200.

With reference to FIGURE 11 , in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes telecommunication network 1110, such as a 3GPP-type cellular network, which comprises access network 1111, such as a radio access network, and core network 1114. Access network 1111 comprises a plurality of base stations l l l2a, l l l2b, l l l2c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 11 l3a, 1113b, 1113c. Each base station 11 l2a, 11 l2b, 11 l2c is connectable to core network 1114 over a wired or wireless connection 1115. A first UE 1191 located in coverage area l l l3c can be configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station l l l2c. A second UE 1192 in coverage area 1113a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station l l l2a. While a plurality of UEs 1191, 1192 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the

Telecommunication network 1110 is itself connected to host computer 1130, which can be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. Host computer 1130 can be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or can be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Connections 1121 and 1122 between telecommunication network 1110 and host computer 1130 can extend directly from core network 1114 to host computer 1130 or can go via an optional intermediate network 1120. Intermediate network 1120 can be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network 1120, if any, can be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network 1120 can comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

The communication system of Figure 11 as a whole enables connectivity between the connected UEs 1191, 1192 and host computer 1130. The connectivity can be described as an over- the-top (OTT) connection 1150. Host computer 1130 and the connected UEs 1191, 1192 are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection 1150, using access network 1111, core network 1114, any intermediate network 1120 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection 1150 can be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which OTT connection 1150 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, base station 1112 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from host computer 1130 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 1191. Similarly, base station 1112 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 1191 towards the host computer 1130.

Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the UE, base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 12. In communication system 1200, host computer 1210 comprises hardware 1215 including communication interface 1216 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 1200. Host computer 1210 further comprises processing circuitry 1218, which can have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry 1218 can comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Host computer 1210 further comprises software 1211, which is stored in or accessible by host computer 1210 and executable by processing circuitry 1218. Software 1211 includes host application 1212. Host application 1212 can be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE 1230 connecting via OTT connection 1250 terminating at UE 1230 and host computer 1210. In providing the service to the remote user, host application 1212 can provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection 1250.

Communication system 1200 can also include base station 1220 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 1225 enabling it to communicate with host computer 1210 and with UE 1230. Hardware 1225 can include communication interface 1226 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 1200, as well as radio interface 1227 for setting up and maintaining at least wireless connection 1270 with UE 1230 located in a coverage area (not shown in Figure 12) served by base station 1220. Communication interface 1226 can be configured to facilitate connection 1260 to host computer 1210. Connection 1260 can be direct or it can pass through a core network (not shown in Figure 12) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, hardware 1225 of base station 1220 can also include processing circuitry 1228, which can comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Base station 1220 further has software 1221 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

Communication system 1200 can also include UE 1230 already referred to. Its hardware 1235 can include radio interface 1237 configured to set up and maintain wireless connection 1270 with a base station serving a coverage area in which UE 1230 is currently located. Hardware 1235 of UE 1230 can also include processing circuitry 1238, which can comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. UE 1230 further comprises software 1231, which is stored in or accessible by UE 1230 and executable by processing circuitry 1238. Software 1231 includes client application 1232. Client application 1232 can be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 1230, with the support of host computer 1210. In host computer 1210, an executing host application 1212 can communicate with the executing client application 1232 via OTT connection 1250 terminating at UE 1230 and host computer 1210. In providing the service to the user, client application 1232 can receive request data from host application 1212 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 1250 can transfer both the request data and the user data. Client application 1232 can interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides. It is noted that host computer 1210, base station 1220 and UE 1230 illustrated in Figure 12 can be similar or identical to host computer 1130, one of base stations 11 l2a, 11 l2b, 11 l2c and one of UEs 1191, 1192 of Figure 11, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities can be as shown in Figure 12 and independently, the surrounding network topology can be that of Figure 11.

In Figure 12, OTT connection 1250 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host computer 1210 and UE 1230 via base station 1220, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. Network infrastructure can determine the routing, which it can be configured to hide from UE

1230 or from the service provider operating host computer 1210, or both. While OTT connection 1250 is active, the network infrastructure can further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).

Wireless connection 1270 between UE 1230 and base station 1220 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE 1230 using OTT connection 1250, in which wireless connection 1270 forms the last segment. More precisely, the exemplary embodiments disclosed herein can improve flexibility for the network to monitor end- to-end quality-of-service (QoS) of data flows, including their corresponding radio bearers, associated with data sessions between a user equipment (UE) and another entity, such as an OTT data application or service external to the 5G network. These and other advantages can facilitate more timely design, implementation, and deployment of 5G/NR solutions. Furthermore, such embodiments can facilitate flexible and timely control of data session QoS, which can lead to improvements in capacitiy, throughput, latency, etc. that are envisioned by 5G/NR and important for the growth of OTT services.

A measurement procedure can be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other network operational aspects on which the one or more embodiments improve. There can further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 1250 between host computer 1210 and UE 1230, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 1250 can be implemented in software 1211 and hardware 1215 of host computer 1210 or in software

1231 and hardware 1235 of UE 1230, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) can be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which OTT connection 1250 passes; the sensors can participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software 1211, 1231 can compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 1250 can include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station 1220, and it can be unknown or imperceptible to base station 1220. Such procedures and functionalities can be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements can involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating host computer 1210’s measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements can be implemented in that software 1211, 1231 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection 1250 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

Figure 13 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method and/or procedure implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which, in some exemplary embodiments, can be those described with reference to Figures 11 and 12. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 13 will be included in this section. In step 1310, the host computer provides user data. In substep 1311 (which can be optional) of step 1310, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 1320, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 1330 (which can be optional), the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1340 (which can also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

Figure 14 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method and/or procedure implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which can be those described with reference to Figures 11 and 12. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 14 will be included in this section. In step 1410 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown) the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 1420, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmission can pass via the base station, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 1430 (which can be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

Figure 15 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method and/or procedure implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which can be those described with reference to Figures 11 and 12. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 15 will be included in this section. In step 1510 (which can be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 1520, the UE provides user data. In substep 1521 (which can be optional) of step 1520, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In substep 1511 (which can be optional) of step 1510, the UE executes a client application which provides the user data in reaction to the received input data provided by the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed client application can further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE initiates, in substep 1530 (which can be optional), transmission of the user data to the host computer. In step 1540 of the method, the host computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

Figure 16 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary method and/or procedure implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which can be those described with reference to Figures 11 and 12. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure 16 will be included in this section. In step 1610 (which can be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In step 1620 (which can be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 1630 (which can be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

The term unit can have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and can include, for example, electrical and/or electronic circuitry, devices, modules, processors, memories, logic solid state and/or discrete devices, computer programs or instructions for carrying out respective tasks, procedures, computations, outputs, and/or displaying functions, and so on, as such as those that are described herein.

Claims

1. A method performed by a user equipment (UE) for scheduling a plurality of measurement activities in a wireless network, the method comprising:

receiving (610) the following from the wireless network:

a first measurement configuration related to first measurement activities;

a second measurement configuration related to second measurement activities; and

identification of a measurement gap pattern, comprising a plurality of

measurement occasions, for performing the first and second

measurement activities;

categorizing (620) measurement activities related to one of the first or the second measurement configurations as a more-sparse type, and measurement activities related to the other of the first or the second measurement configurations as a less-sparse type;

categorizing (630) each of the measurement activities comprising the less-sparse type as part of a continuous less-sparse group or a non-continuous less-sparse group, based on whether the particular measurement activity has continuous measurement occasions according to the measurement gap pattern; and determining (640), over the plurality of measurement occasions, a schedule for the plurality of measurement activities comprising the more-sparse type, the continuous less-sparse group, and the non-continuous less-sparse group.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining (640) the schedule further comprises selecting (642) a first portion of the plurality of measurement occasions that involve the measurement activities comprising the more-sparse type that are overlapping and mutually exclusive with one of the following:

measurement activities comprising the non-continuous less-sparse group, or measurement activities comprising the continuous less-sparse group.

3. The method of any of claims 1-2, wherein determining (640) the schedule further comprises applying (646) a resource sharing factor (RSF) to the first portion of the plurality of measurement occasions.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining (640) the schedule further comprises determining (644) the RSF based on a function of one or more of the following characteristics with respect to the overlapping and mutually-exclusive measurements: measurement purpose, frequency range, bandwidth, measurement occasion length or duration, number of measurements, radio access technology, and availability of reference signals associated with the more-sparse type in the measurement occasions.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the RSF is determined such that measurements of the more-sparse type are performed in all measurement occasions where reference signals associated with the more-sparse type are present.

6. The method of any of claims 2-5, wherein determining (640) the schedule further comprises scheduling (648) the more-sparse type of measurements in priority over the less- sparse type of measurements during the first portion of measurement occasions.

7. The method of any of claims 2-6, wherein determining (640) the schedule further comprises scheduling (649) the less-sparse type of measurements based on a resource sharing factor (RSF) during a second portion of the measurement occasions, the second portion being the remainder of the measurement occasions other than the first portion.

8. The method of any of claims 1-7, wherein categorizing (620) the measurement activities as the more-sparse type or the less-sparse type is based on one or more of the following first factors:

transmission pattern or transmission periodicity of signals to measure;

transmission pattern or transmission periodicity of signals associated with the signals to measure;

a measurement gap repetition period, MGRP, and/or measurement gap length, MGL, associated with the measurement gap pattern;

SSB measurement timing configuration, SMTC, cycle;

discovery reference signal, DRS, periodicity;

reference signal muting pattern; and

UE discontinuous reception, DRX, cycle length.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein:

categorizing (620) the measurement activities as the more-sparse type or the less-sparse type is based on periodic availibity of the signals to measure in relation to a first threshold;

the periodic availability is based on a function of one or more of the first factors; and the function is one of the following: least common multiple, common multiple, or maximum.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first threshold is based on one or more of the following: purpose of measurement, frequency range of measurement, MGRP, SMTC cycle, DRS periodicity, reference signal muting pattern, and UE DRX cycle length.

11. The method of any of claims 9-10, wherein categorizing (630) each of the measurement activities comprising the less-sparse type as part of a continuous less-sparse group or a non- continuous less-sparse group is based on the periodic availibity in relation to a second threshold different than the first threshold.

12. The method of any of claims 1-11, further comprising performing (650) the plurality of measurement activities according to the determined schedule.

13. The method of any of claims 1-12, further comprising:

sending (670), to a network node in the wireless network, a measurement report based on at least one of the following performed according to the determined schedule:

the first measurement activities, and

the second measurement activities; and

receiving (680), from the network node, at least one of the following:

a revised first measurement configuration, and

a revised second measurement configuration.

14. The method of any of claims 1-13, wherein: the first measurement configuration is received from a first network node in the wireless network;

the second measurement configuration is received from a second network node in the wireless network; and

the identification of the measurement gap pattern is received from the first network node or the second network node.

15. The method of any of claims 1-14, wherein:

the first measurement activities are related to radio resource management; and the second measurement activities are related to UE positioning.

16. The method of any of claims 1-15, wherein:

measurement activities of the more-sparse type correspond to LTE positioning reference signal, PRS, or reference signal time difference, RSTD, measurements;

measurement activities of the non-continuous less-sparse group correspond to NR SS/PBCH block, SSB, measurements using an SSB Measurement Timing Configuration, SMTC; and

measurement activities of the continuous less-sparse group correspond to one or more of the following measurements: LTE cell-specific reference signals, CRS; UMTS common pilot channel, CPICH; and GSM received signal strength indicator, RSSI.

17. A method performed by a network node, in a wireless communication network, for configuring a user equipment (UE) to perform a plurality of measurement activities, the method comprising:

obtaining (710) the following information with respect to the UE:

a first measurement configuration related to first measurement activities;

a measurement gap pattern, comprising a plurality of measurement occasions, for performing the first and second measurement activities; categorizing (740) measurement activities related to one of the first or the second measurement configurations as a more-sparse type, and measurement activities related to the other of the first or the second measurement configurations as a less-sparse type;

categorizing (750) each of the measurement activities comprising the less-sparse type as part of a continuous less-sparse group or a non-continuous less-sparse group, based on whether the particular measurement activity has continuous measurement occasions according to the measurement gap pattern;

determining (760), over the plurality of measurement occasions, a schedule for the plurality of measurement activities comprising the more-sparse type, the continuous less-sparse group, and the non-continuous less-sparse group; and determining (770) a revised measurement configuration based on the determined

schedule.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein determining (760) the schedule further comprises selecting (762) a first portion of the plurality of measurement occasions that involve the measurement activities comprising the more-sparse type that are overlapping and mutually exclusive with one of the following:

19. The method of any of claims 17-18, wherein determining (760) the schedule further comprises applying (766) a resource sharing factor (RSF) to the first portion of the plurality of measurement occasions.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein determining (760) the schedule further comprises determining (764) the RSF based on a function of one or more of the following characteristics with respect to the overlapping and mutually-exclusive measurements: measurement purpose, frequency range, bandwidth, measurement occasion length or duration, number of measurements, radio access technology, and availability of reference signals associated with the more-sparse type in the measurement occasions.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the RSF is determined such that measurements of the more-sparse type are performed in all measurement occasions where reference signals associated with the more-sparse type are present.

22. The method of any of claims 18-21, wherein determining (760) the schedule further comprises scheduling (768) the more-sparse type of measurements in priority over the less- sparse type of measurements during the first portion of measurement occasions.

23. The method of any of claims 18-22, wherein determining (760) the schedule further comprises scheduling (769) the less-sparse type of measurements based on a resource sharing factor (RSF) during a second portion of the measurement occasions, the second portion being the remainder of the measurement occasions other than the first portion.

24. The method of any of claims 17-23, wherein categorizing (740) the measurement activities as the more-sparse type or the less-sparse type is based on one or more of the following first factors:

transmission pattern or transmission periodicity of signals to measure;

a measurement gap repetition period, MGRP, or measurement gap length, MGL, associated with the measurement gap pattern;

SSB measurement timing configuration, SMTC, cycle;

discovery reference signal, DRS, periodicity;

reference signal muting pattern; and

UE discontinuous reception, DRX, cycle length.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein:

categorizing (740) the measurement activities as the more-sparse type or the less-sparse type is based on periodic availibity of the signals to measure in relation to a first threshold;

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the first threshold is based on one or more of the following: purpose of measurement, frequency range of measurement, MGRP, SMTC cycle, DRS periodicity, reference signal muting pattern, and UE DRX cycle length.

27. The method of any of claims 25-26, wherein categorizing (750) each of the measurement activities comprising the less-sparse type as part of a continuous less-sparse group or a non- continuous less-sparse group is based on the periodic availibity in relation to a second threshold different than the first threshold.

28. The method of any of claims 17-27, wherein obtaining (710) the following

information with respect to the UE comprises:

determining (712) the first measurement configuration and the measurement gap

pattern; and

receiving (714) the second measurement configuration from another network node in the wireless network.

29. The method of any of claims 1728, wherein obtaining (710) the following information with respect to the UE comprises:

receiving (716) the first measurement configuration and the measurement gap pattern from another network node in the wireless network; and

determining (718) the second measurement configuration.

30. The method of any of claims 17-29, wherein:

31. The method of any of claims 17-30, wherein:

measurement activities of the more-sparse type correspond to LTE positioning reference signal, PRS, or reference signal time difference, RSTD, measurements; measurement activities of the non-continuous less-sparse group correspond to NR SS/PBCH block, SSB, measurements using an SSB Measurement Timing Configuration, SMTC; and

32. The method of any of claims 17-31, wherein determining (770) the revised measurement configuration comprises modifying (772) one or more parameters comprising the initial measurement configuration to reduce the number of measurement occasions comprising the first portion.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the one or more parameters comprise any of the following:

periodic availability parameters related to the more-sparse type;

periodic availability parameters related to the less-sparse type;

offsets related to the more-sparse type, the less-sparse type, and/or between the more- sparse and less-sparse types;

relative priorities of the more sparse type, the non-continuous less-sparse group, and the continuous less-sparse group;

resource sharing factor (RSF) between the more sparse type and one or more of the non-continuous less-sparse group, and the continuous less-sparse group; and measurement periods and/or expected measurement reporting time for the more-sparse type and the less-sparse type.

34. The method of any of claims 17-33, further comprising:

sending (720) at least one of the following to the UE:

the first measurement configuration and the identification of the measurement gap pattern, and

the second measurement configuration; and

receiving (730) a measurement report from the UE, wherein performing the categorizing (740, 750) operations, determining (760) the schedule, and determining (770) the revised measurement configuration are in response to the measurement report.

35. The method of any of claims 17-34, further comprising sending (780) the revised measurement configuration to the UE.

36. A user equipment, UE (810, 900) comprising:

processing circuitry (820, 901) configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 1-16; and

power supply circuitry (837, 913) configured to supply power to the UE.

37. The UE of claim 36, further comprising transceiver circuitry (872, 931) operably coupled with the processing circuitry (820, 901), whereby the combination of the transceiver circuitry (872, 931) and the processing circuitry (820, 901) are configured to communicate with a wireless network.

38. A user equipment, UE (810, 900) configured to schedule a plurality of measurement activities in a wireless network, the UE being arranged to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 1-16.

39. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium (880, 921) storing program instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry (820, 901) comprising a user equipment, UE (810, 900) operating in a wireless network, configures the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 1-16.

40. A computer program product comprising program instructions that, when executed by processing circuitry (820, 901) of a user equipment, UE (810, 900) operating in a wireless network, configures the UE to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 1-16.

41. A network node (860, 1220) of a wireless network, the network node comprising: processing circuitry (870, 1228) configured to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 17-35; and

power supply circuitry (887) configured to supply power to the network node.

42. The network node of claim 41, further comprising transceiver circuitry (872, 1227) operably coupled with the processing circuitry (870, 1228), whereby the combination of the transceiver circuitry (872, 1227) and the processing circuitry (870, 1228) are configured to communicate with one or more user equipment, UE.

43. A network node (860, 1220) configured to schedule a plurality of measurement activities in a wireless network, the network node being arranged to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 17-35.

44. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium (880) storing program instructions (1221) that, when executed by processing circuitry (870, 1228) of a network node (860, 1220) of a wireless network, configures the network node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 17-35.

45. A computer program product comprising program instructions (1221) that, when executed by processing circuitry (870, 1228) of a network node (860, 1220) of a wireless network, configures the network node to perform operations corresponding to any of the methods of claims 17-35.