WO2021230788A1

WO2021230788A1 - Methods of handling random access reports and related devices and nodes

Info

Publication number: WO2021230788A1
Application number: PCT/SE2021/050207
Authority: WO
Inventors: Marco BELLESCHI; Pradeepa Ramachandra
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority date: 2020-05-15
Filing date: 2021-03-10
Publication date: 2021-11-18

Abstract

According to an example method, a communication device in a RAN detects (9001) a triggering event satisfying a triggering condition for a RA procedure based on a plurality of failure events, and in response collects (9005) RA report information including at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer. Responsive to detecting the triggering event that satisfies the triggering condition, the device performs (9011) the RA procedure with the RAN. The device transmits (9019) an RA report including the RA report information that, responsive to the triggering condition, includes the at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer.

Description

METHODS OF HANDLING RANDOM ACCESS REPORTS AND RELATED DEVICES AND

NODES

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure relates generally to communications, and more particularly to communication methods and related devices and nodes supporting wireless communications.

BACKGROUND

[0002] Random access in NR is discussed below.

[0003] As in LTE, random access procedure is described in the NR MAC specifications and parameters are configured by RRC e.g. in system information or handover (RRCReconfiguration with reconfigurationWithSync). Most of the random access triggering conditions are similar to LTE, however, there are some situations in which random access is triggered for different reasons due to the new NR system.

[0004] In the following a list is provided with some of the scenarios in which random access is triggered:

• When the UE is in RRC IDLE or RRC INACTIVE and it wants to access a cell in which it is camping on (i.e., transition to RRC CONNECTED)

• When the UE needs to access a different cell from the source cell in which it is currently connected, e.g. random access towards a target cell at HO (i.e. reconfiguration with sync), or random access towards a target cell upon triggering RRC Connection Reestablishment

• When the amount of beam failure indications received from physical layer for the serving SSB(s)/CSI-RS(s) reaches a certain threshold, upon which random access is triggered potentially selecting a new SSB/CSI-RS

• When the UE needs to request system information on-demand

• When the UE receives a PDCCH order from the network, upon which the UE performs random access on configured CFRA resources. For example, the network may trigger PDCCH order when it was not able to communicate with a UE for a certain amount of time and there is the need for the UE to re-acquire UL synchronization with the network • When the UE has transmitted a certain amount/number of SRs without being able to transmit an UL MAC PDU, i.e. UE not received UL grant

• When the UE needs to transmit an SR, but it has not been configured with SR resources

• In unlicensed scenarios, when the UE has declared consistent UL LBT failures in an UL BWP of the SpCell. In this case, the UE triggers random access on another configured UL BWP of the same SpCell which has PRACH resources and for which consistent UL LBT failures has not been triggered

[0005] In NR, RACH configuration is broadcasted in SIB1, as part of the servingCellConfigCommon (with both DL and UL configurations), where the RACH configuration is within the uplinkConfigCommon. The exact RACH parameters are within what is called initialUplinkBWP, since this is the part of the UL frequency the UE shall access and search for RACH resources.

[0006] The RACH-ConfigGeneric information element is illustrated below.

|0007| The RACH-ConfigCommon information element is illustrated below.

[0008] Contention-based RACH (CBRA) in NR is discussed below.

[0009] In LTE, the RACH report to assist the network to perform RACH optimization, contains an indication that collision was detected. With that information it is clear that at some point before that RACH procedure that has succeeded that same UE tried to access the network and happened to have a collision.

[0010] In NR, a mechanism also exists for contention resolution for contention- based random access.

[0011] RACH partitioning per beam in NR is discussed below.

[0012] In NR, random access resource selection may need to be performed within a cell depending on measurements performed on SSBs (synchronization signal blocks) or CSI- RSs. A cell in NR is basically defined by a set of these SSBs that may be transmitted in 1 (typical implementation for lower frequencies e.g. below 6GHz) or multiple downlink beams (typical implementation for lower frequencies e.g. below 6GHz), as shown in FIGs. 1 A and IB. For the same cell, these SSBs carry the same physical cell identifier (PCI) and a MIB. For standalone operation, i.e., to support UEs camping on an NR cell, they also carry in SIB1 the RACH configuration, which comprises a mapping between the detected SSB covering the UE at a given point in time and the PRACH configuration (e.g. time, frequency, preamble, etc.) to be used. For that, each of these beams may transmit its own SSB which may be distinguished by an SSB index. Figures 1A and IB are diagrams illustrating respective cells defined by a set of SSMs that may be transmitted in one or multiple downlink beams respectively.

[0013] The mapping between RACH resources and SSBs (or CSI-RS) is also provided as part of the RACH configuration (in RACH-ConfigCommon). Two parameters are relevant here:

- #SSBs-per-PRACH-occasion: 1/8, ¼, ½, 1, 2, 8 or 16, which represents the number of SSBs per RACH occasion;

- #CB-preambles-per-SSB preambles to each SS-block: within a RACH occasion, how many preambles are allocated;

[0014] To give a first example, if the number of SSBs per RACH occasion is 1, and if the UE is under the coverage of a specific SSB e.g. SSB index 2, there will be a RACH occasion for that SSB index 2, as discussed with respect to Figure 2. If the UE moves and is now under the coverage of another specific SSB e.g. SSB index 5, there will be another RACH occasion for that SSB index 5 i.e. each SSB detected by a given UE would have its own RACH occasion. Hence, at the network side, upon detecting a preamble in a particular RACH occasion the network knows exactly which SSB the UE has selected and, consequently, which downlink beam is covering the UE, so that the network can continue the downlink transmission e.g. RAR, etc. That factor 1 is an indication that each SSB has its own RACH resource i.e., a preamble detected there indicates to the network which SSB the UE has selection i.e. which DL beam the network should use to communicate with the UE, such as the one to send the RAR.

[0015] Note that each SS-block typically maps to multiple preambles (different cyclic shifts and Zadoff-Chu roots) within a PRACH occasion, so that it is possible to multiple different UEs in the same RACH occasions since they may be under the coverage of the same SSB. In a second example, shown in Figure 3, the number of SSBs per RACH occasion is 2. Hence, a preamble received in that RACH occasion indicated to the network that one of the two beams are being selected by the UE. So either the network has means via implementation to distinguish these two beams and/or should perform a beam sweeping in the downlink by transmitting the RAR in both beams, either simultaneously or, transmitting in one, waiting for a response from the UE, and if absent, transmit in the other.

[0016] Contention-Free Random Access (CFRA) in NR is discussed below.

[0017] In NR, as in LTE, the UE may be configured to perform CFRA in different scenarios, e.g. during handovers, or upon being requested from the network via PDCCH order, for contention-free beam failure recovery, or for Si-request.

[0018] For example, in the case of handover, that configuration goes in the RACH-

ConfigDedicated IE included in the ReconfigurationWithSync IE (which goes in the CellGroupConfig IE, transmitted in the RRCReconfiguration message). The ReconfigurationWithSync information element is shown below:

[0019] The RACH-ConfigDedicated information element is shown below:

[0020] One first difference shown above, that is discussed below with respect to MDT reporting, is that RACH resources may be mapped to beams (e.g. SSBs or CSI-RS resources that may be measured by the UE). Hence, when CFRA resources are provided they are also mapped to beams and this may be done only for a subset of beams in a given target cell. The consequence is that to use CFRA resources the UE needs to select a beam for which it has CFRA resources configured in the dedicated configuration. In the case of SSBs, for example, that may be found in the ssb-ResourceFist which is a SEQUENCE (SIZE(l..maxRA- SSB-Resources)) OF CFRA-SSB-Resource.

[0021] In particular, according to the MAC specification, the UE will select the SSB/CSI-RS for which the SSB/CSI-RS RSRP is above the rsrp-ThresholdSSB/rsrp- ThresholdCSI-RS amongst the SSBs/CSI-RS associated with the configured CFRA resources.

[0022] In some other cases, the CFRA configuration is not provided in RACH- ConfigDedicated, rather in RACH-ConfigGeneric, e.g. for the case of contention free beam failure recovery, or for Si-request. That means that the UE may select any SSB or CSI-RS as long as the perceived RSRP of the selected beam is above a given threshold. For Si-request, the UE is also allowed to select any SSB, if there is no available SSB with RSRP above a threshold.

[0023] In yet another case, i.e. for random access triggered by PDCCH order, the beam the UE shall select for CFRA is explicitly indicated in the PDCCH order itself.

[0024] 2-step RACH is discussed below. [0025] An enhancement to the random access procedure has been introduced in Rel.16, when 3GPP standardized the so-called 2-step RACH procedure. In the 2-step RACH procedure, the UE can complete the random access in two steps rather than in the classical steps. In practice, this technical enhancement enables the UE to transmit PUSCH data, already in the first RA message rather than in the third RA message as in the 4-step RACH. Therefore, with the 2-step RACH, the first RA message conveys both the PRACH and the PUSCH payload. Consequently, the contention resolution can take place already with the second RA message.

[0026] A clear advantage of the 2-step RACH procedure over the 4-step RACH is that the 2-step RACH is much faster. In particular, it is possible to show that the minimum latency that can be achieved between the PRACH transmission until msg4 reception, i.e. contention resolution, with the 4-step RACH, is 13 subframes. As comparison, for 2-step RACH, the minimum achievable latency is 4 subframes. This makes 2-step RACH around 3 times faster than 4-step RACH. Therefore, the 2-step RACH approach may be particularly attractive for delay-sensitive use cases, and also in unlicensed networks. That is because the 2- step approach, unlike the 4-step approach, implies only 2 LBT procedures (one at UE side for msgA transmission, and one at the network side for the msgB transmission), thereby making the 2-step much faster especially in case of congested network where the UE/gNB may need to postpone several times the transmission of random access messages due to LBT failures, i.e. channel busy.

[0027] On the other hand, in 2-step RACH, the UE may transmit data, i.e. the payload, already as part of msgA, i.e. before getting a proper UL timing alignment from the network. Additionally, data transmitted in msgA have not been yet link adapted by the network. This means that the probability of properly decoding the payload at network side, very much depends on how already good the UL synchronization is, e.g. it may depend on the cell size, and also on how good the link quality is. Given the above, assuming that the BWP selected for random access procedure has both 4-step and 2-step RACH resources configured, the UE shall select the 2-step RACH resources only if the estimated downlink RSRP is above a certain configurable threshold.

[0028] MDT reporting is discussed below. [0029] MDT (minimization drive test) reporting has been used in 3 GPP cellular communication since Rel.9 and recently extended to NR in 3GPP Rel.16. The purpose of MDT is for the UE to store information about different measurements that the UE may perform both in IDLE and connected mode. Typical measurements that UE may log are the qualities of the cells the UE traverses when moving, or statistics about transmission delays the UE experiences, or events such as RLF or handover failures. Such reports may then be requested by the network and used for different purposes, such as coverage improvement/optimization, mobility improvement/optimization, capacity improvement/optimization, QoS verification, and/or ultimately SON (self-organizing network).

[0030] In particular, related to RACH, a new MDT RACH signaling mechanism was introduced in Rel.16. For each successful random access procedure, the UE includes a list of successful RA reports in RA-Report. In such report, the UE signals to the network the RA resources used for the random access, as well as the reasons for which the UE triggered RA, for example, using the Random Access Report List as shown below.

[0031] Additionally, the UE may report failures related to random access as part of the RLF -report. In this case, if the RLF report is due to random access problems or beam failure recovery failures, the UE includes the latest random access attempts in chronological order in the perRAInfoList as shown below.

[0032] In particular, from MDT signaling perspective, the RLF report may contain reports related to RLF or HOF. The UE may also include in such report the ssb-Index (or the CSI-RS index) associated with a given preamble transmission, the number of preambles sent for this ssb-Index, information related to whether contention resolution was successful or not, the experienced DL RSRP quality, the location of the failure, the failed cell, etc.

[0033] Similarly, the random access failures are also included in conjunction with connection establishment failure at initial connection or resume, i.e. upon T300 or T319 expiry, as shown below. In such case, the random access report is included in the perRAInfoList as for the RLF/HOF report case.

[0034] Notwithstanding the signalling mechanisms discussed above, there continues to exist a need for improved reporting with respect to the network environment.

SUMMARY

[0035] Some embodiments of inventive concepts are directed to methods of operating a communication device in a Radio Access Network RAN that include detecting a triggering event for a random access, RA procedure. Responsive to detecting the triggering event, the communication device collects RA report information including at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer, wherein the triggering event satisfies a triggering condition for a RA procedure. Responsive to detecting the triggering event that satisfies the triggering condition, the communication device performs the RA procedure with the RAN. After completion of the RA procedure, the communication device transmits an RA report including the RA report information that includes the at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer, wherein the RA report is transmitted to the RAN. The triggering event comprises one of a plurality of failure events and wherein the triggering condition comprises a failure condition based on the plurality failure events. The at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, and/or an identifier associated with a serving cell is included in the RA report information responsive to the triggering condition comprising the failure condition based on the plurality of failure events.

[0036] Some other embodiments are directed to methods operating a communication device in a Radio Access Network RAN that include detecting a triggering event for a random access, RA procedure. Responsive to detecting the triggering event, the communication device collects RA report information including at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer, wherein the triggering event satisfies a triggering condition for a RA procedure. Responsive to detecting the triggering event that satisfies the triggering condition, the communication device performs the RA procedure with the RAN. After completion of the RA procedure, the communication device transmits an RA report including the RA report information that includes the at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer, wherein the RA report is transmitted to the RAN. The triggering event comprises receiving of a Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH, order requesting an RA procedure that satisfies the triggering condition for the RA procedure, wherein the RA procedure is performed responsive to receiving the PDCCH order. The at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer is included in the RA report information responsive to the triggering event comprising receiving the PDCCH order.

[0037] Other embodiments are directed to communication devices, computer programs and computer program products corresponding to the methods discussed above.

[0038] The RA report information may be used by the network to manage network operations to provide improved network performance (e.g. to improve performance of uplink grant scheduling, improve beam management and/or improve control of timing advance commands). Including this information in the RA report responsive to specific trigger conditions, allows the information to be provided to the network only when it is important for the network to receive this information which reduces overall signaling overhead.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0039] The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate certain non-limiting embodiments of inventive concepts. In the drawings:

[0040] Figures 1 A and IB are diagrams illustrating respective cells defined by a set of SSMs that may be transmitted in one or multiple downlink beams respectively;

[0041] Figures 2 and 3 are diagrams illustrating relationships between SSBs and PRACH preambles;

[0042] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless device UE according to some embodiments of inventive concepts; [0043] Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating a radio access network RAN node (e.g., a base station eNB/gNB) according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

[0044] Figure 6 is a block diagram illustrating a core network CN node (e.g., an AMF node, an SMF node, etc.) according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

[0045] Figure 7, 8, 9 A, 10, 11, and 12 are flow charts illustrating operations of communication devices (UEs) according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

[0046] Figure 9B is a flow chart illustrating operations of Radio Access Network Nodes according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

[0047] Figure 13 is a block diagram of a wireless network in accordance with some embodiments;

[0048] Figure 14 is a block diagram of a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments

[0049] Figure 15 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment in accordance with some embodiments;

[0050] Figure 16 is a block diagram of a telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer in accordance with some embodiments;

[0051] Figure 17 is a block diagram of a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments;

[0052] Figure 18 is a block diagram of methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments;

[0053] Figure 19 is a block diagram of methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments;

[0054] Figure 20 is a block diagram of methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments; and

[0055] Figure 21 is a block diagram of methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0056] Inventive concepts will now be described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which examples of embodiments of inventive concepts are shown. Inventive concepts may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of present inventive concepts to those skilled in the art. It should also be noted that these embodiments are not mutually exclusive. Components from one embodiment may be tacitly assumed to be present/used in another embodiment.

[0057] The following description presents various embodiments of the disclosed subject matter. These embodiments are presented as teaching examples and are not to be construed as limiting the scope of the disclosed subject matter. For example, certain details of the described embodiments may be modified, omitted, or expanded upon without departing from the scope of the described subject matter.

[0058] Figure 4 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a communication device UE 300 (also referred to as a mobile terminal, a mobile communication terminal, a wireless device, a wireless communication device, a wireless terminal, mobile device, a wireless communication terminal, user equipment, UE, a user equipment node/terminal/device, etc.) configured to provide wireless communication according to embodiments of inventive concepts. (Communication device 300 may be provided, for example, as discussed below with respect to wireless device 4110 of Figure 13.) As shown, communication device UE may include an antenna 307 (e.g., corresponding to antenna 4111 of Figure 13), and transceiver circuitry 301 (also referred to as a transceiver, e.g., corresponding to interface 4114 of Figure 13) including a transmitter and a receiver configured to provide uplink and downlink radio communications with a base station(s) (e.g., corresponding to network node 4160 of Figure 13, also referred to as a RAN node) of a radio access network. Communication device UE may also include processing circuitry 303 (also referred to as a processor, e.g., corresponding to processing circuitry 4120 of Figure 13) coupled to the transceiver circuitry, and memory circuitry 305 (also referred to as memory, e.g., corresponding to device readable medium 4130 of Figure 13) coupled to the processing circuitry. The memory circuitry 305 may include computer readable program code that when executed by the processing circuitry 303 causes the processing circuitry to perform operations according to embodiments disclosed herein. According to other embodiments, processing circuitry 303 may be defined to include memory so that separate memory circuitry is not required. Communication device UE may also include an interface (such as a user interface) coupled with processing circuitry 303, and/or communication device UE may be incorporated in a vehicle.

[0059] As discussed herein, operations of communication device UE may be performed by processing circuitry 303 and/or transceiver circuitry 301. For example, processing circuitry 303 may control transceiver circuitry 301 to transmit communications through transceiver circuitry 301 over a radio interface to a radio access network node (also referred to as a base station) and/or to receive communications through transceiver circuitry 301 from a RAN node over a radio interface. Moreover, modules may be stored in memory circuitry 305, and these modules may provide instructions so that when instructions of a module are executed by processing circuitry 303, processing circuitry 303 performs respective operations (e.g., operations discussed below with respect to Example Embodiments relating to wireless communication devices).

[0060] Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a radio access network RAN node 400 (also referred to as a network node, base station, eNodeB/eNB, gNodeB/gNB, etc.) of a Radio Access Network (RAN) configured to provide cellular communication according to embodiments of inventive concepts. (RAN node 400 may be provided, for example, as discussed below with respect to network node 4160 of Figure 13.) As shown, the RAN node may include transceiver circuitry 401 (also referred to as a transceiver, e.g., corresponding to portions of interface 4190 of Figure 13) including a transmitter and a receiver configured to provide uplink and downlink radio communications with mobile terminals. The RAN node may include network interface circuitry 407 (also referred to as a network interface, e.g., corresponding to portions of interface 4190 of Figure 13) configured to provide communications with other nodes (e.g., with other base stations) of the RAN and/or core network CN. The network node may also include processing circuitry 403 (also referred to as a processor, e.g., corresponding to processing circuitry 4170) coupled to the transceiver circuitry, and memory circuitry 405 (also referred to as memory, e.g., corresponding to device readable medium 4180 of Figure 13) coupled to the processing circuitry. The memory circuitry 405 may include computer readable program code that when executed by the processing circuitry 403 causes the processing circuitry to perform operations according to embodiments disclosed herein. According to other embodiments, processing circuitry 403 may be defined to include memory so that a separate memory circuitry is not required.

[0061] As discussed herein, operations of the RAN node may be performed by processing circuitry 403, network interface 407, and/or transceiver 401. For example, processing circuitry 403 may control transceiver 401 to transmit downlink communications through transceiver 401 over a radio interface to one or more mobile terminals UEs and/or to receive uplink communications through transceiver 401 from one or more mobile terminals UEs over a radio interface. Similarly, processing circuitry 403 may control network interface 407 to transmit communications through network interface 407 to one or more other network nodes and/or to receive communications through network interface from one or more other network nodes. Moreover, modules may be stored in memory 405, and these modules may provide instructions so that when instructions of a module are executed by processing circuitry 403, processing circuitry 403 performs respective operations (e.g., operations discussed below with respect to Example Embodiments relating to RAN nodes).

[0062] According to some other embodiments, a network node may be implemented as a core network CN node without a transceiver. In such embodiments, transmission to a wireless communication device UE may be initiated by the network node so that transmission to the wireless communication device UE is provided through a network node including a transceiver (e.g., through a base station or RAN node). According to embodiments where the network node is a RAN node including a transceiver, initiating transmission may include transmitting through the transceiver.

[0063] Figure 5 is a block diagram illustrating elements of a core network CN node (e.g., an SMF node, an AMF node, etc.) of a communication network configured to provide cellular communication according to embodiments of inventive concepts. As shown, the CN node may include network interface circuitry 507 (also referred to as a network interface) configured to provide communications with other nodes of the core network and/or the radio access network RAN. The CN node may also include a processing circuitry 503 (also referred to as a processor) coupled to the network interface circuitry, and memory circuitry 505 (also referred to as memory) coupled to the processing circuitry. The memory circuitry 505 may include computer readable program code that when executed by the processing circuitry 503 causes the processing circuitry to perform operations according to embodiments disclosed herein. According to other embodiments, processing circuitry 503 may be defined to include memory so that a separate memory circuitry is not required.

[0064] As discussed herein, operations of the CN node may be performed by processing circuitry 503 and/or network interface circuitry 507. For example, processing circuitry 503 may control network interface circuitry 507 to transmit communications through network interface circuitry 507 to one or more other network nodes and/or to receive communications through network interface circuitry from one or more other network nodes. Moreover, modules may be stored in memory 505, and these modules may provide instructions so that when instructions of a module are executed by processing circuitry 503, processing circuitry 503 performs respective operations (e.g., operations discussed below with respect to Example Embodiments relating to core network nodes).

[0065] Except for the case of RLF, HOF, or connection establishment failures, in the current MDT/SON reporting the UE will only report information related to successful random access attempts in the RA-report. This implies that, except for the cases mentioned above, the RA-report does not contain any information related to radio measurements or the UE location at the point in time in which the successful random access was attempted.

[0066] This may lead to incomplete information reported to the network, because even if a random access attempt was successful, the reasons for which the UE triggered such random access procedure may be due to radio issues that might be beneficial for the network to know.

[0067] According to some embodiments of inventive concepts, methods are provided for the UE to report more information related to the radio environment at the point in time in which the UE initiated a random access attempt, wherein the reported radio information may be reported or not reported depending on the cause that triggered the random access.

[0068] According to some embodiments of inventive concepts, methods are provided for the network to collect such information received from the random access report, and to improve/optimize radio resource configuration, scheduling allocation, handover triggering conditions, etc. [0069] According to some embodiments of inventive concepts, methods are provided for the network to collect information related to the radio environment measured by the UE when the UE triggered a random access procedure.

[0070] According to some embodiments of inventive concepts illustrated in the flow chart of Figure 7 (illustrating operations of communication device (UE) processor 305), a first method performed by a UE (300) comprises:

• Fulfilling (701) a triggering condition to trigger a random access procedure, wherein the triggering condition could be any of: o Declaring SR failure, upon transmitting multiple SR without transmitting the MAC PDU for which the SR was triggered, o Declaring consistent LBT failure, upon multiple LBT failures in a BWP o Declaring Beam recovery failure, upon receiving multiple failure indications from physical layer for the serving SSB(s)/CSI-RS(s) o PDCCH order reception

• Collecting and storing (702) a plurality of information available at the point in time in which action (701) is performed, wherein the plurality of information collected and stored is different depending on the specific triggering condition fulfilled in (701)

• Triggering (703) a random access procedure

• Including (704) in a random access report the plurality of information collected and stored in (702)

[0071] An optional method performed by the UE (300) is discussed below.

[0072] The information collected and stored by the UE in (702) may be different depending on the specific condition which triggered the random access. Hence the inclusion as part of the random access report of some information in (704) may be optional. Such information collected and stored in (702) may comprise:

• The UE location at the point in time in which the action (701) is performed

• The radio measurements, such as RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI, channel occupancy related to the serving cell or to the BWP of the serving cell in which the triggering condition was fulfilled (701) or the RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI, channel occupancy of the SSBs/CSI-RSs associated to the RA resources used. o Further, in some embodiments, this information is collected only when the RSRP of the SSB/CSI-RS associated to the RA resource used is below the thresholdSSB as configured in the RA configuration.

• The radio measurements, such as RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI, channel occupancy related to neighboring cells (cell level and beam level) at the point in time in which (701) was fulfilled

• The timestamp of the time in which (701) was fulfilled

• The serving cell(s), the BWP(s), the serving SSB(s)/CSI-RS(s) in which the triggering condition (701) was fulfilled

[0073] According to some embodiments of inventive concepts illustrated in the flow chart of Figure 8 (illustrating operations of communication device (UE) processor 305), an alternative second method for the UE (300) may comprise the following:

• Detecting (801) an event that may lead to fulfilling a condition for triggering random access, wherein the event may be o SR prohibit timer expiry after SR transmission without transmitting a MAC PDU for which the SR was triggered o Detecting an LBT failure upon performing an UL transmission o Receiving a beam failure indication from lower layers o Reception of a timing advance command

• Collecting and storing (802) a plurality of information available at the point in time in which action (801) is performed, wherein the plurality of information collected and stored is different depending on the event in (801)

• Fulfilling (803) a certain condition, e.g. multiple detection of event (801) to trigger a random access procedure, wherein the triggering condition could be any of: o Declaring SR failure, upon transmitting multiple SR without transmitting the MAC PDU for which the SR was triggered, o Declaring consistent LBT failure, upon multiple LBT failures in a BWP o Declaring Beam recovery failure, upon receiving multiple failure indications from physical layer for the serving SSB(s)/CSI-RS(s) o PDCCH order reception

• Triggering (804) a random access procedure • Including (805) in a random access report the plurality of information collected and stored in (802)

[0074] In this case, the information collected and stored in (802) may comprise:

• The UE locations at the point in time in which each action (801) that resulted in action (803) is performed

• The radio measurements, such as (cell level and beam level) RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI, channel occupancy related to the serving cell or to the BWP of the serving cell in which each event (801) that resulted in action (803) is performed was fulfilled. o In some embodiments, multiple measurements associated to the same beam/cell are collected at regular periodicities. In some embodiments, this periodicity is configurable by the network and in some other embodiments, this periodicity is either UE implementation specific or a fixed value.

• The radio measurements, such as (cell level and beam level) RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI, channel occupancy related to neighboring cells at the point in time in which (803) was fulfilled o In some embodiments, multiple measurements associated to the same beam/cell are collected at regular periodicities. In some embodiments, this periodicity is configurable by the network and in some other embodiments, this periodicity is either UE implementation specific or a fixed value.

• The timestamps of the multiple points in time in which (801) was fulfilled

• The serving cell(s), the BWP(s), the serving SSB(s)/CSI-RS(s) in which the triggering condition (801) was fulfilled

[0075] In case a triggering condition is fulfilled (801) after a certain number of events possibly occurred in different serving cells, the radio measurements comprise all the measurements performed at the point in time in which an event occurred and for each serving cell in which an event occurred. Alternatively, for each serving cell, the radio measurement may comprise an average measurement taken for all the events that occurred in the given cell.

[0076] Similarly, the timestamp may represent the time at which the action (801) was fulfilled. Alternatively, multiple timestamps may be included, wherein each timestamp represents the point in time in which one of the multiple events that triggered the action (801) occurred. [0077] In a variant of this second method, the UE discards the information collected and stored in (802) if the condition to trigger the random access, i.e. action (803), is not performed. This may correspond, e.g. to the UE transmitting a MAC PDU after SR transmission, to the UE performing transmission after a previous LBT failure, to the expiry of lbt-FailureDetectionTimer, to the expiry of the beamFailureDetectionTimer.

[0078] In the following, some examples related to the above methods are included.

[0079] SR failure is discussed below.

[0080] As an example, for the case of SR failure triggered upon a certain number of SR transmission attempts, the UE may include the radio measurement taken at the point in time in which the SR failure was triggered in (701) in the first method.

[0081] Alternatively, as in the second method, the event is a single SR transmission attempt for which the corresponding SR prohibit timer expired without the UE being able to transmit the MAC PDU. Hence in this case, the information included in the RA report related to the SR failure may be all the radio measurements measured by the UE at the point in time in which the event of SR prohibit timer expiry was recorded, or an average measurement taken over all the events of SR prohibit timer expiry prior the SR failure declaration. Since, the SR could be transmitted in different serving cells, e.g. the PCell and one SCell, the RA report may also include radio measurements taken over different cells in which the events of SR prohibit timer expiry were recorded prior the SR failure declaration, as well as an indication of the corresponding serving cell in which the event of SR prohibit timer expiry was recorded. As for the timestamp, the UE may include all the points in time in which the SR prohibit timer expired prior the SR failure declaration.

[0082] Consistent LBT failures are discussed below.

[0083] As for the SR failure case, the UE may include the radio measurement such as the channel occupancy at the point in time in which the consistent LBT failure was triggered (701) in the first method and possibly the physical channel(s) which was affected by the LBT failure, e.g. RACH, PUSCH, PUCCH. Alternatively, as in the second method, the UE may collect information for each LBT event that eventually resulted in the fulfilling of the triggering condition for the random access, e.g. the timestamp of each LBT event, the radio measurement performed at the point in time in which the LBT event was issues, or the average radio measurement computed over all the individual radio measurement samples collected in (801) of the second method.

[0084] Beam failure recovery is discussed below.

[0085] Information included in the RA report related to the beam failure recovery can be similar to those of previous examples. Additionally, the UE may include, e.g. an indication of the SSB(s)/CSI-RS(s), for which the UE received beam failure problems from lower layers whenever the action (801) of the second method is performed.

[0086] PDCCH order is discussed below.

[0087] The PDCCH order could be used by the network to request a UE regaining UL synchronization. This could be for example due to the fact that the Timing Advance Command has not been sent for long time to the UE due to network scheduling reasons, e.g. higher priority DL transmissions to perform, or due to the Timing Advance Command blocked by DL LBT failures. Or it can happen that the Timing Advance Command has been sent but the UE has not acknowledged its reception. Therefore, in such cases, the network might issue a PDCCH order requesting the UE to perform random access.

[0088] The UE may then indicate in the RA-report the status of the alignment timer which may convey information for example on how much time is left before the timeAlignmentTimer expires at the moment of PDCCH order reception, and it can be set to zero or infinity if the timeAlignmentTimer (also referred to as a time alignment timer) has already expired at the moment of PDCCH order reception. Alternatively, the status of the alignment timer may convey a flag indicating whether the PDCCH order was received by the UE when the UE had already lost the UL synchronization, i.e. timeAlignmentTimer expired, or whether the PDCCH order was received by the UE when the UE still had the UL synchronization, i.e. timeAlignmentTimer not yet expired.

[0089] The UE may also indicate radio information at the point in time in which the PDCCH order was received, or radio information averaged over the time between the time of reception of the PDCCH order, and the time of reception of the last Timing Advance Command.

[0090] Network -related methods are discussed below.

[0091] Upon receiving the aforementioned information in the RA-report, the network may perform certain actions. For example, • The network may identify the geographical areas or coverage areas, e.g. from the UE location or radio information, where the SR transmissions on PUCCH may not be reliable. Hence, when a UE is approaching such an area, the network may assume that the UE might have data to transmit and that SR transmissions may be lost. This could be given as an input to the prescheduling algorithm to increase the frequency of prescheduling UL grants.

• The network may identify the geographical areas or coverage areas where certain SSBs/CSI-RSs are more effective than other, and hence enabling proper beam management before a serving SSB/CSI-RS fails.

• The network may identify the geographical areas or coverage areas where the UE has higher probability to get out-of-sync, and hence increase the frequency of Timing Advance Command, or anticipate the transmission of Timing advance command. That is in order to counteract the possible loss of timing advance commands due to bad coverage, or to avoid an excessive delay of Timing advance commands due to LBT failures

• The network may identify the geographical areas or coverage areas where the UL transmissions have higher probability to be affected by LBT failures

[0092] QoS based triggering of RLF may be provided.

[0093] Operations of the communication device 300 (implemented using the structure of the block diagram of Figure 4) will now be discussed with reference to the flow chart of Figure 9A according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. For example, modules may be stored in memory 305 of Figure 4, and these modules may provide instructions so that when the instructions of a module are executed by respective communication device processing circuitry 303, processing circuitry 303 performs respective operations of the flow chart.

[0094] According to some embodiments at block 9001, processing circuitry 303 detects a triggering event for a random access RA procedure, wherein the triggering event satisfies a triggering condition for the RA procedure. The triggering event, for example, may be: a last Scheduling Request SR failure event of a plurality of SR failure events sufficient to trigger an RA procedure; a last LBT failure event of a plurality of LBT failure events sufficient to trigger an RA procedure; a last beam recovery failure event of a plurality of beam failure events sufficient to trigger an RA procedure; or reception of a PDCCH order requesting an RA procedure that is sufficient to trigger an RA procedure.

[0095] According to some embodiments at block 9005, processing circuitry 303 collects RA report information including at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer responsive to detecting the triggering event at block 9001 that satisfies the triggering condition for the RA procedure.

[0096] According to some embodiments, a radio measurement at block 9005 may include at least one of a reference signal received power, RSRP, a reference signal received quality, RSRQ, a received signal strength indicator, RSSI, and/or a channel occupancy.

Moreover, the radio measurement may be related to at least one of a serving cell, a bandwidth part, BWP, of a serving cell, and/or a RA resource, and/or a neighbor cell.

[0097] According to some embodiments, an identifier associated with a serving cell at block 9005 may include at least one of an identifier of the serving cell, an identifier of a bandwidth part BWP of the serving cell, an identifier of a synchronization signal block SSB of the serving cell, and/or an identifier of a channel state information reference signal CSI-RS of the serving cell.

[0098] According to some embodiments, a status of an alignment timer may include one of an indication that the alignment timer has expired or an indication that the alignment timer is still running.

[0099] According to some embodiments, a timestamp may indicate one of a time that the triggering event was detected, a time that a radio measurement of block 9005 was performed.

[0100] According to some embodiments at block 9009, processing circuitry 303 stores the RA report information in memory (305) responsive to collecting the RA report information.

[0101] According to some embodiments at block 9011, processing circuitry 303 performs the RA procedure with the RAN responsive to detecting the triggering event that satisfies the triggering condition. For example, performing the RA procedure may include transmitting (through transceiver 301) an RA preamble to the RAN (also referred to as the wireless communication network). According to some embodiments, the RA report information may be collected at block 9005 before performing the RA procedure, and according to some other embodiments, the RA report information may be collected at block 9005 after successful completion of the RA procedure at block 9011.

[0102] According to some embodiments at block 9015, processing circuitry 303 receives (through transceiver 301) a request for an RA report from the RAN after completion of the RA procedure.

[0103] According to some embodiments at block 9019, responsive to receiving the request for the RA report, processing circuitry 303 transmits (through transceiver 301) an RA report to the RAN, wherein the RA report includes the RA report information that includes the at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer, wherein the RA report is transmitted to the RAN. For example, transmitting the RA report may include retrieving the RA report information from the memory to be included in the RA report.

[0104] Various operations from the flow chart of Figure 9A may be optional with respect to some embodiments of communication devices and related methods. Regarding methods of example embodiment 1 (set forth below), for example, operations of blocks 9009, 9011, 9015, and 9019 of Figure 9A may be optional.

[0105] Operations of the communication device 300 (implemented using the structure of the block diagram of Figure 4) will now be discussed with reference to the flow chart of Figure 10 according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. For example, modules may be stored in memory 305 of Figure 4, and these modules may provide instructions so that when the instructions of a module are executed by respective communication device processing circuitry 303, processing circuitry 303 performs respective operations of the flow chart.

[0106] According to some embodiments at block 10001, processing circuitry 303 transmits (through transceiver 301) a first Scheduling Request SR for a data unit to the RAN.

[0107] According to some embodiments at block 10005, processing circuitry 303 detects an SR failure of the first SR as a triggering event for a RA procedure.

[0108] According to some embodiments at block 10009, responsive to detecting the SR failure of the first SR event, processing circuitry 303 collects RA report information including at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer. At block 10009, collecting the RA report information may include saving the RA report information in memory 305.

[0109] According to some embodiments at block 10011, processing circuitry 303 transmits(through transceiver 301) a second SR for the data unit to the RAN after detecting the SR failure of the first SR.

[0110] According to some embodiments at block 10015, processing circuitry 303 receives (through transceiver 301) a scheduling grant from the RAN, wherein the scheduling grant corresponds to the second SR for the data unit.

[0111] According to some embodiments at block 10019, processing circuitry 303 transmits (through transceiver 301) the data unit to the RAN responsive to receiving the scheduling grant (e.g., using a communication resource indicated by the scheduling grant).

[0112] According to some embodiments at block 10021, processing circuitry 303 discards the RA reporting information (e.g., from memory 305) responsive to receiving the scheduling grant.

[0113] In some embodiments of Figure 10, the data unit is a Medium Access Control MAC Protocol Data Unit PDU.

[0114] Various operations from the flow chart of Figure 10 may be optional with respect to some embodiments of communication devices and related methods. Regarding methods of example embodiment 1 (set forth below), for example, operations of blocks 10001, 10011, 10015, 10019, and/or 10021 of Figure 10 may be optional.

[0115] Operations of the communication device 300 (implemented using the structure of the block diagram of Figure 4) will now be discussed with reference to the flow chart of Figure 11 according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. For example, modules may be stored in memory 305 of Figure 4, and these modules may provide instructions so that when the instructions of a module are executed by respective communication device processing circuitry 303, processing circuitry 303 performs respective operations of the flow chart.

[0116] According to some embodiments at block 11001, processing circuitry 303 detects a beam failure indication as a triggering event for a random access RA procedure.

[0117] According to some embodiments at block 11005, processing circuitry 303 collects RA report information responsive to detecting the beam failure indication as a triggering event for an RA procedure, wherein the RA report information includes at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer. At block 11005, collecting the RA report information may include saving the RA report information in memory 305.

[0118] According to some embodiments at block 11009, processing circuitry 303 discards the RA reporting information (e.g., from memory 305) based on passing of a threshold period of time after detecting the beam failure without detecting a second beam failure indication.

[0119] Various operations from the flow chart of Figure 11 may be optional with respect to some embodiments of communication devices and related methods. Regarding methods of example embodiment 1 (set forth below), for example, operations of block 11009 of Figure 11 may be optional.

[0120] Operations of the communication device 300 (implemented using the structure of the block diagram of Figure 4) will now be discussed with reference to the flow chart of Figure 12 according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. For example, modules may be stored in memory 305 of Figure 4, and these modules may provide instructions so that when the instructions of a module are executed by respective communication device processing circuitry 303, processing circuitry 303 performs respective operations of the flow chart.

[0121] According to some embodiments at block 12001, processing circuitry 303 performs a first channel occupancy check for an uplink data transmission according to a listen before talk LBT procedure.

[0122] According to some embodiments at block 12005, processing circuitry 303 detects a busy channel as a triggering event for a random access RA procedure based on the first channel occupancy check.

[0123] According to some embodiments at block 12009, processing circuitry 303 collects RA report information responsive to detecting the triggering event, wherein the RA reporting information includes at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer. At block 12009, collecting the RA report information may include saving the RA report information in memory 305. [0124] According to some embodiments at block 12011, processing circuitry 303 performs a second channel occupancy check for the uplink data transmission according to the LBT procedure after performing the first channel occupancy check.

[0125] According to some embodiments at block 12015, processing circuitry 303 detects a clear channel based on the second channel occupancy check.

[0126] According to some embodiments at block 12019, processing circuitry 303 transmits (through transceiver 301) the uplink data responsive to detecting the clear channel based on the second channel occupancy check.

[0127] According to some embodiments at block 12021, processing circuitry 303 discards (e.g., from memory 305) the RA reporting information responsive to detecting the clear channel based on the second channel occupancy check.

[0128] Various operations from the flow chart of Figure 12 may be optional with respect to some embodiments of communication devices and related methods. Regarding methods of example embodiment 1 (set forth below), for example, operations of blocks 12001, 12011, 12015, 12019, and/or 12021 of Figure 12 may be optional.

[0129] Operations of a RAN node 400 (implemented using the structure of Figure 5) will now be discussed with reference to the flow chart of Figure 9B according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. For example, modules may be stored in memory 405 of Figure 5, and these modules may provide instructions so that when the instructions of a module are executed by respective RAN node processing circuitry 403, processing circuitry 403 performs respective operations of the flow chart.

[0130] According to some embodiments at block 9051, processing circuitry 303 performs a Random Access RA procedure with a communication device (UE).

[0131] According to some embodiments at block 9055 after performing the RA procedure of block 9051, processing circuitry 303 transmits (through transceiver 301) a request for an RA report to the communication device.

[0132] According to some embodiments at block 9059 after performing the RA procedure of block 9051, processing circuitry 303 receives (through transceiver 301) an RA report from the communication device, wherein the RA report corresponds to the request for an RA report. Moreover, the RA report includes RA report information that includes at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, and/or an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer, wherein the RA report is transmitted to the RAN. The RA report information of block 9059 may be used by a RAN node, for example, to manage network operations.

According to some embodiment, the RAN node may use the RA report information to detect coverage holes, and once a coverage hole is detected, the RAN node may manage network operations to improve communications in an area associated with the coverage hole.

[0133] According to some embodiments, the RA report may include an indication of SR failure and a location of the communication device. In such embodiments, a RAN node may increase a frequency of prescheduling uplink grants transmitted in an area associated with the location of the communication device responsive to the RA report including the indication of SR failure based on the RA report including the location of the communication device.

[0134] According to some other embodiments, the RA report may include an indication of beam failure and a location of the communication device. In such embodiments, the RAN node may perform beam management in an area associated with the location of the communication device responsive to the RA report including the indication of beam recovery failure based on the RA report including the location of the communication device.

[0135] According to still other embodiments, the RA report may include an indication of a PDCCH order as triggering the RA procedure and a location of the communication device. In such embodiments, the RAN node may control transmission of Timing Advance commands to other communication devices responsive to the RA report including the indication of a PDCCH order as triggering the RA procedure based on the RA report including the location of the communication device. In addition, the RA report may include a status of an alignment timer, and the transmission of Timing Advance commands may be controlled responsive to the status of the alignment timer. The status of the alignment timer, for example, may indicate one of expiration or non-expiration of an alignment timer at the communication device.

[0136] According to yet other embodiments, the RA report may include an indication of LBT failure and a location of the communication device. In such embodiments, the RAN node may identify an area where uplink transmissions are likely to be affected by listen before talk LBT failures responsive to the RA report including the indication of LBT failure based on the RA report including the location of the communication device. [0137] Various operations from the flow chart of Figure 9B may be optional with respect to some embodiments of RAN nodes and related methods. Regarding methods of example embodiment 31 (set forth below), for example, operations of block 9055 of Figure 9B may be optional.

[0138] Example embodiments are discussed below.

1. A method of operating a communication device in a Radio Access Network, RAN, the method comprising: detecting (9001, 10005, 11001, 12005) a triggering event for a random access, RA procedure; and responsive to detecting the triggering event, collecting (9005, 10009, 11005, 12009) RA report information including at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer.

2. The method of Embodiment 1, wherein the triggering event satisfies a triggering condition for a RA procedure, the method further comprising: responsive to detecting the triggering event that satisfies the triggering condition, performing (9011) the RA procedure with the RAN.

3. The method of Embodiment 2, wherein the RA report information is collected after successful completion of the RA procedure.

4. The method of any of Embodiments 2-3 further comprising: after completion of the RA procedure, transmitting (9019) an RA report including the RA report information that includes the at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer, wherein the RA report is transmitted to the RAN.

5. The method of Embodiment 4 further comprising: storing (9009) the RA report information in memory (305) responsive to collecting the RA report information; wherein transmitting the RA report comprises retrieving the RA report information from the memory to be included in the RA report.

6. The method of any of Embodiment 4-5 further comprising: after completion of the RA procedure, receiving (9015) a request for an RA report from the RAN; wherein the RA report is transmitted responsive to receiving the request for an RA report.

7. The method of any of Embodiments 4-6, wherein the triggering event comprises one of a plurality of failure events and wherein the triggering condition comprises a failure condition based on the plurality failure events.

8. The method of Embodiment 7, wherein the at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, and/or an identifier associated with a serving cell is included in the RA report information responsive to the triggering condition comprising the failure condition based on the plurality of failure events.

9. The method of any of Embodiments 7-8, wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of Scheduling Request, SR, failure events and the failure condition comprises an SR failure based on the plurality of SR failure events, or wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of Listen Before Talk, LBT, failure events and the failure condition comprises an LBT failure based on the plurality of LBT failure events, or wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of beam failure events and the failure condition comprises a beam failure based on the plurality of beam failure events.

10. The method of Embodiment 9, wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of SR failure events, the failure condition comprises an SR failure based on the plurality of SR failure events, and the RA report information further includes an indication of SR failure responsive to the triggering condition comprising the SR failure.

11. The method of Embodiment 9, wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of LBT failure events, the failure condition comprises an LBT failure based on the plurality of LBT failure events, and the RA report information further includes an indication of LBT failure responsive to the triggering condition comprising the LBT failure.

12. The method of Embodiment 9, wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of beam failure events, the failure condition comprises a beam failure based on the plurality of beam failure events, and the RA report information further includes an indication of beam failure responsive to the triggering condition comprising the beam failure.

13. The method of any of Embodiments 7-12, wherein collecting the RA report information comprises collecting separate RA report information for each of the plurality of failure events, wherein the separate RA report information for each of the plurality of failure events includes the at least one of a location of the communication device associated with the respective failure event, a radio measurement associated with the respective failure event, a timestamp associated with the respective failure event, an identifier of a WiEi access point associated with the respective failure event, and/or an identifier associated with a serving cell associated with the respective failure event, and wherein the RA report includes the separate RA reporting information for each of the plurality of failure events.

14. The method of any of Embodiments 7-12, wherein collecting the RA report information comprises collecting separate RA report information for each of the plurality of failure events, wherein the separate RA report information for each of the plurality of failure events includes a radio measurement associated with the respective failure event, and wherein the RA report includes an average of the radio measurements of the plurality of failure events.

15. The method of any of Embodiment 9, wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of Listen Before Talk, LBT, failure events and the failure condition comprises an LBT failure based on the plurality of LBT failure events, wherein the RA report information includes an identifier of a WiFi access point, and wherein the RA report includes the identifier of the WiFi access point.

16. The method of Embodiment 15, wherein the RA report information includes an indication of LBT failure responsive to the triggering condition comprising the LBT failure.

17. The method of any of Embodiments 15-16, wherein the identifier of a WiFi access point is included in the RA report information responsive to the triggering condition comprising the LBT failure.

18. The method of any of Embodiments 4-6, wherein the triggering event comprises receiving of a Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH, order requesting an RA procedure that satisfies the triggering condition for the RA procedure, wherein the RA procedure is performed responsive to receiving the PDCCH order.

19. The method of Embodiment 18, wherein the at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer is included in the RA report information responsive to the triggering event comprising receiving the PDCCH order.

20. The method of Embodiment 19, wherein at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer is included in the RA report information responsive to the triggering event comprising the PDCCH order.

21. The method of Embodiment 20, wherein a status of an alignment timer is included in the RA report information responsive to the triggering event comprising receiving the PDCCH order. 22. The method of any of Embodiments 12-21, wherein the RA report information further includes an indication of the PDCCH order responsive to the triggering condition comprising receipt of the PDCCH order.

23. The method of any of Embodiments 2-22, wherein performing the RA procedure comprises transmitting an RA preamble to the RAN.

24. The method of Embodiment 1 further comprising: transmitting (10001) a first Scheduling Request, SR, for a data unit to the RAN, wherein detecting the triggering event comprises detecting an SR failure of the first SR; after detecting the SR failure of the first SR, transmitting (10011) a second SR for the data unit to the RAN; receiving (10015) a scheduling grant corresponding to the second SR for the data unit, wherein the scheduling grant is received from the RAN; responsive to receiving the scheduling grant, transmitting (10019) the data unit to the RAN; and responsive to receiving the scheduling grant, discarding (10021) the RA reporting information.

25. The method of Embodiment 24, wherein the data unit comprises a Medium Access Control, MAC, Protocol Data Unit, PDU.

26. The method of Embodiment 1, wherein detecting the triggering event comprises detecting a beam failure indication, the method further comprising: discarding (11009) the RA reporting information based on passing of a threshold period of time after detecting the beam failure indication without detecting a second beam failure indication.

27. The method of Embodiment 1 further comprising: performing (12001) a first channel occupancy check for an uplink data transmission according to a listen before talk, LBT, procedure, wherein detecting the triggering event comprises detecting a busy channel based on the first channel occupancy check; performing (12011) a second channel occupancy check for the uplink data transmission according to the LBT procedure after performing the first channel occupancy check; transmitting (12019) the uplink data responsive to detecting a clear channel based on the second channel occupancy check; and discarding (12021) the RA reporting information responsive to detecting the clear channel based on the second channel occupancy check.

28. The method of any of Embodiments 1-27, wherein the RA report information includes a radio measurement comprising at least one of a reference signal received power, RSRP, a reference signal received quality, RSRQ, a received signal strength indicator, RSSI, and/or a channel occupancy.

29. The method of any of Embodiments 1-28, wherein the RA report information includes a radio measurement related to at least one of a serving cell, a bandwidth part, BWP, of a serving cell, and/or a RA resource, and/or a neighbor cell.

30. The method of any of Embodiments 1-29, wherein the RA report information includes an identifier associated with a serving cell comprising at least one of an identifier of the serving cell, an identifier of a bandwidth part, BWP, of the serving cell, an identifier of a synchronization signal block, SSB, of the serving cell, and/or an identifier of a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, of the serving cell.

31. The method of Embodiment 21 , wherein the status of the alignment timer indicates one of a period of time left before expiration of a time Alignment Timer when the PDCCH order is received or expiration of the time Alignment Timer before receiving the PDCCH order. 32. The method of Embodiment 21, wherein the status of the alignment timer indicates one of expiration of a time Alignment Timer before receiving the PDCCH order or receiving the PDCCH order before expiration of the time Alignment Timer.

33. A method of operating a Radio Access network, RAN, node the method comprising: performing (9051) a Random Access, RA, procedure with a communication device; and after performing the RA procedure, receiving (9059) an RA report from the communication device, wherein the RA report includes RA report information that includes at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, and/or an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer, wherein the RA report is transmitted to the RAN.

34. The method of Embodiment 33 further comprising: after performing the RA procedure, transmitting (9055) a request for an RA report to the communication device; wherein the RA report corresponds to the request.

35. The method of any of Embodiments 33-34, wherein the RA report includes a location of the communication device, the method further comprising: increasing a frequency of prescheduling uplink grants transmitted in an area associated with the location of the communication device based on the RA report including the location of the communication device.

36. The method of Embodiment 35, wherein the RA report includes an indication of scheduling request, SR, failure, and wherein the frequency of prescheduling uplink grants is increased in the area associated with the location responsive to the RA report including the indication of SR failure.

37. The method of any of Embodiments 33-34, wherein the RA report includes a location of the communication device, the method further comprising: performing beam management in an area associated with the location of the communication device based on the RA report including the location of the communication device.

38. The method of Embodiment 37, wherein the RA report includes an indication of beam failure, and wherein beam management is performed in the area associated with the location responsive to the RA report including the indication of beam failure.

39. The method of any of Embodiments 33-34, wherein the RA report includes a location of the communication device, the method further comprising: controlling transmission of Timing Advance commands to other communication devices based on the RA report including the location of the communication device.

40. The method of Embodiment 39, wherein the RA report includes an indication of a PDCCH order as triggering the RA procedure, and wherein transmission of Timing Advance commands is controlled responsive to the RA report including the indication of a PDCCH order as triggering the RA procedure.

41. The method of any of Embodiments 39-40, wherein the RA report includes a status of an alignment timer, and wherein the transmission of Timing Advance commands is controlled responsive to the status of the alignment timer.

42. The method of any of Embodiments 33-34, wherein the RA report includes a location of the communication device, the method further comprising: identifying an area where uplink transmissions are likely to be affected by listen before talk, LBT, failures based on the RA report including the location of the communication device.

43. The method of Embodiment 42, wherein the RA report includes an indication of LBT failure, and wherein the area where uplink transmissions are likely is identified responsive to the RA report including the indication of LBT failure. 44. The method of any of Embodiments 33-43, wherein the RA report information includes separate RA report information for each of a plurality of failure events, wherein the separate RA report information for each of the plurality of failure events includes the at least one of a location of the communication device associated with the respective failure event, a radio measurement associated with the respective failure event, a timestamp associated with the respective failure event, an identifier of a WiFi access point associated with the respective failure event, and/or an identifier associated with a serving cell associated with the respective failure event.

45. The method of any of Embodiments 33-43 wherein the RA report information includes an average of a plurality of radio measurements.

46. The method of any of Embodiments 33-45, wherein the RA report information includes a radio measurement comprising at least one of a reference signal received power, RSRP, a reference signal received quality, RSRQ, a received signal strength indicator, RSSI, and/or a channel occupancy.

47. The method of any of Embodiments 33-46, wherein the RA report information includes a radio measurement related to at least one of a serving cell, a bandwidth part, BWP, of a serving cell, and/or a RA resource, and/or a neighbor cell.

48. The method of any of Embodiments 33-47, wherein the RA report information includes an identifier associated with a serving cell comprising at least one of an identifier of the serving cell, an identifier of a bandwidth part, BWP, of the serving cell, an identifier of a synchronization signal block, SSB, of the serving cell, and/or an identifier of a channel state information reference signal, CSI-RS, of the serving cell.

49. The method of Embodiment 41, wherein the status of the alignment timer indicates one of a period of time left before expiration of a time Alignment Timer when the PDCCH order is received by the communication device or expiration of the time Alignment Timer before receiving the PDCCH order by the communication device. 50. The method of Embodiment 41, wherein the status of the alignment timer indicates one of expiration of a time Alignment Timer before receiving the PDCCH order by the communication device or receiving the PDCCH order by the communication device before expiration of the time Alignment Timer.

51. A communication device (300) comprising: processing circuitry (303); and memory (305) coupled with the processing circuitry, wherein the memory includes instructions that when executed by the processing circuitry causes the communication device to perform operations according to any of Embodiments 1-32.

52. A communication device (300) adapted to perform according to any of Embodiments

1-32.

53. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by processing circuitry (303) of a communication device (300), whereby execution of the program code causes the communication device (300) to perform operations according to any of embodiments 1-32.

54. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (303) of a communication device (300), whereby execution of the program code causes the communication device (300) to perform operations according to any of embodiments 1-32.

55. A radio access network, RAN, node (400) comprising: processing circuitry (403); and memory (405) coupled with the processing circuitry, wherein the memory includes instructions that when executed by the processing circuitry causes the RAN node to perform operations according to any of Embodiments 33-50. 56. A radio access network, RAN, node (400) adapted to perform according to any of Embodiments 33-50.

57. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by processing circuitry (403) of a radio access network, RAN, node (400), whereby execution of the program code causes the RAN node (400) to perform operations according to any of embodiments 33-50.

58. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (403) of a radio access network, RAN, node (400), whereby execution of the program code causes the RAN node (400) to perform operations according to any of embodiments 33-50.

[0139] Explanations are provided below for various abbreviations/acronyms used in the present disclosure.

Abbreviation Explanation

ACK (positive) Acknowledgment

AEfL Autonomous uplink

BLER Block error rate

BWP Bandwidth Part

CAPC Channel access priority class

CBG Code block group

CCA Clear channel assessment

CFRA Contention free random access

CO Channel occupancy

COT Channel occupancy time

CSI Channel state information

CSI-RS Channel state information - Reference signal

CWS Contention window size

DL Downlink

ED Energy detection eNB 4G base station gNB 5G base station

HARQ Hybrid automatic repeat request

HO Handover

HOF Handover failure

IE Information element

IS In synch

LAA Licensed assisted access

LBT Listen before talk

LTE Long term evolution

MAC Medium access control

MCOT Maximum channel occupancy time

MDT Minimization drive test

MIB Master information block

NACK Negative acknowledgment

NDI New data indicator

NR 3GPP defined 5G radio access technology

NR-U NR unlicensed

OOS out of synch

PCell Primary cell

PCI Physical cell identity

PDCCH A downlink control channel

PDSCH Physical downlink shared channel

PDU Protocol data unit

PHICH Physical channel Hybrid ARQ Indicator Channel

PLMN Public land mobile network

PRACH Physical random access channel

PSCell Primary SCG cell

PSS Primary synchronization signal

PUCCH Physical Uplink Control Channel

PUSCH Physical Uplink Shared Channel

QCI QoS class identifier QoS Quality of service

RACH Random access channel

RAR Random access response

RAT Radio access technology

RLF Radio link failure

RLM Radio link monitoring

RLC Radio link control

RRC Radio resource control

RS Reference signal

RSRP Reference signal received power

RSRQ Reference signal received quality

RSSI Received signal strength indicator

SCG Secondary cell group

SCell Secondary cell

SDU Service data unit

SI System Information

SIB System information block

SIB1 System information block 1

SMTC SSB — based measurement timing configuration

SON Self-organizing network

SpCell Special cell (PCell or PSCell)

SPS Semi persistent scheduling

SR Scheduling request

SSB Synchronization signal block

TTI Transmission time interval

UCI Uplink Control Information

UE User equipment

UL Uplink

[0140] Additional explanation is provided below.

[0141] 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 the enclosed embodiments will be apparent from the following description.

[0142] 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.

[0143] Figure 13 illustrates a wireless network in accordance with some embodiments.

[0144] 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 Figure 13. For simplicity, the wireless network of Figure 13 only depicts network 4106, network nodes 4160 and 4160b, and WDs 4110, 4110b, and 4110c (also referred to as mobile terminals). In practice, a wireless network may further include any additional elements suitable to support communication between wireless devices or between a wireless device and another communication device, such as a landline telephone, a service provider, or any other network node or end device. Of the illustrated components, network node 4160 and wireless device (WD) 4110 are depicted with additional detail. The wireless network may provide communication and other types of services to one or more wireless devices to facilitate the wireless devices’ access to and/or use of the services provided by, or via, the wireless network.

[0145] 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.

[0146] Network 4106 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.

[0147] Network node 4160 and WD 4110 comprise various components described in more detail below. These components work together in order to provide network node and/or wireless device functionality, such as providing wireless connections in a wireless network. In different embodiments, the wireless network may comprise any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, base stations, controllers, wireless devices, relay stations, and/or any other components or systems that may facilitate or participate in the communication of data and/or signals whether via wired or wireless connections.

[0148] As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a wireless device and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the wireless network to enable and/or provide wireless access to the wireless device and/or to perform other functions (e.g., administration) in the wireless network. Examples of network nodes include, but are not limited to, access points (APs) (e.g., radio access points), base stations (BSs) (e.g., radio base stations, Node Bs, evolved Node Bs (eNBs) and NR NodeBs (gNBs)). Base stations 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 wireless device with access to the wireless network or to provide some service to a wireless device that has accessed the wireless network.

[0149] In Figure 13, network node 4160 includes processing circuitry 4170, device readable medium 4180, interface 4190, auxiliary equipment 4184, power source 4186, power circuitry 4187, and antenna 4162. Although network node 4160 illustrated in the example wireless network of Figure 13 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 4160 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 4180 may comprise multiple separate hard drives as well as multiple RAM modules).

[0150] Similarly, network node 4160 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 4160 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 NodeB’s. 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 4160 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate device readable medium 4180 for the different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., the same antenna 4162 may be shared by the RATs). Network node 4160 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 4160, 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 4160.

[0151] Processing circuitry 4170 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 4170 may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 4170 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.

[0152] Processing circuitry 4170 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 4160 components, such as device readable medium 4180, network node 4160 functionality. For example, processing circuitry 4170 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 4180 or in memory within processing circuitry 4170. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features, functions, or benefits discussed herein. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 4170 may include a system on a chip (SOC).

[0153] In some embodiments, processing circuitry 4170 may include one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 4172 and baseband processing circuitry 4174. In some embodiments, radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 4172 and baseband processing circuitry 4174 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 4172 and baseband processing circuitry 4174 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units

[0154] 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 4170 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 4180 or memory within processing circuitry 4170. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by processing circuitry 4170 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 4170 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 4170 alone or to other components of network node 4160, but are enjoyed by network node 4160 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

[0155] Device readable medium 4180 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 4170. Device readable medium 4180 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 4170 and, utilized by network node 4160. Device readable medium 4180 may be used to store any calculations made by processing circuitry 4170 and/or any data received via interface 4190. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 4170 and device readable medium 4180 may be considered to be integrated.

[0156] Interface 4190 is used in the wired or wireless communication of signalling and/or data between network node 4160, network 4106, and/or WDs 4110. As illustrated, interface 4190 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 4194 to send and receive data, for example to and from network 4106 over a wired connection. Interface 4190 also includes radio front end circuitry 4192 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, antenna 4162. Radio front end circuitry 4192 comprises filters 4198 and amplifiers 4196. Radio front end circuitry 4192 may be connected to antenna 4162 and processing circuitry 4170. Radio front end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 4162 and processing circuitry 4170. Radio front end circuitry 4192 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 4192 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 4198 and/or amplifiers 4196. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 4162. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 4162 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 4192. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 4170. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

[0157] In certain alternative embodiments, network node 4160 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 4192, instead, processing circuitry 4170 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 4162 without separate radio front end circuitry 4192. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of RF transceiver circuitry 4172 may be considered a part of interface 4190. In still other embodiments, interface 4190 may include one or more ports or terminals 4194, radio front end circuitry 4192, and RF transceiver circuitry 4172, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and interface 4190 may communicate with baseband processing circuitry 4174, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0158] Antenna 4162 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. Antenna 4162 may be coupled to radio front end circuitry 4192 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In some embodiments, antenna 4162 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 4162 may be separate from network node 4160 and may be connectable to network node 4160 through an interface or port.

[0159] Antenna 4162, interface 4190, and/or processing circuitry 4170 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 wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, antenna 4162, interface 4190, and/or processing circuitry 4170 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 wireless device, another network node and/or any other network equipment.

[0160] Power circuitry 4187 may comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry and is configured to supply the components of network node 4160 with power for performing the functionality described herein. Power circuitry 4187 may receive power from power source 4186. Power source 4186 and/or power circuitry 4187 may be configured to provide power to the various components of network node 4160 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). Power source 4186 may either be included in, or external to, power circuitry 4187 and/or network node 4160. For example, network node 4160 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 4187. As a further example, power source 4186 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry 4187. 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.

[0161] Alternative embodiments of network node 4160 may include additional components beyond those shown in Figure 13 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 4160 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into network node 4160 and to allow output of information from network node 4160. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for network node 4160.

[0162] As used herein, wireless device (WD) refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other wireless devices. Unless otherwise noted, the term WD 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 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the WD may be a UE implementing the 3 GPP narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) standard. Particular examples of such machines or devices are sensors, metering devices such as power meters, industrial machinery, or home or personal appliances (e.g. refrigerators, televisions, etc.) personal wearables (e.g., watches, fitness trackers, etc.). In other scenarios, a WD 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.

[0163] As illustrated, wireless device 4110 includes antenna 4111, interface 4114, processing circuitry 4120, device readable medium 4130, user interface equipment 4132, auxiliary equipment 4134, power source 4136 and power circuitry 4137. WD 4110 may include multiple sets of one or more of the illustrated components for different wireless technologies supported by WD 4110, 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 4110.

[0164] Antenna 4111 may include one or more antennas or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals, and is connected to interface 4114. In certain alternative embodiments, antenna 4111 may be separate from WD 4110 and be connectable to WD 4110 through an interface or port. Antenna 4111, interface 4114, and/or processing circuitry 4120 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 4111 may be considered an interface.

[0165] As illustrated, interface 4114 comprises radio front end circuitry 4112 and antenna 4111. Radio front end circuitry 4112 comprise one or more filters 4118 and amplifiers 4116. Radio front end circuitry 4112 is connected to antenna 4111 and processing circuitry 4120, and is configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 4111 and processing circuitry 4120. Radio front end circuitry 4112 may be coupled to or a part of antenna 4111. In some embodiments, WD 4110 may not include separate radio front end circuitry 4112; rather, processing circuitry 4120 may comprise radio front end circuitry and may be connected to antenna 4111. Similarly, in some embodiments, some or all of RF transceiver circuitry 4122 may be considered a part of interface 4114. Radio front end circuitry 4112 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or WDs via a wireless connection. Radio front end circuitry 4112 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 4118 and/or amplifiers 4116. The radio signal may then be transmitted via antenna 4111. Similarly, when receiving data, antenna 4111 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by radio front end circuitry 4112. The digital data may be passed to processing circuitry 4120. In other embodiments, the interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

[0166] Processing circuitry 4120 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 4110 components, such as device readable medium 4130, WD 4110 functionality. Such functionality may include providing any of the various wireless features or benefits discussed herein. For example, processing circuitry 4120 may execute instructions stored in device readable medium 4130 or in memory within processing circuitry 4120 to provide the functionality disclosed herein.

[0167] As illustrated, processing circuitry 4120 includes one or more of RF transceiver circuitry 4122, baseband processing circuitry 4124, and application processing circuitry 4126. In other embodiments, the processing circuitry may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components. In certain embodiments processing circuitry 4120 of WD 4110 may comprise a SOC. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 4122, baseband processing circuitry 4124, and application processing circuitry 4126 may be on separate chips or sets of chips. In alternative embodiments, part or all of baseband processing circuitry 4124 and application processing circuitry 4126 may be combined into one chip or set of chips, and RF transceiver circuitry 4122 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In still alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 4122 and baseband processing circuitry 4124 may be on the same chip or set of chips, and application processing circuitry 4126 may be on a separate chip or set of chips. In yet other alternative embodiments, part or all of RF transceiver circuitry 4122, baseband processing circuitry 4124, and application processing circuitry 4126 may be combined in the same chip or set of chips. In some embodiments, RF transceiver circuitry 4122 may be a part of interface 4114. RF transceiver circuitry 4122 may condition RF signals for processing circuitry 4120.

[0168] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein as being performed by a WD may be provided by processing circuitry 4120 executing instructions stored on device readable medium 4130, 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 4120 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 4120 can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to processing circuitry 4120 alone or to other components of WD 4110, but are enjoyed by WD 4110 as a whole, and/or by end users and the wireless network generally.

[0169] Processing circuitry 4120 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 4120, may include processing information obtained by processing circuitry 4120 by, for example, converting the obtained information into other information, comparing the obtained information or converted information to information stored by WD 4110, 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.

[0170] Device readable medium 4130 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 4120. Device readable medium 4130 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 4120. In some embodiments, processing circuitry 4120 and device readable medium 4130 may be considered to be integrated.

[0171] User interface equipment 4132 may provide components that allow for a human user to interact with WD 4110. Such interaction may be of many forms, such as visual, audial, tactile, etc. User interface equipment 4132 may be operable to produce output to the user and to allow the user to provide input to WD 4110. The type of interaction may vary depending on the type of user interface equipment 4132 installed in WD 4110. For example, if WD 4110 is a smart phone, the interaction may be via a touch screen; if WD 4110 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 4132 may include input interfaces, devices and circuits, and output interfaces, devices and circuits. User interface equipment 4132 is configured to allow input of information into WD 4110, and is connected to processing circuitry 4120 to allow processing circuitry 4120 to process the input information. User interface equipment 4132 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 4132 is also configured to allow output of information from WD 4110, and to allow processing circuitry 4120 to output information from WD 4110. User interface equipment 4132 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 4132, WD 4110 may communicate with end users and/or the wireless network, and allow them to benefit from the functionality described herein.

[0172] Auxiliary equipment 4134 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 4134 may vary depending on the embodiment and/or scenario.

[0173] Power source 4136 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 4110 may further comprise power circuitry 4137 for delivering power from power source 4136 to the various parts of WD 4110 which need power from power source 4136 to carry out any functionality described or indicated herein. Power circuitry 4137 may in certain embodiments comprise power management circuitry. Power circuitry 4137 may additionally or alternatively be operable to receive power from an external power source; in which case WD 4110 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 4137 may also in certain embodiments be operable to deliver power from an external power source to power source 4136. This may be, for example, for the charging of power source 4136. Power circuitry 4137 may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from power source 4136 to make the power suitable for the respective components of WD 4110 to which power is supplied.

[0174] Figure 14 illustrates a user Equipment in accordance with some embodiments.

[0175] Figure 14 illustrates one embodiment of a UE in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, a user equipment or UE may not necessarily have a user in the sense of a human user who owns and/or operates the relevant device. Instead, a UE 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 UE 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). UE 42200 may be any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a NB-IoT UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. UE 4200, as illustrated in Figure 14, is one example of a WD configured for communication in accordance with one or more communication standards promulgated by the 3rd 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 Figure 14 is a UE, the components discussed herein are equally applicable to a WD, and vice-versa.

[0176] In Figure 14, UE 4200 includes processing circuitry 4201 that is operatively coupled to input/output interface 4205, radio frequency (RF) interface 4209, network connection interface 4211, memory 4215 including random access memory (RAM) 4217, read-only memory (ROM) 4219, and storage medium 4221 or the like, communication subsystem 4231, power source 4213, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Storage medium 4221 includes operating system 4223, application program 4225, and data 4227. In other embodiments, storage medium 4221 may include other similar types of information. Certain UEs may utilize all of the components shown in Figure 14, or only a subset of the components. The level of integration between the components may vary from one UE to another UE. Further, certain UEs may contain multiple instances of a component, such as multiple processors, memories, transceivers, transmitters, receivers, etc. [0177] In Figure 14, processing circuitry 4201 may be configured to process computer instructions and data. Processing circuitry 4201 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 4201 may include two central processing units (CPUs). Data may be information in a form suitable for use by a computer.

[0178] In the depicted embodiment, input/output interface 4205 may be configured to provide a communication interface to an input device, output device, or input and output device. UE 4200 may be configured to use an output device via input/output interface 4205. 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 UE 4200. 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. UE 4200 may be configured to use an input device via input/output interface 4205 to allow a user to capture information into UE 4200. 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.

[0179] In Figure 14, RF interface 4209 may be configured to provide a communication interface to RF components such as a transmitter, a receiver, and an antenna. Network connection interface 4211 may be configured to provide a communication interface to network 4243a. Network 4243a 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 4243a may comprise a Wi-Fi network. Network connection interface 4211 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 4211 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.

[0180] RAM 4217 may be configured to interface via bus 4202 to processing circuitry 4201 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 4219 may be configured to provide computer instructions or data to processing circuitry 4201. For example, ROM 4219 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 4221 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 4221 may be configured to include operating system 4223, application program 4225 such as a web browser application, a widget or gadget engine or another application, and data file 4227. Storage medium 4221 may store, for use by UE 4200, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

[0181] Storage medium 4221 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 4221 may allow UE 4200 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 4221, which may comprise a device readable medium.

[0182] In Figure 14, processing circuitry 4201 may be configured to communicate with network 4243b using communication subsystem 4231. Network 4243a and network 4243b may be the same network or networks or different network or networks. Communication subsystem 4231 may be configured to include one or more transceivers used to communicate with network 4243b. For example, communication subsystem 4231 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 4233 and/or receiver 4235 to implement transmitter or receiver functionality, respectively, appropriate to the RAN links (e.g., frequency allocations and the like). Further, transmitter 4233 and receiver 4235 of each transceiver may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively may be implemented separately.

[0183] In the illustrated embodiment, the communication functions of communication subsystem 4231 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 4231 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, Bluetooth communication, and GPS communication. Network 4243b 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 4243b may be a cellular network, a Wi-Fi network, and/or a near-field network. Power source 4213 may be configured to provide alternating current (AC) or direct current (DC) power to components of UE 4200.

[0184] The features, benefits and/or functions described herein may be implemented in one of the components of UE 4200 or partitioned across multiple components of UE 4200. 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 4231 may be configured to include any of the components described herein. Further, processing circuitry 4201 may be configured to communicate with any of such components over bus 4202.

In another example, any of such components may be represented by program instructions stored in memory that when executed by processing circuitry 4201 perform the corresponding functions described herein. In another example, the functionality of any of such components may be partitioned between processing circuitry 4201 and communication subsystem 4231. 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.

[0185] Figure 15 illustrates a virtualization environment in accordance with some embodiments.

[0186] Figure 15 is a schematic block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 4300 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 UE, a wireless device or any other type of communication device) or components thereof and relates to an implementation in which at least a portion of the functionality is implemented as one or more virtual components (e.g., via one or more applications, components, functions, virtual machines or containers executing on one or more physical processing nodes in one or more networks).

[0187] 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 4300 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes 4330. 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.

[0188] The functions may be implemented by one or more applications 4320 (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 4320 are run in virtualization environment 4300 which provides hardware 4330 comprising processing circuitry 4360 and memory 4390. Memory 4390 contains instructions 4395 executable by processing circuitry 4360 whereby application 4320 is operative to provide one or more of the features, benefits, and/or functions disclosed herein.

[0189] Virtualization environment 4300, comprises general-purpose or special- purpose network hardware devices 4330 comprising a set of one or more processors or processing circuitry 4360, 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 4390-1 which may be non-persistent memory for temporarily storing instructions 4395 or software executed by processing circuitry 4360. Each hardware device may comprise one or more network interface controllers (NICs) 4370, also known as network interface cards, which include physical network interface 4380. Each hardware device may also include non-transitory, persistent, machine-readable storage media 4390-2 having stored therein software 4395 and/or instructions executable by processing circuitry 4360. Software 4395 may include any type of software including software for instantiating one or more virtualization layers 4350 (also referred to as hypervisors), software to execute virtual machines 4340 as well as software allowing it to execute functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein.

[0190] Virtual machines 4340 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 4350 or hypervisor. Different embodiments of the instance of virtual appliance 4320 may be implemented on one or more of virtual machines 4340, and the implementations may be made in different ways.

[0191] During operation, processing circuitry 4360 executes software 4395 to instantiate the hypervisor or virtualization layer 4350, which may sometimes be referred to as a virtual machine monitor (VMM). Virtualization layer 4350 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to virtual machine 4340.

[0192] As shown in Figure 15, hardware 4330 may be a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 4330 may comprise antenna 43225 and may implement some functions via virtualization. Alternatively, hardware 4330 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) 43100, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 4320.

[0193] 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.

[0194] In the context of NFV, virtual machine 4340 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 4340, and that part of hardware 4330 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 4340, forms a separate virtual network elements (VNE).

[0195] 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 4340 on top of hardware networking infrastructure 4330 and corresponds to application 4320 in Figure 15.

[0196] In some embodiments, one or more radio units 43200 that each include one or more transmitters 43220 and one or more receivers 43210 may be coupled to one or more antennas 43225. Radio units 43200 may communicate directly with hardware nodes 4330 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.

[0197] In some embodiments, some signalling can be effected with the use of control system 43230 which may alternatively be used for communication between the hardware nodes 4330 and radio units 43200.

[0198] Figure 16 illustrates a telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer in accordance with some embodiments.

[0199] With reference to Figure 16, in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system includes telecommunication network 4410, such as a 3GPP-tyP^e cellular network, which comprises access network 4411, such as a radio access network, and core network 4414. Access network 4411 comprises a plurality of base stations 4412a, 4412b, 4412c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 4413a, 4413b, 4413c. Each base station 4412a, 4412b, 4412c is connectable to core network 4414 over a wired or wireless connection 4415. A first UE 4491 located in coverage area 4413c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 4412c. A second UE 4492 in coverage area 4413a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 4412a. While a plurality of UEs 4491, 4492 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station 4412.

[0200] Telecommunication network 4410 is itself connected to host computer 4430, 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 4430 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 4421 and 4422 between telecommunication network 4410 and host computer 4430 may extend directly from core network 4414 to host computer 4430 or may go via an optional intermediate network 4420. Intermediate network 4420 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; intermediate network 4420, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, intermediate network 4420 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).

[0201] The communication system of Figure 16 as a whole enables connectivity between the connected UEs 4491, 4492 and host computer 4430. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 4450. Host computer 4430 and the connected UEs 4491, 4492 are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via OTT connection 4450, using access network 4411, core network 4414, any intermediate network 4420 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. OTT connection 4450 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which OTT connection 4450 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, base station 4412 may not or need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from host computer 4430 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 4491. Similarly, base station 4412 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 4491 towards the host computer 4430.

[0202] Figure 17 illustrates a host computer communicating via a base station with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments.

[0203] Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment, of the EE, base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to Figure 17. In communication system 4500, host computer 4510 comprises hardware 4515 including communication interface 4516 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 4500. Host computer 4510 further comprises processing circuitry 4518, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, processing circuitry 4518 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 4510 further comprises software 4511, which is stored in or accessible by host computer 4510 and executable by processing circuitry 4518. Software 4511 includes host application 4512.

Host application 4512 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as UE 4530 connecting via OTT connection 4550 terminating at UE 4530 and host computer 4510. In providing the service to the remote user, host application 4512 may provide user data which is transmitted using OTT connection 4550.

[0204] Communication system 4500 further includes base station 4520 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 4525 enabling it to communicate with host computer 4510 and with UE 4530. Hardware 4525 may include communication interface 4526 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of communication system 4500, as well as radio interface 4527 for setting up and maintaining at least wireless connection 4570 with UE 4530 located in a coverage area (not shown in Figure 17) served by base station 4520. Communication interface 4526 may be configured to facilitate connection 4560 to host computer 4510. Connection 4560 may be direct or it may pass through a core network (not shown in Figure 17) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, hardware 4525 of base station 4520 further includes processing circuitry 4528, 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. Base station 4520 further has software 4521 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.

[0205] Communication system 4500 further includes UE 4530 already referred to.

Its hardware 4535 may include radio interface 4537 configured to set up and maintain wireless connection 4570 with a base station serving a coverage area in which UE 4530 is currently located. Hardware 4535 of UE 4530 further includes processing circuitry 4538, 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. UE 4530 further comprises software 4531, which is stored in or accessible by UE 4530 and executable by processing circuitry 4538. Software 4531 includes client application 4532. Client application 4532 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 4530, with the support of host computer 4510. In host computer 4510, an executing host application 4512 may communicate with the executing client application 4532 via OTT connection 4550 terminating at UE 4530 and host computer 4510. In providing the service to the user, client application 4532 may receive request data from host application 4512 and provide user data in response to the request data. OTT connection 4550 may transfer both the request data and the user data. Client application 4532 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.

[0206] It is noted that host computer 4510, base station 4520 and UE 4530 illustrated in Figure 17 may be similar or identical to host computer 4430, one of base stations 4412a, 4412b, 4412c and one of UEs 4491, 4492 of Figure 16, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in Figure 17 and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of Figure 16.

[0207] In Figure 17, OTT connection 4550 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between host computer 4510 and UE 4530 via base station 4520, 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 UE 4530 or from the service provider operating host computer 4510, or both. While OTT connection 4550 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).

[0208] Wireless connection 4570 between UE 4530 and base station 4520 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments may improve the performance of OTT services provided to UE

4530 using OTT connection 4550, in which wireless connection 4570 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may improve the random access speed and/or reduce random access failure rates and thereby provide benefits such as faster and/or more reliable random access.

[0209] 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 4550 between host computer 4510 and UE 4530, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring OTT connection 4550 may be implemented in software 4511 and hardware 4515 of host computer 4510 or in software

4531 and hardware 4535 of UE 4530, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which OTT connection 4550 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 4511, 4531 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of OTT connection 4550 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect base station 4520, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to base station 4520. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating host computer 4510’s measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that software 4511 and 4531 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using OTT connection 4550 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.

[0210] Figure 18 illustrates methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments [0211] Figure 18 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figures 16 and 17. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure

18 will be included in this section. In step 4610, the host computer provides user data. In substep 4611 (which may be optional) of step 4610, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 4620, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In step 4630 (which may be optional), the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 4640 (which may also be optional), the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.

[0212] Figure 19 illustrates methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments.

[0213] Figure 19 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figures 16 and 17. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure

19 will be included in this section. In step 4710 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown) the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In step 4720, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 4730 (which may be optional), the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.

[0214] Figure 20 illustrates methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments

[0215] Figure 20 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figures 16 and 17. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure

20 will be included in this section. In step 4810 (which may be optional), the UE receives input data provided by the host computer. Additionally or alternatively, in step 4820, the UE provides user data. In substep 4821 (which may be optional) of step 4820, the UE provides the user data by executing a client application. In substep 4811 (which may be optional) of step 4810, the UE executes a client application which provides the user data in reaction to the received input data provided by the host computer. In providing the user data, the executed client application may further consider user input received from the user. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE initiates, in substep 4830 (which may be optional), transmission of the user data to the host computer. In step 4840 of the method, the host computer receives the user data transmitted from the UE, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

[0216] Figure 21 illustrates methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station and a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments

[0217] Figure 21 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figures 16 and 17. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Figure

21 will be included in this section. In step 4910 (which may be optional), in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the base station receives user data from the UE. In step 4920 (which may be optional), the base station initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer. In step 4930 (which may be optional), the host computer receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the base station.

[0218] Any appropriate steps, methods, features, functions, or benefits disclosed herein may be performed through one or more functional units or modules of one or more virtual apparatuses. Each virtual apparatus may comprise a number of these functional units. These functional units may be implemented via 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 (RAM), 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 some implementations, the processing circuitry may be used to cause the respective functional unit to perform corresponding functions according one or more embodiments of the present disclosure.

[0219] 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.

[0220] 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

3GPP 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

EOS Line of Sight

FPP 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

OCNG OFDMA 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

PFMN Public Fand 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

TO A 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

[0221] Further definitions and embodiments are discussed below.

[0222] In the above-description of various embodiments of present inventive concepts, it is to be understood that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of present inventive concepts. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which present inventive concepts belong. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

[0223] When an element is referred to as being "connected", "coupled", "responsive", or variants thereof to another element, it can be directly connected, coupled, or responsive to the other element or intervening elements may be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being "directly connected", "directly coupled", "directly responsive", or variants thereof to another element, there are no intervening elements present. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. Furthermore, "coupled", "connected", "responsive", or variants thereof as used herein may include wirelessly coupled, connected, or responsive. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity. The term "and/or" (abbreviated ‘7”) includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items.

[0224] It will be understood that although the terms first, second, third, etc. may be used herein to describe various elements/operations, these elements/operations should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element/operation from another element/operation. Thus a first element/operation in some embodiments could be termed a second element/operation in other embodiments without departing from the teachings of present inventive concepts. The same reference numerals or the same reference designators denote the same or similar elements throughout the specification.

[0225] As used herein, the terms "comprise", "comprising", "comprises", "include", "including", "includes", "have", "has", "having", or variants thereof are open-ended, and include one or more stated features, integers, elements, steps, components or functions but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, elements, steps, components, functions or groups thereof. Furthermore, as used herein, the common abbreviation "e.g.", which derives from the Latin phrase "exempli gratia," may be used to introduce or specify a general example or examples of a previously mentioned item, and is not intended to be limiting of such item. The common abbreviation "i.e.", which derives from the Latin phrase "id est," may be used to specify a particular item from a more general recitation.

[0226] Example embodiments are described herein with reference to block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations of computer-implemented methods, apparatus (systems and/or devices) and/or computer program products. It is understood that a block of the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, can be implemented by computer program instructions that are performed by one or more computer circuits. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor circuit of a general purpose computer circuit, special purpose computer circuit, and/or other programmable data processing circuit to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer and/or other programmable data processing apparatus, transform and control transistors, values stored in memory locations, and other hardware components within such circuitry to implement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block or blocks, and thereby create means (functionality) and/or structure for implementing the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block(s).

[0227] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a tangible computer-readable 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 medium produce an article of manufacture including instructions which implement the functions/acts specified in the block diagrams and/or flowchart block or blocks. Accordingly, embodiments of present inventive concepts may be embodied in hardware and/or in software (including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) that runs on a processor such as a digital signal processor, which may collectively be referred to as "circuitry," "a module" or variants thereof.

[0228] It should also be noted that in some alternate implementations, the functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the flowcharts. 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. Moreover, the functionality of a given block of the flowcharts and/or block diagrams may be separated into multiple blocks and/or the functionality of two or more blocks of the flowcharts and/or block diagrams may be at least partially integrated.

Finally, other blocks may be added/inserted between the blocks that are illustrated, and/or blocks/operations may be omitted without departing from the scope of inventive concepts. Moreover, 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.

[0229] Many variations and modifications can be made to the embodiments without substantially departing from the principles of the present inventive concepts. All such variations and modifications are intended to be included herein within the scope of present inventive concepts. Accordingly, the above disclosed subject matter is to be considered illustrative, and not restrictive, and the examples of embodiments are intended to cover all such modifications, enhancements, and other embodiments, which fall within the spirit and scope of present inventive concepts. Thus, to the maximum extent allowed by law, the scope of present inventive concepts are to be determined by the broadest permissible interpretation of the present disclosure including the examples of embodiments and their equivalents, and shall not be restricted or limited by the foregoing detailed description.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A method of operating a communication device in a Radio Access Network, RAN, the method comprising: detecting (9001, 10005, 11001, 12005) a triggering event for a random access, RA procedure; and responsive to detecting the triggering event, collecting (9005, 10009, 11005, 12009) RA report information including at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer, wherein the triggering event satisfies a triggering condition for a RA procedure; responsive to detecting the triggering event that satisfies the triggering condition, performing (9011) the RA procedure with the RAN; and after completion of the RA procedure, transmitting (9019) an RA report including the RA report information that includes the at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer, wherein the RA report is transmitted to the RAN, wherein the triggering event comprises one of a plurality of failure events and wherein the triggering condition comprises a failure condition based on the plurality failure events, and wherein the at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, and/or an identifier associated with a serving cell is included in the RA report information responsive to the triggering condition comprising the failure condition based on the plurality of failure events.

2. The method of Claim 1 further comprising: after completion of the RA procedure, receiving (9015) a request for an RA report from the RAN; wherein the RA report is transmitted responsive to receiving the request for an RA report.

3. The method of any of Claims 1-2, wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of Scheduling Request, SR, failure events and the failure condition comprises an SR failure based on the plurality of SR failure events, or wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of Listen Before Talk, LBT, failure events and the failure condition comprises an LBT failure based on the plurality of LBT failure events, or wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of beam failure events and the failure condition comprises a beam failure based on the plurality of beam failure events.

4. The method of Claim 3, wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of SR failure events, the failure condition comprises an SR failure based on the plurality of SR failure events, and the RA report information further includes an indication of SR failure responsive to the triggering condition comprising the SR failure.

5. The method of Claim 3, wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of LBT failure events, the failure condition comprises an LBT failure based on the plurality of LBT failure events, and the RA report information further includes an indication of LBT failure responsive to the triggering condition comprising the LBT failure.

6. The method of Claim 3, wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of beam failure events, the failure condition comprises a beam failure based on the plurality of beam failure events, and the RA report information further includes an indication of beam failure responsive to the triggering condition comprising the beam failure.

7. The method of Claim 3, wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of Listen Before Talk, LBT, failure events and the failure condition comprises an LBT failure based on the plurality of LBT failure events, wherein the RA report information includes an identifier of a WiFi access point, and wherein the RA report includes the identifier of the WiFi access point.

8. The method of Claim 7, wherein the RA report information includes an indication of LBT failure responsive to the triggering condition comprising the LBT failure.

9. The method of any of Claims 7-8, wherein the identifier of a WiFi access point is included in the RA report information responsive to the triggering condition comprising the LBT failure.

10. A method of operating a communication device in a Radio Access Network, RAN, the method comprising: detecting (9001, 10005, 11001, 12005) a triggering event for a random access, RA procedure; and responsive to detecting the triggering event, collecting (9005, 10009, 11005, 12009) RA report information including at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer, wherein the triggering event satisfies a triggering condition for a RA procedure; responsive to detecting the triggering event that satisfies the triggering condition, performing (9011) the RA procedure with the RAN; and after completion of the RA procedure, transmitting (9019) an RA report including the RA report information that includes the at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer, wherein the RA report is transmitted to the RAN, wherein the triggering event comprises receiving of a Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH, order requesting an RA procedure that satisfies the triggering condition for the RA procedure, wherein the RA procedure is performed responsive to receiving the PDCCH order, and wherein the at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer is included in the RA report information responsive to the triggering event comprising receiving the PDCCH order.

11. The method of Claim 10 further comprising: after completion of the RA procedure, receiving (9015) a request for an RA report from the RAN; wherein the RA report is transmitted responsive to receiving the request for an RA report.

12. The method of any of Claims 10-11, wherein the RA report information further includes an indication of the PDCCH order responsive to the triggering condition comprising receipt of the PDCCH order.

13. A communication device (300) comprising: processing circuitry (303); and memory (305) coupled with the processing circuitry, wherein the memory includes instructions that when executed by the processing circuitry causes the communication device to: detect (9001, 10005, 11001, 12005) a triggering event for a random access, RA procedure; and responsive to detecting the triggering event, collect (9005, 10009, 11005, 12009) RA report information including at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer, wherein the triggering event satisfies a triggering condition for a RA procedure; responsive to detecting the triggering event that satisfies the triggering condition, perform (9011) the RA procedure with the RAN; and after completion of the RA procedure, transmit (9019) an RA report including the RA report information that includes the at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer, wherein the RA report is transmitted to the RAN, wherein the triggering event comprises one of a plurality of failure events and wherein the triggering condition comprises a failure condition based on the plurality failure events, and wherein the at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, and/or an identifier associated with a serving cell is included in the RA report information responsive to the triggering condition comprising the failure condition based on the plurality of failure events.

14. The communication device (300) of Claim 13 wherein the instructions when executed by the processing circuitry further causes the communication device to: after completion of the RA procedure, receive (9015) a request for an RA report from the

RAN; wherein the RA report is transmitted responsive to receiving the request for an RA report.

15. The communication device (300) of any of Claims 13-14, wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of Scheduling Request, SR, failure events and the failure condition comprises an SR failure based on the plurality of SR failure events, or wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of Listen Before Talk, LBT, failure events and the failure condition comprises an LBT failure based on the plurality of LBT failure events, or wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of beam failure events and the failure condition comprises a beam failure based on the plurality of beam failure events.

16. The communication device (300) of Claim 15, wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of SR failure events, the failure condition comprises an SR failure based on the plurality of SR failure events, and the RA report information further includes an indication of SR failure responsive to the triggering condition comprising the SR failure.

17. The communication device (300) of Claim 15, wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of LBT failure events, the failure condition comprises an LBT failure based on the plurality of LBT failure events, and the RA report information further includes an indication of LBT failure responsive to the triggering condition comprising the LBT failure.

18. The communication device (300) of Claim 15, wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of beam failure events, the failure condition comprises a beam failure based on the plurality of beam failure events, and the RA report information further includes an indication of beam failure responsive to the triggering condition comprising the beam failure.

19. The communication device (300) of Claim 15, wherein the plurality of failure events comprises a plurality of Listen Before Talk, LBT, failure events and the failure condition comprises an LBT failure based on the plurality of LBT failure events, wherein the RA report information includes an identifier of a WiFi access point, and wherein the RA report includes the identifier of the WiFi access point.

20. The communication device (300) of Claim 19, wherein the RA report information includes an indication of LBT failure responsive to the triggering condition comprising the LBT failure.

21. The communication device (300) of any of Claims 19-20, wherein the identifier of a WiFi access point is included in the RA report information responsive to the triggering condition comprising the LBT failure.

22. A communication device (300) comprising: processing circuitry (303); and memory (305) coupled with the processing circuitry, wherein the memory includes instructions that when executed by the processing circuitry causes the communication device to: detect (9001, 10005, 11001, 12005) a triggering event for a random access, RA procedure; and responsive to detecting the triggering event, collect (9005, 10009, 11005, 12009) RA report information including at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer, wherein the triggering event satisfies a triggering condition for a RA procedure; responsive to detecting the triggering event that satisfies the triggering condition, perform (9011) the RA procedure with the RAN; and after completion of the RA procedure, transmit (9019) an RA report including the RA report information that includes the at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer, wherein the RA report is transmitted to the RAN, wherein the triggering event comprises receiving of a Physical Downlink Control Channel, PDCCH, order requesting an RA procedure that satisfies the triggering condition for the RA procedure, wherein the RA procedure is performed responsive to receiving the PDCCH order, and wherein the at least one of a location of the communication device, a radio measurement, a timestamp, an identifier of a WiFi access point, an identifier associated with a serving cell, and/or a status of an alignment timer is included in the RA report information responsive to the triggering event comprising receiving the PDCCH order.

23. The communication device (300) of Claim 22 wherein the instructions when executed by the processing circuitry further causes the communication device to: after completion of the RA procedure, receive (9015) a request for an RA report from the

24. The communication device (300) of any of Claims 22-23, wherein the RA report information further includes an indication of the PDCCH order responsive to the triggering condition comprising receipt of the PDCCH order.

25. A communication device (300) adapted to perform according to any of Claims 1-12.

26. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (303) of a communication device (300), whereby execution of the program code causes the communication device (300) to perform operations according to any of Claims 1-12.

27. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by processing circuitry (303) of a communication device (300), whereby execution of the program code causes the communication device (300) to perform operations according to any of Claims 1-12.