WO2021091468A1

WO2021091468A1 - Enhanced new radio (nr) cell barring

Info

Publication number: WO2021091468A1
Application number: PCT/SE2020/051069
Authority: WO
Inventors: Olof Liberg; Oscar Ohlsson; Andreas HÖGLUND; Yutao Sui
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2019-11-08
Filing date: 2020-11-06
Publication date: 2021-05-14

Abstract

Apparatuses and methods related to enhanced cell barring. In one embodiment, a wireless device is configured to receive a message from a network node, the message comprising information indicating that accessing at least one cell served by the network node is barred, and indicating a presence of an extended cell barring condition. In one embodiment, a network node is configured to transmit a message comprising information indicating that accessing at least one cell served by the network node is barred and indicating a presence of an extended cell barring condition.

Description

ENHANCED NEW RADIO (NR) CELL BARRING

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to wireless communication and in particular, to enhanced New Radio (NR) cell barring.

BACKGROUND

In Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Release 15, the first release of the 5G system (5GS) was specified. This is a new generation’s radio access technology intended to serve use cases such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low latency communication (URLLC) and massive machine-type communication (mMTC). 5G includes the New Radio (NR) access stratum interface and the 5G Core Network (5GC).

NR 3GPP Release 15 supports radio technologies optimized for the support of MBB and URLLC. Release 17 is expected to add initial support for NR massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC).

NR 3 GPP Release 17 is expected to include a new work item on NR-Light. NR-Light is the working name used in the 3GPP Release 17 scoping discussions on low-cost and low-complexity wireless device (WD, also called user equipment or UE) implementations intended to support e.g., massive industrial sensors deployment and wearables. In more general terms, NR-Light is intended for use cases that do not require a device to support full-fledged NR capability and the stringent performance requirements associated with MBB and URLLC. For example, the data rate does not need to reach above 1 Gigabits per second (Gbps), and the latency does not need to be as low as 1 millisecond (ms). By relaxing the data rate and latency targets, NR-Light may support the mentioned low-cost and low-complexity WD implementations.

NR Cell Barring

The Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) contains the most basic information for configuring a NR cell. It carries the 24 bit master information block (MP3) defined in the radio resource control (RRC) layer. In 3 GPP Release 15 the NR MTB may have the following content:

MIB ::= SEQUENCE { systemFrameNumber BIT STRING (SIZE (6)), => 6 bits subCarrierSpacingCommon ENUMERATED {scsl5or60, scs30orl20},

=> 1 bit ssb-SubcarrierOffset INTEGER (0..15), => 4 bits dmrs-TypeA-Position ENUMERATED (pos2, pos3}, => 1 bit pdcch-ConfigSIBl INTEGER (0..255), => 8 bits cellBarred ENUMERATED (barred, notBarred}, => 1 bit intraFreqReselection ENUMERATED (allowed, notAllowed}, => 1 bit spare BIT STRING (SIZE (1)) => 1 bit

}

The MIB contains e.g., the cellBarred flag which prevents WDs to select the cell to camp on. In addition it also carries 8 bits defined in the physical layer which are encoded together with the MIB.

The cell barring mechanism is mainly intended to prevent WDs to camp on a cell when it is being reconfigured, or during operator maintenance or testing. It can also be used to prevent WDs to camp on a cell operating in non-standalone mode, i.e., when dual connectivity is used between 3GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and NR and NR acts as the secondary cell group. In case cell barring is configured the intraFreqReselection field indicates if a WD may select an intra-frequency cell or not.

Cell barring can also be indicated by not transmitting the MIB or system information block 1 (SIB1).

In case a WD detects that a cell is barred it may reattempt to camp on it after 300 seconds (s), unless it is still barred.

The NR Physical Layer Cell ID (PCID) is signaled by the Primary Synchronization signal (PSS) and the Secondary Synchronization signal (SSS). NR supports in total 1008 different PCIDs. While the PCID is reusable, meaning that a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) may contain multiple cells, the cell identity signaled by SIB1 unambiguously identifies a cell in a PLMN.

Spectrum refarming

When a new 3GPP technology is deployed, spectrum resources used by earlier technologies are usually made available to the new technology. The process of migrating frequency resources from a first technology to a second technology is known as spectrum refarming. There currently exist certain challenges.

SUMMARY

According to an aspect of the present disclosure, a method implemented by a wireless device, WD, is provided. The method includes receiving a message from a network node, the message comprising information indicating that accessing at least one cell served by the network node is barred, and indicating a presence of an extended cell barring condition.

In some embodiments of this aspect, the information indicating the presence of the extended call barring condition indicates a long term unavailability of at least one spectrum resource associated with the at least one cell. In some embodiments of this aspect, the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource applies to at least one first WD type and does not apply to at least one second WD type, the at least one second WD type being different from the at least one first WD type. In some embodiments of this aspect, the at least one first WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource applies is associated with at least one first WD service; and the at least one second WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply is associated with at least one second WD service, the at least one second WD service being different from the at least one first WD service.

In some embodiments of this aspect, the method further includes ignoring a presence of a cellBarred flag set to barred state in a master information block, MIB, message. In some embodiments of this aspect, the message is a master information block, MIB and the method further comprises using at least one field in the MIB to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition. In some embodiments of this aspect, the at least one field used in the MIB to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises a cellBarred flag set to a barred state. In some embodiments of this aspect, the at least one field used in the MIB to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one bit in the MIB, the at least one bit being different from a cellBarred flag. In some embodiments of this aspect, using the at least one field to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises using a value in the at least one field as an instruction to interpret at least one of (i) another portion of the MIB and (i) a second message, the interpretation being based on at least one of the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the indication that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node is barred.

In some embodiments of this aspect, the information indicating the presence of the extended call barring condition comprises at least one of: a cell identity; an indication that the at least one cell is barred permanently; an indication that the at least one cell is barred for a first time period, the first time period being larger than a second time period associated with a temporary cell barring condition; an instruction to the WD to search for a new cell at a same carrier frequency as the at least one cell; an indication that at least one of an intra-frequency cell and an inter-frequency cell is barred for a third time period; an indication that that at least one of an intra-frequency cell and an inter-frequency cell is barred permanently; an indication that the at least one cell is barred based on at least one of a WD type, a WD capability, a WD category and a network service; and an indication of an alternative public land mobile network, PLMN, and an alternative radio access technology, RAT, that the WD is allowed to reselect to.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, a method implemented in a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device, WD, is provided. The method includes transmitting a message comprising information indicating that accessing at least one cell served by the network node is barred and indicating a presence of an extended cell barring condition.

In some embodiments of this aspect, the method further includes using at least one field in a master information block, MIB, transmitted to the WD to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition. In some embodiments of this aspect, the at least one field used in the MIB to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises a cellBarred flag set to a barred state. In some embodiments of this aspect, the at least one field used in the MIB to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one bit in the MIB, the at least one bit being different from a cellBarred flag.

In some embodiments of this aspect, using the at least one field transmitted to the WD to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises: using a value in the at least one field as an instruction to interpret at least one of (i) another portion of the MIB and (i) a second message, the interpretation being based on at least one of the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the indication that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node is barred. In some embodiments of this aspect, the method further includes using at least one field in the MIB transmitted to the WD to indicate an availability of information about the extended cell barring condition in at least one of a radio resource control, RRC, message, a system information block, SIB, and an extended master information block, eMIB.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a wireless device, WD, comprising processing circuitry is provided. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the WD to receive a message from a network node, the message comprising information indicating that accessing at least one cell served by the network node is barred and indicating a presence of an extended cell barring condition.

In some embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the WD to ignore a presence of a cellBarred flag set to barred state in a master information block, MIB, message. In some embodiments of this aspect, the message is a master information block, MIB and the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the WD to use at least one field in the MIB to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition. In some embodiments of this aspect, the at least one field used in the MIB to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises a cellBarred flag set to a barred state. In some embodiments of this aspect, the at least one field used in the MIB to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one bit in the MIB, the at least one bit being different from a cellBarred flag

In some embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the WD to use the at least one field to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition by being configured to cause the WD to use a value in the at least one field as an instruction to interpret at least one of (i) another portion of the MIB and (i) a second message, the interpretation being based on at least one of the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the indication that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node is barred.

According to yet another aspect of the present disclosure, a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device, WD, is provided. The network node comprising processing circuitry. The processing circuitry is configured to cause the network node to transmit a message comprising information indicating that accessing at least one cell served by the network node is barred and indicating a presence of an extended cell barring condition.

In some embodiments of this aspect, the information indicating the presence of the extended call barring condition indicates a long term unavailability of at least one spectrum resource associated with the at least one cell. In some embodiments of this aspect, the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource applies to at least one first WD type and does not apply to at least one second WD type, the at least one second WD type being different from the at least one first WD type.

In some embodiments of this aspect, the at least one first WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource applies is associated with at least one first WD service; and the at least one second WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply is associated with at least one second WD service, the at least one second WD service being different from the at least one first WD service. In some embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the network node to use at least one field in a master information block, MIB, transmitted to the WD to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition.

In some embodiments of this aspect, the at least one field used in the MIB to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises a cellBarred flag set to a barred state. In some embodiments of this aspect, the at least one field used in the MIB to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one bit in the MIB, the at least one bit being different from a cellBarred flag.

In some embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry is configured to cause the network node to use the at least one field transmitted to the WD to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition by being configured to cause the network node to use a value in the at least one field as an instruction to interpret at least one of (i) another portion of the MIB and (i) a second message, the interpretation being based on at least one of the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the indication that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node is barred.

In some embodiments of this aspect, the processing circuitry is further configured to cause the network node to use at least one field in the MIB transmitted to the WD to indicate an availability of information about the extended cell barring condition in at least one of a radio resource control, RRC, message, a system information block, SIB, and an extended master information block, eMIB.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A more complete understanding of the present embodiments, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates a wireless network in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a WD in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates a virtualization environment in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates a telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to host a computer in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments; FIG. 6 illustrates example methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates example methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 8 illustrates example methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG 9. illustrates example methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 10 illustrates a method in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 11 illustrates a virtualization apparatus in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 12 illustrates a method in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 13 illustrates a virtualization apparatus in accordance with some embodiments;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an example method for a network node according to one embodiment of the present disclosure; and

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of an example method for a WD according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

As described above, when a new 3GPP technology is deployed, spectrum resources used by earlier technologies are usually made available to the new technology. The process of migrating frequency resources from a first technology to a second technology is known as spectrum refarming.

The introduction of 5G calls e.g., for a refarming of 4G frequencies, to allow operators to replace LTE with NR. The initial LTE refarming is however expected to be a partial migration of LTE frequency resources to NR. It is mainly frequency resources intended for MBB services that are targeted for refarming, while LTE based MTC technologies LTE Machine (LTE-M) and Narrowband Internet-of-Things (NB IoT) are expected to coexist with NR for many years to come. This differentiation among LTE technologies may be achieved by configuring cell barring for LTE, but no cell barring for LTE-MTC and NB-IoT.

Thus, in the future, it will be time to refarm 5G to make spectrum available to 6G. Also, then it is anticipated that a refarming of resources used for MBB will be migrated before resources used by NR MTC technologies are migrated.

There currently exist certain challenges.

Some of the embodiments in the disclosure relate to the barring of cell access for NR devices and how this can be enhanced to achieve efficient spectrum refarming. Cell barring for NR does not differentiate WDs intended for MBB from WDs intended for MTC services. It is therefore not possible to perform a stepwise migration from NR to a 6G technology where a first step would target only MBB WDs, and a later step would target MTC WD migration.

Furthermore, cell barring is not intended as a permanent indication. A WD may consider the NR MIB cell barring as a temporary status and periodically reattempt to select the cell to camp on. In a refarming scenario a permanent indication is preferred to avoid WDs to repeatedly attempting to select a refarmed cell.

Certain aspects of the present disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges.

Some embodiments herein propose methods for differentiating cell barring for NR and NR MTC (e.g., NR-Light). According to some embodiments herein there is proposed backwards compatible methods for indicating that a NR radio resources (e.g., for MBB services) have been refarmed.

According to some embodiments of the present disclosure there is proposed a set of methods supporting enhanced cell barring for NR which support differentiation between WDs for e.g., MBB and MTC services, and provides an indication for a permanent cell barring condition to be used in a frequency refarming scenario.

There are, proposed herein, various embodiments which address one or more of the issues disclosed herein. According to some embodiments herein, there is proposed a method performed by a WD for communicating with a network node in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: obtaining/receiving a message from the network node indicating that accessing a cell served by the network node is barred and/or that an extended cell barring condition is present.

According to some embodiments herein there is proposed a method performed by a network node (e.g., base station) for communicating with a WD in a wireless communication network, the method comprising: configuring a message indicating that accessing a cell of the network node is barred and/or that an extended cell barring condition is present; and/or transmitting the message to the WD indicating that accessing at least one of the cells of the network node is barred and/or that the extended cell barring condition is present.

Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. An advantage of at least some of the embodiments of the present disclosure is support for NR MTC specific cell barring, which may be useful in scenarios where only NR WDs should be barred but not NR MTC WDs, or vice versa. An example of such scenario is when only NR MTC specific cell parameters and signaling is to be reconfigured while NR cell parameters remains as is. Another example is when NR carrier is being refarmed and the MBB/URLLC resources are migrated to a new technology. In this case the NR cell may be barred for the NR WDs while the NR MTC WDs may still be allowed to access. To the advantages belongs also the ability to indicate to NR WDs that the NR spectrum resources in a cell have been permanently migrated to a new technology.

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 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 may be applied to any other embodiment, wherever appropriate. Likewise, any advantage of any of the embodiments may apply to any other embodiments, and vice versa. Other objectives, features and advantages of some of the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Other embodiments, however, are contained within the scope of the subject matter disclosed herein, the disclosed subject matter should not be construed as limited to only the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art.

NR Migration Indication Using PBCH Signaling

According to some embodiments, all or parts of the NR PBCH content, excluding the MIB cellBarred and/or intraFreqReselection fields, are repurposed if the MIB cellBarred flag is set to the barred state. The repurposed content may include both parts defined in the physical layer and in the RRC layer, i.e., the MIB. The repurposing may also be limited to a single field, e.g., the MIB pdcch-ConfigSIBl field. The term repurpose may in the present context be understood as that given a first condition (e.g., cellBarred flag set to the barred state) the content is interpreted/decoded/read in a first manner by a WD, and given a second condition (e.g., cellBarred flag set to a non-barred state) the (same) content is interpreted/decoded/read in a second manner by a WD. The conditions need not necessarily be values/states of the cellBarred flag, but may alternatively or additionally be:

• values/states of other bits or fields in the MIB,

• values/states of bits of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a System Information Block (SIB), and/or an extended MIB (eMIB),

• values/states/indicators of a WD type, a WD capability, a WD category, and/or a service.

Moreover, in some embodiments the term repurpose may be understood as the field of the MIB being configured/defined to be interpreted differently from 3GPP technical specification (TS) 38.331 version 15.6.0 when the first condition is present (e.g., bit set to 1) and to be interpreted according to 3GPP TS 38.331 version 15.6.0 when the second condition is present (e.g., bit set to 0). Naturally the 3GPP TS is only one example, and other versions may be applicable. In some embodiments, the intention is to illustrate that the “same” content/field is interpreted differently depending on a value/state of another bit or field. According to some embodiments the repurposing comprises defining parts of the PBCH content for indicating that NR has been migrated, or refarmed. The term migrated or refarmed may be understood as that one or more spectrum resources are long term unavailable. Long term unavailability may be considered longer than the temporary unavailability discussed above.

According to some embodiments, the migration is partial, meaning that the migration indication only applies to certain WD types, categories or capabilities. WDs of other types or categories, or with other capabilities may still be allowed to camp on and access the cell. NR MTC is one example of such a WD capability.

Note that while LTE supports signaling of WD categories, e.g., Category (Cat) M for LTE-MTC, NR is based on signaling of WD capabilities. Therefore, according to some embodiments, one or more distinguishing NR WD capabilities are used to identify and categorize WDs. The WD capability to support a control resource set (CORESET) or bandwidth part (BWP) bandwidth below the minimum which may be supported by Release 15/16 NR WDs may e.g., be seen as an indication for the support of NR-MTC, i.e., NR-Light. It can also not be excluded that a new WD category will be introduced for NR-Light. In this case differentiation between MTC WDs and other WDs can be based on this category.

According to some embodiments, more than one bit in the NR PBCH content is repurposed to support cell barring signaling for two or more WD capabilities (or categories), i.e., the cell could be barred but Release 17 or later WDs could read the repurposed bits in the NR PBCH and see if camping is still allowed for WDs supporting e.g., NR-Light, non-terrestrial network (NTN), or URLLC. According to some embodiments 3 repurposed bits are needed, with each bit providing a cell barring indication to one of NR-Light, NTN and URLLC WDs. WDs with dual capabilities, e.g., a WD capable of eMBB and MTC, may still be allowed to camp on and access the cell even tough one of the supported capabilities are barred.

According to some embodiments, the migration indication comprises at least one or more the following information elements (IEs): That the configured cell barring is permanent, i.e., that the migration is permanent or that there is no specific duration of the cell barring.

That the cell barring applies for at least a certain configured time period. Even though a cell is permanently or temporarily barred in one location, when the WD moves to a different location there is a chance a new cell with the same PCID is not barred. Therefore the WD may still try to search for a cell at the same carrier frequency after a configured amount of time and/or move to a new location. That is, a cell barred in one place may not necessarily mean the same carrier frequency is barred in a different location.

That intra- and/or inter-frequency cells cell are barred, either permanent or for a time period.

That the cell barring applies to certain WD types/capabilities/categories/services. In one example WDs intended for MBB and voice services, WDs for critical MTC, WDs for massive MTC and WDs for NTN are differentiated.

An indication of an alternative PLMN and/or radio access technology (RAT) that the WD is allowed to reselect to.

A legacy NR WD (i.e., an NR WD of Release 16 or earlier) may not be aware of the NR migration indication and may then interpret the PBCH content in the legacy way. To maintain backwards compatibility the repurposed information elements may be configured to not cause negative effects on legacy WDs. A suitable information element to repurpose may be the pdcch-ConfigSIBl IE since legacy WDs are not expected to read SIB1 when the cell is barred.

NR Migration Indication Using an RRC Message

According to some embodiments, the refarming indication (i.e., indication that accessing at least one of the cells of the network node is barred and/or indicating a presence of an extended cell barring condition) is signaled in a dedicated RRC message or a system information block, either a new SIB or using one of the existing SIBs e.g., SIBl. The refarming indication may also be indicated in an NR-Light specific eMIB.

Moreover, the network node may configure the MIB to indicate the availability of the additional barring information in the RRC message/SIB. According to some embodiments, when cell barring is enabled, the MIB can direct the WD to further read the SIB to acquire the details about the cell barring related information. If a new RRC message or SIB is used, either a fixed timing/frequency relationship can be defined for the new message with respect to MIB or it can be pointed out by the existing SIB1.

In some embodiments, the information put into the RRC message, may be at least one of the following:

One or more of the cell identify, PLMN and the Cell Global Identity,

CGI.

That the configured cell barring is permanent, i.e., that the migration is permanent or that there is no specific duration of the cell barring.

That the cell barring applies for at least a certain configured time period. Even though a cell is permanently or temporarily barred in one location, when the WD moves to a different location there is a chance a new cell with the same PCID is not barred. Therefore, in some embodiments, the WD may still try to search for a cell at the same carrier frequency after a configured amount of time and/or move to a new location. That is, in some embodiments, a cell barred in one place does not mean the same carrier frequency is barred in a different location.

That the cell barring applies to certain WD types/capabilities/categories/services. In one example WDs intended for MBB and voice services, WDs for critical/prioritized MTC, WDs for massive MTC and WDs for NTN are differentiated.

An indication of an alternative PLMN and/or RAT that the WD is allowed to reselect to.

Notice that in the above the Cell Global Identity (CGI) is a globally unique identifier for a network node, such as a Base Transceiver Station in mobile phone networks. Other identifiers (IDs) may serve the same purpose and can also be used as indicator.

NR MTC Cell Barring According to some embodiments, one or more new NR MTC cell barring indications are supported. Separate cell barring signaling indications may be specified for different WD types/capabilities/categories/services, such as, NR URLLC and NR mMTC.

According to some embodiments, the NR MTC cell barring indication(s) is signaled in a NR MTC specific RRC broadcast message, e.g., a NR MTC MIB or a NR MTC SIB.

According to some embodiments, the NR MTC cell barring indications replace the cellBarred indication in MIB, i.e., the NR MTC WD ignores the cellBarred flag in MIB and the cell is only considered barred if the NR MTC cell barring indication is present. In another method the NR MTC cell barring indications complements the cellBarred indication in MIB, i.e., the NR MTC WD considers the cell as barred if either of the cellBarred indication in MIB or the NR MTC cell barring indication is set/present.

According to some embodiments, an NR MTC WD may also consider the cell as barred if NR MTC is not supported by the cell. The fact that NR MTC is supported in a cell can e.g., be determined from an explicit indicator in MIB or SIBl or the presence of some NR MTC specific signal or message.

According to some embodiments, the one of the fields in the MIB, e.g., the ‘spare bit’, may be repurposed to indicate that NR MTC is barred or not. This is effectively an indication differentiating if both (MBB) NR and NR MTC are to be considered as barred, or only the former.

Although the subject matter described herein may 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 FIG. 1. For simplicity, the wireless network of FIG. 1 only depicts network 10, network nodes (NNs) 12 and 12b, and WDs 14, 14b, and 14c. In practice, a wireless network may further include any additional elements suitable to support communication between WDs or between a WD and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, a service provider, or any other network node (NN) or end device. Of the illustrated components, network node 12 and WD 14 are depicted with additional detail. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more WDs to facilitate the WDs’ access to and/or use of the services provided by, or via, the wireless network.

The wireless network may 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 may be configured to operate according to specific standards or other types of predefined rules or procedures. Thus, particular embodiments of the wireless network may implement communication standards, such as Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, or 5G standards; wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the IEEE 802.11 standards; and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave and/or ZigBee standards.

Network 10 may 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 12 and WD 14 comprise various components described in more detail below. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or WD functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, WDs, relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that may 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 WD and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the wireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to the WD 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 may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and may then also be referred to as femto base stations, pico base stations, micro base stations, or macro base stations. A base station may be a relay node or a relay donor node controlling a relay. A network node may 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 may also be referred to as nodes in a distributed antenna system (DAS). Yet 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 may be a virtual network node as described in more detail below. More generally, however, network nodes may represent any suitable device (or group of devices) capable, configured, arranged, and/or operable to enable and/or provide a WD with access to the wireless network or to provide some service to a WD that has accessed the wireless network.

In FIG. 1, network node 12 includes processing circuitry 16, device readable medium 18, interface 20, auxiliary equipment 22, power source 24, power circuitry 26, and antenna 28. Although network node 12 illustrated in the example wireless network of FIG. 1 may represent a device that includes the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may 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 disclosed herein. Moreover, while the components of network node 12 are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, a network node may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component (e.g., device readable medium 18 may comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

Similarly, network node 12 may 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 may each have their own respective components. In certain scenarios in which network node 12 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, network node 12 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium 18 for the different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 28 may be shared by the RATs). Network node 12 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 12, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, or Bluetooth wireless technologies.

These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chip or set of chips and other components within network node 12.

Processing circuitry 16 is 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 16 may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 16 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 16 may 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 12 components, such as device readable medium 18, network node 12 functionality. For example, processing circuitry 16 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 18 or in memory within processing circuitry 16. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 16 may include a system on a chip (SOC).

In some embodiments, processing circuitry 16 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 30 and baseband processing circuitry 32.

In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 30 and baseband processing circuitry 32 may 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 30 and baseband processing circuitry 32 may 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 may be performed by processing circuitry 16 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 18 or memory within processing circuitry 16. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 16 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 16 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 16 alone or to other components of network node 12, but are enjoyed by network node 12 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Device readable medium 18 may 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 may be used by processing circuitry 16. Device readable medium 18 may 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 16 and, utilized by network node 12. Device readable medium 18 may be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry 16 and/or any data received via interface 20. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 16 and device readable medium 18 may be considered to be integrated.

Interface 20 is used in the wired or wireless communication of signalling and/or data between network node 12, network 10, and/or WDs 14. As illustrated, interface 20 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 34 to send and receive data, for example to and from network 10 over a wired connection. Interface 20 also includes radio front end circuitry 36 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 28. Radio front end circuitry 36 comprises filters 38 and amplifiers 40. Radio front end circuitry 36 may be connected to antenna 28 and processing circuitry 16. Radio front end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 28 and processing circuitry 16. Radio front end circuitry 36 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 36 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 38 and/or amplifiers 40. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 28. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 28 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 36. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 16. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

In certain alternative embodiments, network node 12 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 36, instead, processing circuitry 16 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 28 without separate radio front end circuitry 36. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 30 may be considered a part of interface 20. In still other embodiments, interface 20 may include one or more ports or terminals 34, radio front end circuitry 36, and RF transceiver circuitry 30, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface 20 may communicate with baseband processing circuitry 32, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

Antenna 28 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna 28 may be coupled to radio front end circuitry 36 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna 28 may 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 may be used to transmit/receive radio signals in any direction, a sector antenna may be used to transmit/receive radio signals from devices within a particular area, and a panel antenna may 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 may be referred to as MIMO. In certain embodiments, antenna 28 may be separate from network node 12 and may be connectable to network node 12 through an interface or port.

Antenna 28, interface 20, and/or processing circuitry 16 may 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 may be received from a WD, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 28, interface 20, and/or processing circuitry 16 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a WD, another network node and/or any other network equipment.

Power circuitry 26 may comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node 12 with power for performing the functionality described herein. Power circuitry 26 may receive power from power source 24. Power source 24 and/or power circuitry 26 may be configured to provide power to the various components of network node 12 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source 24 may either be included in, or external to, power circuitry 26 and/or network node 12. For example, network node 12 may 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 26. As a further example, power source 24 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry 26. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail. Other types of power sources, such as photovoltaic devices, may also be used.

Alternative embodiments of network node 12 may include additional components beyond those shown in FIG. 1 that may 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 12 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into network node 12 and to allow output of information from network node 12. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node 12.

As used herein, WD refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other WDs. Unless otherwise noted, the term WD may be used interchangeably herein with user equipment (UE). Communicating wirelessly may 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 may be configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a WD may 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 may support device- to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3 GPP standard for sidelink communication, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) and may 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 may 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 may in this case be a machine-to-machine (M2M) device, which may in a 3 GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the WD may be a WD 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 may 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 may represent the endpoint of a wireless connection, in which case the device may be referred to as a wireless terminal. Furthermore, a WD as described above may be mobile, in which case it may also be referred to as a mobile device or a mobile terminal.

As illustrated, WD 14 includes antenna 42, interface 44, processing circuitry 46, device readable medium 48, user interface equipment 50, auxiliary equipment 52, power source 54 and power circuitry 56. WD 14 may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by WD 14, such as, for example, GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, WiMAX, or Bluetooth wireless technologies, just to mention a few. These wireless technologies may be integrated into the same or different chips or set of chips as other components within WD 14.

Antenna 42 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface 44. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna 42 may be separate from WD 14 and be connectable to WD 14 through an interface or port. Antenna 42, interface 44, and/or processing circuitry 46 may be configured to perform any receiving or transmitting operations described herein as being performed by a WD. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a network node and/or another WD. In some embodiments, radio front end circuitry and/or antenna 42 may be considered an interface.

As illustrated, interface 44 comprises radio front end circuitry 58 and antenna 42. Radio front end circuitry 58 comprise one or more filters 60 and amplifiers 62. Radio front end circuitry 58 is connected to antenna 42 and processing circuitry 46, and is configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 42 and processing circuitry 46. Radio front end circuitry 58 may be coupled to or a part of antenna 42. In some embodiments, WD 14 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 58; rather, processing circuitry 46 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 42. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 64 may be considered a part of interface 44. Radio front end circuitry 58 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 58 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 60 and/or amplifiers 62. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 42. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 42 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 58. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 46. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

Processing circuitry 46 may 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 14 components, such as device readable medium 48, WD 14 functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry 46 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 48 or in memory within processing circuitry 46 to provide the functionality disclosed herein. As illustrated, processing circuitry 46 includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry 64, baseband processing circuitry 66, and application processing circuitry 68. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry 46 of WD 14 may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 64, baseband processing circuitry 66, and application processing circuitry 68 may be on separate chips or sets of chips. In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry 66 and application processing circuitry 68 may be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry 64 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 64 and baseband processing circuitry 66 may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processing circuitry 68 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 64, baseband processing circuitry 66, and application processing circuitry 68 may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 64 may be a part of interface 44. RF transceiver circuitry 64 may condition RF signals for processing circuitry 46.

In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by a WD 14 may be provided by processing circuitry 46 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 48, which in certain embodiments may be a computer-readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 46 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 46 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 46 alone or to other components of WD 14, but are enjoyed by WD 14 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

Processing circuitry 46 may 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 46, may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 46 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by WD 14, 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 48 may 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 46. Device readable medium 48 may 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 may be used by processing circuitry 46. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 46 and device readable medium 48 may be considered to be integrated.

User interface equipment 50 may provide components that allow for a human user to interact with WD 14. Such interaction may be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment 50 may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the user to provide input to WD 14. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface equipment 50 installed in WD 14. For example, if WD 14 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if WD 14 is a smart meter, the interaction may 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 50 may include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interface equipment 50 is configured to allow input of information into WD 14, and is connected to processing circuitry 46 to allow processing circuitry 46 to process the input information. User interface equipment 50 may 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 50 is also configured to allow output of information from WD 14, and to allow processing circuitry 46 to output information from WD 14. User interface equipment 50 may 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 50, WD 14 may communicate with end users and/or the wireless network, and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein.

Auxiliary equipment 52 is operable to provide more specific functionality which may not be generally performed by WDs. This may 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 52 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.

Power source 54 may, 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, may also be used. WD 14 may further comprise power circuitry 56 for delivering power from power source 54 to the various parts of WD 14 which need power from power source 54 to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry 56 may in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry 56 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case WD 14 may 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 56 may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source 54. This may be, for example, for the charging of power source 54. Power circuitry 56 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source 54 to make the power suitable for the respective components of WD 14 to which power is supplied.

FIG. 2 illustrates one embodiment of a WD 14 in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, a user equipment or WD 14 may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a WD 14 may 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 WD 14 may represent a device that is not intended for sale to, or operation by, an end user but which may be associated with or operated for the benefit of a user (e.g., a smart power meter). WD 14 may be any WD identified by the 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP), including a NB-IoT WD, a machine type communication (MTC) WD, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) WD. WD 14, as illustrated in FIG. 2, is one example of a WD 14 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 may be used interchangeable. Accordingly, although FIG. 2 is a WD 14, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a UE, and vice-versa.

In FIG. 2, WD 14 includes processing circuitry 70 that is operatively coupled to input/output interface 72, radio frequency (RF) interface 74, network connection interface 76, memory 78 including random access memory (RAM) 80, read-only memory (ROM) 82, and storage medium 84 or the like, communication subsystem 86, power source 88, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 84 includes operating system 90, application program 92, and data 94. In other embodiments, storage medium 84 may include other similar types of information. Certain WDs may utilize all of the components shown in FIG. 2, or only a subset of the components. The level of integration between the components may vary from one WD to another WD. Further, certain WDs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc.

In FIG. 2, processing circuitry 70 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. Processing circuitry 70 may 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 70 may include two central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface 72 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, output device, or input and output device. WD 14 may be configured to use an output device via input/output interface 72. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a USB port may be used to provide input to and output from WD 14. The output device may 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. WD 14 may be configured to use an input device via input/output interface 72 to allow a user to capture information into WD 14. The input device may 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 may include a capacitive or resistive touch sensor to sense input from a user. A sensor may 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 may be an accelerometer, a magnetometer, a digital camera, a microphone, and an optical sensor.

In FIG. 2, RF interface 74 may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna.

Network connection interface 76 may be configured to provide a communication interface to network 96a. Network 96a may 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 96a may comprise a Wi Fi network. Network connection interface 76 may 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 76 may implement receiver and transmitter functionality appropriate to the communication network links (e.g., optical, electrical, and the like). The transmitter and receiver functions may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

RAM 80 may be configured to interface via bus QQ202 to processing circuitry 70 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 82 may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuitry 70. For example, ROM 82 may 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 84 may 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 84 may be configured to include operating system 90, application program 92 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application, and data file 94. Storage medium 84 may store, for use by WD 14, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

Storage medium 84 may 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 84 may allow WD 14 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 may be tangibly embodied in storage medium 84, which may comprise a device readable medium.

In FIG. 2, processing circuitry 70 may be configured to communicate with network 96b using communication subsystem 86. Network 96a and network 96b may be the same network or networks or different network or networks. Communication subsystem 86 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with network 96b. For example, communication subsystem 86 may 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 802.11, CDMA, WCDMA, GSM, LTE, UTRAN, WiMax, or the like. Each transceiver may include transmitter 98 and/or receiver 100 to implement transmitter or receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links (e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter 98 and receiver 100 of each transceiver may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of communication subsystem 86 may 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 86 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. Network 96b may 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 96b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-field network. Power source QQ213 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of WD 14.

The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of WD 14 or partitioned across multiple components of WD 14. Further, the features, benefits, and/or functions described herein may be implemented in any combination of hardware, software or firmware. In one example, communication subsystem 86 may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Further, processing circuitry 70 may be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus QQ202. In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry 70 perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any of such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry 70 and communication subsystem 86. In another example, the non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and the computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 102 in which functions implemented by some embodiments may be virtualized. In the present context, virtualizing means creating virtual versions of apparatuses or devices which may 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 WD, a WD 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 may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines implemented in one or more virtual environments 102 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes 106. 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 may be entirely virtualized.

The functions may be implemented by one or more applications 104 (which may 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 104 are run in virtualization environment 102 which provides hardware 106 comprising processing circuitry 108 and memory 110. Memory 110 contains software 112 executable by processing circuitry 108 whereby application 104 is operative to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

Virtualization environment 102, comprises general-purpose or special-purpose network hardware devices 106 comprising a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry 108, which may 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 may comprise memory 110-1 which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions or software 112 executed by processing circuitry 108. Each hardware device may comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 114, also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interface 116. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media 110-2 having stored therein software 112 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry 108. Software 112 may include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 118 (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines 120 as well as software allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein.

Virtual machines 120, comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 118 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual applicant 104 may be implemented on one or more of virtual machines 120, and the implementations may be made in different ways.

During operation, processing circuitry 108 executes software 112 to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 118, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer 118 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine 120. As shown in FIG. 3, hardware 106 may be a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 106 may comprise antenna 122 and may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 106 may 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) 124, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 104.

Virtualization of the hardware is in some contexts referred to as network function virtualization (NFV). NFV may 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 120 may 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 120, and that part of hardware 106 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 120, 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 120 on top of hardware networking infrastructure 106 and corresponds to application 104 in FIG. 3.

In some embodiments, one or more radio units 126 that each include one or more transmitters 128 and one or more receivers 130 may be coupled to one or more antennas 122. Radio units 126 may communicate directly with hardware nodes 106 via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may 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 132 which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes 106 and radio units 126. With reference to FIG. 4, in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes telecommunication network 134, such as a 3GPP- type cellular network, which comprises access network 136, such as a radio access network, and core network 138. Access network 136 comprises a plurality of network nodes 12a, 12b, 12c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 140a, 140b, 140c. Each network node 12a, 12b, 12c is connectable to core network 138 over a wired or wireless connection 142. A first WD 14a located in coverage area 140c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding network node 12c. A second WD 14b in coverage area 140a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding network node 12a. While a plurality of WDs 14a, 14b are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole WD is in the coverage area or where a sole WD is connecting to the corresponding network node 12.

Telecommunication network 134 is itself connected to host computer 144, which may 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 144 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. Connections 146 and 148 between telecommunication network 134 and host computer 144 may extend directly from core network 138 to host computer 144 or may go via an optional intermediate network 150. Intermediate network 150 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network 150, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network 150 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

The communication system of FIG. 4 as a whole enables connectivity between the connected WDs 14a, 14b and host computer 144. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 152. Host computer 144 and the connected WDs 14a, 14b are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection 152, using access network 136, core network 138, any intermediate network 150 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection 152 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which OTT connection 152 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, network node 12 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from host computer 144 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected WD 14a. Similarly, network node 12 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the WD 14a towards the host computer 144.

Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the WD, network node and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to FIG. 5. In communication system 154, host computer 144 comprises hardware 156 including communication interface 158 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 154. Host computer 144 further comprises processing circuitry 160, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry 160 may 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 144 further comprises software 162, which is stored in or accessible by host computer 144 and executable by processing circuitry 160. Software 162 includes host application 164. Host application 164 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as WD 14 connecting via OTT connection 166 terminating at WD 14 and host computer 144. In providing the service to the remote user, host application 164 may provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection 166.

Communication system 154 further includes network node 12 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 168 enabling it to communicate with host computer 144 and with WD 14. Hardware 168 may include communication interface 170 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 154, as well as radio interface 172 for setting up and maintaining at least wireless connection 174 with WD 14 located in a coverage area (not shown in FIG. 5) served by network node 12. Communication interface 170 may be configured to facilitate connection 176 to host computer 144. Connection 176 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in FIG. 5) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, hardware 168 of network node 12 further includes processing circuitry 178, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. Network node 12 further has software 180 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

Communication system 154 further includes WD 14 already referred to. Its hardware 182 may include radio interface 184 configured to set up and maintain wireless connection 174 with a network node serving a coverage area in which WD 14 is currently located. Hardware 182 of WD 14 further includes processing circuitry 186, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. WD 14 further comprises software 188, which is stored in or accessible by WD 14 and executable by processing circuitry 186. Software 188 includes client application 190. Client application 190 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via WD 14, with the support of host computer 144. In host computer 144, an executing host application 164 may communicate with the executing client application 190 via OTT connection 166 terminating at WD 14 and host computer 144. In providing the service to the user, client application 190 may receive request data from host application 164 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 166 may transfer both the request data and the user data. Client application 190 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.

It is noted that host computer 144, network node 12 and WD 14 illustrated in FIG. 5 may be similar or identical to host computer 144, one of network nodes 12a, 12b, 12c and one of WDs 14, 14b of FIG. 4, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in FIG. 5 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of FIG. 4. In FIG. 5, OTT connection 166 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host computer 144 and WD 14 via network node 12, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from WD 14 or from the service provider operating host computer 144, or both. While OTT connection 166 is active, the network infrastructure may 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 174 between WD 14 and network node 12 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 WD 14 using OTT connection 166, in which wireless connection 174 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the latency/activation delay, reducing overhead, improving Network Key Performance Indicators (KPI) and WD Quality of Service (QoS) and thereby provide benefits such as an efficient way of system adaptation by changing a full RRC profile associated with a BWP without RRC signaling.

A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve.

There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 166 between host computer 144 and WD 14, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 166 may be implemented in software 162 and hardware 156 of host computer 144 or in software 188 and hardware 182 of WD 14, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which OTT connection 166 passes; the sensors may participate in the measurement procedure by supplying values of the monitored quantities exemplified above, or supplying values of other physical quantities from which software 162, 188 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 166 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect network node 12, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to network node 12. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary WD signaling facilitating host computer 144’ s measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that software 162 and 188 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection 166 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer 144, a network node 12 and a WD 14 which may be those described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 6 will be included in this section. In SI 00, the host computer 144 provides user data. In substep S102 (which may be optional) of step SI 00, the host computer 144 provides the user data by executing a host application 164. In step S104, the host computer 144 initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the WD 14. In step S106 (which may be optional), the network node 12 transmits to the WD 14 the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer 144 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step SI 08 (which may also be optional), the WD 14 executes a client application 190 associated with the host application 164 executed by the host computer 144.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer 144, a network node 12 and a WD 14 which may be those described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 7 will be included in this section. In step SI 10 of the method, the host computer 144 provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown) the host computer 144 provides the user data by executing a host application 164. In step SI 12, the host computer 144 initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the WD 14. The transmission may pass via the network node 12, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step SI 14 (which may be optional), the WD 14 receives the user data carried in the transmission. FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer 144, a network node 12 and a WD 14 which may be those described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 8 will be included in this section. In step SI 16 (which may be optional), the WD 14 receives input data provided by the host computer 144. Additionally or alternatively, in step SI 18, the WD 14 provides user data. In substep S120 (which may be optional) of step SI 18, the WD 14 provides the user data by executing a client application 190. In substep S122 (which may be optional) of step SI 16, the WD 14 executes a client application 190 which provides the user data in reaction to the received input data provided by the host computer 144. In providing the user data, the executed client application 190 may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the WD 14 initiates, in substep S124 (which may be optional), transmission of the user data to the host computer 144. In step SI 26 of the method, the host computer 144 receives the user data transmitted from the WD 14, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer 144, a network node 12 and a WD 14 which may be those described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to FIG. 9 will be included in this section. In step S128 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 12 receives user data from the WD 14.

In step S130 (which may be optional), the network node 12 initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer 144. In step S132 (which may be optional), the host computer 144 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the network node 12.

FIG. 10 illustrates an example method in accordance with some embodiments. The method may be performed by a WD14 for communicating with a network node 12 in a wireless communication network. The method begins at step S134 with obtaining/receiving a message from the network node 12 indicating that accessing at least one of the cells served by the network node 12 is barred and/or that an extended cell barring condition is present.

According to some embodiments, the message is a Master Information Block (MIB), and wherein the action of obtaining/receiving the message comprises: using at least one field in the Master Information Block (MIB) received by the WD 14 as indication of at least one of: the presence of the extended cell barring condition, and an instruction (and/or optionally a condition) to interpret at least one portion of content of the MIB; wherein the method further comprises decoding the at least one portion of content of the MIB in order to obtain information about the extended cell barring condition based on the indication that an extended cell barring is present or based on that the network node 12 is barred. The condition may in some embodiments be the presence of the extended cell barring condition.

In more detail, the term interpret may in the present context be understood as “reinterpreting” or “interpreting differently” based on a factor/condition/state. For example, the instruction to interpret at least one portion of content of the MIB may be understood as that the WD 14 reads/understands/interprets the at least one portion of content in a first manner if a condition is fulfilled (e.g., cell is indicated as barred) while the WD 14 reads/understands/interprets the at least one portion of content in a second manner if the condition is not fulfilled (e.g., cell not indicated as barred), the first manner being different from the second manner. Moreover, reading/understanding/interpreting something in a specific manner may be understood as that different information/data/instructions are obtained depending on the manner.

Moreover, according to some embodiments the indication of an instruction and/or condition to interpret at least one portion of content may comprise an indication of an instruction to interpret at least one portion of content of the MIB in accordance with a given condition on “how” to interpret the content. For example, using the cellBarred flag set to the barred state as an indication of an instruction to interpret one or more fields/bits of the MIB in accordance with a first protocol, where the first protocol is different from a second protocol which is used to interpret the one or more fields/bits of the MIB when the cellBarred flag is not set in the barred state. The cellBarred flag of the MIB is merely an example, and other bits or fields may be used for analogous purposes as exemplified herein. Stated differently, the instruction to interpret may result in that the bits or fields of the MIB have different meaning depending on the condition (e.g., if the cellBarred flag is set or not).

According to some embodiments, the field is a cellBarred flag. In some embodiments, the action of using the field in the MIB as an indication comprises determining a presence and/or value of a cellBarred flag being set to a barred state of the MIB as an indication of at least one of: the presence of the extended cell barring condition, and the instruction and/or condition to interpret at least one portion of content of the MIB.

According to some embodiments, the information about the extended cell barring condition comprises an indication of a long term unavailability/refarming/migration of at least one spectrum resource.

According to some embodiments, the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource is partial such that: the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource only applies to one or more specific WD 14 types, one or more specific WD 14 capabilities, one or more WD 14 categories, and/or one or more WD 14 services, and that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to at least one other specific WD 14 type, WD 14 capability, WD 14 category, and/or WD 14 service.

Different types of WDs 14 may for example be WDs 14 for communication purposes such as WDs 14 for MBB services or URLLC services, or IoT devices such as industrial sensors and wearables. Moreover, WD 14 Category may be understood as the set of information (parameters) that defines the maximum throughput for a WD 14. For example, there are 8 WD 14 categories as defined in 3GPP Release 10. Each WD 14 category defines both Uplink and Downlink Capabilities. Moreover, LTE utilises the LTE WD 14 Category or User Equipment categories or classes to define the performance specifications of LTE devices and enables LTE network nodes to be able to communicate effectively with them knowing their performance levels. With regards to WD 14 capabilities, a WD 14 capability to support a CORESET or BWP bandwidth below the minimum which should be supported by Release 15/16 NR WDs 14 may e.g., be seen as an indication for the support of NR-MTC, i.e., NR-Light. According to some embodiments, the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource comprises one or more of: information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource applies to Mobile Broadband (MBB) and/or Ultra- Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) services; and information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to Machine Type Communication (MTC) services and/or Internet of Things (MTC) services.

According to some embodiments, the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource comprises one or more of: information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource applies to Machine Type Communication (MTC) services and/or Internet of Things (MTC) services; and information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to Mobile Broadband (MBB) and/or Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) services.

According to some embodiments, the information about the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one of: an indication that the cell is barred permanently or that the cell is barred without a time limit; an indication that the cell is barred for an indicated extended time period; an instruction to the WD 14 to search for a new cell at the same carrier frequency upon an expiration of a first time period or upon move of the WD 14 to a new location; an indication that intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cells are barred for a second time period; an indication that intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cells are barred permanently or without a time limit; an indication that the cell is barred in dependency of at least one of a WD 14 type, a WD 14 capability, a WD 14 category, and/or a network service; an indication of an alternative public land mobile network (PLMN) and/or radio access technology (RAT) that the WD 14 is allowed to reselect to.

According to some embodiments, the instruction and/or condition to reinterpret at least one portion of content of the MIB comprises an instruction to interpret at least one bit of the MIB based on the indication that an extended cell barring is present or based on that the network node 12 is barred. According to some embodiments, the instruction and/or condition to interpret at least one portion of content of the MIB comprises an instruction to interpret at least one field of the MIB based on the indication that an extended cell barring is present or based on that the network node 12 is barred.

According to some embodiments, the instruction to reinterpret at least one portion of content of the MIB comprises an instruction to interpret the pdcch- ConfigSIBl field of the MIB based on the indication that an extended cell barring is present or based on that the network node 12 is barred.

According to some embodiments, the instruction to reinterpret at least one portion of content of the MIB comprises an instruction to interpret all fields of the MIB excluding the cellBarred field and/or the intraFreqReselection field based on the indication that an extended cell barring is present or based on that the network node 12 is barred.

According to some embodiments, the message is a Master Information Block (MIB). In some embodiments, the action of obtaining/receiving the message further comprises: using at least one field/bit of the MIB received by the WD 14 as an indication of at least one of: a presence of the extended cell barring condition and an availability of information about the extended cell barring condition in at least one of an Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a System Information Block (SIB), and an extended MIB (eMIB), an instruction to decode at least one portion of content of the Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, the System Information Block (SIB), and/or the extended MIB (eMIB) in order to obtain information about the extended cell barring condition, a frequency relationship of the RRC message, SIB, and/or the eMIB relative to the MIB, and a timing relationship of the RRC message, SIB, and/or the eMIB relative to the MIB; wherein the method further comprises decoding the at least one portion of content of the Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, the System Information Block (SIB), and/or the extended MIB (eMIB) in order to obtain information about the extended cell barring condition.

According to some embodiments, the at least one field/fit of the MIB is at least one of a cellBarred flag set to a barred state and another bit of the MIB different from the cellBarred flag. According to some embodiments, the information about the extended cell barring condition comprises an indication of a long term unavailability/refarming/migration of at least one spectrum resource.

According to some embodiments, the RRC message is a dedicated RRC message for signaling the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of at least one spectrum resource, the SIB is a dedicated SIB for signaling the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of at least one spectrum resource.

According to some embodiments, the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource is partial such that: the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource only applies to one or more specific WD 14 types, one or more specific WD 14 capabilities, one or more WD 14 categories, and/or one or more network services, and that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to at least one other specific WD 14 type, WD 14 capability, WD 14 category, and/or network service.

According to some embodiments, the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource comprises one or more of: information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource applies to Mobile Broadband (MBB) and/or Ultra- Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) services; and information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to Machine Type Communication (MTC) services.

According to some embodiments, the information about the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one of: a unique identifier for a cell in the communication network, such as a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) specific cell identity, the PLMN identifier and/or a Cell Global Identity (CGI); an indication that the cell is barred permanently or that the cell is barred without a time limit; an indication that the cell is barred for an indicated extended time period; an instruction to the WD 14 to search for a new cell at the same carrier frequency upon an expiry of a first time period or upon move of the WD 14 to a new location; an indication that intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cells are barred for a second time period; an indication that intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cells are barred permanently or without a time limit; an indication that the cell is barred in dependency of at least one of a WD 14 type, a WD 14 capability, a WD 14 category, and/or a network service; an indication of an alternative public land mobile network (PLMN) and/or radio access technology (RAT) that the WD 14 is allowed to reselect to.

According to some embodiments, the action of decoding the at least one portion of content of the eMIB (by e.g., WD 14) comprises: performing blind decoding (by e.g., WD 14) on at least one candidate resource in order to identify which candidate resource of the at least one candidate resource contains the eMIB.

According to some embodiments, the method may further comprise using at least one field/bit of a system information block (SIB) received by the WD 14 (e.g., sent by network node 12) as an indication of at least one of: a frequency relationship of the RRC message, SIB, and/or the eMIB relative to the MIB, and a timing relationship of the RRC message, SIB, and/or the eMIB relative to the MIB.

According to some embodiments, the message is a New Radio (NR) Radio Resource Control (RRC) broadcast message specific for at least one WD 14 type, WD 14 capability, WD 14 category, and/or network service. In some embodiments, the action of obtaining/receiving the message further comprises: using at least one bit in the NR RRC broadcast message as an indication that the cell of the network node 12 is barred for the specific at least one WD 14 type, WD 14 capability, WD 14 category, and/or network service.

According to some embodiments, the NR RRC broadcast message is a NR MIB and/or a NR SIB specific for at least one WD 14 type, WD 14 capability, WD 14 category, and/or network service.

According to some embodiments, the method may further comprise: ignoring (by e.g., WD 14) a presence of a cellBarred flag set to a barred state of the (general/non-specific) Master Information Block (MIB) received by the WD 14.

According to some embodiments, the message is a New Radio (NR) Machine Type Communication (MTC) specific Radio Resource Control (RRC) broadcast message (e.g., sent by network node 12), and in some embodiments, the action of using the at least one bit comprises: using at least one bit in the NR MTC RRC broadcast message as an indication that the cell of the network node 12 is barred for an MTC WD 14 and/or MTC service.

According to some embodiments, the NR MTC RRC broadcast message is a NR MTC MIB and/or an NR MTC SIB.

The method may further include providing user data; and forwarding the user data to a host computer via the transmission to the network node 12.

FIG. 11 illustrates an example virtualization apparatus 192 in accordance with some embodiments. The virtual apparatus 192 may be implemented in a WD14 for communicating with a network node 12 in a wireless communication network

FIG. 11 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 192 in a wireless network (for example, the wireless network shown in FIG. 1). The apparatus may be implemented in a WD 14 or network node 12 (e.g., WD 14 or network node 12 shown in FIG. 1). Apparatus 192 is operable to carry out the example method described with reference to FIG. 10 and possibly any other processes or methods disclosed herein. It is also to be understood that the method of FIG. 10 is not necessarily carried out solely by apparatus 192. At least some operations of the method can be performed by one or more other entities.

Virtual apparatus 192 may comprise processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein, in several embodiments. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the obtaining unit 194, and any other suitable units of apparatus 192 to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, apparatus 192 includes an obtaining unit 194. The obtaining unit 194 is configured to obtain/receive a message from the network node 12 indicating that accessing at least one of the cells served by the network node 12 is barred and/or that an extended cell barring condition is present.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example method in accordance with some embodiments. The method may be performed by a network node 12 (e.g., base station) for communicating with a WD 14 in a wireless communication network. With these embodiments of the disclosure (methods performed by a network node 12), similar advantages and preferred features are present as in the previously discussed embodiments (methods performed by a WD 14) of the disclosure.

FIG. 12 depicts a method in accordance with particular embodiments. The method begins at step S136 with the network node 12 configuring a message indicating that accessing at least one of the cells of the network node 12 is barred and/or that an extended cell barring condition is present. In step S138, the network node 12 transmits the message to the WD 14 indicating that accessing at least one of the cells of the network node 12 is barred and/or that the extended cell barring condition is present According to some embodiments, only the step S 138 is carried out in the method. According to some embodiments, only the step S136 is carried out in the method.

According to some embodiments, the message is a Master Information Block (MIB). In some embodiments, the action of configuring (e.g., by network node 12) a message comprises using at least one field/bit in the Master Information Block (MIB) transmitted to the WD 14 as indication of at least one of: the presence of the extended cell barring condition, and an instruction and/or condition to interpret at least one portion of content of the MIB.

According to some embodiments, the method further comprises: purposing/configuring/defining/determining at least one portion of content of the MIB to comprise information about the extended cell barring condition and/or the instruction and/or condition to interpret at least one portion of content of the MIB based on the indication that an extended cell barring is present or based on that the network node 12 is barred; wherein the at least one portion of content may be different from the at least one field/bit indicating at least one of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the instruction and/or condition to interpret the at least one portion of content of the MIB. According to some embodiments, the at least one portion of content of the MIB comprises at least one field/bit of the MIB excluding the cellBarred field and the intraFreqReselection field.

According to some embodiments, the at least one portion of content comprises the pdcch-ConfigSIBl field of the MIB.

According to some embodiments, the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource comprises one or more of: information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource applies to Mobile Broadband (MBB) and/or Ultra- Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) services; that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to Machine Type Communication (MTC) services.

According to some embodiments, the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource comprises: information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource applies to Machine Type Communication (MTC) services; and information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to Mobile Broadband (MBB) and/or Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) services.

According to some embodiments, the information about the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one of: an indication that the cell is barred permanently or that the cell is barred without a time limit; an indication that the cell is barred for an indicated extended time period; an instruction to the WDWD 14 to search for a new cell at the same carrier frequency upon an expiry of a first time period or upon move of the WD 14 to a new location; an indication that intra- frequency and/or inter-frequency cells are barred for a second time period; an indication that intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cells are barred permanently or without a time limit; an indication that the cell is barred in dependency of at least one of a WD 14 type, a WD 14 capability, a WD 14 category, and/or a network service; an indication of an alternative public land mobile network (PLMN) and/or radio access technology (RAT) that the WD 14 is allowed to reselect to.

According to some embodiments, the message is a master information block (MIB). In some embodiments, the method further comprises: using at least one fiel d/bit of the MIB as an indication of at least one of: a presence of the extended cell barring condition and an availability of information about the extended cell barring condition in at least one of an Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a System Information Block (SIB), and an extended MIB (eMIB), an instruction to decode at least one portion of content of the Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, the System Information Block (SIB), and/or the extended MIB (eMIB) in order to obtain information about the extended cell barring condition, and at least one of: a frequency relationship of the RRC message, SIB, and/or the eMIB relative to the MIB, and a timing relationship of the RRC message, SIB, and/or the eMIB relative to the MIB; transmitting the information about the extended cell barring condition via the Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, the System Information Block (SIB), and/or the extended MIB (eMIB).

According to some embodiments, the at least one field/bit of the MIB is at least one of a cellBarred flag set to a barred state and another bit of the MIB different from the cellBarred flag.

According to some embodiments, the RRC message is a dedicated RRC message for signaling the indication of refarming or a migration of at least one spectrum resource, the SIB is a dedicated SIB for signaling the indication of refarming or a migration of at least one spectrum resource.

According to some embodiments, the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource comprises one or more of: information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource applies to Machine Type Communication (MTC) services; and information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to Mobile Broadband (MBB) and/or Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) services.

According to some embodiments, the information about the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one of: a unique identifier for a cell in the communication network, such as a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) specific cell identity, the PLMN identifier and/or a Cell Global Identity (CGI); an indication that the cell is barred permanently or that the cell is barred without a time limit; an indication that the cell is barred for an indicated extended time period; an instruction to the WD 14 to search for a new cell at the same carrier frequency upon an expiry of a first time period or upon move of the WD 14 to a new location; an indication that intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cells are barred for a second time period; an indication that intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cells are barred permanently or without a time limit; an indication that the cell is barred in dependency of at least one of a WD 14 type, a WD 14 capability, a WD 14 category, and/or a network service; and an indication of an alternative public land mobile network (PLMN) and/or radio access technology (RAT) that the WD 14 is allowed to reselect to.

According to some embodiments, the method may further comprise using (e.g., by network node 12) at least one bit of a different System Information Block (SIB) transmitted to the WD 14 as an indication of at least one of: a frequency relationship of the RRC message, SIB, and/or the eMIB relative to the MIB, and a timing relationship of the RRC message, SIB, and/or the eMIB relative to the MIB.

According to some embodiments, the message is a New Radio (NR) Radio Resource Control (RRC) broadcast message specific for at least one WD 14 type, WD 14 capability, WD 14 category, and/or network service.

According to some embodiments, the NR RRC broadcast message (e.g., sent by network node 12) is a NR MIB and/or a NR SIB specific for at least one WD 14 type, WD 14 capability, WD 14 category, and/or network service.

According to some embodiments, the message is a New Radio (NR) Machine Type Communication (MTC) specific Radio Resource Control (RRC) broadcast message, and wherein the action of configuring (e.g., by the network node 12) the message comprises: using at least one bit in the NR MTC RRC broadcast message transmitted to an MTC WD 14 as an indication that accessing at least one of the cells of the network node 12 is barred for the MTC WD 14.

The method may further include obtaining user data; and forwarding the user data to a host computer or a WD 14.

FIG. 13 illustrates an example virtualization apparatus in accordance with some embodiments. The virtual apparatus may be implemented in a network node 12 (e.g., base station) for communicating with a WD 14 in a wireless communication network

FIG. 13 illustrates a schematic block diagram of an apparatus 196 in a wireless network (for example, the wireless network shown in FIG. 1). The apparatus 196 may be implemented in a WD 14 or network node 12 (e.g., WD 14 or network node 12 shown in FIG. 1). Apparatus 196 is operable to carry out the example method described with reference to FIG. 12 and possibly any other processes or methods disclosed herein. It is also to be understood that the method of FIG. 12 is not necessarily carried out solely by apparatus 196. At least some operations of the method can be performed by one or more other entities.

Virtual Apparatus 196 may comprise processing circuitry, which may include one or more microprocessor or microcontrollers, as well as other digital hardware, which may include digital signal processors (DSPs), special-purpose digital logic, and the like. The processing circuitry may be configured to execute program code stored in memory, which may include one or several types of memory such as read-only memory (ROM), random-access memory, cache memory, flash memory devices, optical storage devices, etc. Program code stored in memory includes program instructions for executing one or more telecommunications and/or data communications protocols as well as instructions for carrying out one or more of the techniques described herein, in several embodiments. In some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause configurating unit 198, a transmitting unit 200, and any other suitable units of apparatus 196 to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

As illustrated in FIG. 13, apparatus 196 includes a configurating unit 198 and a transmitting unit 200. The virtual apparatus 196 may comprise the configuration unit 198 and/or the transmitting unit 200. The configurating unit 198 is configured to configuring a message indicating that accessing at least one of the cells of the network node 12 is barred and/or that an extended cell barring condition is present. The transmitting unit 200 is configured to transmit the message to the WD 14 indicating that accessing at least one of the cells of the network node 12 is barred and/or that the extended cell barring condition is present.

The term unit may have conventional meaning in the field of electronics, electrical devices and/or electronic devices and may 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. FIG. 14 is a flowchart of an example process in a network node 12 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. One or more Blocks and/or functions and/or methods performed by the network node 12 may be performed by one or more elements of network node 12 such as by processing circuitry 16, memory such as readable medium 18, interface 20, processing circuitry 178, communication interface 170, etc. or any other hardware in a network node 12 according to the example method. The example method includes transmitting (Block S140), such as by processing circuitry 16, memory such as readable medium 18, interface 20, processing circuitry 178 and/or communication interface 170, a message comprising information indicating that accessing at least one cell served by the network node is barred and indicating a presence of an extended cell barring condition.

In some embodiments, the information indicating the presence of the extended call barring condition indicates a long term unavailability of at least one spectrum resource associated with the at least one cell. In some embodiments, the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource applies to at least one first WD type and does not apply to at least one second WD type, the at least one second WD type being different from the at least one first WD type. In some embodiments, the at least one first WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource applies is associated with at least one first WD service; and the at least one second WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply is associated with at least one second WD service, the at least one second WD service being different from the at least one first WD service.

In some embodiments, the at least one first WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource applies is associated with at least one of a mobile broadband, MBB, service and an ultra-reliable low- latency communication, URLLC, service; and the at least one second WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply is associated with at least one of a machine type communication, MTC, service and an Internet-of-Things, IoT, service. In some embodiments, the at least one first WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource applies is associated with at least one of a machine type communication, MTC, service and an Internet-of-Things, IoT, service; and the at least one second WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply is associated with at least one of a mobile broadband, MBB, service and an ultra-reliable low-latency communication, URLLC, service.

In some embodiments, the message is a master information block, MIB. In some embodiments, the method further includes using, such as by processing circuitry 16, memory such as readable medium 18, interface 20, processing circuitry 178 and/or communication interface 170, at least one field in the MIB transmitted to the WD 14 to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition. In some embodiments, the at least one field used in the MIB to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises a cellBarred flag set to a barred state. In some embodiments, the at least one field used in the MIB to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one bit in the MIB, the at least one bit being different from a cellBarred flag. In some embodiments, using the at least one field transmitted to the WD to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises using, such as by processing circuitry 16, memory such as readable medium 18, interface 20, processing circuitry 178 and/or communication interface 170, a value in the at least one field transmitted to the WD 14 as the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition.

In some embodiments, using the at least one field transmitted to the WD 14 to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises using, such as by processing circuitry 16, memory such as readable medium 18, interface 20, processing circuitry 178 and/or communication interface 170, a value in the at least one field as an instruction to interpret at least one of (i) another portion of the MIB and (i) a second message, the interpretation being based on at least one of the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the indication that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node is barred.

In some embodiments, the instruction to interpret comprises an instruction to reinterpret a physical downlink control channel configuration system information block 1, PDCCH-ConfigSIBl, field in the MIB based on at least one of the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the indication that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node is barred. In some embodiments, the instruction to interpret comprises an instruction to interpret all fields in the MIB excluding at least one of the cellBarred field and an intra-frequency reselection field in the MIB based on at least one of the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the indication that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node is barred.

In some embodiments, the method further includes using, such as by processing circuitry 16, memory such as readable medium 18, interface 20, processing circuitry 178 and/or communication interface 170, at least one field in the MIB transmitted to the WD to indicate an availability of information about the extended cell barring condition in at least one of a radio resource control, RRC, message, a system information block, SIB, and an extended master information block, eMIB. In some embodiments, the method further includes using, such as by processing circuitry 16, memory such as readable medium 18, interface 20, processing circuitry 178 and/or communication interface 170, the at least one field in the MIB transmitted to the WD to indicate a frequency relationship of the at least one of the RRC message, the SIB and the eMIB relative to the MIB.

In some embodiments, the method further includes using, such as by processing circuitry 16, memory such as readable medium 18, interface 20, processing circuitry 178 and/or communication interface 170, the at least one field in the MIB transmitted to the WD to indicate a timing relationship of the at least one of the RRC message, the SIB and the eMIB relative to the MIB. In some embodiments, the message is one of a radio resource control, RRC, message and a system information block, SIB, message. In some embodiments, transmitting the message further comprises encoding, such as by processing circuitry 16, memory such as readable medium 18, interface 20, processing circuitry 178 and/or communication interface 170, at least a portion of the message including information about the extended cell barring condition based on at least one of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node is barred.

In some embodiments, the information indicating the presence of the extended call barring condition comprises at least one of: a cell identity; an indication that the at least one cell is barred permanently; an indication that the at least one cell is barred for a first time period, the first time period being larger than a second time period associated with a temporary cell barring condition; an instruction to the WD to search for a new cell at a same carrier frequency as the at least one cell; an indication that at least one of an intra-frequency cell and an inter-frequency cell is barred for a third time period; an indication that that at least one of an intra-frequency cell and an inter- frequency cell is barred permanently; an indication that the at least one cell is barred based on at least one of a WD type, a WD capability, a WD category and a network service; and an indication of an alternative public land mobile network, PLMN, and an alternative radio access technology, RAT, that the WD is allowed to reselect to.

In some embodiments, the method further includes configuring, such as by processing circuitry 16, memory such as readable medium 18, interface 20, processing circuitry 178 and/or communication interface 170, the message comprising the information indicating that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node is barred and indicating the presence of the extended cell barring condition.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart of an example process in a WD 14 according to some embodiments of the present disclosure. One or more Blocks and/or functions and/or methods performed by WD 14 may be performed by one or more elements of WD 14 such as by processing circuitry 46, memory such as readable medium 48, interface 44, processing circuitry 186, radio interface 184, or any other hardware in a WD 14, etc. The example method includes receiving (Block SI 42), such as by processing circuitry 46, memory such as readable medium 48, interface 44, processing circuitry 186, radio interface 184 and/or any other hardware in a WD 14, a message from a network node 12, the message comprising information indicating that accessing at least one cell served by the network node is barred, and indicating a presence of an extended cell barring condition.

In some embodiments, the method further includes ignoring, such as by processing circuitry 46, memory such as readable medium 48, interface 44, processing circuitry 186, radio interface 184 and/or any other hardware in a WD 14, a presence of a cellBarred flag set to barred state in a master information block, MIB, message.

In some embodiments, the message is a master information block, MIB and the method further comprises using, such as by processing circuitry 46, memory such as readable medium 48, interface 44, processing circuitry 186, radio interface 184 and/or any other hardware in a WD 14, at least one field in the MIB to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition. In some embodiments, the at least one field used in the MIB to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises a cellBarred flag set to a barred state. In some embodiments, the at least one field used in the MIB to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one bit in the MIB, the at least one bit being different from a cellBarred flag.

In some embodiments, using the at least one field to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises using, such as by processing circuitry 46, memory such as readable medium 48, interface 44, processing circuitry 186, radio interface 184 and/or any other hardware in a WD 14, a value in the at least one field as the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition. In some embodiments, using the at least one field to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises using, such as by processing circuitry 46, memory such as readable medium 48, interface 44, processing circuitry 186, radio interface 184 and/or any other hardware in a WD 14, a value in the at least one field as an instruction to interpret at least one of (i) another portion of the MIB and (i) a second message, the interpretation being based on at least one of the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the indication that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node is barred.

In some embodiments, the instruction to interpret comprises an instruction to reinterpret a physical downlink control channel configuration system information block 1, PDCCH-ConfigSIBl, field in the MIB based on at least one of the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the indication that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node is barred. In some embodiments, the instruction to interpret comprises an instruction to interpret all fields in the MIB excluding at least one of the cellBarred field and an intra-frequency reselection field in the MIB based on at least one of the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the indication that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node is barred. In some embodiments, the method further includes using, such as by processing circuitry 46, memory such as readable medium 48, interface 44, processing circuitry 186, radio interface 184 and/or any other hardware in a WD 14, at least one field in the MIB to determine an availability of information about the extended cell barring condition in at least one of a radio resource control, RRC, message, a system information block, SIB, and an extended master information block, eMIB. In some embodiments, the method further includes using, such as by processing circuitry 46, memory such as readable medium 48, interface 44, processing circuitry 186, radio interface 184 and/or any other hardware in a WD 14, the at least one field in the MIB to determine a frequency relationship of the at least one of the RRC message, the SIB and the eMIB relative to the MIB. In some embodiments, the method further includes using, such as by processing circuitry 46, memory such as readable medium 48, interface 44, processing circuitry 186, radio interface 184 and/or any other hardware in a WD 14, the at least one field in the MIB to determine a timing relationship of the at least one of the RRC message, the SIB and the eMIB relative to the MIB.

In some embodiments, the message is one of a radio resource control, RRC, message and a system information block, SIB, message. In some embodiments, receiving the message further comprises decoding, such as by processing circuitry 46, memory such as readable medium 48, interface 44, processing circuitry 186, radio interface 184 and/or any other hardware in a WD 14, at least a portion of the message to obtain information about the extended cell barring condition based on at least one of the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the indication that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node is barred.

Some embodiments may include one or more of the following:

Group A Embodiments 1. A method performed by a wireless device (WD) for communicating with a network node in a wireless communication network the method comprising:

- obtaining/receiving a message from the network node indicating that accessing at least one of the cells served by the network node is barred and that an extended cell barring condition is present.

2. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the message is a Master Information Block (MIB), and wherein the action of obtaining/receiving the message comprises:

- using at least one field in the Master Information Block (MIB) received by the WD as indication of at least one of: i. the presence of the extended cell barring condition, and ii. an instruction and/or condition to interpret at least one portion of content of the MIB;

- wherein the method further comprises decoding the at least one portion of content of the MIB in order to obtain information about the extended cell barring condition based on the indication that an extended cell barring is present or based on that the network node is barred.

3. The method of embodiment 2, wherein the field is a cellBarred flag, and wherein the action of using the field in the MIB as an indication comprises determining a presence and/or value of a cellBarred flag being set to a barred state of the MIB as an indication of at least one of: i. the presence of the extended cell barring condition, and ii. the instruction and/or condition to interpret at least one portion of content of the MIB.

4. The method of embodiment 2 or 3, wherein the information about the extended cell barring condition comprises an indication of a long term unavailability/refarming/migration of at least one spectrum resource.

5. The method of embodiment 4, wherein the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource is partial such that: - the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource only applies to one or more specific WD types, one or more specific WD capabilities, one or more WD categories, and/or one or more WD services, and that

- the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to at least one other specific WD type, WD capability, WD category, and/or WD service.

6. The method of embodiment 4 or 5, wherein the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource comprises:

- information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource applies to Mobile Broadband (MBB) and/or Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) services; and information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to Machine Type Communication (MTC) services and/or Internet of Things (MTC) services.

7. The method of embodiment 4 or 5, wherein the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource comprises:

- information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource applies to Machine Type Communication (MTC) services and/or Internet of Things (MTC) services; and information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to Mobile Broadband (MBB) and/or Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) services.

8. The method of any one of embodiments 2- 7, wherein the information about the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one of:

- an indication that the cell is barred permanently or that the cell is barred without a time limit;

- an indication that the cell is barred for an indicated extended time period;

- an instruction to the WD to search for a new cell at the same carrier frequency upon an expiry of a first time period or upon move of the WD to a new location;

- an indication that intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cells are barred for a second time period;

- an indication that intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cells are barred permanently or without a time limit;

- an indication that the cell is barred in dependency of at least one of a WD type, a WD capability, a WD category, and/or a network service;

- an indication of an alternative public land mobile network (PLMN) and/or radio access technology (RAT) that the WD is allowed to reselect to.

9. The method of any one of embodiments 2 - 8, wherein the instruction and/or condition to reinterpret at least one portion of content of the MIB comprises an instruction to interpret at least one bit of the MIB based on the indication that an extended cell barring is present or based on that the network node is barred.

10. The method of any one of embodiments 2 - 9, wherein the instruction and/or condition to interpret at least one portion of content of the MIB comprises an instruction to interpret at least one field of the MIB based on the indication that an extended cell barring is present or based on that the network node is barred.

11. The method of embodiments 2 - 10, wherein the instruction to reinterpret at least one portion of content of the MIB comprises an instruction to interpret the pdcch-ConfigSIBl field of the MIB based on the indication that an extended cell barring is present or based on that the network node is barred.

12. The method of any one of embodiments 2 - 11, wherein the instruction to reinterpret at least one portion of content of the MIB comprises an instruction to interpret all fields of the MIB excluding the cellBarred field and/or the intraFreqReselection field based on the indication that an extended cell barring is present or based on that the network node is barred.

13. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the message is a Master Information Block (MIB), and wherein the action of obtaining/receiving the message further comprises:

- using at least one field/bit of the MIB received by the WD as an indication of at least one of: i. a presence of the extended cell barring condition and an availability of information about the extended cell barring condition in at least one of a Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a System Information Block (SIB), and an extended MIB (eMIB), ii. an instruction to decode at least one portion of content of the Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, the System Information Block (SIB), and/or the extended MIB (eMIB) in order to obtain information about the extended cell barring condition, iii. a frequency relationship of the RRC message, SIB, and/or the eMIB relative to the MIB, and iv. a timing relationship of the RRC message, SIB, and/or the eMIB relative to the MIB;

- wherein the method further comprises decoding the at least one portion of content of the Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, the System Information Block (SIB), and/or the extended MIB (eMIB) in order to obtain information about the extended cell barring condition.

14. The method of embodiment 13, wherein the at least one field/fit of the MIB is at least one of a cellBarred flag set to a barred state and another bit of the MIB different from the cellBarred flag.

15. The method of embodiment 13 or 14, wherein the information about the extended cell barring condition comprises an indication of a long term unavailability/refarming/migration of at least one spectrum resource.

16. The method of embodiment 15, wherein the RRC message is a dedicated RRC message for signaling the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of at least one spectrum resource, the SIB is a dedicated SIB for signaling the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of at least one spectrum resource. The method of embodiment 15 or 16, wherein the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource is partial such that:

- the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource only applies to one or more specific WD types, one or more specific WD capabilities, one or more WD categories, and/or one or more network services, and that

- the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to at least one other specific WD type, WD capability, WD category, and/or network service. The method of embodiment 15 or 16, wherein the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource comprises:

- information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource applies to Mobile Broadband (MBB) and/or Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) services; and

- information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to Machine Type Communication (MTC) services. The method of any one of embodiments 13 - 18, wherein the information about the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one of:

- a unique identifier for a cell in the communication network, such as a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN) specific cell identity, the PLMN identifier and/or a Cell Global Identity (CGI);

- an indication that the cell is barred for an indicated extended time period; - an instruction to the WD to search for a new cell at the same carrier frequency upon an expiry of a first time period or upon move of the WD to a new location;

20. The method of any one of embodiments 13 - 19, wherein the action of decoding the at least one portion of content of the eMIB comprises:

- performing blind decoding on at least one candidate resource in order to identify which candidate resource of the at least one candidate resource contains the eMIB.

21. The method of any one of embodiments 13 - 20, further comprising using at least one field/bit of a system information block (SIB) received by the WD as an indication of at least one of:

- a frequency relationship of the RRC message, SIB, and/or the eMIB relative to the MIB, and

- a timing relationship of the RRC message, SIB, and/or the eMIB relative to the MIB.

22. The method of embodiment 1, wherein the message is a New Radio (NR) Radio Resource Control (RRC) broadcast message specific for at least one WD type, WD capability, WD category, and/or network service, and wherein the action of obtaining/receiving the message further comprises:

- using at least one bit in the NR RRC broadcast message as an indication that the cell of the network node is barred for the specific at least one WD type, WD capability, WD category, and/or network service. 23. The method of embodiment 22, wherein the NR RRC broadcast message is a NR MIB and/or a NR SIB specific for at least one WD type, WD capability, WD category, and/or network service.

24. The method of embodiment 22 or 23, further comprising:

- ignoring a presence of a cellBarred flag set to a barred state of the {general/non-specific) Master Information Block (MIB) received by the WD.

25. The method of any one of embodiments 22 - 24, wherein the message is a New Radio (NR) Machine Type Communication (MTC) specific Radio Resource Control (RRC) broadcast message, and wherein the action of using the at least one bit comprises:

- using at least one bit in the NR MTC RRC broadcast message as an indication that the cell of the network node is barred for an MTC WD and/or MTC service.

26. The method of embodiment 25, wherein the NR MTC RRC broadcast message is a NR MTC MIB and/or an NR MTC SIB.

27. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising:

- providing user data; and

- forwarding the user data to a host computer via the transmission to the base station.

Grouy B Embodiments

28. A method performed by a base station for communicating with a wireless device (WD) in a wireless communication network the method comprising:

- configuring a message indicating that accessing at least one of the cells of the network node is barred and that an extended cell barring condition is present; and

- transmitting the message to the WD indicating that accessing at least one of the cells of the network node is barred and that the extended cell barring condition is present.

29. The method of embodiment 28, wherein the message is a Master Information Block (MIB), and wherein the action of configuring a message comprises

- using at least one field/bit in the Master Information Block (MIB) transmitted to the WD as indication of at least one of: i. the presence of the extended cell barring condition, and ii. an instruction and/or condition to interpret at least one portion of content of the MIB.

30. The method of embodiment 29, further comprising:

- purposing/configuring/defming/determining at least one portion of content of the MIB to comprise information about the extended cell barring condition and/or the instruction and/or condition to interpret at least one portion of content of the MIB based on the indication that an extended cell barring is present or based on that the network node is barred;

- wherein the at least one portion of content may be different from the at least one field/bit indicating at least one of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the instruction and/or condition to interpret the at least one portion of content of the MIB.

31. The method of embodiment 30, wherein the at least one portion of content of the MIB comprises at least one field/bit of the MIB excluding the cellBarred field and the intraFreqReselection field.

32. The method of embodiment 30 or 31, wherein the at least one portion of content comprises the pdcch-ConfigSIB 1 field of the MIB.

33. The method of any one of embodiments 30 - 32, wherein the information about the extended cell barring condition comprises an indication of a long term unavailability/refarming/migration of at least one spectrum resource.

34. The method of embodiment 33, wherein the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource is partial such that:

- the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to at least one other specific WD type, WD capability, WD category, and/or network service. The method of embodiment 33 or 34, wherein the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource comprises:

- information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to Machine Type Communication (MTC) services. The method of embodiment 33 or 34, wherein the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource comprises:

- information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource applies to Machine Type Communication (MTC) services; and information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to Mobile Broadband (MBB) and/or Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) services. The method of any one of embodiments 30 - 36, wherein the information about the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one of:

- an indication that the cell is barred for an indicated extended time period;

- an indication that intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cells are barred for a second time period; - an indication that intra-frequency and/or inter-frequency cells are barred permanently or without a time limit;

38. The method of embodiment 28, wherein the message is a master information block (MIB), and wherein the method further comprises:

- using at least one field/bit of the MIB as an indication of at least one of: i. a presence of the extended cell barring condition and an availability of information about the extended cell barring condition in at least one of an Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, a System Information Block (SIB), and an extended MIB (eMIB), ii. an instruction to decode at least one portion of content of the Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, the System Information Block (SIB), and/or the extended MIB (eMIB) in order to obtain information about the extended cell barring condition,

- and at least one of: iii. a frequency relationship of the RRC message, SIB, and/or the eMIB relative to the MIB, and iv. a timing relationship of the RRC message, SIB, and/or the eMIB relative to the MIB;

- transmitting the information about the extended cell barring condition via the Radio Resource Control (RRC) message, the System Information Block (SIB), and/or the extended MIB (eMIB).

39. The method of embodiment 38, wherein the at least one field/bit of the MIB is at least one of a cellBarred flag set to a barred state and another bit of the MIB different from the cellBarred flag. The method of embodiment 38 or 39, wherein the information about the extended cell barring condition comprises an indication of a long term unavailability/refarming/migration of at least one spectrum resource. The method of embodiment 40, wherein the RRC message is a dedicated RRC message for signaling the indication of refarming or a migration of at least one spectrum resource, the SIB is a dedicated SIB for signaling the indication of refarming or a migration of at least one spectrum resource. The method of embodiment 40 or 41, wherein the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource is partial such that:

- the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to at least one other specific WD type, WD capability, WD category, and/or network service. The method of any one of embodiments 40 - 42, wherein the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource comprises:

- information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to Machine Type Communication (MTC) services. The method of any one of embodiments 40 - 42, wherein the indication of the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource comprises:

- information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource applies to Machine Type Communication (MTC) services; and

- information that the long term unavailability/refarming/migration of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply to Mobile Broadband (MBB) and/or Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communication (URLLC) services. The method of any one of embodiments 38 - 44, wherein the information about the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one of:

- an indication that the cell is barred for an indicated extended time period;

- an indication that the cell is barred in dependency of at least one of a WD type, a WD capability, a WD category, and/or a network service; and

- an indication of an alternative public land mobile network (PLMN) and/or radio access technology (RAT) that the WD is allowed to reselect to. The method of any one of embodiments 38 - 45, further comprising using at least one bit of a different System Information Block (SIB) transmitted to the WD as an indication of at least one of:

- a frequency relationship of the RRC message, SIB, and/or the eMIB relative to the MIB, and - a timing relationship of the RRC message, SIB, and/or the eMIB relative to the MIB.

47. The method of embodiment 28, wherein the message is a New Radio (NR) Radio Resource Control (RRC) broadcast message specific for at least one WD type, WD capability, WD category, and/or network service.

48. The method of embodiment 47, wherein the NR RRC broadcast message is a NR MIB and/or a NR SIB specific for at least one WD type, WD capability, WD category, and/or network service.

49. The method of embodiment 47 or 48, wherein the message is a New Radio (NR) Machine Type Communication (MTC) specific Radio Resource Control (RRC) broadcast message, and wherein the action of configuring the message comprises:

- using at least one bit in the NR MTC RRC broadcast message transmitted to an MTC WD as an indication that accessing at least one of the cells of the network node is barred for the MTC WD.

50. The method of any of the previous embodiments, further comprising:

- obtaining user data; and

- forwarding the user data to a host computer or a wireless device.

Grouy C Embodiments

51. A wireless device for communicating with a network node in a wireless communication network, the wireless device comprising:

- processing circuitry configured to perform any of the actions of any of the Group A embodiments; and

- power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the wireless device.

52. A base station for communicating with a wireless device (WD) in a wireless communication network, the base station comprising:

- processing circuitry configured to perform any of the actions of any of the Group B embodiments;

- power supply circuitry configured to supply power to the wireless device.

53. A user equipment (UE) for communicating with a network node in a wireless communication network, the UE comprising:

- an antenna configured to send and receive wireless signals;

- radio front-end circuitry connected to the antenna and to processing circuitry, and configured to condition signals communicated between the antenna and the processing circuitry;

- the processing circuitry being configured to perform any of the actions of any of the Group A embodiments;

- an input interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to allow input of information into the UE to be processed by the processing circuitry;

- an output interface connected to the processing circuitry and configured to output information from the UE that has been processed by the processing circuitry; and

- a battery connected to the processing circuitry and configured to supply power to the UE. A communication system including a host computer comprising:

- processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and

- a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE),

- wherein the cellular network comprises a base station having a radio interface and processing circuitry, the base station’s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the actions of any of the Group B embodiments. The communication system of the pervious embodiment further including the base station. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein:

- the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data; and

- the UE comprises processing circuitry configured to execute a client application associated with the host application. 58. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

- at the host computer, providing user data; and

- at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base station, wherein the base station performs any of the actions of any of the Group B embodiments.

59. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the base station, transmitting the user data.

60. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein the user data is provided at the host computer by executing a host application, the method further comprising, at the UE, executing a client application associated with the host application.

61. A user equipment (UE) configured to communicate with a base station, the UE comprising a radio interface and processing circuitry configured to performs the of the previous 3 embodiments.

62. A communication system including a host computer comprising:

- processing circuitry configured to provide user data; and

- a communication interface configured to forward user data to a cellular network for transmission to a user equipment (UE),

- wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the UE’s components configured to perform any of the actions of any of the Group A embodiments.

63. The communication system of the previous embodiment, wherein the cellular network further includes a base station configured to communicate with the UE.

64. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, wherein:

- the UE’s processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.

65. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

- at the host computer, providing user data; and

- at the host computer, initiating a transmission carrying the user data to the UE via a cellular network comprising the base station, wherein the UE performs any of the actions of any of the Group A embodiments. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the UE, receiving the user data from the base station. A communication system including a host computer comprising:

- communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station,

- wherein the UE comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the UE’s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the actions of any of the Group A embodiments. The communication system of the previous embodiment, further including the UE. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio interface configured to communicate with the UE and a communication interface configured to forward to the host computer the user data carried by a transmission from the UE to the base station. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein:

- the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; and

- the UE’s processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data. The communication system of the previous 4 embodiments, wherein:

- the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application, thereby providing request data; and

- the UE’s processing circuitry is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data in response to the request data. 72. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

- at the host computer, receiving user data transmitted to the base station from the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the actions of any of the Group A embodiments.

73. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising, at the UE, providing the user data to the base station.

74. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising:

- at the UE, executing a client application, thereby providing the user data to be transmitted; and

- at the host computer, executing a host application associated with the client application.

75. The method of the previous 3 embodiments, further comprising:

- at the UE, executing a client application; and

- at the UE, receiving input data to the client application, the input data being provided at the host computer by executing a host application associated with the client application,

- wherein the user data to be transmitted is provided by the client application in response to the input data.

76. A communication system including a host computer comprising a communication interface configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from a user equipment (UE) to a base station, wherein the base station comprises a radio interface and processing circuitry, the base station’s processing circuitry configured to perform any of the actions of any of the Group B embodiments.

77. The communication system of the previous embodiment further including the base station.

78. The communication system of the previous 2 embodiments, further including the UE, wherein the UE is configured to communicate with the base station.

79. The communication system of the previous 3 embodiments, wherein:

- the processing circuitry of the host computer is configured to execute a host application; - the UE is configured to execute a client application associated with the host application, thereby providing the user data to be received by the host computer.

80. A method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment (UE), the method comprising:

- at the host computer, receiving, from the base station, user data originating from a transmission which the base station has received from the UE, wherein the UE performs any of the actions of any of the Group A embodiments.

81. The method of the previous embodiment, further comprising at the base station, receiving the user data from the UE.

82. The method of the previous 2 embodiments, further comprising at the base station, initiating a transmission of the received user data to the host computer. ABBREVIATIONS

At least some of the following abbreviations may be used in this disclosure. If there is an inconsistency between abbreviations, preference should be given to how it is used above. If listed multiple times below, the first listing should be preferred over any subsequent listing(s). lx RTT CDMA2000 lx Radio Transmission Technology

3 GPP 3rd Generation Partnership Project

5G 5th Generation

ABS Almost Blank Subframe

ARQ Automatic Repeat Request

AWGN Additive White Gaussian Noise

BCCH Broadcast Control Channel

BCH Broadcast Channel

CA Carrier Aggregation

CC Carrier Component

CCCH SDU Common Control Channel SDU CDMA Code Division Multiplexing Access CGI Cell Global Identifier CIR Channel Impulse Response CP Cyclic Prefix

CPICH Common Pilot Channel CPICH Ec/No CPICH Received energy per chip divided by the power density in the band CQI Channel Quality information C-RNTI Cell RNTI CSI Channel State Information DCCH Dedicated Control Channel DL Downlink DM Demodulation DMRS Demodulation Reference Signal DRX Discontinuous Reception DTX Discontinuous Transmission DTCH Dedicated Traffic Channel DUT Device Under Test E-CID Enhanced Cell-ID (positioning method) E-SMLC Evolved-Serving Mobile Location Centre ECGI Evolved CGI eNB E-UTRAN NodeB ePDCCH enhanced Physical Downlink Control Channel

E-SMLC evolved Serving Mobile Location Center

E-UTRA Evolved UTRA

E-UTRAN Evolved UTRAN

FDD Frequency Division Duplex

FFS For Further Study

GERAN GSM EDGE Radio Access Network gNB Base station in NR

GNSS Global Navigation Satellite System

GSM Global System for Mobile communication

HARQ Hybrid Automatic Repeat Request

HO Handover

HSPA High Speed Packet Access HRPD High Rate Packet Data

LOS Line of Sight

LPP LTE Positioning Protocol

LTE Long-Term Evolution

MAC Medium Access Control

MBMS Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Services

MBSFN Multimedia Broadcast multicast service Single

Frequency Network MBSFN ABS MBSFN Almost Blank Subframe MDT Minimization of Drive Tests MIB Master Information Block MME Mobility Management Entity MSC Mobile Switching Center NPDCCH Narrowband Physical Downlink Control Channel NR New Radio

OCNGOFDMA Channel Noise Generator

OFDM Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing

OFDMA Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access

OSS Operations Support System

OTDOA Observed Time Difference of Arrival

O&M Operation and Maintenance

PBCH Physical Broadcast Channel

P-CCPCH Primary Common Control Physical Channel

PCell Primary Cell

PCFICH Physical Control Format Indicator Channel

PDCCH Physical Downlink Control Channel

PDP Profile Delay Profile

PDSCH Physical Downlink Shared Channel

PGW Packet Gateway

PHICH Physical Hybrid-ARQ Indicator Channel

PLMN Public Land Mobile Network

PMI Precoder Matrix Indicator PRACH Physical Random Access Channel

PRS Positioning Reference Signal

PSS Primary Synchronization Signal

PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

RACH Random Access Channel

QAM Quadrature Amplitude Modulation

RAN Radio Access Network

RAT Radio Access Technology

RLM Radio Link Management

RNC Radio Network Controller

RNTI Radio Network Temporary Identifier

RRC Radio Resource Control

RRM Radio Resource Management

RS Reference Signal

RSCP Received Signal Code Power

RSRP Reference Symbol Received Power OR

Reference Signal Received Power

RSRQ Reference Signal Received Quality OR

Reference Symbol Received Quality

RSSI Received Signal Strength Indicator

RSTD Reference Signal Time Difference

SCH Synchronization Channel

SCell Secondary Cell

SDU Service Data Unit

SFN System Frame Number

SGW Serving Gateway

SI System Information

SIB System Information Block

SNR Signal to Noise Ratio

SON Self Optimized Network ss Synchronization Signal SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal

TDD Time Division Duplex

TDOA Time Difference of Arrival

TOA Time of Arrival TSS Tertiary Synchronization Signal

TTI Transmission Time Interval

UE User Equipment

UL Uplink

UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication System USIM Universal Subscriber Identity Module

UTDOA Uplink Time Difference of Arrival

UTRA Universal Terrestrial Radio Access

UTRAN Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network

WCDMA Wide CDMA WLAN Wide Local Area Network

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the concepts described herein may be embodied as a method, data processing system, computer program product and/or computer storage media storing an executable computer program. Accordingly, the concepts described herein may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects all generally referred to herein as a “circuit” or “module.” Any process, step, action and/or functionality described herein may be performed by, and/or associated to, a corresponding module, which may be implemented in software and/or firmware and/or hardware. Furthermore, the disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a tangible computer usable storage medium having computer program code embodied in the medium that can be executed by a computer. Any suitable tangible computer readable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD-ROMs, electronic storage devices, optical storage devices, or magnetic storage devices. Some embodiments are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, systems and computer program products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer (to thereby create a special purpose computer), special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer readable memory or storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It is to be understood that the functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession may in fact be executed substantially concurrently or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved. Although some of the diagrams include arrows on communication paths to show a primary direction of communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the concepts described herein may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Java® or C++. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the disclosure may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet Service Provider).

Many different embodiments have been disclosed herein, in connection with the above description and the drawings. It will be understood that it would be unduly repetitious and obfuscating to literally describe and illustrate every combination and subcombination of these embodiments. Accordingly, all embodiments can be combined in any way and/or combination, and the present specification, including the drawings, shall be construed to constitute a complete written description of all combinations and subcombinations of the embodiments described herein, and of the manner and process of making and using them, and shall support claims to any such combination or subcombination.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein are not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above. In addition, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. A variety of modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teachings without departing from the scope of the following claims.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A method implemented by a wireless device, WD (14), the method comprising: receiving (S142) a message from a network node (12), the message comprising information indicating that accessing at least one cell served by the network node (12) is barred, and indicating a presence of an extended cell barring condition.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein the information indicating the presence of the extended call barring condition indicates a long term unavailability of at least one spectrum resource associated with the at least one cell.

3. The method of any one of Claims 1 and 2, wherein the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource applies to at least one first WD type and does not apply to at least one second WD type, the at least one second WD type being different from the at least one first WD type.

4. The method of Claim 3, wherein: the at least one first WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource applies is associated with at least one first WD service; and the at least one second WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply is associated with at least one second WD service, the at least one second WD service being different from the at least one first WD service.

5. The method of any one of Claims 1-4, further comprising ignoring a presence of a cellBarred flag set to barred state in a master information block, MIB, message.

6. The method of any one of Claims 1-4, wherein the message is a master information block, MIB and the method further comprises: using at least one field in the MIB to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition.

7. The method of Claim 6, wherein the at least one field used in the MIB to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises a cellBarred flag set to a barred state.

8. The method of Claim 6, wherein the at least one field used in the MIB to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one bit in the MIB, the at least one bit being different from a cellBarred flag.

9. The method of any one of Claims 6-8, wherein using the at least one field to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises: using a value in the at least one field as an instruction to interpret at least one of (i) another portion of the MIB and (i) a second message, the interpretation being based on at least one of the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the indication that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node (12) is barred.

10. The method of any one of Claims 1-9, wherein the information indicating the presence of the extended call barring condition comprises at least one of: a cell identity; an indication that the at least one cell is barred permanently; an indication that the at least one cell is barred for a first time period, the first time period being larger than a second time period associated with a temporary cell barring condition; an instruction to the WD (14) to search for a new cell at a same carrier frequency as the at least one cell; an indication that at least one of an intra-frequency cell and an inter-frequency cell is barred for a third time period; an indication that that at least one of an intra-frequency cell and an inter- frequency cell is barred permanently; an indication that the at least one cell is barred based on at least one of a WD type, a WD capability, a WD category and a network service; and an indication of an alternative public land mobile network, PLMN, and an alternative radio access technology, RAT, that the WD (14) is allowed to reselect to.

11. A method implemented in a network node (12) configured to communicate with a wireless device, WD (14), the method comprising: transmitting (S140) a message comprising information indicating that accessing at least one cell served by the network node (12) is barred and indicating a presence of an extended cell barring condition.

12. The method of Claim 11, wherein the information indicating the presence of the extended call barring condition indicates a long term unavailability of at least one spectrum resource associated with the at least one cell.

13. The method of any one of Claims 11 and 12, wherein the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource applies to at least one first WD type and does not apply to at least one second WD type, the at least one second WD type being different from the at least one first WD type.

14. The method of Claim 13, wherein: the at least one first WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource applies is associated with at least one first WD service; and the at least one second WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply is associated with at least one second WD service, the at least one second WD service being different from the at least one first WD service.

15. The method of Claim 1-14, further comprising: using at least one field in a master information block, MIB, transmitted to the WD (14) to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition.

16. The method of Claim 15, wherein the at least one field used in the MIB to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises a cellBarred flag set to a barred state.

17. The method of Claim 15, wherein the at least one field used in the MIB to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one bit in the MIB, the at least one bit being different from a cellBarred flag.

18. The method of any one of Claims 15-17, wherein using the at least one field transmitted to the WD (14) to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises: using a value in the at least one field as an instruction to interpret at least one of (i) another portion of the MIB and (i) a second message, the interpretation being based on at least one of the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the indication that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node (12) is barred.

19. The method of any one of Claims 15-18, further comprising using at least one field in the MIB transmitted to the WD (14) to indicate an availability of information about the extended cell barring condition in at least one of a radio resource control, RRC, message, a system information block, SIB, and an extended master information block, eMIB.

20. The method of any one of Claims 11-19, wherein the information indicating the presence of the extended call barring condition comprises at least one of: a cell identity; an indication that the at least one cell is barred permanently; an indication that the at least one cell is barred for a first time period, the first time period being larger than a second time period associated with a temporary cell barring condition; an instruction to the WD (14) to search for a new cell at a same carrier frequency as the at least one cell; an indication that at least one of an intra-frequency cell and an inter-frequency cell is barred for a third time period; an indication that that at least one of an intra-frequency cell and an inter- frequency cell is barred permanently; an indication that the at least one cell is barred based on at least one of a WD type, a WD capability, a WD category and a network service; and an indication of an alternative public land mobile network, PLMN, and an alternative radio access technology, RAT, that the WD (14) is allowed to reselect to.

21. A wireless device, WD (14), comprising processing circuitry (46), the processing circuitry (46) configured to cause the wireless device (14) to: receive a message from a network node (12), the message comprising information indicating that accessing at least one cell served by the network node (12) is barred and indicating a presence of an extended cell barring condition.

22. The wireless device (14) of Claim 21, wherein the information indicating the presence of the extended call barring condition indicates a long term unavailability of at least one spectrum resource associated with the at least one cell.

23. The wireless device (14) of any one of Claims 21 and 22, wherein the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource applies to at least one first WD type and does not apply to at least one second WD type, the at least one second WD type being different from the at least one first WD type.

24. The wireless device (14) of Claim 23, wherein: the at least one first WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource applies is associated with at least one first WD service; and the at least one second WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply is associated with at least one second WD service, the at least one second WD service being different from the at least one first WD service.

25. The wireless device (14) of any one of Claims 21-24, wherein the processing circuitry (46) is further configured to cause the wireless device (14) to ignore a presence of a cellBarred flag set to barred state in a master information block, MIB, message.

26. The wireless device (14) of any one of Claims 21-24, wherein the message is a master information block, MIB and the wherein the processing circuitry (46) is further configured to cause the wireless device (14) to: use at least one field in the MIB to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition.

27. The wireless device (14) of Claim 26, wherein the at least one field used in the MIB to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises a cellBarred flag set to a barred state.

28. The wireless device (14) of Claim 26, wherein the at least one field used in the MIB to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one bit in the MIB, the at least one bit being different from a cellBarred flag.

29. The wireless device (14) of any one of Claims 26-28, wherein the processing circuitry (46) is further configured to cause the wireless device (14) to use the at least one field to determine the presence of the extended cell barring condition by being configured to cause the wireless device (14) to: use a value in the at least one field as an instruction to interpret at least one of (i) another portion of the MIB and (i) a second message, the interpretation being based on at least one of the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the indication that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node (12) is barred.

30. The wireless device (14) of any one of Claims 21-29, wherein the information indicating the presence of the extended call barring condition comprises at least one of: a cell identity; an indication that the at least one cell is barred permanently; an indication that the at least one cell is barred for a first time period, the first time period being larger than a second time period associated with a temporary cell barring condition; an instruction to the WD (14) to search for a new cell at a same carrier frequency as the at least one cell; an indication that at least one of an intra-frequency cell and an inter-frequency cell is barred for a third time period; an indication that that at least one of an intra-frequency cell and an inter- frequency cell is barred permanently; an indication that the at least one cell is barred based on at least one of a WD type, a WD capability, a WD category and a network service; and an indication of an alternative public land mobile network, PLMN, and an alternative radio access technology, RAT, that the WD (14) is allowed to reselect to.

31. A network node (12) configured to communicate with a wireless device, WD (14), the network node (12) comprising processing circuitry (16), the processing circuitry (16) configured to cause the network node (12) to: transmit a message comprising information indicating that accessing at least one cell served by the network node (12) is barred and indicating a presence of an extended cell barring condition.

32. The network node (12) of Claim 31, wherein the information indicating the presence of the extended call barring condition indicates a long term unavailability of at least one spectrum resource associated with the at least one cell.

33. The network node (12) of any one of Claims 31 and 32, wherein the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource applies to at least one first WD type and does not apply to at least one second WD type, the at least one second WD type being different from the at least one first WD type.

34. The network node (12) of Claim 33, wherein: the at least one first WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource applies is associated with at least one first WD service; and the at least one second WD type to which the indication of the long term unavailability of the at least one spectrum resource does not apply is associated with at least one second WD service, the at least one second WD (14) service being different from the at least one first WD service.

35. The network node (12) of Claim 31-34, wherein the processing circuitry (16) is further configured to cause the network node (12) to: use at least one field in a master information block, MIB, transmitted to the WD (14) to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition.

36. The network node (12) of Claim 35, wherein the at least one field used in the MIB to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises a cellBarred flag set to a barred state.

37. The network node (12) of Claim 35, wherein the at least one field used in the MIB to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition comprises at least one bit in the MIB, the at least one bit being different from a cellBarred flag.

38. The network node (12) of any one of Claims 35-37, wherein the processing circuitry (16) is configured to cause the network node (12) to use the at least one field transmitted to the WD (14) to indicate the presence of the extended cell barring condition by being configured to cause the network node (12) to: use a value in the at least one field as an instruction to interpret at least one of (i) another portion of the MIB and (i) a second message, the interpretation being based on at least one of the indication of the presence of the extended cell barring condition and the indication that accessing the at least one cell served by the network node (12) is barred.

39 The network node (12) of any one of Claims 35-38, wherein the processing circuitry (16) is further configured to cause the network node (12) to use at least one field in the MIB transmitted to the WD (14) to indicate an availability of information about the extended cell barring condition in at least one of a radio resource control, RRC, message, a system information block, SIB, and an extended master information block, eMIB.

40. The network node (12) of any one of Claims 31-39, wherein the information indicating the presence of the extended call barring condition comprises at least one of: a cell identity; an indication that the at least one cell is barred permanently; an indication that the at least one cell is barred for a first time period, the first time period being larger than a second time period associated with a temporary cell barring condition; an instruction to the WD (14) to search for a new cell at a same carrier frequency as the at least one cell; an indication that at least one of an intra-frequency cell and an inter-frequency cell is barred for a third time period; an indication that that at least one of an intra-frequency cell and an inter- frequency cell is barred permanently; an indication that the at least one cell is barred based on at least one of a WD type, a WD capability, a WD category and a network service; and an indication of an alternative public land mobile network, PLMN, and an alternative radio access technology, RAT, that the WD (14) is allowed to reselect to.