WO2023152704A1 - Handling local node identities for communication device context retrieval - Google Patents

Abstract

A first network node in a communications network can determine that a first local node identifier ("ID") is no longer valid. The first network node can further determine (1940) a second local node ID to replace the first local node ID. The first network node can receive (1960) a first message from a second network node in the communications network. The first message can include a context ID associated with a communication device and associated with the first local node ID. The first network node can transmit (1980) a second message to the second network node. The second message can include an indication that the first local node ID has been replaced by the second local node ID.

Description

HANDLING LOCAL NODE IDENTITIES FOR COMMUNICATION DEVICE CONTEXT RETRIEVAL

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present disclosure is related to wireless communication systems and more particularly to handling local node identities for communication device context retrieval.

BACKGROUND

[0002] FIG. 1 illustrates an example of current 5^th generation radio access network (“NG- RAN”) architecture. The NG-RAN architecture can be further described as follows. The NG- RAN includes a set of 5^th generation (“5G”) base stations (referred to herein as gNBs) connected to the 5^th generation core network (“5GC”) through the next generation (“NG”) network. A gNB can support frequency division duplex (“FDD”) mode, time division duplex (“TDD”) mode or dual mode operation. gNBs can be interconnected through the Xn interface. A gNB can include a gNB-central unit (“CU”) and gNB -distributed units (“DUs”). A gNB-CU and a gNB- DU are connected via a Fl logical interface. One gNB -DU is connected to only one gNB-CU. For resiliency, a gNB -DU may be connected to multiple gNB-CU by appropriate implementation. NG, Xn, and Fl are logical interfaces. The NG-RAN is layered into a Radio Network Layer (“RNL”) and a Transport Network Layer (“TNL”). The NG-RAN architecture (e.g., the NG-RAN logical nodes and interfaces between them) is defined as part of the RNL. For each NG-RAN interface (e.g., NG, Xn, and Fl) the related TNL protocol and the functionality are specified. The TNL provides services for user plane transport and signaling transport.

[0003] For NG-RAN, the NG and Xn-C interfaces for a gNB consisting of a gNB-CU and gNB-DUs, terminate in the gNB-CU. For EN-DC, the Sl-U and X2-C interfaces for a gNB including a gNB-CU and gNB-DUs, terminate in the gNB-CU. The gNB-CU and connected gNB-DUs are only visible to other gNBs and the 5GC as a gNB.

[0004] A gNB may also be connected to a long term evolution (“LTE”) base station (referred to herein as an eNB) via an X2 interface. Another architectural option is that where an LTE eNB connected to the Evolved Packet Core network is connected over the X2 interface with a so called nr-gNB. The latter is a gNB not connected directly to a core network (“CN”) and connected via X2 to an eNB for the sole purpose of performing dual connectivity.

[0005] The architecture in FIG. 1 can be expanded by spitting the gNB-CU into two entities. One gNB-CU-user plane (“UP”), which serves the user plane and hosts the packet data convergence protocol (“PDCP”) and one gNB-CU-control plane (“CP”), which serves the control plane and hosts the PDCP and radio resource control (“RRC”) protocol. A gNB-DU hosts the radio link control (“RLC”)/media access control (“MAC”)/physical layer (“PHY”) protocols.

[0006] Other standardization groups, such as the open radio access network (“ORAN”), have further extended the architecture above and have for example split the gNB-DU into two further nodes connected by a fronthaul interface. The lower node of the split gNB-DU can include the PHY protocol and the radio frequency (“RF”) parts, the upper node of the split gNB- DU can host the RLC and MAC. In ORAN the upper node is called O-DU, while the lower node is called O-RU.

[0007] An NG-RAN can also include a set of ng-eNBs, an ng-eNB can include an ng-eNB- CU and one or more ng-eNB-DU(s). An ng-eNB-CU and an ng-eNB-DU can be connected via a W1 interface. While this disclosure may refer generally to gNBs, the general principles may apply to other radio access technologies, for example, the principles may apply to a ng-eNB and W1 interface.

SUMMARY

[0008] According to some embodiments, a method of operating a first network node in a communications network that includes a second network node is provided. The method includes determining that a first local node identifier (“ID”) is no longer valid. The method further includes determining a second local node ID to replace the first local node ID. The method further includes receiving a first message from the second network node. The first message includes a context ID associated with a communication device and associated with the first local node ID. The method further includes transmitting a second message to the second network node. The second message includes an indication that the first local node ID has been replaced by the second local node ID.

[0009] According to other embodiments, a method of operating a second network node in a communications network that includes a first network node is provided. The method includes determining a first local node identifier (“ID”) based on communication with a communication device that is in an inactive state. The method further includes determining that the first local node ID is associated with the first network node. The method further includes transmitting a first message to the first network node. The first message includes a context ID associated with the communication device and associated with the first local node ID. The method further includes receiving a second message from the first network node. The second message includes an indication that the first local node ID has been replaced by a second local node ID.

[0010] According to other embodiments, a method of operating a third network node in a communications network that includes a first network node and a second network node is provided. The method includes receiving a first message from the first network node. The first message includes an indication of a conflict between a first local node identifier (“ID”) associated with the third network node and a second local node ID associated with either the first network node or the second network node. The method further includes transmitting a second message to the second network node. The second message includes an indication of the conflict between the first local node ID and the second local node ID.

[0011] According to other embodiments, a network node, computer program, computer program product, non-transitory computer readable medium, system, or host is provided to perform one of the above methods.

[0012] Certain embodiments may provide one or more of the following technical advantages. In some embodiments, there is a reduction in the latency for UEs in RRC_INACTIVE attempting to resume in a target (new) RAN node that does not host the UE context or that changed its Local RAN Node IDs. In some embodiments, the procedure of context fetching from the source NG-RAN node can be improved and be more resilient to errors caused by Local RAN Node IDs changes. In additional or alternative embodiments, more efficient updates of Local RAN Node IDs and mapping of old Local RAN Node IDs with new Local RAN Node IDs for the NG-RAN nodes neighbouring the node that changed or added a Local RAN Node IDs are enabled. In additional or alternative embodiments, observability can be added to the resume scenario, to pinpoint failures in resume procedures (e.g., RRC Release, RRC Reject, failures in retrieving the UE contexts) associated to the disambiguation of the source RAN node hosting the UE context, e.g., due to conflicts in Local RAN Node IDs used for handling UEs in RRC Inactive state.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0013] 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:

[0014] FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a NG-RAN architecture;

[0015] FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a gNB architecture with separation of gNB-CU-CP and gNB-CU-UP;

[0016] FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a UE state machine and state transitions in NR;

[0017] FIG. 4 is a table illustrating an example of an I-RNTI;

[0018] FIG. 5 is a table illustrating an example of I-RNTI reference profiles;

[0019] FIG. 6 is a table illustrating an example of additions to XnAP “Xn Setup procedure; [0020] FIG. 7 is a table illustrating an example of additions to XnAP “NG-RAN node Configuration Update” procedure;

[0021] FIG. 8 is a table illustrating an example of maxnoofLocalNGRANIdentifiers;

[0022] FIG. 9 is a table illustrating an example of a Local NG-RAN Node Id IE;

[0023] FIG. 10 is signal flow chart illustrating an example of handling local node identities for UE context retrieval in accordance with some embodiments;

[0024] FIG. 11 is a signal flow chart illustrating an example in which local RAN node IDs of the first RAN node are included in a successful response message of a procedure to retrieve a suspended UE context in accordance with some embodiments;

[0025] FIG. 12 is a signal flow chart illustrating an example in which local RAN node IDs of the first RAN node are included in a failure response message of a procedure to retrieve a suspended UE context in accordance with some embodiments;

[0026] FIG. 13 is a signal flow chart illustrating an example in which retrieval of a suspended UE Context fails due to conflict in Local RAN node ID in accordance with some embodiments;

[0027] FIG. 14 is a table illustrating an example of a Retrieve UE Context Response message in accordance with some embodiments;

[0028] FIG. 15 is a table illustrating an example of a maxnoofMDTPLMNs in accordance with some embodiments;

[0029] FIG. 16 is a table illustrating an example of a Retrieve UE Context Request message in accordance with some embodiments;

[0030] FIG. 17 is a table illustrating an example of a Retrieve UE Context Failure message in accordance with some embodiments;

[0031] FIG. 18 is a table illustrating an example of a Cause IE in accordance with some embodiments;

[0032] FIG. 19 is a flow chart illustrating an example of operations of a first network node according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

[0033] FIG. 20 is a flow chart illustrating an example of operations of a second network node according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

[0034] FIG. 21 is a flow chart illustrating an example of operations of a third network node according to some embodiments of inventive concepts;

[0035] FIG. 22 is a block diagram of a communication system in accordance with some embodiments;

[0036] FIG. 23 is a block diagram of a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments; [0037] FIG. 24 is a block diagram of a network node in accordance with some embodiments;

[0038] FIG. 25 is a block diagram of a host computer communicating with a user equipment in accordance with some embodiments;

[0039] FIG. 26 is a block diagram of a virtualization environment in accordance with some embodiments;

[0040] FIG. 27 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 in accordance with some embodiments;

[0041] FIG. 28 is a table illustrating an example of IES included in XN SETUP REQUEST and XN SETUP RESPONSE in accordance with some embodiments; and

[0042] FIG. 29 is a table illustrating an example of IEs included in NG-RAN NODE CONFIGURATION UPDATE and NG-RAN NODE CONFIGURATION UPDATE ACKNOWLEDGE in accordance with some embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] Some of the embodiments contemplated herein will now be described more fully with reference to the accompanying drawings. Embodiments are provided by way of example to convey the scope of the subject matter to those skilled in the art. 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.

[0044] FIG. 2 illustrates an example of an architecture for separation of gNB-CU-CP and gNB-CU-UP. A gNB may consist of a gNB-CU-CP, multiple gNB-CU-UPs and multiple gNB- DUs. The gNB-CU-CP is connected to the gNB-DU through the Fl-C interface. The gNB-CU- UP is connected to the gNB-DU through the Fl-U interface. The gNB-CU-UP is connected to the gNB-CU-CP through the El interface. One gNB-DU is connected to only one gNB-CU-CP. One gNB-CU-UP is connected to only one gNB-CU-CP. One gNB-DU can be connected to multiple gNB-CU-UPs under the control of the same gNB-CU-CP. One gNB-CU-UP can be connected to multiple DUs under the control of the same gNB-CU-CP. [0045] For NR, 3GPP has defined three RRC states, namely: RRC_IDLE, RRC_CONNECTED, and RRC_INACTIVE. FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a UE state machine including the three states.

[0046] Provided that signaling radio bearer 2 (“SRB2”) and at least one data resource block (“DRB”) are setup for the UE, the NG-RAN (“gNB”) can initiate a state transition from RRC_CONNECTED to RRC_IN ACTI VE or from RRC_IN ACTI VE back to RRC_IN ACTI VE when the UE tries to resume.

[0047] The state transitions are triggered when a (source) gNB initiate an RRC connection release procedure and sends to the UE an RRC Release message which includes the suspension of the established radio bearers.

[0048] The state transition from RRC_INACTIVE to RRC_CONNECTED can be triggered by different reasons. In all cases, this will result in an RRC connection Resume procedure (Resume), initiated by the UE. If the reason for Resume is the need to transfer data (or NAS signaling) towards the UE in downlink, the Resume procedure is preceded by a Paging.

[0049] The UE starts the Resume by sending an RRCResumeRequest (on logical channel CCCH) or an RRCResumeRequest 1 (on logical channel CCCH1), depending respectively on absence or presence of useFullResumelD IE in SIB 1 of the serving NR cell. Note that the UE can attempt a Resume towards an NR cell controlled by the same original (source) gNB or a different (target) gNB. Source gNB and target gNB may or not have an established Xn connection between them.

[0050] A definition for an inactive-radio network temporary identifier (“I-RNTI”) can be found in 3GPP TS 38.423 V16.8.0, clause 9.2.3.46. The I-RNTI is defined for allocation in an NR or E-UTRA serving cell as a reference to a UE Context within an NG-RAN node. The I- RNTI is partitioned into two parts, the first part identifies the NG-RAN node that allocated the I- RNTI and the second part identifies the UE context stored in this NG-RAN node. FIG. 4 illustrates an example of an I-RNTI. Moreover, informative text is provided in 3GPP TS 38.300 V16.8.0, Annex C, concerning the I-RNTI Reference Profile. No normative text has been approved yet that stipulates the structure of the I-RNTI, which is left to network configuration. [0051] The I-RNTI provides the new NG-RAN node a reference to the UE context in the old NG-RAN node. How the new NG-RAN node is able to resolve the old NG-RAN ID from the I-RNTI is a matter of proper configuration in the old and new NG-RAN node.

[0052] FIG. 5 includes a table that provides some typical partitioning of a 40bit I-RNTI, assuming a UE specific reference (e.g., reference to the UE context within a logical NG-RAN node); NG-RAN node address index (e.g., information to identify the NG-RAN node that has allocated the UE specific part); and PLMN-specific information (e.g., information supporting network sharing deployments, providing an index to the PLMN ID part of the Global NG-RAN node identifier). RAT-specific information may be introduced in a later release, containing information to identify the RAT of the cell within.

[0053] No standardized signaling solution is available to support an NG-RAN node for disambiguating (or to resolve) the old NG-RAN ID from the I-RNTI, and the task to resolve the old NG-RAN ID from the I-RNTI is a matter of proper configuration in the old and new NG- RAN node.

[0054] 3GPP is discussing a standardized signaling solution and the following has been agreed: 1) The description in the informative Annex C of TS38.300 is not sufficient, and a fully standardized solution to minimize 0AM configuration needs to be produced by RAN3;

2) The solution shall support flexible assignment of the maximum number of Inactive UE contexts per NG-RAN node; 3) The maximum number of Inactive UE Contexts may differ between NG-RAN nodes, and it may be changed after node deployment in a semi-static manner; 4) a solution based on exchanges of Local gNB-ID over Xn should be pursued; and 5) Xn signaling impact should be limited.

[0055] The concepts of “Local NG-RAN Node ID” and “Local gNB-ID” have been discussed, and it has been described that a “Local NG-RAN Node ID” would be an identity, comprised in the so-called I-RNTI and used to support an NG-RAN node to resolve the identity of the NG-RAN hosting the suspended UE Context. It has also been disclosed that one or more of such “Local NG-RAN Node ID” can be associated to a single NG-RAN node.

[0056] Furthermore, it has been disclosed that one NG-RAN node can receive from a peer NG-RAN node one or more “Local NG-RAN Node ID” (or similar names) in particular via XnAP “Xn Setup procedure” and XnAP “NG-RAN node Configuration Update procedure”. [0057] One NG-RAN node can have one or more “Local NG-RAN Node ID” associated to it.

[0058] “Local NG-RAN Node ID” can be assigned or revoked, and a first NG-RAN node can send updates concerning the “Local NG-RAN Node ID” currently associated to the first NG-RAN node or to a second NG-RAN node neighboring the first NG-RAN node to a third NG-RAN node.

[0059] At RAN3#114-e meeting, draftCR for TS38.300 “Introduction of Local NG-RAN Node IDs for RRC_INACTIVE [RRCInactive]” in R3-216079 has been endorsed.

[0060] The referenced document contains the following additions: l)Local NG-RAN Node ID: used to resolve the disambiguation of NG-RAN Node ID from an I-RNTI and obtain a reference to a UE context at RRC Resume; 2) Use and structure of the I-RNTI; 3) The I-RNTI provides an NG-RAN node with a reference to the UE context and a reference to the NG-RAN node hosting the UE context; 4) To support an NG-RAN node in resolving the Local gNB ID of the NG-RAN node hosting the UE context, the I-RNTI structure is as follows: a first part indicating an I-RNTI profile, a second part indicating a Local NG-RAN Node ID, and a third part to reference the UE context. The exact encoding of the I-RNTI is specified in TS 38.423 [xx]. In case of I-RNTI profile update, the NG-RAN node informs the neighbor NG-RAN nodes about the I-RNTI profile in use and the removal of the old I-RNTI profile.

[0061] Furthermore, in R3-214764 contribution to RAN3#114-e meeting, the following additions were proposed: 1) for the XnAP messages “XN SETUP REQUEST” and “XN SETUP RESPONSE” the IE Local NG-RAN Node ID List comprising a list of Local NG-RAN Node ID IES, as indicated in FIG. 6; and 2) for the XnAP messages “NG-RAN NODE CONFIGURATION UPDATE” and “NG-RAN NODE CONFIGURATION UPDATE ACKNOWLEDGE” the IEs Local NG-RAN Node ID To Add List comprising a list of Local NG-RAN Node ID IEs, and the IE Local NG-RAN Node ID To Remove List, also comprising a list of Local NG-RAN Node ID IEs as indicated in FIG. 7.

[0062] FIG. 8 illustrates an example of a maxnoofLocalNGRANIdentifiers that is defined as the “Maximum no. of local NG-RAN identifiers available in the NG-RAN node” whose “Value is 6.”

[0063] FIG. 9 illustrates an examples of a Local NG-RAN Node Id IE that is used to identify an NG-RAN node within a set of NG-RAN nodes that can interoperate over the Xn-C interface.

[0064] There currently exist certain challenges. According to published technology one or more Local RAN node identifiers (such as “Local NG-RAN Node ID”, “Local gNB-ID”, “Local NG-RAN Node Id”) can be exchanged between NG-RAN nodes. There exist however some limitations according to the current published technology. The terms “Local RAN node identifiers”, “Local NG-RAN Node ID”, “Local gNB-ID”, and “Local NG-RAN Node Id” can be used interchangeably herein.

[0065] One limitation appears due to failures in disambiguating the “Global NG-RAN Node ID” based on a first “Local NG-RAN Node ID”. This can happen: 1) when the use of the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is revoked (and optionally a second “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is added to replace it); 2) in case of conflict, i.e. when a target NG-RAN node receives two identical “Local NG-RAN Node IDs” from two different peer NG-RAN nodes; and 3) in case of confusions, i.e. when a target NG-RAN node receives a “Local NG-RAN Node IDs” that corresponds to more than one NG-RAN Nodes.

[0066] A target NG-RAN node obtains or derives a first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” from an I-RNTI (full I-RNTI or short I-RNTI) received in a resume attempt (e.g. RRC Resume Request). If one of the following cases occur: 1) the target NG- RAN node derives the correct “Global NG-RAN Node ID” associated to the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” but the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is no longer valid (e.g. is outdated); 2) the target NG-RAN node derives the wrong “Global NG-RAN Node ID” due to the fact that a third “Local NG-RAN Node ID” - which the target NG-RAN node obtained from a third NG-RAN node is in conflict with the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” (e.g. is identical to the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID”); or 3) the resume attempt fails then according to 3GPP TS 38.331, the target NG-RAN node can do one of the following: 1) send to the UE an RRC setup to establish a new connection for the UE from RRC_IDLE; 2) send to the UE an RRC Release without suspend configuration; 3) send to the UE an RRC Reject.

[0067] In any case, one of the following detrimental effects appears, impacting user experience: 1) a longer latency in establishing the connection for the UE (from RRC_IDLE to RRC_CONNECTED compared to RRCJN ACTIVE to RRC_CONNECTED); 2) a lower retainability (in case of Release); or 3) a lower accessibility (in case of Reject).

[0068] A first scenario is described herein, where the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is removed (and its use is revoked), and a second “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is added (to replace first “Local NG-RAN Node ID”).

[0069] The source NG-RAN node releases a UE to RRC Inactive and sends to the UE an I-RNTI comprising a first “Local NG-RAN Node ID”.

[0070] While the UE is in RRC Inactive, the source NG-RAN node determines that a second “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is needed, and the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is to be replaced by a second “Local NG-RAN Node ID”. Note that the source NG-RAN node may decide to retain the UE Contexts associated to the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” for some time. This can be beneficial, e.g. for those UEs in RRC Inactive state that resume in the same source NG-RAN node, for which no UE Context retrieval is needed from a peer NG-RAN node.

[0071] The source NG-RAN node sends to the target NG-RAN node the following information: 1) The first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is removed; and 2) The second “Local NG- RAN Node ID” is added.

[0072] The target NG-RAN node considers the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” no longer in use (potentially after a certain time period) and can use the second “Local NG-RAN Node ID” for disambiguation of source NG-RAN node.

[0073] At a time when the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is no longer in use at the target NG-RAN node, the target NG-RAN node receives from the UE the I-RNTI and from the I- RNTI structure it derives the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID”. The target NG-RAN node does not recognize the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID”, and the resume attempt fails. The target NG-RAN node can setup a new connection for the UE from RRC_IDLE, or it can release the UE to RRC_IDLE, or it can send an RRC Reject to the UE.

[0074] FIG. 10 illustrates an example of signals and operations for handling local node IDs for UE context retrieval. At block 1005, a third RAN node 300 transmits a third message (e.g., including a third local RAN node ID) to a first RAN node 100. AT block 1010, a second RAN node 200 derives a first local RAN node ID from an I-RNTI received from a UE. At block 1015, the first RAN node 100 determines a conflict between the first local RAN node ID and third local RAN node ID. At block 1020, second RAN node 200 determines that the first local RAN node ID is associated to the first RAN node and requests a suspended UE Context from the first RAN node. At block 1025, the first RAN node 100 determines that the first local RAN node ID is no longer valid. At block 1035, the first RAN node 100 determines a second local RAN node ID replacing the first local RAN node ID. At block 1045, the first RAN node 100 transmits a fourth message to the third RAN node 300. The fourth message can include an indication of a conflict detected (e.g., for third local RAN node ID) and requests a change to the third local RAN node ID.

[0075] A second scenario is described herein, where the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is removed (and no second “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is added). The source NG-RAN node releases a UE to RRC Inactive and sends to the UE an I-RNTI comprising a first “Local NG- RAN Node ID”. While the UE is in RRC Inactive, the source NG-RAN node determines that the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is no longer needed. As in the first scenario, the source NG-RAN node may decide to retain the UE Contexts associated to the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” for some time. The source NG-RAN node sends to the target NG-RAN node the following information: The first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is removed. The target NG-RAN node considers the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” no longer in use (potentially after a certain time period). At a time when the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is no longer in use at the target NG-RAN node, the target NG-RAN node receives from the UE the I-RNTI and from the I-RNTI structure it derives the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID”. The target NG-RAN node does not recognize the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID”, and the resume attempt fails. As in the first scenario, the target NG-RAN node can setup a new connection for the UE from RRC_IDLE, or it can release the UE to RRC_IDLE, or it can send an RRC Reject to the UE. [0076] FIG. 11 illustrates an example in which local RAN node IDs of the first RAN node are included in a successful response message of a procedure to retrieve a suspended UE context. Blocks 1010, 1020, 1025, and 1035 are similar to those in FIG. 10. At block 1150, the second RAN node 200 transmits a Retrieve UE Context Request to the first RAN node 100. The Retrieve UE Context Request can include a UE Context ID, First Local RAN node ID, and/or request conflict detection indication). At block 1160, the first RAN node 100 can transmit a Retrieve UE Context Response to the second RAN node 200. The Retrieve UE Context Response can include the UE Context ID, an indication that the First Local RAN node ID was removed, and/or an indication that a Second Local RAN node ID is added.

[0077] A third scenario is described herein, where the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is removed, and information about the removal is not available at target NG-RAN node before sending a request to retrieve a UE Context (based on first “Local NG-RAN Node ID”). The source NG-RAN node releases a UE to RRC Inactive and sends to the UE an I-RNTI comprising a first “Local NG-RAN Node ID”. While the UE is in RRC Inactive, the source NG-RAN node determines to remove the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” and one or more UE Contexts associated to the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” are deleted (potentially after some period of time). No information on removal of the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is sent to target NG-RAN node at this stage. Before receiving from the source NG-RAN node the information that first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” is removed, the target NG-RAN node receives from the UE the I-RNTI and from the I-RNTI structure it derives the first “Local NG- RAN Node ID”. The target NG-RAN node sends to the source NG-RAN node a request to retrieve the suspended UE contexts for the UEs in RRC_INACTIVE” based on the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID”. The attempts to retrieve the UE context fail. The target NG-RAN node can setup a new connection for the UE from RRC_IDLE, or it can release the UE to RRC_IDLE, or it can send an RRC Reject to the UE.

[0078] As a variant of this third scenario, the first NG/RAN node determines to change its first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” with a second “Local NG-RAN Node ID”. However, the first NG-RAN node retains the UE contexts for UEs that have been moved to RRC_INACTIVE. In this case, when the UE resumes to RRC_CONNECTED in a second NG-RAN node and it presents its I/RNTI to the second NG-RAN node, the second NG/RAN node can trigger a UE context fetch from the first NG-RAN node. The first NG-RAN node may determine that the request for context fetching is relative to an old first “Local NG-RAN Node ID”. This represents an error case that needs to be corrected at the second NG-RAN node.

[0079] FIG. 12 illustrates an example in which local RAN node IDs of the first RAN node are included in a failure response message of a procedure to retrieve a suspended UE context. Blocks 1010, 1020, 1025, and 1035 are similar to those in FIG. 10. At block 1250, the second RAN node 200 transmits a Retrieve UE Context Request to the first RAN node 100. The Retrieve UE Context Request can include a UE Context ID, First Local RAN node ID, and/or request conflict detection indication). At block 1160, the first RAN node 100 can transmit a Retrieve UE Context Failure to the second RAN node 200. The Retrieve UE Context Failure can include a cause (e.g., local node identity not valid, an indication that the First Focal RAN node ID was removed, and/or an indication that the Second Local RAN node ID was added). [0080] A fourth scenario is described herein, where there target NG-RAN node received a “first Local NG-RAN Node ID” from a source NG-RAN node, and it also received a third “Local NG-RAN Node ID” from a third NG-RAN node, and the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID” and the third “Local NG-RAN Node ID” are identical. The source NG-RAN node releases a UE to RRC Inactive and sends to the UE an I-RNTI comprising a first “Local NG- RAN Node ID”. While the UE is in RRC Inactive, the target NG-RAN node receives from the UE the I-RNTI and from the I-RNTI structure it derives the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID”. The target NG-RAN node sends to the third NG-RAN node a request to retrieve the suspended UE contexts for the UEs in RRC_INACTIVE” based on the first “Local NG-RAN Node ID”. The attempts to retrieve the UE context fail. The target NG-RAN node can setup a new connection for the UE from RRC_IDLE, or it can release the UE to RRC_IDLE, or it can send an RRC Reject to the UE.

[0081] FIG. 13 illustrates an example in which retrieval of a suspended UE Context fails due to conflict in Local RAN node ID. At block 1305, the Third RAN node 300 transmits an XN Setup Request, XN Setup Response, NG-RAN Node Configuration Update, or a NG-RAN Node Configuration Update Acknowledge to the first RAN node 100. Blocks 1010, 1015, 1020, 1025, and 1035 are similar to those in FIG. 10. At block 1350, the second RAN node transmits a Retrieve UE Context Request to the first RAN node 100. At block 1355, the first RAN node 100 transmits a NG-RAN Node Configuration Update to the third RAN node 300. At block 1360, the first RAN node 100 transmits a Retrieve UE Context Failure to the second RAN node 200. At block 1365, the third RAN node 300 transmits a NG-RAN Node Configuration Update to the second RAN node 200.

[0082] Another limitation in the current solution is the lack of observability. In the scenarios exemplified above, following a resume attempt it is not clear that the root cause of the failure (the setup of a new connections from RRC_IDLE, the release of the UE without suspend configuration, or the reject) is the non-validity of the “Local NG-RAN Node ID”. [0083] Certain aspects of the disclosure and their embodiments may provide solutions to these or other challenges.

[0084] In some embodiments, a first (source) RAN node, upon reception from a second (target) RAN node of a request to retrieve a suspended UE context hosted by the first RAN node, the first RAN node sends to the second RAN node one or more indications in a response message (either a message of successful response or a message of failure) in particular: an indication indicating that a first (old) Local RAN Node ID (e.g. a first “Local NG-RAN Node ID”) associated to the first RAN node is no longer in use; an indication indicating a second (new) Local RAN Node ID associated to the first RAN node; an implicit or explicit indication indicating that a second (new) Local RAN Node ID associated to the first RAN node is to replace the first (old) Local RAN Node ID; and a cause value, indicating a failure to retrieve a UE context since the first Local RAN Node ID associated to the first RAN node is no longer valid.

[0085] The request to retrieve a suspended UE Context can be implemented as the initial message (e.g. an XnAP RETRIEVE UE CONTEXT REQUEST message) of an existing XnAP procedure (e.g. an XnAP Retrieve UE Context procedure).

[0086] In additional or alternative embodiments, the second (target) RAN node obtains/determines from an I-RNTI a first Local RAN Node ID and associate/map the first Local RAN Node ID to the source RAN node. The target RAN node sends to the source RAN node, in the initial message of a procedure to retrieve a suspended UE context (e.g. XnAP RETRIEVE UE CONTEXT REQUEST message) the first Local RAN Node ID. The source RAN node can determine (or may have already determined) that the first Local RAN Node ID is identical to a third Local RAN Node ID, associated to a third RAN node. If that is the case, the source RAN node can determine that a conflict exists between the first Local RAN Node ID and the third Local RAN Node ID, and can perform at least one of the following actions: 1) obtain a new (second) Local RAN Node ID associated to the source RAN node; 2) send an indication to the third RAN node, indicating the presence of a conflict between Local RAN Node IDs, optionally indicating an identifier of the target RAN node, and optionally requesting the third RAN node to update/remove the third Local RAN Node ID; 3) send to the target RAN node an indication or a cause in a successful response message (or in a failure message) of a procedure to retrieve a suspended UE context (e.g. in an XnAP RETRIEVE UE CONTEXT RESPONSE message), indicating the presence of a conflict between Local RAN Node IDs. The target RAN node can optionally add in the same message an identifier of the third RAN node; 4) send to the target RAN node an indication or a cause in a failure message of a procedure to retrieve a suspended UE context (e.g. in an XnAP RETRIEVE UE CONTEXT FAILURE message), indicating that failure to retrieve the requested suspended UE context is due to a conflict of Local RAN Node ID. The target RAN node can optionally add in the same message an identifier of the third RAN node; 5) send to the target RAN node the new (second) Local RAN Node ID associated to the source RAN node. Optionally the source RAN node can send the second Local RAN Node ID together with the first Local RAN Node ID, so to ensure that the Target NG-RAN node can replace the first Local RAN Node ID with the second.

[0087] The target RAN node can use the received indication to: 1) optimize future signaling, e.g. to attempt future procedures to retrieve a UE context associated to the Local RAN Node ID in question in parallel towards the source RAN node and the third RAN node.; and 2) request the source RAN node and/or the third RAN node to update/remove the Local RAN Node ID(s).

[0088] In additional or alternative embodiments, upon reception, from the source RAN node, that a conflict is detected/present between the first Local RAN Node ID and third Local RAN Node ID, the third RAN node sends an indication to the target RAN node, indicating the presence of the conflict between the first and the third Local RAN Node ID.

[0089] In the description that follows, while the network nodes may be any of the network node 2610A, 2610B, 2400, 2706, hardware 2604, or virtual machine 2608A, 2608B, the network node 2400 shall be used to describe the functionality of the operations of the network nodes.

Operations of the network node 2400 (implemented using the structure of FIG. 24) will now be discussed with reference to the flow charts of FIGS. 19-21 according to some embodiments of inventive concepts. For example, modules may be stored in memory 2404 of FIG. 24, and these modules may provide instructions so that when the instructions of a module are executed by respective network node processing circuitry 2402, processing circuitry 2402 performs respective operations of the flow charts.

[0090] FIG. 19 illustrates an example of operations performed by a first network node in a communications network that includes a second network node.

[0091] At block 1910, processing circuitry 2402 receives, via communication interface 2406, a message from a third network node including a third local node ID. In some embodiments, the message is at least one of: an XN Setup Request message, XN Setup Response message, NG-RAN Node Configuration Update message, and a NG-RAN Node Configuration Update Acknowledge message.

[0092] At block 1920, processing circuitry 2402 determines a conflict between the third local node ID and another local node ID.

[0093] At block 1930, processing circuitry 2402 determines that the first local node ID is no longer valid.

[0094] At block 1940, processing circuitry 2402 determines a second local node ID to replace the first local node ID.

[0095] At block 1950, processing circuitry 2402 transmits, via communication interface 2406, a message to the third network node including an indication of the conflict. In some embodiments, the message is at least one of: an XnAP XN Setup Response message and an XnAP NG-RAN Node Configuration Update message.

[0096] At block 1960, processing circuitry 2402 receives, via communication interface 2406, a message from a second network node including a context ID associated with a communication device and the first local node ID. In some embodiments, the communication device is in an inactive state, the first network node is a source RAN node relative to the communications device, and the second network node is a target RAN node relative to the communication device.

[0097] In some embodiments, the message includes a request for an indication of whether a conflict is detected, and the second. In additional or alternative embodiments, the message is a XnAP Retrieve UE Context Request XnAP message.

[0098] At block 1970, processing circuitry 2402 retrieves context information associated with the communication device based on the context ID and the first local node ID.

[0099] At block 1980, processing circuitry 2402 transmits, via communication interface 2406, a message to the second network node including an indication that the first local node ID has been replaced by the second local node ID. In some embodiments, the message further includes the context information associated with the communication device. In additional or alternative embodiments, the message further includes an indication of a cause for not including context information associated with the communication device.

[0100] In some embodiments, the message is a XnAP Retrieve UE Context Response XnAP message.

[0101] Various operations from the flow chart of FIG. 19 may be optional with respect to some embodiments of a network node and related methods.

[0102] FIG. 20 illustrates an example of operations performed by the second network node in the communications network that includes the first network node. In some embodiments, the first network node is a source RAN node relative to the communication device and the second network node is a target RAN node relative to the communication device.

[0103] At block 2010, processing circuitry 2402 determines a first local node ID

[0104] At block 2020, processing circuitry 2402 determines that the first local node ID is associated with a first network node.

[0105] At block 2030, processing circuitry 2402 transmits, via communication interface 2406, a message to the first network node including a context ID associated with a communication device and the first local node ID. In some embodiments, the message further includes a request for an indication if a conflict is detected. In additional or alternative embodiments, the message is a XnAP Retrieve UE Context Request XnAP message. [0106] At block 2040, processing circuitry 2402 receives, via communication interface 2406, a message from the first network node including an indication that the first local node ID has been replaced by a second local node ID. In some embodiments, the message further includes the context information associated with the communication device. In additional or alternative embodiments, the message further includes an indication of a cause for not including context information associated with the communication device. In additional or alternative embodiments, the message is a XnAP Retrieve UE Context Response XnAP message.

[0107] At block 2050, processing circuitry 2402 receives, via communication interface 2406, a message from a third network node including an indication of a conflict between the first local node ID and a third local node ID associated with the third network node. In some embodiments, the message is at least one of an XnAP NG-RAN Node Configuration Update message and an XnAP NG-RAN Node Configuration Update Acknowledge message.

[0108] At block 2060, processing circuitry 2402 transmits, via communication interface 2406, a request to the first network node for the context information based on the indication of the conflict.

[0109] Various operations from the flow chart of FIG. 20 may be optional with respect to some embodiments of a network node and related methods.

[0110] FIG. 21 illustrates an example of operations performed by the third network node in the communications network that includes the first network node and the second network node. In some embodiments, the communications network further includes a communication device in an inactive state. In additional or alternative embodiments, the first network node is a source RAN node relative to the communication device and the second network node is a target RAN node relative to the communication device.

[0111] At block 2110, processing circuitry 2402 transmits, via communication interface 2406, a message to the first network node including a local node ID associated with the third network node. In some embodiments, the message is at least one of: an XN Setup Request message, XN Setup Response message, NG-RAN Node Configuration Update message, and a NG-RAN Node Configuration Update Acknowledge message.

[0112] At block 2120, processing circuitry 2402 receives, via communication interface 2406, a message from the first network node including an indication of a conflict between local node IDs. In some embodiments, the message is at least one of: an XnAP XN Setup Response message and an XnAP NG-RAN Node Configuration Update message.

[0113] At block 2130, processing circuitry 2402 transmits, via communication interface 2406, a message to the second network node including an indication of the conflict. In some embodiments, the message is at least one of: an XnAP NG-RAN Node Configuration Update message and an XnAP NG-RAN Node Configuration Update Acknowledge message.

[0114] Various operations from the flow chart of FIG. 21 may be optional with respect to some embodiments of a network node and related methods.

[0115] During Rel-17 normative work, a Local NG-RAN Node Identifier has been introduced, used as reference to the NG-RAN node in the I-RNTI.

[0116] The Local NG-RAN Node Identifier is used to resolve a Global NG-RAN Node ID from an I-RNTI and obtain a reference to an UE context at RRC Resume. The Local NG-RAN Node Identifier IE is currently included in Xn Setup and NG-RAN node Configuration Update procedures.

[0117] FIG. 28 is a table illustrating an example of IES included in XN SETUP REQUEST and XN SETUP RESPONSE.

[0118] FIG. 29 is a table illustrating an example of IEs included in NG-RAN NODE CONFIGURATION UPDATE and NG-RAN NODE CONFIGURATION UPDATE ACKNOWLEDGE.

[0119] Embodiments associated with enhancements related to the Local NG-RAN Node Identifier are described below.

[0120] When a gNB decides to remove a certain Local NG-RAN Node Identifier (which may be referred to herein as an “Old_Local_Node_ID”) and use another one instead (which may be referred to herein as a “New_Local_Node_ID”) it can send both information to its neighbors, respectively using the Local NG-RAN Node Identifier Removal IE and the Local NG-RAN Node Identifier IE.

[0121] After the gNB has replaced the Old_Local_Node_ID with a New_Local_Node_ID, there can still be a few UEs in RRC Inactive that were released by the gNB while the gNB was still using Old_Local_Node_ID.

[0122] At this point, a UE that was released to inactive by the gNB before the Old_Local_Node_ID was replaced by the New_Local_Node_ID can attempt to resume towards a neighbor gNB. The neighbor gNB can read the I-RNTI but the Old_Local_Node_ID may no longer be associated to the first gNB, so there is no guarantee that the UE context can be found by querying the first gNB.

[0123] Accordingly, when an old Local NG-RAN Node Identifier is replaced by a new Local NG-RAN Node Identifier, the UE Context retrieval based on the old Local NG-RAN Node Identifier should not be attempted, and an UE whose I-RNTI contains the old Local NG- RAN Node Identifier can be served via an RRC Setup. [0124] In some examples, a gNB may decide to allow to use both the old Local NG-RAN Node Identifier and the new Local NG-RAN Node Identifier for a certain period. In this case the UE Context may still be attempted, if the time from the replacement is short enough.

[0125] The amount of time for a possible coexistence of the old and new Local NG-RAN Node identifier could be an implementation choice, however the unclearance deriving from different implementation choices would lead to failures in UE context retrieval. It may be worth clarifying in the standard when a certain (new) Local NG-RAN Node Identifier is replacing another (old) Local NG-RAN Node Identifier.

[0126] In some embodiments, a system can clarify if a certain (new) Local NG-RAN Node Identifier is replacing another (old) Local NG-RAN Node Identifier in one NG-RAN node. This may present additional problems.

[0127] In some examples, at a certain point in time, two gNBs use the same Local_Node_ID and there are UEs released to inactive from both nodes that can resume in a third gNB. For example, gNBl uses Local_Node_ID=l, gNBl also uses Local_Node_ID=l, and both gNBl and gNB2 are neighbouring gNB3. There can be: 1) Type 1 UEs: UEs released to inactive by gNBl; and 2) Type 2 UEs: UEs released to inactive by gNB2.

[0128] A gNB 3 may not distinguish Type 1 UEs from Type 2 UEs and it will try to fetch the UE context from both gNBl and gNB2. Obviously for Type 1 UEs, the attempt towards gNB 2 fails, and for Type 2 UEs, the attempt towards gNBl fails.

[0129] The confusion created by the use of conflicting Local_Node_ID can lead to a waste in signaling.

[0130] In additional or alternative examples, the problem above is also present when gNB 1 removes an Old_Local_Node_ID, and replaces it with a New_Local_Node_ID, if the Old_Local_Node_ID is used by a different node gNB2.

[0131] At this point the gNB3 can receive attempts to resume from two types of UEs in RRC Inactive with a I-RNTI that contains the same Old_Local_Node_ID: 1) Type 1 UEs: UEs released to inactive by gNBl (before the gNBl removed to Old_Local_Node_ID); and 2) Type 2 UEs: UEs released to inactive by gNB2.

[0132] When the gNB3 attempts to retrieve the UE context from gNB2 for a Type 1 UE, the attempt will fail. Similarly, when the gNB 3 attempts to retrieve the UE context from gNB for Type 2 UE, the attempt will fail.

[0133] Again, the confusion created by the use of conflicting Local_Node_IDs can lead to a waste in signaling.

[0134] In these examples, it would be good to identify that this type of failure in UE

Context retrieval is due to a conflict in Local NG-RAN Node Identifier. [0135] In additional or alternative embodiments, it is possible to identify failures in UE Context retrieval due to conflict in Local NG-RAN Node Identifier.

[0136] Embodiments associated with enhancements related to security are described below. [0137] During the RRC Resume procedure, a UE sends an RRCResumeRequest (or RRCResumeRequestl) message containing the I-RNTI. The RRC message is sent in SRBO and the I-RNTI is not secured. Since the I-RNTI is made of two parts, one representing the UE context, and another one (Local NG-RAN Node Identifier) associated to the Global gNB Id, there can be a malicious UE that intercepts the I-RNTIs and - indirectly via the Local NG-RAN Node Identifier - discovers the source node identity.

[0138] The UE can try to attack the network by sending forged resume request that includes a forged I-RNTI.

[0139] An RRCResumeRequest contains the resume Identity (the I-RNTI), the MAC-I (to authenticate the UE at the anchor gNB) and the resume cause.

[0140] A malicious UE can use a forged I-RNTI containing for a first part the intercepted Local NG-RAN Node Identifier and for a second part a faked UE Context identifier (e.g., a random number). The node receiving the forged I-RNTI will try to retrieve the fake UE Context from the Local NG-RAN Node Identifier, and the procedure fails since the faked UE cannot be authenticated by the anchor gNB. The problem is that the same malicious UE may repeat the attack as many times as it likes, triggering a lot of unnecessary XnAP signaling thus bringing burden to the network.

[0141] The structure and use of the I-RNTI is relevant to RAN3, therefore we think RAN3 should evaluate potential solutions (e.g., by concealing the I-RNTI). If deemed needed, SA3 and RAN2 can be consulted.

[0142] In some embodiments, RAN3 can discuss the relevance of unsecured I-RNTI and potential solutions.

[0143] FIG. 26 shows an example of a communication system 2600 in accordance with some embodiments.

[0144] In the example, the communication system 2600 includes a telecommunication network 2602 that includes an access network 2604, such as a radio access network (RAN), and a core network 2606, which includes one or more core network nodes 2608. The access network 2604 includes one or more access network nodes, such as network nodes 2610a and 2610b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as network nodes 2610), or any other similar 3^rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) access node or non-3GPP access point. The network nodes 2610 facilitate direct or indirect connection of user equipment (UE), such as by connecting UEs 2612a, 2612b, 2612c, and 2612d (one or more of which may be generally referred to as UEs 2612) to the core network 2606 over one or more wireless connections. [0145] Example wireless communications over a wireless connection include transmitting and/or receiving wireless signals using electromagnetic waves, radio waves, infrared waves, and/or other types of signals suitable for conveying information without the use of wires, cables, or other material conductors. Moreover, in different embodiments, the communication system 2600 may include any number of wired or wireless networks, network nodes, UEs, 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. The communication system 2600 may include and/or interface with any type of communication, telecommunication, data, cellular, radio network, and/or other similar type of system.

[0146] The UEs 2612 may be any of a wide variety of communication devices, including wireless devices arranged, configured, and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with the network nodes 2610 and other communication devices. Similarly, the network nodes 2610 are arranged, capable, configured, and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with the UEs 2612 and/or with other network nodes or equipment in the telecommunication network 2602 to enable and/or provide network access, such as wireless network access, and/or to perform other functions, such as administration in the telecommunication network 2602.

[0147] In the depicted example, the core network 2606 connects the network nodes 2610 to one or more hosts, such as host 2616. These connections may be direct or indirect via one or more intermediary networks or devices. In other examples, network nodes may be directly coupled to hosts. The core network 2606 includes one more core network nodes (e.g., core network node 2608) that are structured with hardware and software components. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the UEs, network nodes, and/or hosts, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of the core network node 2608. Example core network nodes include functions of one or more of a Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Mobility Management Entity (MME), Home Subscriber Server (HSS), Access and Mobility Management Function (AMF), Session Management Function (SMF), Authentication Server Function (AUSF), Subscription Identifier De-concealing function (SIDE), Unified Data Management (UDM), Security Edge Protection Proxy (SEPP), Network Exposure Function (NEF), and/or a User Plane Function (UPF).

[0148] The host 2616 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider other than an operator or provider of the access network 2604 and/or the telecommunication network 2602, and may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The host 2616 may host a variety of applications to provide one or more service. Examples of such applications include live and pre-recorded audio/video content, data collection services such as retrieving and compiling data on various ambient conditions detected by a plurality of UEs, analytics functionality, social media, functions for controlling or otherwise interacting with remote devices, functions for an alarm and surveillance center, or any other such function performed by a server.

[0149] As a whole, the communication system 2600 of FIG. 26 enables connectivity between the UEs, network nodes, and hosts. In that sense, the communication system may be configured to operate according to predefined rules or procedures, such as specific standards that include, but are not limited to: Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM); Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS); Long Term Evolution (LTE), and/or other suitable 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G standards, or any applicable future generation standard (e.g., 6G); wireless local area network (WLAN) standards, such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.11 standards (WiFi); and/or any other appropriate wireless communication standard, such as the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMax), Bluetooth, Z-Wave, Near Field Communication (NFC) ZigBee, LiFi, and/or any low- power wide-area network (LPWAN) standards such as LoRa and Sigfox.

[0150] In some examples, the telecommunication network 2602 is a cellular network that implements 3GPP standardized features. Accordingly, the telecommunications network 2602 may support network slicing to provide different logical networks to different devices that are connected to the telecommunication network 2602. For example, the telecommunications network 2602 may provide Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication (URLLC) services to some UEs, while providing Enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) services to other UEs, and/or Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC)/Massive loT services to yet further UEs. [0151] In some examples, the UEs 2612 are configured to transmit and/or receive information without direct human interaction. For instance, a UE may be designed to transmit information to the access network 2604 on a predetermined schedule, when triggered by an internal or external event, or in response to requests from the access network 2604. Additionally, a UE may be configured for operating in single- or multi-RAT or multi- standard mode. For example, a UE may operate with any one or combination of Wi-Fi, NR (New Radio) and LTE, i.e. being configured for multi-radio dual connectivity (MR-DC), such as E-UTRAN (Evolved- UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access Network) New Radio - Dual Connectivity (EN-DC).

[0152] In the example, the hub 2614 communicates with the access network 2604 to facilitate indirect communication between one or more UEs (e.g., UE 2612c and/or 2612d) and network nodes (e.g., network node 2610b). In some examples, the hub 2614 may be a controller, router, content source and analytics, or any of the other communication devices described herein regarding UEs. For example, the hub 2614 may be a broadband router enabling access to the core network 2606 for the UEs. As another example, the hub 2614 may be a controller that sends commands or instructions to one or more actuators in the UEs. Commands or instructions may be received from the UEs, network nodes 2610, or by executable code, script, process, or other instructions in the hub 2614. As another example, the hub 2614 may be a data collector that acts as temporary storage for UE data and, in some embodiments, may perform analysis or other processing of the data. As another example, the hub 2614 may be a content source. For example, for a UE that is a VR headset, display, loudspeaker or other media delivery device, the hub 2614 may retrieve VR assets, video, audio, or other media or data related to sensory information via a network node, which the hub 2614 then provides to the UE either directly, after performing local processing, and/or after adding additional local content. In still another example, the hub 2614 acts as a proxy server or orchestrator for the UEs, in particular in if one or more of the UEs are low energy loT devices.

[0153] The hub 2614 may have a constant/persistent or intermittent connection to the network node 2610b. The hub 2614 may also allow for a different communication scheme and/or schedule between the hub 2614 and UEs (e.g., UE 2612c and/or 2612d), and between the hub 2614 and the core network 2606. In other examples, the hub 2614 is connected to the core network 2606 and/or one or more UEs via a wired connection. Moreover, the hub 2614 may be configured to connect to an M2M service provider over the access network 2604 and/or to another UE over a direct connection. In some scenarios, UEs may establish a wireless connection with the network nodes 2610 while still connected via the hub 2614 via a wired or wireless connection. In some embodiments, the hub 2614 may be a dedicated hub - that is, a hub whose primary function is to route communications to/from the UEs from/to the network node 2610b. In other embodiments, the hub 2614 may be a non-dedicated hub - that is, a device which is capable of operating to route communications between the UEs and network node 2610b, but which is additionally capable of operating as a communication start and/or end point for certain data channels.

[0154] FIG. 23 shows a UE 2300 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, a UE refers to a device capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate wirelessly with network nodes and/or other UEs. Examples of a UE include, but are not limited to, a smart phone, mobile phone, cell phone, voice over IP (VoIP) phone, wireless local loop phone, desktop computer, personal digital assistant (PDA), wireless cameras, gaming console or device, music storage device, playback appliance, wearable terminal device, wireless endpoint, mobile station, tablet, laptop, laptop-embedded equipment (LEE), laptop-mounted equipment (LME), smart device, wireless customer-premise equipment (CPE), vehicle-mounted or vehicle embedded/integrated wireless device, etc. Other examples include any UE identified by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), including a narrow band internet of things (NB-IoT) UE, a machine type communication (MTC) UE, and/or an enhanced MTC (eMTC) UE. [0155] A UE may support device-to-device (D2D) communication, for example by implementing a 3GPP standard for sidelink communication, Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC), vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V), vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I), or vehicle- to-everything (V2X). In other examples, a 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).

[0156] The UE 2300 includes processing circuitry 2302 that is operatively coupled via a bus 2304 to an input/output interface 2306, a power source 2308, a memory 2310, a communication interface 2312, and/or any other component, or any combination thereof. Certain UEs may utilize all or a subset of the components shown in FIG. 23. 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.

[0157] The processing circuitry 2302 is configured to process instructions and data and may be configured to implement any sequential state machine operative to execute instructions stored as machine-readable computer programs in the memory 2310. The processing circuitry 2302 may be implemented as one or more hardware-implemented state machines (e.g., in discrete logic, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), etc.); programmable logic together with appropriate firmware; one or more stored computer programs, 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 2302 may include multiple central processing units (CPUs).

[0158] In the example, the input/output interface 2306 may be configured to provide an interface or interfaces to an input device, output device, or one or more input and/or output devices. Examples of an output device include 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. An input device may allow a user to capture information into the UE 2300. Examples of an input device 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, a biometric sensor, etc., or any combination thereof. An output device may use the same type of interface port as an input device. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) port may be used to provide an input device and an output device.

[0159] In some embodiments, the power source 2308 is structured as a battery or battery pack. Other types of power sources, such as an external power source (e.g., an electricity outlet), photovoltaic device, or power cell, may be used. The power source 2308 may further include power circuitry for delivering power from the power source 2308 itself, and/or an external power source, to the various parts of the UE 2300 via input circuitry or an interface such as an electrical power cable. Delivering power may be, for example, for charging of the power source 2308. Power circuitry may perform any formatting, converting, or other modification to the power from the power source 2308 to make the power suitable for the respective components of the UE 2300 to which power is supplied.

[0160] The memory 2310 may be or be configured to include memory such as random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), programmable read-only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable readonly memory (EEPROM), magnetic disks, optical disks, hard disks, removable cartridges, flash drives, and so forth. In one example, the memory 2310 includes one or more application programs 2314, such as an operating system, web browser application, a widget, gadget engine, or other application, and corresponding data 2316. The memory 2310 may store, for use by the UE 2300, any of a variety of various operating systems or combinations of operating systems. [0161] The memory 2310 may be configured to include a number of physical drive units, such as redundant array of independent disks (RAID), 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 tamper resistant module in the form of a universal integrated circuit card (UICC) including one or more subscriber identity modules (SIMs), such as a USIM and/or ISIM, other memory, or any combination thereof. The UICC may for example be an embedded UICC (eUICC), integrated UICC (iUICC) or a removable UICC commonly known as ‘SIM card.’ The memory 2310 may allow the UE 2300 to access instructions, application programs and 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 as or in the memory 2310, which may be or comprise a device-readable storage medium.

[0162] The processing circuitry 2302 may be configured to communicate with an access network or other network using the communication interface 2312. The communication interface 2312 may comprise one or more communication subsystems and may include or be communicatively coupled to an antenna 2322. The communication interface 2312 may include one or more transceivers used to communicate, such as by communicating with one or more remote transceivers of another device capable of wireless communication (e.g., another UE or a network node in an access network). Each transceiver may include a transmitter 2318 and/or a receiver 2320 appropriate to provide network communications (e.g., optical, electrical, frequency allocations, and so forth). Moreover, the transmitter 2318 and receiver 2320 may be coupled to one or more antennas (e.g., antenna 2322) and may share circuit components, software or firmware, or alternatively be implemented separately.

[0163] In the illustrated embodiment, communication functions of the communication interface 2312 may include cellular communication, Wi-Fi communication, LPWAN communication, 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. Communications may be implemented in according to one or more communication protocols and/or standards, such as IEEE 802.11, Code Division Multiplexing Access (CDMA), Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), GSM, LTE, New Radio (NR), UMTS, WiMax, Ethernet, transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP), synchronous optical networking (SONET), Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), QUIC, Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and so forth. [0164] Regardless of the type of sensor, a UE may provide an output of data captured by its sensors, through its communication interface 2312, via a wireless connection to a network node. Data captured by sensors of a UE can be communicated through a wireless connection to a network node via another UE. The output may be periodic (e.g., once every 15 minutes if it reports the sensed temperature), random (e.g., to even out the load from reporting from several sensors), in response to a triggering event (e.g., when moisture is detected an alert is sent), in response to a request (e.g., a user initiated request), or a continuous stream (e.g., a live video feed of a patient).

[0165] As another example, a UE comprises an actuator, a motor, or a switch, related to a communication interface configured to receive wireless input from a network node via a wireless connection. In response to the received wireless input the states of the actuator, the motor, or the switch may change. For example, the UE may comprise a motor that adjusts the control surfaces or rotors of a drone in flight according to the received input or to a robotic arm performing a medical procedure according to the received input.

[0166] A UE, when in the form of an Internet of Things (loT) device, may be a device for use in one or more application domains, these domains comprising, but not limited to, city wearable technology, extended industrial application and healthcare. Non-limiting examples of such an loT device are a device which is or which is embedded in: a connected refrigerator or freezer, a TV, a connected lighting device, an electricity meter, a robot vacuum cleaner, a voice controlled smart speaker, a home security camera, a motion detector, a thermostat, a smoke detector, a door/window sensor, a flood/moisture sensor, an electrical door lock, a connected doorbell, an air conditioning system like a heat pump, an autonomous vehicle, a surveillance system, a weather monitoring device, a vehicle parking monitoring device, an electric vehicle charging station, a smart watch, a fitness tracker, a head-mounted display for Augmented Reality (AR) or Virtual Reality (VR), a wearable for tactile augmentation or sensory enhancement, a water sprinkler, an animal- or item-tracking device, a sensor for monitoring a plant or animal, an industrial robot, an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV), and any kind of medical device, like a heart rate monitor or a remote controlled surgical robot. A UE in the form of an loT device comprises circuitry and/or software in dependence of the intended application of the loT device in addition to other components as described in relation to the UE 2300 shown in FIG. 23.

[0167] As yet another specific example, in an loT scenario, a UE 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 UE and/or a network node. The UE may in this case be an M2M device, which may in a 3GPP context be referred to as an MTC device. As one particular example, the UE may implement the 3GPP NB-IoT standard. In other scenarios, a UE may represent a vehicle, such as a car, a bus, a truck, a ship and an airplane, or other equipment that is capable of monitoring and/or reporting on its operational status or other functions associated with its operation.

[0168] In practice, any number of UEs may be used together with respect to a single use case. For example, a first UE might be or be integrated in a drone and provide the drone’s speed information (obtained through a speed sensor) to a second UE that is a remote controller operating the drone. When the user makes changes from the remote controller, the first UE may adjust the throttle on the drone (e.g. by controlling an actuator) to increase or decrease the drone’s speed. The first and/or the second UE can also include more than one of the functionalities described above. For example, a UE might comprise the sensor and the actuator, and handle communication of data for both the speed sensor and the actuators.

[0169] FIG. 24 shows a network node 2400 in accordance with some embodiments. As used herein, network node refers to equipment capable, configured, arranged and/or operable to communicate directly or indirectly with a UE and/or with other network nodes or equipment, in a telecommunication 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)).

[0170] Base stations may be categorized based on the amount of coverage they provide (or, stated differently, their transmit power level) and so, depending on the provided amount of coverage, may 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).

[0171] Other examples of network nodes include multiple transmission point (multi-TRP) 5G access nodes, 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), Operation and Maintenance (O&M) nodes, Operations Support System (OSS) nodes, Self-Organizing Network (SON) nodes, positioning nodes (e.g., Evolved Serving Mobile Location Centers (E-SMLCs)), and/or Minimization of Drive Tests (MDTs).

[0172] The network node 2400 includes a processing circuitry 2402, a memory 2404, a communication interface 2406, and a power source 2408. The network node 2400 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 the network node 2400 comprises multiple separate components (e.g., BTS and BSC components), one or more of the separate components may be shared among several network nodes. For example, a single RNC may control multiple NodeBs. In such a scenario, each unique NodeB and RNC pair, may in some instances be considered a single separate network node. In some embodiments, the network node 2400 may be configured to support multiple radio access technologies (RATs). In such embodiments, some components may be duplicated (e.g., separate memory 2404 for different RATs) and some components may be reused (e.g., a same antenna 2410 may be shared by different RATs). The network node 2400 may also include multiple sets of the various illustrated components for different wireless technologies integrated into network node 2400, for example GSM, WCDMA, LTE, NR, WiFi, Zigbee, Z-wave, LoRaWAN, Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) 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 2400.

[0173] The processing circuitry 2402 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 2400 components, such as the memory 2404, to provide network node 2400 functionality.

[0174] In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 2402 includes a system on a chip (SOC). In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 2402 includes one or more of radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 2412 and baseband processing circuitry 2414. In some embodiments, the radio frequency (RF) transceiver circuitry 2412 and the baseband processing circuitry 2414 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 2412 and baseband processing circuitry 2414 may be on the same chip or set of chips, boards, or units. [0175] The memory 2404 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 the processing circuitry 2402. The memory 2404 may store any suitable instructions, data, or information, including a computer program, software, an application including one or more of logic, rules, code, tables, and/or other instructions capable of being executed by the processing circuitry 2402 and utilized by the network node 2400. The memory 2404 may be used to store any calculations made by the processing circuitry 2402 and/or any data received via the communication interface 2406. In some embodiments, the processing circuitry 2402 and memory 2404 is integrated. [0176] The communication interface 2406 is used in wired or wireless communication of signaling and/or data between a network node, access network, and/or UE. As illustrated, the communication interface 2406 comprises port(s)/terminal(s) 2416 to send and receive data, for example to and from a network over a wired connection. The communication interface 2406 also includes radio front-end circuitry 2418 that may be coupled to, or in certain embodiments a part of, the antenna 2410. Radio front-end circuitry 2418 comprises filters 2420 and amplifiers 2422. The radio front-end circuitry 2418 may be connected to an antenna 2410 and processing circuitry 2402. The radio front-end circuitry may be configured to condition signals communicated between antenna 2410 and processing circuitry 2402. The radio front-end circuitry 2418 may receive digital data that is to be sent out to other network nodes or UEs via a wireless connection. The radio front-end circuitry 2418 may convert the digital data into a radio signal having the appropriate channel and bandwidth parameters using a combination of filters 2420 and/or amplifiers 2422. The radio signal may then be transmitted via the antenna 2410. Similarly, when receiving data, the antenna 2410 may collect radio signals which are then converted into digital data by the radio front-end circuitry 2418. The digital data may be passed to the processing circuitry 2402. In other embodiments, the communication interface may comprise different components and/or different combinations of components.

[0177] In certain alternative embodiments, the network node 2400 does not include separate radio front-end circuitry 2418, instead, the processing circuitry 2402 includes radio front-end circuitry and is connected to the antenna 2410. Similarly, in some embodiments, all or some of the RF transceiver circuitry 2412 is part of the communication interface 2406. In still other embodiments, the communication interface 2406 includes one or more ports or terminals 2416, the radio front-end circuitry 2418, and the RF transceiver circuitry 2412, as part of a radio unit (not shown), and the communication interface 2406 communicates with the baseband processing circuitry 2414, which is part of a digital unit (not shown).

[0178] The antenna 2410 may include one or more antennas, or antenna arrays, configured to send and/or receive wireless signals. The antenna 2410 may be coupled to the radio front-end circuitry 2418 and may be any type of antenna capable of transmitting and receiving data and/or signals wirelessly. In certain embodiments, the antenna 2410 is separate from the network node 2400 and connectable to the network node 2400 through an interface or port.

[0179] The antenna 2410, communication interface 2406, and/or the processing circuitry 2402 may be configured to perform any receiving operations and/or certain obtaining operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be received from a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment. Similarly, the antenna 2410, the communication interface 2406, and/or the processing circuitry 2402 may be configured to perform any transmitting operations described herein as being performed by the network node. Any information, data and/or signals may be transmitted to a UE, another network node and/or any other network equipment.

[0180] The power source 2408 provides power to the various components of network node 2400 in a form suitable for the respective components (e.g., at a voltage and current level needed for each respective component). The power source 2408 may further comprise, or be coupled to, power management circuitry to supply the components of the network node 2400 with power for performing the functionality described herein. For example, the network node 2400 may be connectable to an external power source (e.g., the power grid, an electricity outlet) via an input circuitry or interface such as an electrical cable, whereby the external power source supplies power to power circuitry of the power source 2408. As a further example, the power source 2408 may comprise a source of power in the form of a battery or battery pack which is connected to, or integrated in, power circuitry. The battery may provide backup power should the external power source fail.

[0181] Embodiments of the network node 2400 may include additional components beyond those shown in FIG. 24 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, the network node 2400 may include user interface equipment to allow input of information into the network node 2400 and to allow output of information from the network node 2400. This may allow a user to perform diagnostic, maintenance, repair, and other administrative functions for the network node 2400.

[0182] FIG. 25 is a block diagram of a host 2500, which may be an embodiment of the host 2616 of FIG. 26, in accordance with various aspects described herein. As used herein, the host 2500 may be or comprise various combinations hardware and/or software, including a standalone server, a blade server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, a virtual machine, container, or processing resources in a server farm. The host 2500 may provide one or more services to one or more UEs.

[0183] The host 2500 includes processing circuitry 2502 that is operatively coupled via a bus 2504 to an input/output interface 2506, a network interface 2508, a power source 2510, and a memory 2512. Other components may be included in other embodiments. Features of these components may be substantially similar to those described with respect to the devices of previous figures, such as FIGS. 23 and 24, such that the descriptions thereof are generally applicable to the corresponding components of host 2500. [0184] The memory 2512 may include one or more computer programs including one or more host application programs 2514 and data 2516, which may include user data, e.g., data generated by a UE for the host 2500 or data generated by the host 2500 for a UE. Embodiments of the host 2500 may utilize only a subset or all of the components shown. The host application programs 2514 may be implemented in a container-based architecture and may provide support for video codecs (e.g., Versatile Video Coding (VVC), High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC), Advanced Video Coding (AVC), MPEG, VP9) and audio codecs (e.g., FLAC, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC), MPEG, G.711), including transcoding for multiple different classes, types, or implementations of UEs (e.g., handsets, desktop computers, wearable display systems, heads-up display systems). The host application programs 2514 may also provide for user authentication and licensing checks and may periodically report health, routes, and content availability to a central node, such as a device in or on the edge of a core network. Accordingly, the host 2500 may select and/or indicate a different host for over-the-top services for a UE. The host application programs 2514 may support various protocols, such as the HTTP Live Streaming (HLS) protocol, Real-Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP), Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP), Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (MPEG-DASH), etc.

[0185] FIG. 26 is a block diagram illustrating a virtualization environment 2600 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 any device described herein, 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. Some or all of the functions described herein may be implemented as virtual components executed by one or more virtual machines (VMs) implemented in one or more virtual environments 2600 hosted by one or more of hardware nodes, such as a hardware computing device that operates as a network node, UE, core network node, or host. Further, in embodiments in which the virtual node does not require radio connectivity (e.g., a core network node or host), then the node may be entirely virtualized.

[0186] Applications 2602 (which may alternatively be called software instances, virtual appliances, network functions, virtual nodes, virtual network functions, etc.) are run in the virtualization environment Q400 to implement some of the features, functions, and/or benefits of some of the embodiments disclosed herein.

[0187] Hardware 2604 includes processing circuitry, memory that stores software and/or instructions executable by hardware processing circuitry, and/or other hardware devices as described herein, such as a network interface, input/output interface, and so forth. Software may be executed by the processing circuitry to instantiate one or more virtualization layers 2606 (also referred to as hypervisors or virtual machine monitors (VMMs)), provide VMs 2608a and 2608b (one or more of which may be generally referred to as VMs 2608), and/or perform any of the functions, features and/or benefits described in relation with some embodiments described herein. The virtualization layer 2606 may present a virtual operating platform that appears like networking hardware to the VMs 2608.

[0188] The VMs 2608 comprise virtual processing, virtual memory, virtual networking or interface and virtual storage, and may be run by a corresponding virtualization layer 2606. Different embodiments of the instance of a virtual appliance 2602 may be implemented on one or more of VMs 2608, and the implementations may be made in different ways. 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.

[0189] In the context of NFV, a VM 2608 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 the VMs 2608, and that part of hardware 2604 that executes that VM, be it hardware dedicated to that VM and/or hardware shared by that VM with others of the VMs, forms separate virtual network elements. Still in the context of NFV, a virtual network function is responsible for handling specific network functions that run in one or more VMs 2608 on top of the hardware 2604 and corresponds to the application 2602.

[0190] Hardware 2604 may be implemented in a standalone network node with generic or specific components. Hardware 2604 may implement some functions via virtualization.

Alternatively, hardware 2604 may be part of a larger cluster of hardware (e.g. such as in a data center or CPE) where many hardware nodes work together and are managed via management and orchestration 2610, which, among others, oversees lifecycle management of applications 2602. In some embodiments, hardware 2604 is coupled to one or more radio units that each include one or more transmitters and one or more receivers that may be coupled to one or more antennas. Radio units may communicate directly with other hardware nodes via one or more appropriate network interfaces and may be used in combination with the virtual components to provide a virtual node with radio capabilities, such as a radio access node or a base station. In some embodiments, some signaling can be provided with the use of a control system 2612 which may alternatively be used for communication between hardware nodes and radio units. [0191] FIG. 27 shows a communication diagram of a host 2702 communicating via a network node 2704 with a UE 2706 over a partially wireless connection in accordance with some embodiments. Example implementations, in accordance with various embodiments, of the UE (such as a UE 2612a of FIG. 26 and/or UE 2300 of FIG. 23), network node (such as network node 2610a of FIG. 26 and/or network node 2400 of FIG. 24), and host (such as host 2616 of FIG. 26 and/or host 2500 of FIG. 25) discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to FIG. 27.

[0192] Eike host 2500, embodiments of host 2702 include hardware, such as a communication interface, processing circuitry, and memory. The host 2702 also includes software, which is stored in or accessible by the host 2702 and executable by the processing circuitry. The software includes a host application that may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as the UE 2706 connecting via an over-the-top (OTT) connection 2750 extending between the UE 2706 and host 2702. In providing the service to the remote user, a host application may provide user data which is transmitted using the OTT connection 2750. [0193] The network node 2704 includes hardware enabling it to communicate with the host 2702 and UE 2706. The connection 2760 may be direct or pass through a core network (like core network 2606 of FIG. 26) and/or one or more other intermediate networks, such as one or more public, private, or hosted networks. For example, an intermediate network may be a backbone network or the Internet.

[0194] The UE 2706 includes hardware and software, which is stored in or accessible by UE 2706 and executable by the UE’s processing circuitry. The software includes a client application, such as a web browser or operator-specific “app” that may be operable to provide a service to a human or non-human user via UE 2706 with the support of the host 2702. In the host 2702, an executing host application may communicate with the executing client application via the OTT connection 2750 terminating at the UE 2706 and host 2702. In providing the service to the user, the UE’s client application may receive request data from the host's host application and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 2750 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The UE’s client application may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides to the host application through the OTT connection 2750. [0195] The OTT connection 2750 may extend via a connection 2760 between the host 2702 and the network node 2704 and via a wireless connection 2770 between the network node 2704 and the UE 2706 to provide the connection between the host 2702 and the UE 2706. The connection 2760 and wireless connection 2770, over which the OTT connection 2750 may be provided, have been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host 2702 and the UE 2706 via the network node 2704, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. [0196] As an example of transmitting data via the OTT connection 2750, in step 2708, the host 2702 provides user data, which may be performed by executing a host application. In some embodiments, the user data is associated with a particular human user interacting with the UE 2706. In other embodiments, the user data is associated with a UE 2706 that shares data with the host 2702 without explicit human interaction. In step 2710, the host 2702 initiates a transmission carrying the user data towards the UE 2706. The host 2702 may initiate the transmission responsive to a request transmitted by the UE 2706. The request may be caused by human interaction with the UE 2706 or by operation of the client application executing on the UE 2706. The transmission may pass via the network node 2704, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. Accordingly, in step 2712, the network node 2704 transmits to the UE 2706 the user data that was carried in the transmission that the host 2702 initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In step 2714, the UE 2706 receives the user data carried in the transmission, which may be performed by a client application executed on the UE 2706 associated with the host application executed by the host 2702.

[0197] In some examples, the UE 2706 executes a client application which provides user data to the host 2702. The user data may be provided in reaction or response to the data received from the host 2702. Accordingly, in step 2716, the UE 2706 may provide user data, which may be performed by executing the client application. In providing the user data, the client application may further consider user input received from the user via an input/output interface of the UE 2706. Regardless of the specific manner in which the user data was provided, the UE 2706 initiates, in step 2718, transmission of the user data towards the host 2702 via the network node 2704. In step 2720, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the network node 2704 receives user data from the UE 2706 and initiates transmission of the received user data towards the host 2702. In step 2722, the host 2702 receives the user data carried in the transmission initiated by the UE 2706.

[0198] One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 2706 using the OTT connection 2750, in which the wireless connection 2770 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may allow a reduction in the latency for UEs in RRC_INACTIVE attempting to resume in a target (new) RAN node that does not host the UE context or that changed its Local RAN Node IDs. In some embodiments, the procedure of context fetching from the source NG-RAN node can be improved and be more resilient to errors caused by Local RAN Node IDs changes. In additional or alternative embodiments, more efficient updates of Local RAN Node IDs and mapping of old Local RAN Node IDs with new Local RAN Node IDs for the NG-RAN nodes neighbouring the node that changed or added a Local RAN Node IDs are enabled. In additional or alternative embodiments, observability can be added to the resume scenario, to pinpoint failures in resume procedures (e.g., RRC Release, RRC Reject, failures in retrieving the UE contexts) associated to the disambiguation of the source RAN node hosting the UE context, e.g., due to conflicts in Local RAN Node IDs used for handling UEs in RRC Inactive state.

[0199] In an example scenario, factory status information may be collected and analyzed by the host 2702. As another example, the host 2702 may process audio and video data which may have been retrieved from a UE for use in creating maps. As another example, the host 2702 may collect and analyze real-time data to assist in controlling vehicle congestion (e.g., controlling traffic lights). As another example, the host 2702 may store surveillance video uploaded by a UE. As another example, the host 2702 may store or control access to media content such as video, audio, VR or AR which it can broadcast, multicast or unicast to UEs. As other examples, the host 2702 may be used for energy pricing, remote control of non-time critical electrical load to balance power generation needs, location services, presentation services (such as compiling diagrams etc. from data collected from remote devices), or any other function of collecting, retrieving, storing, analyzing and/or transmitting data.

[0200] In some examples, 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 the OTT connection 2750 between the host 2702 and UE 2706, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection may be implemented in software and hardware of the host 2702 and/or UE 2706. In some embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with other devices through which the OTT connection 2750 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 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 2750 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not directly alter the operation of the network node 2704. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling that facilitates measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like, by the host 2702. The measurements may be implemented in that software causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or ‘dummy’ messages, using the OTT connection 2750 while monitoring propagation times, errors, etc. [0201] Although the computing devices described herein (e.g., UEs, network nodes, hosts) may include the illustrated combination of hardware components, other embodiments may comprise computing devices with different combinations of components. It is to be understood that these computing devices may comprise any suitable combination of hardware and/or software needed to perform the tasks, features, functions and methods disclosed herein.

Determining, calculating, obtaining or similar operations described herein may be performed by processing circuitry, which may process information 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. Moreover, while components are depicted as single boxes located within a larger box, or nested within multiple boxes, in practice, computing devices may comprise multiple different physical components that make up a single illustrated component, and functionality may be partitioned between separate components. For example, a communication interface may be configured to include any of the components described herein, and/or the functionality of the components may be partitioned between the processing circuitry and the communication interface. In another example, non-computationally intensive functions of any of such components may be implemented in software or firmware and computationally intensive functions may be implemented in hardware.

[0202] In certain embodiments, some or all of the functionality described herein may be provided by processing circuitry executing instructions stored on in memory, which in certain embodiments may be a computer program product in the form of a non-transitory computer- readable storage medium. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the functionality may be provided by the processing circuitry 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 non-transitory computer- readable storage medium or not, the processing circuitry can be configured to perform the described functionality. The benefits provided by such functionality are not limited to the processing circuitry alone or to other components of the computing device, but are enjoyed by the computing device as a whole, and/or by end users and a wireless network generally.

Claims

CLAIMS What is claimed is:

1. A method of operating a first network node (2400) in a communications network that includes a second network node, the method comprising: determining (1930) that a first local node identifier, ID, is no longer valid; determining (1940) a second local node ID to replace the first local node ID; receiving (1960) a first message from the second network node, the first message including a context ID associated with a communication device and associated with the first local node ID; and transmitting (1980) a second message to the second network node, the second message including an indication that the first local node ID has been replaced by the second local node ID.

2. The method of Claim 1, wherein the communication device is in an inactive state; wherein the first network node is a source radio access network, RAN, node relative to the communication device, and wherein the second network node is a target RAN node relative to the communication device.

3. The method of any of Claims 1-2, further comprising: retrieving (1970) context information associated with the communication device based on the context ID and the first local node ID, and wherein the second message further includes the context information associated with the communication device.

4. The method of any of Claims 1-2, wherein the first message further includes a request for an indication if a conflict is detected, and wherein the second message further includes an indication of a cause for not including context information associated with the communication device.

5. The method of any of Claims 1-4, wherein the first message comprises an XN Application Protocol, XnAP, Retrieve UE Context Request XnAP message, and wherein the second message comprises an XnAP Retrieve UE Context Response XnAP message.

6. The method of any of Claims 1-5, further comprising: receiving (1910) a third message from a third network node in the communications network, the third message including a third local node ID; determining (1920) a conflict between the third local node ID and another local node ID associated with either the first network node or the second network node; and transmitting (1950) a fourth message to the third network node, the fourth message including an indication of the conflict between the third local node ID and another local node ID associated with either the first network node or the second network node, wherein the second message further comprises an identifier of the third network node.

7. The method of Claim 6, wherein the third message comprises at least one of: an XN Setup Request message, XN Setup Response message, NG-RAN Node Configuration Update message, and NG-RAN Node Configuration Update Acknowledge message, and wherein the fourth message comprises at least one of: an XnAP XN Setup Response message and an XnAP NG-RAN Node Configuration Update message.

8. A method of operating a second network node (2400) in a communications network that includes a first network node, the method comprising: determining (2010) a first local node identifier, ID, based on communication with a communication device that is in an inactive state, determining (2020) that the first local node ID is associated with the first network node; transmitting (2030) a first message to the first network node, the first message including a context ID associated with the communication device and associated with the first local node ID; and receiving (2040) a second message from the first network node, the second message including an indication that the first local node ID has been replaced by a second local node ID.

9. The method of any of Claim 8, wherein the first network node is a source radio access network, RAN, node relative to the communication device, and wherein the second network node is a target RAN node relative to the communication device.

10. The method of any of Claims 8-9, wherein the second message further includes context information associated with the communication device.

11. The method of any of Claims 8-9, wherein the first message further includes a request for an indication if a conflict is detected, and wherein the second message further includes an indication of a cause for not including context information associated with the communication device.

12. The method of any of Claims 8-11, wherein the first message comprises a XnAP Retrieve UE Context Request XnAP message, and wherein the second message comprises a XnAP Retrieve UE Context Response XnAP message.

13. The method of any of Claims 8-12, wherein the second message further includes an identifier of a third network node, in the communications network, the method further comprising: receiving (2050) a third message from the third network node, the third message including an indication of a conflict between the first local node ID and a third local node ID associated with the third network node.

14. The method of Claim 13, wherein the third message comprises at least one of an XnAP NG-RAN Node Configuration Update message and an XnAP NG-RAN Node Configuration Update Acknowledge message.

15. The method of any of Claims 13-14, further comprising: transmitting (2060) a request to the first network node for context information based on the indication of the conflict.

16. A method of operating a third network node (2400) in a communications network that includes a first network node and a second network node, the method comprising: receiving (2120) a first message from the first network node, the first message including an indication of a conflict between a first local node identifier, ID, associated with the third network node and a second local node ID associated with either the first network node or the second network node; and transmitting (2130) a second message to the second network node, the second message including an indication of the conflict between the first local node ID and the second local node ID.

17. The method of Claim 16, wherein the communications network further includes a communication device in an inactive state, wherein the first network node is a source radio access network, RAN, node relative to the communication device, and wherein the second network node is a target RAN node relative to the communication device.

18. The method of any of Claims 16-17, wherein the first message comprises at least one of: an XN Application Protocol, XnAP XN Setup Response message and an XnAP NG-RAN Node Configuration Update message, and wherein the second message comprises at least one of: an XnAP NG-RAN Node Configuration Update message and an XnAP NG-RAN Node Configuration Update Acknowledge message.

19. The method of any of Claims 16-18, further comprising: transmitting (2110) a third message to the first network node, the third message including a third local node ID associated with the third network node.

20. The method of Claim 19, wherein the third message comprises at least one of: an XN Setup Request message, XN Setup Response message, NG-RAN Node Configuration Update message, and a NG-RAN Node Configuration Update Acknowledge message.

21. A first network node (2400) in a communications network that includes a second network node (2400) and is adapted to perform operations according to any of Claims 1-7.

22. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by processing circuitry (2402) of a first network node (2400) in a communications network that includes a second network node (2400), whereby execution of the program code causes the first network node to perform operations according to any of Claims 1-7.

23. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (2402) of a first network node (2400) in a communications network that includes a second network node (2400), whereby execution of the program code causes the first network node to perform operations according to any of Claims 1-

7.

24. A second network node (2400) in a communications network that includes a first network node (2400) and is adapted to perform operations according to any of Claims 8-15.

25. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by processing circuitry (2402) of a second network node (2400) in a communications network that includes a first network node (2400), whereby execution of the program code causes the second network node to perform operations according to any of Claims 8-15.

26. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (2402) of a second network node (2400) in a communications network that includes a first network node (2400), whereby execution of the program code causes the second network node to perform operations according to any of Claims 8-15.

27. A third network node (2400) in a communications network that includes a first network node (2400) and a second network node (2400) and is adapted to perform operations according to any of Claims 16-20.

28. A computer program comprising program code to be executed by processing circuitry (2402) of a third network node (2400) in a communications network that includes a first network node (2400) and a second network node (2400), whereby execution of the program code causes the third network node to perform operations according to any of Claims 16-20.

29. A computer program product comprising a non-transitory storage medium including program code to be executed by processing circuitry (2402) of a third network node (2400) in a communications network that includes a first network node (2400) and a second network node (2400), whereby execution of the program code causes the third network node to perform operations according to any of Claims 16-20.