WO2023242850A1 - Technique for dynamic network coverage - Google Patents

Technique for dynamic network coverage Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2023242850A1
WO2023242850A1 PCT/IN2022/050538 IN2022050538W WO2023242850A1 WO 2023242850 A1 WO2023242850 A1 WO 2023242850A1 IN 2022050538 W IN2022050538 W IN 2022050538W WO 2023242850 A1 WO2023242850 A1 WO 2023242850A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
ssb
transmit power
cell
metric
radio
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/IN2022/050538
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Indranil Ghosh
Mahendra KUMAR A
Original Assignee
Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
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Publication date
Application filed by Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ) filed Critical Telefonaktiebolaget Lm Ericsson (Publ)
Priority to PCT/IN2022/050538 priority Critical patent/WO2023242850A1/en
Publication of WO2023242850A1 publication Critical patent/WO2023242850A1/en

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Classifications

    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W24/00—Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
    • H04W24/02—Arrangements for optimising operational condition
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W16/00—Network planning, e.g. coverage or traffic planning tools; Network deployment, e.g. resource partitioning or cells structures
    • H04W16/18—Network planning tools
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W24/00—Supervisory, monitoring or testing arrangements
    • H04W24/10—Scheduling measurement reports ; Arrangements for measurement reports
    • H—ELECTRICITY
    • H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04W—WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS
    • H04W48/00—Access restriction; Network selection; Access point selection
    • H04W48/08—Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery
    • H04W48/12—Access restriction or access information delivery, e.g. discovery data delivery using downlink control channel

Definitions

  • the present disclosure relates to a technique for dynamic coverage of a radio access network. More specifically, and without limitation, methods and devices are provided for network-assisted dynamic coverage.
  • the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) defines radio access technologies (RATs) for radio access in cells of a radio access network (RAN) for radio devices, which are generically referred to as user equipments (UEs).
  • RATs radio access technologies
  • RAN radio access network
  • UEs user equipments
  • RATs such as fourth generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) and fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) use link-adaptation and beam-forming for a dynamic response to changes of the channel state of a radio channel between a serving network node of the RAN and the served radio device.
  • the synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) transmitted by the network node is essential for the coverage of a cell of the network node before a radio connection can be established.
  • existing implementations of a power boost for the SSB increase the SSB transmit power irrespective of the state of the radio channel and network conditions.
  • boosting the SSB transmit power can cause several scenarios with an extremely good reference signal received power (RSRP) of the SSB (SS-RSRP), while the signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) of the SSB (SS-SINR) and the reference signal received quality (RSRQ) of the SSB (SS-RSRQ) are poor.
  • RSRP reference signal received power
  • SINR signal to interference and noise ratio
  • RSS reference signal received quality
  • a radio device which already receives sufficient power of the SSB, can suffer from downlink interference due to the boost of the SSB transmit power so that the radio device is not able to decode the master information block (MIB) from the PBCH.
  • MIB master information block
  • a secondary leg e.g., an NR leg
  • DC dual connectivity
  • DL-SINR downlink
  • the DL interference is caused by the boosted SSB transmit power in the overlapping coverage area.
  • a method performed by a network node in a radio access network comprises or initiates a step of transmitting a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) using a first SSB transmit power.
  • the SSB is indicative of a cell of the network node.
  • the method further comprises or initiates a step of receiving measurement reports that are based on the SSB transmitted using the first SSB transmit power.
  • the measurement reports are indicative of a first radio frequency metric (RF metric) and a second RF metric.
  • the measurement reports are received from radio devices served by the RAN in an area of the cell.
  • the first RF metric is (e.g., designed or configured to be) insensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB.
  • the second RF metric is sensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB.
  • the method further comprises or initiates a step of transmitting the SSB using a second SSB transmit power, wherein the second SSB transmit power is changed relative to the first SSB transmit power depending on a combination of the first RF metric and the second RF metric.
  • the combination of the first and second RF metrics may be a criterion for increasing and/or decreasing the SSB transmit power, e.g., in real-time.
  • the criterion for increasing or not decreasing the SSB transmit power may comprise a coverage enhancement requirement, e.g., as indicated by a low first RF metric.
  • the criterion for decreasing or not increasing the SSB transmit power may comprise a radio interference situation (or other radio clutter-specific situation), e.g., as indicated by a low second RF metric.
  • the method may be implemented by a mechanism to automatically detect an opportunity of boosting (i.e., increasing) and/or deboosting (i.e., decreasing) the SSB transmit power based on the combination of the first and second RF metrics, e.g. whenever needed in specific cases.
  • the method may be implemented as an intelligent method for network-assisted dynamic coverage, optionally for fourth generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) or fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR).
  • 4G Long Term Evolution
  • NR New Radio
  • the technique may be implemented for NR.
  • the SSB may be a NR SSB.
  • the network node may be involved in a dual connectivity (DC) of at least one of the radio devices.
  • At least one or each of the measurement reports (e.g., the first and/or the second metric) may be indicative of at least one of a secondary cell group (SCG) failure in the DC and a NR B 1 measurement.
  • SCG secondary cell group
  • At least some embodiments of the method can improve a (e.g., 5G) user experience from an end user perspective and/or save significant (e.g., 5G) optimization effort from network operator perspective.
  • embodiments of the method can save energy at the radio devices (e.g., UEs).
  • Same or further embodiments enable a future-ready mature network, wherein a number of network nodes (e.g., radio network elements) is large.
  • the SSB transmit power may be regulated according to an embodiment of the method based on a single radio device.
  • a UE-specific implementation may improve NR spectrum efficiency.
  • the method may be implemented by a UE-specific dynamic regulation of the SSB transmit power (e.g., boosting and deboosting) without impacting uplink (UL) performance and/or DL throughput loss.
  • At least some embodiments of the method may reduce decoding errors at the radio device when decoding a master information block (MIB) from the network node, e.g. in a high coverage overlapping zone, which can ensure user experience.
  • MIB master information block
  • embodiments of the method can support or improve a self-organizing network (SON).
  • SON self-organizing network
  • the method may be implemented as an automatic radio network feature in the network node (e.g., a gNB), optionally for a non- standalone (NSA) and/or a standalone (SA) system.
  • the SSB transmit power (which may be the basis for establishing an radio link or radio resource control, RRC, connection with the cell) may be changed according to (e.g., adapted to) at least one of: a varying interference situation, a varying user behavior, a moving density center of the radio devices, a minimization of power consumption at the network node (e.g., by not using more SSB transmit power than necessary for covering the radio devices in the area), and a minimization of inter-cell interference.
  • the first SSB transmit power may also be referred to as an initial SSB transmit power.
  • the network node may use a predefined first SSB transmit power.
  • the method may be repeated, wherein the first SSB transmit power is the second SSB transmit power of a previous repetition of the method.
  • the second SSB transmit power may also be referred to as a regulated SSB transmit power.
  • the network node may regulate the regulated SSB transmit power based on the combination of the first RF metric and the second RF metric.
  • the SSB may also be referred to as synchronization signal (SS).
  • SS synchronization signal
  • the physical broadcast channel may be abbreviated by PBCH.
  • PBCH synchronization signal
  • the SSB may also be referred to as SS/PBCH block.
  • the SSB may comprise or may be indicative of a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) and/or a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), e.g., created using m-sequences.
  • PSS Primary Synchronization Signal
  • SSS Secondary Synchronization Signal
  • the SSB may comprise or may be indicative of the cell of the network node in that the SSB (e.g., the PSS and the SSS) is indicative of a Physical Cell ID (PCI) of the cell of the network node.
  • PCI Physical Cell ID
  • Each of the PSS and SSS may correspond to a (nonnegative) integer.
  • At least one or each of the measurement reports may be received at the network node (e.g., a gNB) through another network node (e.g., an eNB) that served or is serving the radio device that transmitted the respective one of the measurement reports.
  • the other network node may forward at least the first and second RF metrics.
  • the first RF metric comprises a reference signal received power, RSRP, of the SSB and/or wherein the second RF metric comprises at least one of a reference signal received quality, RSRQ, and a signal to interference and noise ratio, SINR, of the SSB, and/or wherein the second SSB transmit power is changed relative to the first SSB transmit power further depending on performance counter data stored at the network node.
  • RSRP reference signal received power
  • SINR signal to interference and noise ratio
  • the RSRP may be the average power of resource elements (REs) that carry cell-specific reference signals (RSs), for example, the over the entire measured bandwidth or corrected for a subcarrier spacing.
  • RSs may comprise at least one of the PSS, the SSS, and demodulation RSs in the PBCH.
  • the RSRP is only measured in the symbols carrying RS.
  • the RSRP may be the average received power of a single RS resource element.
  • at least one or each of the reporting radio devices may measure the power of multiple REs to transfer the RS and takes an average of them (e.g., rather than summing them).
  • the RSRP indicated in the measurement report may be in a reporting range from -44 dBm to -140 dBm.
  • the RSRP may be indicative of a signal power from the cell of the network node while (e.g., potentially or essentially) excluding noise and interference from other cells.
  • a carrier receive strength signal indicator may be indicative of the average total received power observed only in orthogonal frequency -division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols containing reference symbols for one antenna port in the measurement bandwidth over N physical resource blocks (PRBs).
  • the total received power of the carrier RSSI includes the power from co-channel serving and non-serving cells, adjacent channel interference, thermal noise, etc.
  • the RSSI may be pure wideband power measurement, including intracell power, interference and noise.
  • the reporting range of the RSRQ may be defined from -3 to -19.5 dB.
  • the method may further comprise or initiate, responsive to the SSB transmitted using the second SSB transmit power, receiving, from at least one of the radio devices, at least one of a random access (RA) preamble and data.
  • RA random access
  • the RA preamble may use a downlink synchronization according to the SSB transmitted using the second SSB transmit power.
  • the receiving of measurement reports and the transmitting of the SSB may be repeated.
  • the received measurement reports may be based on the SSB previously transmitted using a previous SSB transmit power.
  • the SSB may be transmitted using a regulated SSB transmit power.
  • the regulated SSB transmit power may be changed relative to the previous SSB transmit power depending on the combination of the first RF metric and the second RF metric indicated in the measurement reports.
  • the regulated SSB transmit power may be changed for each transmission of the SSB or in each radio frame of the network node or every second radio frame of the network node.
  • the receiving of the measurement reports may further comprise receiving measurement reports that are based on an SSB transmitted from, and/or indicative of, another cell other than the cell of the network node.
  • the other cell may be a neighboring cell of the cell of the network node.
  • the other cell may be a cell of a neighboring network node of the network node.
  • the method may further comprise or initiate a step of transmitting, or initiating a transmission of, a configuration message to at least one of the radio devices.
  • the configuration message may be indicative of the second SSB transmit power.
  • the configuration message may be transmitted to the at least one radio device prior to the transmitting of the SSB using the second SSB transmit power.
  • the configuration message may be a radio resource control (RRC) message, e.g., an RRC reconfiguration message.
  • RRC radio resource control
  • the RRC message may be indicative of a handover of the at least one radio device to the cell of network node or a dual connectivity of the at least one radio device involving the cell of network node.
  • the second SSB transmit power may be greater than the first SSB transmit power.
  • radio resources of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) of the cell or the network node may be borrowed or reserved for increasing the SSB transmit power.
  • the second SSB transmit power may be increased relative to the first SSB transmit power without increasing a total transmit power of the cell.
  • PDSCH physical downlink shared channel
  • SSB boosting may also be referred to as SSB boosting (or briefly: boosting).
  • the radio resources may be borrowed from, or reserved at, a scheduler of the cell or of the network node.
  • the reserving of the radio resources may comprise blocking the radio resources from the scheduling in the cell or by the network node, and/or may comprise leaving the radio resources blank or excluding the radio resources from scheduling in the cell or by the network node, and/or may comprise allocating the radio resources for the increasing of the SSB transmit power.
  • the second SSB transmit power may be less than the first SSB transmit power.
  • the radio resources of a (or the above-mentioned) PDSCH of the cell or the network node may be returned or released for scheduling when decreasing the SSB transmit power.
  • the second SSB transmit power may be decreased relative to the first SSB transmit power without decreasing a total transmit power of the cell.
  • the second SSB transmit power may be greater than the first SSB transmit power in a first instance of the method and the second SSB transmit power may be less than the first SSB transmit power in a second instance of the method.
  • the method may be repeated wherein the second instance is a repetition of the steps of the method.
  • Decreasing the SSB transmit power may also be referred to as SSB deboosting (or briefly: deboosting).
  • the radio resources may be returned to, or released at, a scheduler of the cell or of the network node.
  • the method may comprise reserving one or more physical resource blocks (PRBs) of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) of the cell (briefly: PDSCH PRB), e.g. based on a demand for boosting the SSB transmit power.
  • PRBs physical resource blocks
  • the reserved one or more PDSCH PRBs may be deallocated (i.e., returned) for better throughput allocation.
  • a spectral efficiency e.g., of NR
  • deallocation e.g., in real-time
  • a service requirement e.g., a quality of service, QoS
  • QoS quality of service
  • the one or more PDSCH PRB in or associated with a transmission time interval (TTI, e.g., a slot) including the SSB can utilized as the radio resource that is reserved and/or released for increasing or decreasing the SSB transmit power, e.g. in a scenario with a capacity constraint.
  • TTI transmission time interval
  • the radio resources of the PDSCH may include at least one of time resources or slots of the PDSCH, frequency resources or subcarriers of the PDSCH, time-frequency resources or physical resource blocks (PRBs) of the PDSCH, and spatial resources or beams of the PDSCH.
  • time resources or slots of the PDSCH frequency resources or subcarriers of the PDSCH
  • time-frequency resources or physical resource blocks (PRBs) of the PDSCH time-frequency resources or physical resource blocks (PRBs) of the PDSCH
  • spatial resources or beams of the PDSCH may include at least one of time resources or slots of the PDSCH, frequency resources or subcarriers of the PDSCH, time-frequency resources or physical resource blocks (PRBs) of the PDSCH, and spatial resources or beams of the PDSCH.
  • PRBs physical resource blocks
  • the cell may provide radio access in the area using frequency-division duplexing (FDD).
  • FDD frequency-division duplexing
  • the network node may be a New Radio non- standalone (NR NS A) network node.
  • the measurement reports may be received through another network node serving the radio devices.
  • the network node may be a non- standalone (NS A) network node.
  • Another network node may provide control signaling to the radio devices (e.g., by forwarding the control signaling between the radio device and the network node).
  • the measurement reports may be received through another (or the other) network node serving the radio devices.
  • the network node may be an NR gNodeB and the other network node may be an LTE eNodeB, e.g. for dual connectivity (DC) of the respective radio device using evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRAN) augmented by NR (ENDC).
  • DC dual connectivity
  • E-UTRAN evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access
  • E-UTRAN evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access
  • the second SSB transmit power may be changed relative to the first SSB transmit power according to a coverage evaluation of the first RF metric and the second RF metric for the area.
  • the coverage evaluation of the area is determined to be one out of at least two or all of: a cell-coverage overlap, a cell overshooting, a cell-coverage hole, and a DL interference-prone area.
  • the SSB transmit power may be increased responsive to the cell-coverage hole in the area.
  • the SSB transmit power may be decreased responsive to at least one of the cell-coverage overlap, the cell-overshooting in the area, and the DL interference-prone area.
  • At least one or each of the radio devices may be a user equipment (UE), e.g., according to a 3GPP specification. Any of the radio devices may be a 3GPP user equipment (UE) or a Wi-Fi station (STA).
  • the radio device may be a mobile or portable station, a device for machine-type communication (MTC), a device for narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) or a combination thereof. Examples for the UE and the mobile station include a mobile phone, a tablet computer and a self-driving vehicle. Examples for the portable station include a laptop computer and a television set.
  • Examples for the MTC device or the NB-IoT device include robots, sensors and/or actuators, e.g., in manufacturing, automotive communication and home automation.
  • the MTC device or the NB-IoT device may be implemented in a manufacturing plant, household appliances and consumer electronics.
  • At least one or each of the radio devices may be wirelessly connected (e.g., radioconnected or optically connected) in an uplink (UL) and/or a downlink (DL) (e.g., through a Uu interface) with the RAN.
  • UL uplink
  • DL downlink
  • the radio device and/or the RAN may form, or may be part of, a radio network, e.g., according to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) or according to the standard family IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi).
  • the method aspect may be performed by one or more embodiments of the network node of the RAN (e.g., a base station).
  • the RAN may comprise one or more network nodes (e.g., base stations), at least one of which performs the method.
  • the radio network may be a vehicular, ad hoc and/or mesh network comprising two or more radio devices (e.g., vehicles such as cars), e.g., acting as a remote radio device and/or a relay radio device.
  • the RAN may be implemented by one or more network nodes (e.g., base stations).
  • At least one or each of the radio devices may be wirelessly connected or connectable (e.g., according to a radio resource control, RRC, state or active mode) with at least one network node of the RAN, e.g., with the network node performing the method aspect and/or another network node.
  • RRC radio resource control
  • the network node may encompass any station (e.g., a base station) that is configured to provide radio access to any of the radio devices.
  • the network node may also be referred to as cell, transmission and reception point (TRP), radio access node or access point (AP).
  • TRP transmission and reception point
  • AP access point
  • the base station and/or the relay radio device may provide a data link to a host computer providing the user data to the remote radio device or gathering user data from the remote radio device.
  • Examples for the network node may include a 3G base station or Node B (NB), 4G base station or eNodeB (eNB), a 5G base station or gNodeB (gNB), a WiFi AP, and a network controller (e.g., according to Bluetooth, ZigBee or Z-Wave).
  • NB Node B
  • eNB 4G base station or eNodeB
  • gNB 5G base station or gNodeB
  • WiFi AP e.g., ZigBee or Z-Wave
  • the RAN may be implemented according to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), 3 GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and/or 3 GPP New Radio (NR).
  • GSM Global System for Mobile Communications
  • UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunications System
  • LTE Long Term Evolution
  • NR 3 GPP New Radio
  • Any aspect of the technique may be implemented on a Physical Layer (PHY), a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and/or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer of a protocol stack for the radio communication.
  • PHY Physical Layer
  • MAC Medium Access Control
  • RLC Radio Link Control
  • PDCP packet data convergence protocol
  • RRC Radio Resource Control
  • referring to a protocol of a layer may also refer to the corresponding layer in the protocol stack.
  • referring to a layer of the protocol stack may also refer to the corresponding protocol of the layer. Any protocol may be implemented by a corresponding method.
  • a computer program product comprises program code portions for performing any one of the steps of the method aspect disclosed herein when the computer program product is executed by one or more computing devices.
  • the computer program product may be stored on a computer- readable recording medium.
  • the computer program product may also be provided for download, e.g., via the radio network, the RAN, the Internet and/or the host computer.
  • the method may be encoded in a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and/or an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or the functionality may be provided for download by means of a hardware description language.
  • FPGA Field-Programmable Gate Array
  • ASIC Application-Specific Integrated Circuit
  • a network node As to a device aspect, a network node is provided.
  • the network node comprises processing circuitry (e.g., at least one processor and a memory).
  • Said memory comprises instructions executable by said at least one processor whereby the network node is operative to perform any one of the steps of the method aspect.
  • a network node is provided.
  • the network node is configured to perform any one of the steps of the method aspect.
  • a base station for communication with user equipments (UEs) is provided.
  • the base station is configured to perform any one of the steps of the method aspect, wherein the radio devices comprise the UEs.
  • a communication system including a host computer.
  • the host computer comprises a processing circuitry configured to provide user data, e.g., transmitted or received based on the SSB.
  • the host computer further comprises a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network (e.g., the RAN and/or the network node) for transmission to a UE.
  • a processing circuitry of the cellular network is configured to execute any one of the steps of the method aspect.
  • the communication system may further include the UE.
  • the UE may comprise a radio interface and processing circuitry.
  • the cellular network may further include one or more base stations (e.g., the network node) configured for radio communication with the UE and/or to provide a data link between the UE and the host computer using the method aspect.
  • the base stations e.g., the network node
  • the processing circuitry of the host computer may be configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data and/or any host computer functionality described herein.
  • the processing circuitry of the UE may be configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.
  • any one of the devices, the network node, the base station, the UE, the communication system or any node or station for embodying the technique may further include any feature disclosed in the context of the method aspect, and vice versa.
  • any one of the units and modules disclosed herein may be configured to perform or initiate one or more of the steps of the method aspect.
  • Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a device for dynamic network coverage
  • Fig. 2 shows a flowchart for a method embodiment for dynamic network coverage, which method may be implementable by the device of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 3 schematically illustrates an example of a radio network comprising embodiments of the device of Fig. 1 for performing the method of Fig. 2;
  • Fig. 4 shows a schematic signaling diagram for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1 resulting from embodiments of a radio device, a primary serving network node, and the network node that is performing the method;
  • Fig. 5 shows a schematic flowchart for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 6 shows an example of a master information block of an embodiment of the network node performing the method of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 7 shows a schematic flowchart for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 8A example signals usable for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1 including a successful reception of the master information block;
  • Fig. 8B shows example signals usable for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1 including a failed reception of the master information block
  • Fig. 9 shows a first example of a measurement report usable for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 10 shows a second example of a measurement report usable for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 11 shows exemplary combinations of RF metrics usable for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 12 shows an example of statistics on sustained sessions as a function of a first RF metric usable for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 13 shows examples of a number of blanked physical resource blocks as a function of a boost in SSB transmit power usable for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 14 shows a schematic signaling diagram for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1 resulting from embodiments of a radio device, a primary serving network node, and the network node that is performing the method;
  • Fig. 15 shows a schematic flowchart for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 16 shows a schematic signaling diagram for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1 resulting from a stand-alone embodiment of the network node performing the method;
  • Fig. 17 shows a schematic flowchart for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 18 shows embodiment of the method of Fig. 1 in a self-organizing network
  • Fig. 19 shows an example of computing the SSB transmit power usable for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 20 shows a schematic block diagram of a network node embodying the device of Fig. 1;
  • Fig. 21 schematically illustrates an example telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer
  • Fig. 22 shows a generalized block diagram of a host computer communicating via a base station or radio device functioning as a gateway with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection;
  • Figs. 23 and 24 show flowcharts for methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station or radio device functioning as a gateway and a user equipment.
  • WLAN Wireless Local Area Network
  • 3GPP LTE e.g., LTE-Advanced or a related radio access technique such as MulteFire
  • Bluetooth according to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), particularly Bluetooth Low Energy, Bluetooth Mesh Networking and Bluetooth broadcasting, for Z-Wave according to the Z-Wave Alliance or for ZigBee based on IEEE 802.15.4.
  • SIG Bluetooth Special Interest Group
  • Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a device implemented at and/or controlling a network node in a RAN, e.g., a device for dynamic network coverage.
  • the device is generically referred to by reference sign 100.
  • the device 100 comprises a first SSB transmission module 102 that transmits a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) using a first SSB transmit power, wherein the SSB is indicative of a cell of the network node.
  • the device 100 further comprises a measurement reports module 104 that receives measurement reports that are based on the SSB transmitted using the first SSB transmit power, wherein the measurement reports are indicative of a first radio frequency (RF) metric and a second RF metric, and wherein the measurement reports are received from radio devices served by the RAN in an area of the cell.
  • RF radio frequency
  • the first RF metric is insensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB
  • the second RF metric is sensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB.
  • the device 100 further comprises a second SSB transmission module 106 that transmits the SSB using a second SSB transmit power, wherein the second SSB transmit power is changed relative to the first SSB transmit power depending on a combination of the first RF metric and the second RF metric.
  • Any of the modules of the device 100 may be implemented by units configured to provide the corresponding functionality.
  • the device 100 may also be referred to as, or may be embodied by, the network node (or base station).
  • the network node 100 and the radio devices may be in direct radio communication, e.g., at least for the receiving of the measurement reports.
  • the radio devices may be embodied by the UEs 150 described below.
  • Fig. 2 shows an example flowchart for a method 200 performed by a network node in a RAN.
  • a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block is transmitted using a first SSB transmit power, wherein the SSB is indicative of a cell of the network node.
  • a step 204 measurement reports based on the SSB transmitted using the first SSB transmit power are received.
  • the measurement reports are indicative of a first RF metric and a second RF metric, and wherein the measurement reports are received from radio devices 150 served by the RAN in an area of the cell.
  • the first RF metric is insensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB.
  • the second RF metric is sensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB.
  • the SSB is transmitted using a second SSB transmit power.
  • the second SSB transmit power is changed (relative to the first SSB transmit power) depending on a combination of the first RF metric and the second RF metric.
  • the method 200 may be performed by the device 100.
  • the modules 102, 104 and 106 may perform the steps 202, 204 and 206, respectively.
  • the technique may be applied to uplink (UL), downlink (DL) or direct communications between radio devices, e.g., device-to-device (D2D) communications or sidelink (SL) communications.
  • UL uplink
  • DL downlink
  • D2D device-to-device
  • SL sidelink
  • Each of the SSB-transmitting station 100 and SSB-receiving station 150 may be a radio device or a base station.
  • any radio device may be a mobile or portable station and/or any radio device wirelessly connectable to a base station or RAN, or to another radio device.
  • the radio device may be a user equipment (UE), a device for machinetype communication (MTC) or a device for (e.g., narrowband) Internet of Things (loT).
  • MTC machinetype communication
  • LoT narrowband Internet of Things
  • Two or more radio devices may be configured to wirelessly connect to each other, e.g., in an ad hoc radio network or via a 3 GPP SL connection.
  • any base station may be a station providing radio access, may be part of a radio access network (RAN) and/or may be a node connected to the RAN for controlling the radio access.
  • the base station may be an access point, for example a Wi-Fi access point.
  • Fig. 3 schematically illustrates an example of a radio network comprising one or more embodiments of the device 100.
  • the radio network comprises a radio access network (RAN) and/or a core network (CN).
  • the RAN may comprise multiple network nodes, at least one of which performs the method 200 or is controlled by a device 100 performing the method 200.
  • the changing of the SSB transmit power depending on the first and second RF metrics may improve the coverage of the network node 100 within its cell 101 without interference in neighboring cells 101' and 101" of the same network node 100 or other network nodes 100' or 100" as illustrated in Fig. 3.
  • Any embodiment of the network node 100 may benefit from dual connectivity, optionally involving different radio access technologies (RATs), e.g., 4G LTE as the master cell group (MCG) and 5G NR as the secondary cell group (SCG).
  • RATs radio access technologies
  • MCG master cell group
  • SCG secondary cell group
  • any embodiment may include at least some of the following features and steps of a NR NSA deployment.
  • the radio devices 150 are referred to as UEs 150 hereinbelow.
  • LTE network e.g., at least one eNodeB or eNB
  • LTE network e.g., at least one eNodeB or eNB
  • EN-DC dual connectivity
  • the UE 150 will be instructed to perform Bl measurements, which is enables measuring the NR band of one or more neighboring gNodeBs.
  • the UE 150 will be reconfigured to EN-DC mode so that the UE 150 can simultaneously be connected to both eNB 100' (which may or may not embody the device 100) and the gNB 100 (as an embodiment of the device 100), and transact in split-bearer mode.
  • SSB coverage is important to decide access capabilities for the UE 150 and then configure a user plane transaction behavior for the UE 150.
  • the network instructs the UE 150 to carry out signal quantity measurement in form of SS-RSRP or SS-RSRQ.
  • the SSB coverage defines access coverage of the network 300 and Communications Service Providers (CSPs) make their most efforts to improve it.
  • CSPs Communications Service Providers
  • Exist mechanisms to improve SSB coverage include using Multiple SSB beam sweeping methodologies to improve access coverage.
  • Another method is to increase radio transmit power homogeneously, i.e., unregulated SSB transmit power boosting.
  • the conventional SSB beam sweeping mechanism is associated with significant signaling overhead associated. And if conventional SSB transmit power boosting is applied in the whole network, there will be a change in coverage overlap. Higher interference will result in performance deterioration and accessibility problems for several UEs 150.
  • NR PDSCH PRB physical downlink shared channel
  • the existing techniques mean that one or more UEs 150 that are in a healthy SSB coverage zone still experience higher SSB-power, which is unnecessary, as this could render downlink interference to them. This reflects a need to make improvements in dynamic SSB power allocation which is network-assisted.
  • Embodiments of the subject technique include a method 200, a device 100, and a system 300, featuring NR system dynamic SSB power management by dint of automation technology, e.g. redirecting towards a self-organizing network (SON).
  • the method 200 can be implemented as an NR radio system algorithm for a gNB 100.
  • embodiments of the method 200 can reduce optimization and planning complexities.
  • a radio network 300 e.g., a RAN 300
  • DL SS-RSRP and DL SINR are relatively poor (i.e -123 dBm and -9 dB, respectively), while uplink (UL) is quite optimal.
  • the UE 150 transmits measurement reports quite late and NR leg setup gets delayed.
  • there may be several spots e.g., the area of the method
  • a cellular network e.g., a RAN 300 for NSA NR
  • the UEs 150 can be connected with reasonably good performance but if the performance or link quality drops, the UEs 150 cannot be connected again.
  • a connectivity of the UE 150 is an issue.
  • the boosting of the SSB transmit power according to the method 200 can provide a solution and DL coverage can be improved to some extent.
  • the SSB may be transmitted 206 on a subset of PRBs (e.g., 20 PRBs).
  • the increase in the SSB transmit power may be taken from one or more PRBs of a PDSCH (PDSCH PRB), while keeping a total transmit power of the gNB 100 configured at a constant (e.g., maximum) transmission power.
  • Fig. 4 shows a schematic signaling diagram, e.g. a typical high-level signaling flow for EN-DC Configuration, for an embodiment of the method 200.
  • the signaling diagram is indicative of signals exchanged between embodiments of the UE 150, a master network node 100' (e.g., a primary serving network node), and the network node 100 that is performing the method 200.
  • a master network node 100' e.g., a primary serving network node
  • the network node 100' is referred to as a master eNB (MN-eNB or M-eNB or MeNB), and the network node 100 is referred to as a secondary gNB (SgNB or EN-gNB).
  • MN-eNB master eNB
  • SgNB secondary gNB
  • any feature may be implemented analogously, e.g., by another gNB 100' providing NR DC to the UE 150.
  • the SSB transmission 202, 206 and a data transfer (i.e., transmission or reception) for a specific network node 100 may be on a contiguous channel.
  • a specific network node 100 e.g., gNB
  • UE radio device 150
  • the gNB 100 can increase the SSB transmit power by muting a "borrowed" (i.e., not used) part of the RBG (e.g., for each transmission time interval, TTI, or slot).
  • the MN-eNB 100' and the UE 150 may perform an LTE attach procedure.
  • the system information block 2 (SIB2) is broadcast from signals of the MN-eNB 100'.
  • the SIB2 is indicative of the presence of the 5G-NR PLMN, i.e., at least one gNB 100.
  • the UE 150 initiates a session with a randomly selected preamble.
  • the eNB 100' responds the preamble with random access response message.
  • the UE 150 uses UL-SCH to transmit a radio resource control (RRC) connection request and the eNB 100' responds with an RRC Connection setup message.
  • RRC radio resource control
  • the UE 150 signals RRC Connection completion signals and consequently a message for a carrier NAS attach request.
  • a DCNR bit is indicative towards the LTE evolved packet core (EPC) network that the UE 150 is EN-DC capable (i.e., the UE 150 is capable of supporting a dual connectivity involving 4G LTE and 5G NR).
  • EPC LTE evolved packet core
  • a mobility management entity (MME) of the EPC initiates an authentication procedure - and after success - the MME starts NAS level security procedures.
  • the MME responds back to the eNB 100' with a request for initial context setup, e.g. containing information related to uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) supported bitrate (e.g. an aggregate maximum bit rate, or AMBR, or an extended AMBR), NR restriction information, quality of service (QoS) class identifier (QCI), a service profile identifier (SPID, which is important for acquaintance of 5G subscriber).
  • UL uplink
  • DL downlink
  • NR restriction information e.g. an aggregate maximum bit rate, or AMBR, or an extended AMBR
  • QoS quality of service
  • QCI quality of service class identifier
  • SPID service profile identifier
  • UE capabilities of the UE 150 e.g., multi -RAT dual connectivity, briefly: MR-DC, supported LTE anchor band combinations, and/or supported NR frequencies
  • MeNB Mobility Management Entity
  • listing of the type A, B, and/or C disclose at least one of A, B, and C.
  • a security is setup between the UE 100 and the MeNB 100'. Ciphering may be enabled.
  • preparation starts for list of 5G NR frequency for measurement, e.g., as the basis for the measurement reports received in the step 204.
  • the MeNB 100' transmits a RRC Connection Reconfiguration message to UE 150 to activate a default radio bearer with measurement object NR containing a list of NR frequencies as EN-DC candidate on eNB along with configured NR Bl event thresholds.
  • the MeNB 100' regards this UE has entered into NR coverage and choose one gNB 100 associated with the best NR cell as secondary node of the DC, e.g. based on radio quality reported by eNodeB 100' as an implementation of the step 204.
  • a NR leg setup procedure is initiated by the MeNB 100'.
  • the MeNB 100' sends a request to the SgNB 100, e.g. an SgNB addition request that is indicative of the SgNB being used to allocate radio resources.
  • the SgNB 100 if the SgNB 100 admits the resource request, it allocates radio resources and sends via a network node interface (e.g., 3GPP X2AP) an acknowledgment (e.g, SGNB ADDITION REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message) to the MeNB 100'. Responsive to this message, the SgNB 100 provides a CellGroupConfig IE and/or a radioBearerConfig IE in an NR RRC configuration message in a step 207 of the message (e.g., as a substep of the step 206).
  • a network node interface e.g., 3GPP X2AP
  • an acknowledgment e.g, SGNB ADDITION REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message
  • the SgNB 100 provides a CellGroupConfig IE and/or a radioBearerConfig IE in an NR RRC configuration message in a step 207 of the message (e.g., as a substep of the
  • an MN-terminated MCG bearer uses a packet data convergence protocol of the MeNB 100' (i.e., LTE-PDCP), e.g., as an anchoring entity.
  • LTE-PDCP packet data convergence protocol of the MeNB 100'
  • a radio link control (RLC) mode (also referred to as rlcMode) should be defined by specific a QCI using LTE operator configurable parameter.
  • an SN-terminated SCG bearer uses a PDCP of the SgNB 100 (i.e., NR-PDCP).
  • a PDCP of the SgNB 100 i.e., NR-PDCP.
  • An RLC mode (rlcMode) should be defined by specific QCI using NR operator configurable parameter.
  • RLC-mode related parameters are contained in a SgNB Addition Acknowledge message.
  • the MeNB 100' indicates via the 3GPP X2AP a SN status (e.g., by sending an SN STATUS TRANSFER message) to the SgNB 100 to transfer PDCP SN (both UL and DL) and/or a hyper frame number (HFN) status for receiver and transmitter for bearer using an acknowledge mode (AM bearers).
  • PDCP SN both UL and DL
  • HFN hyper frame number
  • AM bearers acknowledge mode
  • UM bearers unacknowledged mode
  • the MeNB 100' sends to the UE 150 the RRC Connection Reconfiguration message including NR RRC Reconfiguration message, e.g. according to the step 207.
  • the MeNB 100' sends (and the UE 150 applies) an (e.g., updated) RRC Reconfiguration and replies to MeNB 100' with an RRC reconfiguration complete message.
  • the MeNB 100' informs the SgNB 100 that the UE 150 has completed reconfiguration procedure successfully by conveying message "SGNB Reconfiguration Complete".
  • the RAN state may be declared as NR EN-DC Configured and the UE state of the UE 150 may be in an LTE RRC connected state with a sub -state being EN-DC connected mode.
  • the data path may be switched from eNodeB to gNodeB after the NR RACH procedures to access connectivity towards gNB 100.
  • the SSB transmit power (e.g., using the information element, IE, " SS-PBCH- BlockPower") may be communicated to the UE 150.
  • the system information block 2 (SIB2) carries information of the SSB transmit power (e.g., the IE SS-PBCH-BlockPower).
  • the method 200 including a step 207 of communicating the SSB transmit power towards UE 150 for NR standalone (SA) may be different with respect to NR NS A.
  • the SIB delivery in NSA mode may comprise that the UE 150 receives relevant SIBs (e.g. including Remaining Minimum SI, RMSI, and/or Other System Information, OSI) via LTE dedicated signaling (e.g., RRC signaling).
  • relevant SIBs e.g. including Remaining Minimum SI, RMSI, and/or Other System Information, OSI
  • LTE dedicated signaling e.g., RRC signaling
  • the MIB is still received on NR to provide timing and beam identification information (e.g., SFN and/or a beam index), e.g., in the step 202 and/or 206.
  • timing and beam identification information e.g., SFN and/or a beam index
  • Fig. 5 shows a schematic flowchart for an embodiment of the method 200, e.g. using an internal SSB transmit power boost.
  • the SSB transmit power boost may comprise at least one of the following steps.
  • the gNB 100 validates an SSB power boosting license. If the license is not valid, the gNB 100 continues with a normal call setup.
  • the gNB 100 (radio) transmits the boost value to a baseband (e.g., a baseband unit).
  • a baseband e.g., a baseband unit
  • the gNB 100 adds a boost value to update (e.g., in an RRC IE) the SSB transmit power (e.g., the "ss-PBCH-BlockPower" IE) to the UE 150.
  • a boost value e.g., in an RRC IE
  • the SSB transmit power e.g., the "ss-PBCH-BlockPower" IE
  • the gNB 100 considers at least one of a power amplifier (PA), a radio subsector carrier (SubSC) boundary (e.g., for subband radio), an SSB position, a subcarrier spacing (SCS), a bandwidth, RBG border to calculate how much SSB power boost is possible.
  • PA power amplifier
  • SubSC radio subsector carrier
  • SCS subcarrier spacing
  • the SSB transmit power (e.g., the second SSB transmit power) may be computed (e.g., in a substep 205 of the step 206 or in a dedicated step 205) based on the combination of the first and second RF metrics).
  • the changed (e.g., second) SSB transmit power is communicated to the UE 100 via an RRC reconfiguration message in a step 207 of the method 200.
  • the changed SSB transmit power is communicated to the UE 150 in NSA mode (e.g., via servingcellconfigcommon and/or powercontroloffsetSS, which provides an offset of CSI- RS transmission power relative to the (e.g., first) SSB transmit power, which will be indicated to the UE 150 via ServingCellConfigCommon: ss-PBCPI-BlockPower).
  • the power budget (e.g., for radio transmissions of the gNB 100) may be, or has to be, fulfilled, or the transmit power of the gNB 100 (or the cell of the gNB 100) may be, or has to be, kept constant per symbol (or TTI) on a total system bandwidth, e.g. in order to not overload the PA of the gNB 100 and/or keeping the total transmit power of the gNB 100 constant.
  • the power budget also has to be kept within each radio subband for subband radio.
  • a location of the SSB may be flexible or can be anywhere. It’s possible that the SSB is located in one SubSC or spans to 2 SubSCs symmetrically or non-symmetrically.
  • a resource allocation type may decide a strategy for a muting one or more PRB.
  • the allocation of radio resource for the physical DL shared channel (PDSCH) is TypeO.
  • a granularity of the reserved one or more physical resource blocks (PRBs) may be a resource block group (RBG).
  • RBG resource block group
  • BWPs bandwidth parts
  • the final boost value for the change of the SSB transmit power or the final value of the SSB transmit power may be sent to a Remote Procedural Call (RPC, e.g. as logical module) of the gNB 100.
  • RPC Remote Procedural Call
  • Increasing (i.e., boosting) the SSB transmit power in the step 206 may have at least one of the following benefits. Firstly, the RSRP that is measured by the UE 150 is increased in the presence of a boosted SSB transmit power. Secondly, the (e.g., NR) cell coverage can be increased. Thirdly, a distance of the (e.g., secondary or NR) leg addition (of the DC) from the gNB 100 can be increased. Fourthly, a distance for a (e.g., secondary or NR) leg drop can be farther from the gNB 100. Fifthly, a latency of the (e.g., secondary or NR) leg setup procedure can be reduced.
  • the RSRP that is measured by the UE 150 is increased in the presence of a boosted SSB transmit power.
  • the (e.g., NR) cell coverage can be increased. Thirdly, a distance of the (e.g., secondary or NR) leg addition (of the DC) from the
  • Figs. 6 and 7 schematically illustrate how NR Master Information Block (MIB) information is communicated from an NR NS A gNB 100 to the UE 150. More specifically, Fig. 6 list exemplary content of a NR MIB.
  • MIB Master Information Block
  • Fig. 7 shows an embodiment of the method 200. While the method is described from the perspective of at least one of the radio devices 150, the skilled person understands that the corresponding steps of the method 200 performed by at the RAN 300 are also disclosed.
  • the method 200 comprises the steps indicated in Fig. 7.
  • the method 200 comprises at least one step that corresponds (from the perspective of the radio device 150) to at least one of the steps 202, 204, 206, and 207.
  • the UE 150 After establishing the LTE radio connection between the eNB 100' and the UE 150, the UE 150 is configured for measuring the SSB from the gNB 100.
  • the SSB is transmitted using the first SSB transmit power.
  • the UE 150 reads the MIB included in the SSB, if decodable.
  • the UE 150 reports its measurements of the SSB.
  • the method 200 referring to "measurement reports" from “radio devices” in plural form is to be interpreted as the RAN 300 typically comprising or serving a plurality of radio devices, so that any one of these radio devices may report one or more measurement reports.
  • the SSB is transmitted using the changed SSB transmit power based on the measurement reports.
  • the UE 150 is informed (e.g., prior to the changed SSB transmission or afterwards) of the changed value of the SSB transmit power.
  • the UE 150 may further report its measurements based on the changed SSB transmission.
  • Fig. 8A schematically illustrates a sequence of events and signals for a successful decoding of an MIB. At least one of these signals may be used in an implementation of the method 200, e.g., at least one of the events or signals indicated by reference signs in Fig. 8A.
  • Fig. 8B schematically illustrates a sequence of events and signals for a failed decoding of an MIB. At least one of these signals may be used in an implementation of the method 200, e.g., the event or signal indicated by reference sign 204 in Fig. 8B.
  • Fig. 9 shows an example of a measurement report and a failure information in a scenario which is problematic in that the UE 150 fails to decode MIB even in the presence of good SS-RSRP in an overlapping zone.
  • the UE 150 fails to decode the MIB, wherein SS-RSRP [-101->-100dBm] and SS-RSRQ[-15->-14dB],
  • Fig. 10 schematically illustrates RF metrics including SS-RSRP as an extremely good first RF metric and SS-SINR as a poor second RF metric.
  • This practical phenomenon indicates that even in coverage overlap zone, the SS-RSRP may have an optimum value but samples of the SS-RSRQ (as another example of a second RF metric) and/or the SS- SINR may be poor (e.g., less than a predefined threshold).
  • the conventional SSB transmit power boosting using same values for all types of encountered radio conditions can result in poor UE experience.
  • the conventional power boosting is at the cost of borrowing PDSCH PRB during scenarios like cell-center, coverage overlapping zone, high overshooting zone may result in NR spectrum inefficiencies.
  • a purpose of the SIB is to carry cell-specific parameters for idle operations including access to the cell.
  • the UE 150 receives relevant SIBs via LTE dedicated signaling. For NSA mode, there is no need to broadcast SIB by the gNB 100.
  • the MIB is still received on NR to provide timing and beam identification information.
  • reading SSB may include finding (i.e., reading) a primary synchronization signal (PSS) for frequency synchronization and symbol boundary as well as reading a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) to completely determine a cell identity (CelHD).
  • PSS primary synchronization signal
  • SSS secondary synchronization signal
  • the SSB is used to estimate the first RF metric (e.g., SS-RSRP) and the second RF metric (e.g., SS-SINR and/or SS-RSRQ) in terms of measurement.
  • the SSB also serves to establish frame boundary to know an exact symbol position of the SSB being read.
  • the SSB may comprise an NR PSS (or primary synchronization channel) and an NR SSS (or secondary synchronization channel) and a broadcast channel (e.g, PBCH).
  • NR PSS primary synchronization channel
  • NR SSS secondary synchronization channel
  • broadcast channel e.g, PBCH
  • the SSB may span 20 physical resource blocks (PRBs) and/or subcarriers 0 to 239 in the frequency domain.
  • PRBs physical resource blocks
  • the SSB comprises the PSS in an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol 0 and the SSS in a OFDM symbol 2.
  • OFDM symbols 1 and 3 of the SSB and/or the OFDM symbol 2 in subcarriers outside of the center part of the SSB may comprise the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) of the SSB.
  • the PBCH may carry the MIB.
  • the MIB may be transmitted directly from the gNB 100 to the UE 150 (e.g., in SA or NSA), the remaining minimum system information (RMSI) and the other system information (OSI) are transmitted through the eNB 100' to the UE 150 using LTE dedicated signaling, e.g., RRC signaling.
  • RMSI remaining minimum system information
  • OSI system information
  • the MIB is transmitted over a broadcast channel (BCH, as a transport channel) and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH, as a physical channel).
  • BCH broadcast channel
  • PBCH physical broadcast channel
  • the MIB is transmitted over OFDM symbols 1, 2, and 3. It uses the subcarriers numbered 0 to 239 on the OFDM symbol 1 and 3, whereas on symbol 2 uses subcarrier number 0 to 47 and 192 to 239.
  • the technique of device 100 and method 200 may be implemented by an algorithm in the gNB 100 which handles SSB transmit power dynamically in real time considering specific radio scenarios (i.e., the combination of RF metrics) according to the method 200.
  • Specific radio scenarios can be evaluated based on real time measurement reports and historical performance counter data, e.g. available on gNB 100.
  • Typical coverage evaluation include:
  • Power boosting could be applied in case of a coverage-hole scenario and SSB power deboost in case of at least one of: a high coverage-overlap, overshooting and high DL interference scenario.
  • changing the SSB transmit power may comprise borrowing (e.g., dynamic power borrowing) radio resources from PDSCH PRB for SSB boosting and returning the radio resources (e.g., the borrowed power) back towards a scheduler of the network node 100, which may help utilization of those radio resources (e.g., NR PRB) for throughput improvement.
  • borrowing e.g., dynamic power borrowing
  • radio resources e.g., the borrowed power
  • the UE 150 reports B 1 measurement value to the Master eNB 100' with the strongest Physical Cell ID (PCI) having best SS-RSRP, SS-RSRQ and SS- SINR. Sometimes the UE 150 carries multiple measurement report of different PCIs, which act as multiple neighbors (e.g., multiple adjacent cells).
  • PCI Physical Cell ID
  • the UE 150 can provide detailed location information for serving cell and neighbor cells which can help to provide a RF footprint of the UE 150.
  • the reported MDT data may be correlated with logged MDT data for better evaluation.
  • the MeNB 100' connects with the SgNB 100 using SgNB Addition Request.
  • the gNB 100 starts its evaluation based on reported measurement report if the number of measurement reports greater than one.
  • the gNB 100 calculates SS-RSRP differences between serving PCI and Neighbor PCIs. If the differences is within gNB-internal configurable dominance threshold window, for example 5dB, the gNB 100 declares probable high coverage overlap.
  • the MeNB 100' forwards current measurement report to gNB 100 in the step 204.
  • MDT data reported from UE 100 e.g., immediate MDT
  • correlation with logged MDT stored in gNB 100 may be used for evaluation of current RF share (e.g., based on UE location of the UE 150), wherefrom the UE 150 is initiating the request.
  • the combination of the first and second RF metrics may correspond to at least one of the following scenarios:
  • a coverage hole is an area where the signal level SINR of both serving and allowed neighbor cells is below the level needed to maintain basic service. Coverage holes are usually caused by physical obstructions such as new buildings, hills, or by unsuitable antenna parameters, or just inadequate RF planning. UE in coverage hole will suffer from call drop and radio link failure.
  • Weak coverage occurs when the signal level SNR (or SINR) of serving cell is below the level needed to maintain a planned performance requirement (e.g., cell edge bit-rate).
  • SNR signal level
  • SINR SINR
  • Coverage Overlap In areas where coverage of different cells overlaps a lot, interference levels are high, power levels are high, energy consumption is high and cell performance may be low. This problem phenomenon has been called "pilot contamination", and the problem can be addressed by reducing coverage of cells. Typically, in this situation UEs may experience high SNR to more than one cell and high interference levels.
  • Overshoot occurs when coverage of a cell reaches far beyond what is planned. It can occur as an "island" of coverage in the interior of another cell, which may not be a direct neighbor. Reasons for overshoot may be reflections in buildings or across open water, lakes etc. UEs in this area may suffer call drops or high interference. Possible actions to improve the situation include changing the coverage of certain cells and mobility blacklisting of certain cells.
  • the gNB 100 if the gNB 100 finds that the first RF metric (e.g., SS-RSRP) is equal to or greater than an internal configurable first threshold (e.g., an SS-RSRP threshold) and the second RF metric (e.g., SS-SINR) is equal to or less than an internal configurable second threshold (e.g., an SS-SINR threshold), the gNB 100 considers there is coverage overshooting or DL interference.
  • an internal configurable first threshold e.g., an SS-RSRP threshold
  • an internal configurable second threshold e.g., an SS-SINR threshold
  • Fig. 11 shows an example summary of a decision table for the gNB 100 based on the (real-time) measurement reports.
  • the first and second thresholds e.g., DL measurement thresholds SS-DL SINR-EvaluationThreshold, SS-RSRP -EvaluationThreshold,SS_RSRQ- EvaluationThreshold, may be operator-configurable based on network design flexibility and/or receiver sensitivity.
  • a high coverage overlap may be distinguished by a number of neighboring cells.
  • the SS SINREvaluationThreshold may correspond to an optimum point of SS-SINR for evaluation.
  • the SS RSRPEvaluationThreshold may correspond to an optimum point of SS-RSRP for evaluation.
  • the SS RSRQEvaluationThreshold may correspond to an optimum point of SS-RSRQ for evaluation.
  • the gNB 100 verifies its internal register for historical data evaluation for last Report Output Period (ROP, e.g. 1 to 5 minutes) or more granularity which can be configurable.
  • ROP Report Output Period
  • KPI key performance indicator
  • Internal KPI for determining power-scaling in a step 205 of the method may comprise at least one of: l)NROverlappingEvalF actor
  • KPI evaluation factors can be scalable in number depending on power scaling evaluation weightage.
  • the gNB 100 may consider historical data or calculation for the Coverage Overlapping factor 1) NROverlappingEvalFactor.
  • network 300 uses the same frequency, if the overlap area is too big between two cells, it will cause a lot of interference with each other. As discussed previously, interference reduces the throughput in a strong way, so the identification of the strongest interferers is needed.
  • An area of strong interference shall be identified as an area with good RSRP but with low SINR and/or RSRQ.
  • This KPI is an estimation of cell coverage overlap estimation. It can be evaluated as 95 th percentile of NR Timing Advance and/or Average Distance to Neighbors.
  • the Average Distance to neighbors can be calculated or weighted from performance counter, e.g., based on weightage of a handover (HO) success rate multiplied with HO attempts, e.g. :
  • NR intra-frequency PScell Change success [e.g., 5G mobility success]
  • a 2 / NR Intra-frequency PScell Change A 2 / NR Intra-frequency PScell Change.
  • SSB Power can be boosted.
  • the NRRadiolinkEvalFactor may be evaluated dor the purpose of Radio Link Failure (RLF).
  • the physical layer of the UE 150 monitors the downlink radio link quality of the primary cell for indicating out-of-sync / in-sync status indications to the higher layers.
  • RLF Radio Link Failure
  • the physical layer of the UE 150 monitors the downlink radio link quality of the primary cell for indicating out-of-sync / in-sync status indications to the higher layers.
  • RLF is declared separately for the MCG (E-UTRA LTE Cell) and for the SCG cells (NR).
  • the UE If radio link failure is detected for MCG (LTE eNB), the UE initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure, but when RLF is detected for SCG (NR cell) failure, the UE suspends SCG transmissions for all radio bearers and reports the SCG Failure Information to the eNB, instead of triggering re-establishment.
  • MCG Long Term Evolution
  • SCG NR cell
  • the gNB 100 considers performance counters for radio link failures and/or (e.g., NR) session drop with respect to SS-RSRP.
  • An example of a performance counter (e.g., also referred to as performance data) is collected and stored based on different subscription attributes in the network 300.
  • the performance counter may be user-defined or system-defined.
  • files of the performance data may be collected or generated by network elements and/or may be made available on a Northbound Interface (NBI) to applications processing them.
  • NBI Northbound Interface
  • ROP Report Output Period
  • an ROP file of the performance counter may be generated or stored in a 15-minutes period, a 5-minutes, or a 1 -minute period, e.g. depending on system design of the network 300.
  • ROP Report Output Period
  • AverageNRSessionDropwithRSRP AverageNRSessionDropwithRSRP
  • Fig. 12 schematically illustrates example statistics on session sustainability for different RSRP.
  • the NRDLULBLEREvalFactor may be a Block Error Rate (BLER) threshold factor, e.g. in both the uplink and downlink.
  • BLER Block Error Rate
  • the NRDLULBLEREvalFactor is a measure of an insynchronization and out-of- synchronization indication during radio link monitoring.
  • the maximum of the uplink or downlink BLER Threshold factor is considered for purposes of computing dynamic SSB transmit power boost.
  • the main motivation is to give preference for cells exhibiting low value of BLER (either uplink or downlink) for SSB power boost.
  • BLER Block Error Rate
  • NRDLULBLEREvalF actor (InternalNRDL/ULBLERThreshold-latest Average
  • the gNB 100 considers DL BLER performance counter historical value. If latestAverageDL/UL BLER value is greater than IntemalNRDLBLERthreshold, the weightage for power deboost is gained, else keep same baseline SSB transmit power or increase SSB transmit power. A concept is to discourage SSB transmit power boosting if BLER is high. BLER is an indicator or measure for the radio link being in-synchronization or out-of-synchronization. Optionally, this can be an indication of an interference issue.
  • Discontinuous transmission means nothing is transmitted on physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) if control signaling corresponding to downlink data is not detected on physical downlink control channel (PDCCH).
  • High DTX means poor coverage. If uplink coverage is poor in certain point DL, SSB coverage boosting (i.e., increasing the SSB transmit power) need to be restricted.
  • a receiver produces a negative acknowledgement (NACK) in case an error is being detected.
  • NACK negative acknowledgement
  • the respective (i.e., desired) packet sent again. It is a kind of indication of retransmission of poor RF coverage.
  • the NRDLULPRBEvalFactor is computed based on a degree of deviation between latest average NRDL/ULPRBUtilization and internal threshold for NR DL/UL PRB Utilization set for adaptive regulation of SSB transmit power in a predefined time interval. For example,
  • NRDLULPRBEvalFactor (-latest Average NRDLPRBUtilization + internalNRDLULPRBUtilizationThreshold),
  • the NRTimingAdvanceEvalFactor may be based on a Timing Advance (TA), which is a special command from the eNB 100' or gNB 100 to the UE 150 that enables the UE 150 to adjust its uplink transmission.
  • TA Timing Advance
  • the UE 150 figures out the timing advance value from two different MAC layer commands depending on the situation. For the first uplink message after random access preamble on the physical random access channel (PRACH) in a step 208, the UE 150 applies the Timing Advance value that it extracts from RACH Response (RAR). After the initial RACH process, the UE 150 would apply the Timing Advance value that it extracts from Timing Advance MAC CE if it received it. When the latest average Timing Advance value is greater than internal threshold for Timing Advance in a predefined time SSB Power Boosting is discouraged else SSB Power Boosting is encouraged.
  • PRACH physical random access channel
  • RAR RACH Response
  • the NRTimingAdvanceEvalFactor may correspond to (-latest Average Timing Advance +IntemalTImingAdvanceThreshold)/ (Maximum NR Timing Advance IntemalNRTimingAdvanceThreshold).
  • the motivation is to prohibit interference for overshooting and high coverage overlap candidates by SSB power deboosting.
  • the motivation is to provide weightage to the cells for SSB power boosting where uplink path is not interference limited.
  • the factor NRPUSCHSINREvalFactor may correspond to (latest Average NRPUSCH SINR - IntemalNRPUSCHSNRThreshold)/(MaximumULSINR-InternalNRPUSCHNRThreshold).
  • a UE-reported Channel Quality Indicator may reflect DL coverage.
  • NRDLCQIEvalFactor l which indicates it is imperative to increase SSB transmit power boost for optimum CQI condition.
  • the factor NRPathlossEvalFactor may correspond to (latest Average NR UL Pathloss - InternalNRULPathlossThreshold).
  • NRPathlossEvalFactor 0, else 1.
  • the factor NRPHREvalFactor may correspond to (latest AveragePHRReported - IntemalNRPHRThreshol d) .
  • the power headroom measurements indicate how much transmission power remains for a UE 150 to use in addition to the transmit power being used for current transmission. If the UE transmit power cannot exceed the UE Maximum transmission power, the UE 150 cannot avail enough resource blocks if UE experiences shortage of power headroom.
  • NRPHREvalFactor 0, else 1. If a power headroom (PHR) value exceeds a threshold that indicates the uplink is already in a power-limited state, hence the DL SSB transmit power boosting may not be able to draw an intended benefit.
  • PHR power headroom
  • ANR Automatic Neighbor Relation
  • the power scaling i.e., the change of the SSB transmit power
  • the power scaling may be calculated in a step 205 of the method.
  • the power scaling value may be an average of at least one or all of NROverlappingEvalF actor, NRRadioLinkEvalF actor, NRDLULBLEREvalF actor,
  • NRDL/ULHARQDTXEvalF actor NRDL/ULNACKEvalFactor
  • NRDLULPRBEvalF actor NRDLULPRBEvalF actor
  • NRTimingAdvanceEvalF actor NRTimingAdvanceOut-of-coverageEvalF actor
  • NRULRadioInterferenceEvalFactor NRPUSCHSINREvalFactor, NRDLCQI EvalFactor, NRPathlossEvalFactor, NRPHREvalFactor, NRPRACHFailureEvalFactor, NRIntraMobilityEvalF actor.
  • the changed SS-PBCHBlockPower value (e.g., the second SSB transmit power) may be equal to InitialSS-PBCHBlockPower+ Scaled SSB-Boost (e.g., the first SSB transmit power + the changed boost value).
  • the changed SS-PBCHBlockPower may be equal to:
  • the MaximumSSBBoost value indicates a system-supported SSB boost value based on bandwidth.
  • the gNB 100 may decide to deboost the SSB transmit power by a power scaling factor. E.g., if the last KPIs were high coverage overlap in certain area, then the gNB 100 may decide to deboost.
  • a deboost amount may correspond to a maximumSSBPowerBoost*Powerscaling, wherein KPI threshold are means for deboost. Typically, most of KPIs 0, not 1.
  • the changed SS-PBCHBlockPower Initial-SS-PBCHBlockPower- (MaximumSSBPowerBoost*powerscaling).
  • 6 dBm - 6 dBm * 8/14 for 6 dBm as maximumSSBPowerBoost and 8 KPIs are 0 and rest 1.
  • the SS-PBCHBlockPower (e.g., the current SSB power) may be an information element (IE).
  • the maximumSSBPowerBoost may be based on system capability for SSB power).
  • the regulation (which may be indicated in a 2nd RRC reconfiguration) may be indicative of a maximum SSB boost or an SS-PBCHBlockPower+ maximumSSBPowerBoost, or a maximum deboost or SS-PBCHBlockPower- maximumSSBPowerBoost.
  • the gNodeB 100 may segregate (i.e., determine for the area) at least one of: coverage hole, good coverage, cellcoverage overlap, cell-overshooting, and DL interference.
  • the gNB 100 may take historical performance counter data from the gNB 100 for power scaling value computation, i.e. how much SSB transmit power need to boost or how much SSB transmit power to deboost or no need to change any SSB transmit power.
  • the gNB 100 borrows required amount of PRB from PDSCH PRB associated with SSB slots in a step 209.1. For example for 4.3dB Boost 33 PRBs may be reserved during 5G data transaction. After successful SgNB release, the gNB 100 returns the allocated 33 PRBs for user data scheduling in a step 209.2.
  • the gNB 100 determines how much PRBs have to be reserved. When the session is terminated, that number of PRBs is to be returned to the scheduler.
  • PRB blanking mechanism is dependent on amount of power needed to be boosted.
  • the reserved PRB granularity is RBG.
  • Different BWP is having different RBG size with different configuration, so number of blanked RBG will be different.
  • Amount of blanked RBG is also dependent on SSB position.
  • Fig. 13 shows an example:
  • 100 MHz corresponds to 273 PRBs.
  • 1 RBG comprises 16 PRBs in 5G. -> 17 RBG.
  • RBG are allocated to UE 150 by the scheduler of the gNB 100, not individual PRBs. Unused PRBs in the allocated RBG are used for boosting.
  • the secondary gNB 100 releases the allocated PRBs for other user data scheduling, if the UE 150 already utilized SSB transmit power boosting.
  • Release complete i.e., session ends
  • the borrowed PRBs are allocated to other UEs 150 for data transaction.
  • Fig. 14 shows a flowchart for a method embodiment of the method 200, e.g., an implementation of the above-described embodiment for a NR NSA scenario.
  • Fig. 15 shows a flowchart depicting another implementation of the method 200 for a NR NSA scenario.
  • Fig. 16 shows a signaling diagram of an implementation of the method 200 in a 5G NR SA scenario.
  • a UE 150 is able to receive data services according to 5G NR if the UE 150 is registered and has at least one PDU session established.
  • a UE 150 is registered without a PDU session established, as indicated at steps (1) to (3) in Fig. 16.
  • the random access is performed including receiving a random access preamble at the SA-gNB 100.
  • a step (2) comprises RRC Connection Establishment.
  • a step (3) comprises registration.
  • a step (4) comprises PDU Session establishment.
  • the measurement report may be received 204 in a connected mode only.
  • the SA-gNB 100 evaluates (e.g., in any implementation of the step 205 disclosed herein) based on the measurement reports received in the step 204 the change of the SSB transmit power and communicates to the UE 150 according to the step 206, optionally including a direct transmission (e.g., broadcast) of SIB1 in a step 207 (e.g., as a sub step of the step 206).
  • a direct transmission e.g., broadcast
  • the SIB1 may be indicative of the changed (i.e., second) SSB transmit power, e.g., in an IE ss-PBCH-BlockPower .
  • Fig. 17 schematically illustrates a SON Module Flow-chart proposal (SA and NSA).
  • Fig. 18 schematically illustrates an embodiment of a power regulator module embodying the device 200 in a centralized architecture.
  • Fig. 19 schematically illustrates a power scaling calculation procedure for UE- specific SSB-Power boosting or deboosting.
  • Any embodiment may be implemented using cloud computation or edge computation, e.g. concerning the Control Plane (CP) function as per 3GPP specifications.
  • CP Control Plane
  • Fig. 20 shows a schematic block diagram for an embodiment of the device 100.
  • the device 100 comprises processing circuitry, e.g., one or more processors 2004 for performing the method 200 and memory 2006 coupled to the processors 2004.
  • the memory 2006 may be encoded with instructions that implement at least one of the modules 102, 104 and 106.
  • the one or more processors 2004 may be 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, microcode and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other components of the device 100, such as the memory 2006, network functionality.
  • the one or more processors 2004 may execute instructions stored in the memory 2006. Such functionality may include providing various features and steps discussed herein, including any of the benefits disclosed herein.
  • the expression "the device being operative to perform an action” may denote the device 100 being configured to perform the action.
  • the device 100 may be embodied by a network node 2000, e.g., functioning as a (e.g., SSB transmitting) base station.
  • the network node 2000 comprises a radio interface 2002 (e.g., a radio unit or distributed unit) coupled to the device 100 (e.g., a central unit) a for radio communication with one or more radio devices, e.g., functioning as UEs.
  • a communication system 2100 includes a telecommunication network 2110, such as a 3 GPP -type cellular network, which comprises an access network 2111, such as a radio access network, and a core network 2114.
  • the access network 2111 comprises a plurality of base stations 2112a, 2112b, 2112c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 2113a, 2113b, 2113c.
  • Each base station 2112a, 2112b, 2112c is connectable to the core network 2114 over a wired or wireless connection 2115.
  • a first user equipment (UE) 2191 located in coverage area 2113c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 2112c.
  • a second UE 2192 in coverage area 2113a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 2112a. While a plurality of UEs 2191, 2192 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station 2112.
  • Any of the base stations 2112 may embody the device 100 or 2000. Any one of the UEs 2191, 2192 may embody the device 150.
  • the telecommunication network 2110 is itself connected to a host computer 2130, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud- implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm.
  • the host computer 2130 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider.
  • the connections 2121, 2122 between the telecommunication network 2110 and the host computer 2130 may extend directly from the core network 2114 to the host computer 2130 or may go via an optional intermediate network 2120.
  • the intermediate network 2120 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; the intermediate network 2120, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 2120 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).
  • the communication system 2100 of Fig. 21 as a whole enables connectivity between one of the connected UEs 2191, 2192 and the host computer 2130.
  • the connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 2150.
  • the host computer 2130 and the connected UEs 2191, 2192 are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via the OTT connection 2150, using the access network 2111, the core network 2114, any intermediate network 2120 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries.
  • the OTT connection 2150 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 2150 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications.
  • a base station 2112 need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from a host computer 2130 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 2191. Similarly, the base station 2112 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 2191 towards the host computer 2130.
  • the performance or range of the OTT connection 2150 can be improved, e.g., in terms of increased range, increased throughput due to less interference and/or reduced latency (e.g., due to more reliable radio connections).
  • the host computer 2130 may indicate to the RAN 300 or the network node 100 or 2000 or 2112 (e.g., on an application layer) the QoS of the traffic or any other trigger for performing the method 200.
  • a host computer 2210 comprises hardware 2215 including a communication interface 2216 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 2200.
  • the host computer 2210 further comprises processing circuitry 2218, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities.
  • the processing circuitry 2218 may comprise one or more programmable processors, applicationspecific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions.
  • the host computer 2210 further comprises software 2211, which is stored in or accessible by the host computer 2210 and executable by the processing circuitry 2218.
  • the software 2211 includes a host application 2212.
  • the host application 2212 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as a UE 2230 connecting via an OTT connection 2250 terminating at the UE 2230 and the host computer 2210.
  • the host application 2212 may provide user data, which is transmitted using the OTT connection 2250.
  • the user data may depend on the location of the UE 2230.
  • the user data may comprise auxiliary information or precision advertisements (also: ads) delivered to the UE 2230.
  • the location may be reported by the UE 2230 to the host computer, e.g., using the OTT connection 2250, and/or by the base station 2220, e.g., using a connection 2260.
  • the communication system 2200 further includes a base station 2220 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 2225 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 2210 and with the UE 2230.
  • the hardware 2225 may include a communication interface 2226 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 2200, as well as a radio interface 2227 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 2270 with a UE 2230 located in a coverage area (not shown in Fig. 22) served by the base station 2220.
  • the communication interface 2226 may be configured to facilitate a connection 2260 to the host computer 2210.
  • the connection 2260 may be direct, or it may pass through a core network (not shown in Fig.
  • the hardware 2225 of the base station 2220 further includes processing circuitry 2228, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, applicationspecific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions.
  • the base station 2220 further has software 2221 stored internally or accessible via an external connection.
  • the communication system 2200 further includes the UE 2230 already referred to. Its hardware 2235 may include a radio interface 2237 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 2270 with a base station serving a coverage area in which the UE 2230 is currently located.
  • the hardware 2235 of the UE 2230 further includes processing circuitry 2238, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions.
  • the UE 2230 further comprises software 2231, which is stored in or accessible by the UE 2230 and executable by the processing circuitry 2238.
  • the software 2231 includes a client application 2232.
  • the client application 2232 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non -human user via the UE 2230, with the support of the host computer 2210.
  • an executing host application 2212 may communicate with the executing client application 2232 via the OTT connection 2250 terminating at the UE 2230 and the host computer 2210.
  • the client application 2232 may receive request data from the host application 2212 and provide user data in response to the request data.
  • the OTT connection 2250 may transfer both the request data and the user data.
  • the client application 2232 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.
  • the host computer 2210, base station 2220 and UE 2230 illustrated in Fig. 22 may be identical to the host computer 2130, one of the base stations 2112a, 2112b, 2112c and one of the UEs 2191, 2192 of Fig. 21, respectively.
  • the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in Fig. 22, and, independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of Fig. 21.
  • the OTT connection 2250 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host computer 2210 and the UE 2230 via the base station 2220, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices.
  • Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from the UE 2230 or from the service provider operating the host computer 2210, or both. While the OTT connection 2250 is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).
  • the wireless connection 2270 between the UE 2230 and the base station 2220 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.
  • One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 2230 using the OTT connection 2250, in which the wireless connection 2270 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may reduce the latency and improve the data rate and thereby provide benefits such as better responsiveness and improved QoS.
  • a measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, QoS and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve.
  • the measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 2250 may be implemented in the software 2211 of the host computer 2210 or in the software 2231 of the UE 2230, or both.
  • sensors may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which the OTT connection 2250 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 2211, 2231 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities.
  • the reconfiguring of the OTT connection 2250 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect the base station 2220, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 2220. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art.
  • measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating the host computer’s 2210 measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like.
  • the measurements may be implemented in that the software 2211, 2231 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or "dummy" messages, using the OTT connection 2250 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.
  • Fig. 23 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment.
  • the communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figs. 21 and 22. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Fig. 23 will be included in this paragraph.
  • the host computer provides user data.
  • the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application.
  • the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE.
  • the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.
  • the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.
  • Fig. 24 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment.
  • the communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figs. 21 and 22. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Fig. 24 will be included in this paragraph.
  • the host computer provides user data.
  • the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application.
  • the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.
  • the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.
  • NR NSA New Radio Non-Standalone
  • 5G fifth generation
  • Same or further embodiments can minimize or reduce a number of NR RACH failures and/or NR service drops due to the radio device (e.g., UE) failing to decode the master information block (MIB) of the network node, which can improve user experience and UE key performance indicators (KPIs).
  • MIB master information block
  • KPIs UE key performance indicators
  • Same or further embodiments improve (e.g., NR) spectral efficiency by securing (i.e., allocating) one or more PDSCH PRBs for the increasing of the SSB transmit power (i.e., boosting, e.g.
  • the one or more released PRBs can be utilized for capacity purpose.
  • Same or further embodiments improve on energy saving of the radio devices (e.g., UEs) as well as energy savings of the network node (e.g., eNB/gNB), thus making the radio nodes more ecofriendly. It is a novel approach for carbon footprint reduction. At least some embodiments of the technique can mitigate generation and usage of RF electromagnetic fields.
  • At least some embodiments of the technique can specifically improvement the RSRP of the SSB (SS-RSRP) and/or downlink (DL) interference mitigation for radio devices (e.g., UEs) in a coverage overlap scenario.
  • SS-RSRP RSRP of the SSB
  • DL downlink
  • Same or further embodiments improve a success rate or random access (e.g., NR RACH), e.g. in NR NSA scenario, wherein MIB decoding at the radio devices (e.g., UEs) is a challenge due to unnecessary power-driven DL interference in cell coverage overlap area.
  • At least some embodiments of the technique can improve UE-specific access coverage, which is a technical advantage for competing Communications Service Providers (CSPs).
  • CSPs Communications Service Providers
  • Same or further embodiments can improve latency and/or reduce a radio leg setup procedure, e.g., for NR and/or dual connectivity (DC).
  • DC dual connectivity
  • At least some embodiments of the technique can optimize the RAN at less operational expenditure for CSPs. Measurement and network optimization activity makes a significant cost. Regulating the SSB transmit power based on the measurement reports from the radio devices (e.g., UEs), these costs can be significantly reduced. At the same time it avoids any impact on the neighbor cell coverage.
  • the radio devices e.g., UEs
  • At least some embodiments of the technique can take care of uplink (UL) radio link quality -based decision of for regulating the SSB transmit power.
  • UL uplink
  • At least some embodiments of the technique can save a significant amount of radio frequency (RF) cell shaping optimization efforts.
  • RF radio frequency
  • Any one of the embodiments may be implemented according to at least one of 3GPP document TS 36.331, version 17.0.0; 3GPP document TS 38.211, version 17.1.0; 3GPP document TS 28.313, version 17.4.0; and 3GPP document TS 37.320, version 17.0.0, or by amending at least one of these 3GPP documents according to the respective embodiment of the technique.

Abstract

As to a method aspect performed by a network node (100) in a radio access network, RAN, a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block, SSB, is transmitting using a first SSB transmit power, wherein the SSB is indicative of a cell of the network node (100). Measurement reports based on the SSB transmitted using the first SSB transmit power are received. The measurement reports are indicative of a first radio frequency, RF, metric and a second RF metric. The measurement reports are received from radio devices (150) served by the RAN in an area of the cell, and wherein the first RF metric is insensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB, and the second RF metric is sensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB. The SSB is transmitted using a second SSB transmit power, wherein the second SSB transmit power is changed relative to the first SSB transmit power depending on a combination of the first RF metric and the second RF metric.

Description

Technique for dynamic network coverage
Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a technique for dynamic coverage of a radio access network. More specifically, and without limitation, methods and devices are provided for network-assisted dynamic coverage.
Background
The Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) defines radio access technologies (RATs) for radio access in cells of a radio access network (RAN) for radio devices, which are generically referred to as user equipments (UEs). In a radio connected state, RATs such as fourth generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) and fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR) use link-adaptation and beam-forming for a dynamic response to changes of the channel state of a radio channel between a serving network node of the RAN and the served radio device.
The synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) transmitted by the network node is essential for the coverage of a cell of the network node before a radio connection can be established. However, existing implementations of a power boost for the SSB increase the SSB transmit power irrespective of the state of the radio channel and network conditions.
If the coverage of cells overlaps, e.g. in a dense urban area, boosting the SSB transmit power can cause several scenarios with an extremely good reference signal received power (RSRP) of the SSB (SS-RSRP), while the signal to interference and noise ratio (SINR) of the SSB (SS-SINR) and the reference signal received quality (RSRQ) of the SSB (SS-RSRQ) are poor. In some scenarios, after extending the coverage of a cell, the overlap increases which can be unwanted, e.g. for mobility management. In same or further overshooting scenarios, increasing the SSB transmit power results in severe interference. As a consequence, a radio device, which already receives sufficient power of the SSB, can suffer from downlink interference due to the boost of the SSB transmit power so that the radio device is not able to decode the master information block (MIB) from the PBCH. As another consequence, if a secondary leg (e.g., an NR leg) has already been setup for dual connectivity (DC, e.g. for non-standalone NR), there is a high probability of a reduction of downlink (DL) throughput due to low DL-SINR. In this case, the DL interference is caused by the boosted SSB transmit power in the overlapping coverage area. Summary
Accordingly, there is a need for a technique that enables dynamic network coverage.
As to a method aspect, a method performed by a network node in a radio access network (RAN) is provided. The method comprises or initiates a step of transmitting a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) using a first SSB transmit power. The SSB is indicative of a cell of the network node. The method further comprises or initiates a step of receiving measurement reports that are based on the SSB transmitted using the first SSB transmit power. The measurement reports are indicative of a first radio frequency metric (RF metric) and a second RF metric. The measurement reports are received from radio devices served by the RAN in an area of the cell. The first RF metric is (e.g., designed or configured to be) insensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB. The second RF metric is sensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB. The method further comprises or initiates a step of transmitting the SSB using a second SSB transmit power, wherein the second SSB transmit power is changed relative to the first SSB transmit power depending on a combination of the first RF metric and the second RF metric.
The combination of the first and second RF metrics may be a criterion for increasing and/or decreasing the SSB transmit power, e.g., in real-time. Alternatively or in addition, the criterion for increasing or not decreasing the SSB transmit power may comprise a coverage enhancement requirement, e.g., as indicated by a low first RF metric. Alternatively or in addition, the criterion for decreasing or not increasing the SSB transmit power may comprise a radio interference situation (or other radio clutter-specific situation), e.g., as indicated by a low second RF metric.
The method may be implemented by a mechanism to automatically detect an opportunity of boosting (i.e., increasing) and/or deboosting (i.e., decreasing) the SSB transmit power based on the combination of the first and second RF metrics, e.g. whenever needed in specific cases. Alternatively or in addition, the method may be implemented as an intelligent method for network-assisted dynamic coverage, optionally for fourth generation (4G) Long Term Evolution (LTE) or fifth generation (5G) New Radio (NR).
The technique may be implemented for NR. The SSB may be a NR SSB. Alternatively or in addition, the network node may be involved in a dual connectivity (DC) of at least one of the radio devices. At least one or each of the measurement reports (e.g., the first and/or the second metric) may be indicative of at least one of a secondary cell group (SCG) failure in the DC and a NR B 1 measurement.
By dynamically regulating the SSB transmit power (such as boosting) for different radio topologies, at least some embodiments of the method can improve a (e.g., 5G) user experience from an end user perspective and/or save significant (e.g., 5G) optimization effort from network operator perspective. Alternatively or in addition, embodiments of the method can save energy at the radio devices (e.g., UEs). Same or further embodiments enable a future-ready mature network, wherein a number of network nodes (e.g., radio network elements) is large.
Same or further embodiments can be applicable for 5G non-standalone (NSA) and standalone (SA). Alternatively or in addition, the SSB transmit power may be regulated according to an embodiment of the method based on a single radio device. A UE-specific implementation may improve NR spectrum efficiency. For example, the method may be implemented by a UE-specific dynamic regulation of the SSB transmit power (e.g., boosting and deboosting) without impacting uplink (UL) performance and/or DL throughput loss.
At least some embodiments of the method may reduce decoding errors at the radio device when decoding a master information block (MIB) from the network node, e.g. in a high coverage overlapping zone, which can ensure user experience.
In order to simplify management complexity for network optimization of the RAN (e.g., of a NR RAN), embodiments of the method can support or improve a self-organizing network (SON). Alternatively or in addition, the method may be implemented as an automatic radio network feature in the network node (e.g., a gNB), optionally for a non- standalone (NSA) and/or a standalone (SA) system.
By changing the SSB transmit power depending on the combination of the first metric that is insensitive to the interference from other cells and the second metric that is sensitive to the interference from other cells, the SSB transmit power (which may be the basis for establishing an radio link or radio resource control, RRC, connection with the cell) may be changed according to (e.g., adapted to) at least one of: a varying interference situation, a varying user behavior, a moving density center of the radio devices, a minimization of power consumption at the network node (e.g., by not using more SSB transmit power than necessary for covering the radio devices in the area), and a minimization of inter-cell interference. The first SSB transmit power may also be referred to as an initial SSB transmit power. The network node may use a predefined first SSB transmit power. Alternatively or in addition, the method may be repeated, wherein the first SSB transmit power is the second SSB transmit power of a previous repetition of the method.
The second SSB transmit power may also be referred to as a regulated SSB transmit power. The network node may regulate the regulated SSB transmit power based on the combination of the first RF metric and the second RF metric.
The SSB may also be referred to as synchronization signal (SS). The physical broadcast channel may be abbreviated by PBCH. The SSB may also be referred to as SS/PBCH block.
The SSB may comprise or may be indicative of a Primary Synchronization Signal (PSS) and/or a Secondary Synchronization Signal (SSS), e.g., created using m-sequences. Alternatively or in addition, the SSB may comprise or may be indicative of the cell of the network node in that the SSB (e.g., the PSS and the SSS) is indicative of a Physical Cell ID (PCI) of the cell of the network node. Each of the PSS and SSS may correspond to a (nonnegative) integer. For example, the PCI may be related to the PSS and SSS according to PCI = (3 x SSS) + PSS.
At least one or each of the measurement reports may be received at the network node (e.g., a gNB) through another network node (e.g., an eNB) that served or is serving the radio device that transmitted the respective one of the measurement reports. For example, the other network node may forward at least the first and second RF metrics.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first RF metric comprises a reference signal received power, RSRP, of the SSB and/or wherein the second RF metric comprises at least one of a reference signal received quality, RSRQ, and a signal to interference and noise ratio, SINR, of the SSB, and/or wherein the second SSB transmit power is changed relative to the first SSB transmit power further depending on performance counter data stored at the network node.
The RSRP may be the average power of resource elements (REs) that carry cell- specific reference signals (RSs), for example, the over the entire measured bandwidth or corrected for a subcarrier spacing. Herein, RSs may comprise at least one of the PSS, the SSS, and demodulation RSs in the PBCH. For example, the RSRP is only measured in the symbols carrying RS. Alternatively or in addition, the RSRP may be the average received power of a single RS resource element. For example, at least one or each of the reporting radio devices may measure the power of multiple REs to transfer the RS and takes an average of them (e.g., rather than summing them). Alternatively or in addition, the RSRP indicated in the measurement report may be in a reporting range from -44 dBm to -140 dBm. Alternatively or in addition, the RSRP may be indicative of a signal power from the cell of the network node while (e.g., potentially or essentially) excluding noise and interference from other cells.
A carrier receive strength signal indicator (RSSI) may be indicative of the average total received power observed only in orthogonal frequency -division multiplexing (OFDM) symbols containing reference symbols for one antenna port in the measurement bandwidth over N physical resource blocks (PRBs). Alternatively or in addition, the total received power of the carrier RSSI includes the power from co-channel serving and non-serving cells, adjacent channel interference, thermal noise, etc.
The RSRQ may be RSRQ = N x RSRP / RSSI with the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), wherein N is the number of PRBs over which the RSSI is measured, e.g. equal to a system bandwidth. The RSSI may be pure wideband power measurement, including intracell power, interference and noise. For example, the reporting range of the RSRQ may be defined from -3 to -19.5 dB.
The method may further comprise or initiate, responsive to the SSB transmitted using the second SSB transmit power, receiving, from at least one of the radio devices, at least one of a random access (RA) preamble and data.
The RA preamble may use a downlink synchronization according to the SSB transmitted using the second SSB transmit power.
The receiving of measurement reports and the transmitting of the SSB may be repeated. The received measurement reports may be based on the SSB previously transmitted using a previous SSB transmit power. The SSB may be transmitted using a regulated SSB transmit power. The regulated SSB transmit power may be changed relative to the previous SSB transmit power depending on the combination of the first RF metric and the second RF metric indicated in the measurement reports.
The regulated SSB transmit power may be changed for each transmission of the SSB or in each radio frame of the network node or every second radio frame of the network node.
The receiving of the measurement reports may further comprise receiving measurement reports that are based on an SSB transmitted from, and/or indicative of, another cell other than the cell of the network node. The other cell may be a neighboring cell of the cell of the network node. Alternatively or in addition, the other cell may be a cell of a neighboring network node of the network node.
The method may further comprise or initiate a step of transmitting, or initiating a transmission of, a configuration message to at least one of the radio devices. The configuration message may be indicative of the second SSB transmit power. Optionally the configuration message may be transmitted to the at least one radio device prior to the transmitting of the SSB using the second SSB transmit power.
The configuration message may be a radio resource control (RRC) message, e.g., an RRC reconfiguration message. The RRC message may be indicative of a handover of the at least one radio device to the cell of network node or a dual connectivity of the at least one radio device involving the cell of network node.
The second SSB transmit power may be greater than the first SSB transmit power. Optionally, radio resources of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) of the cell or the network node may be borrowed or reserved for increasing the SSB transmit power. Alternatively or in addition, the second SSB transmit power may be increased relative to the first SSB transmit power without increasing a total transmit power of the cell.
Increasing the SSB transmit power (i.e., when second SSB transmit power is greater than the first SSB transmit power) may also be referred to as SSB boosting (or briefly: boosting). The radio resources may be borrowed from, or reserved at, a scheduler of the cell or of the network node. The reserving of the radio resources may comprise blocking the radio resources from the scheduling in the cell or by the network node, and/or may comprise leaving the radio resources blank or excluding the radio resources from scheduling in the cell or by the network node, and/or may comprise allocating the radio resources for the increasing of the SSB transmit power.
The second SSB transmit power may be less than the first SSB transmit power. Optionally, the radio resources of a (or the above-mentioned) PDSCH of the cell or the network node may be returned or released for scheduling when decreasing the SSB transmit power. Alternatively or in addition, the second SSB transmit power may be decreased relative to the first SSB transmit power without decreasing a total transmit power of the cell.
The second SSB transmit power may be greater than the first SSB transmit power in a first instance of the method and the second SSB transmit power may be less than the first SSB transmit power in a second instance of the method. In other words, the method may be repeated wherein the second instance is a repetition of the steps of the method.
Decreasing the SSB transmit power (i.e., when second SSB transmit power is less than the first SSB transmit power) may also be referred to as SSB deboosting (or briefly: deboosting). The radio resources may be returned to, or released at, a scheduler of the cell or of the network node.
For increasing the SSB transmit power, the method may comprise reserving one or more physical resource blocks (PRBs) of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH) of the cell (briefly: PDSCH PRB), e.g. based on a demand for boosting the SSB transmit power. Optionally, after completion of a packet data unit (PDU) session or call, the reserved one or more PDSCH PRBs may be deallocated (i.e., returned) for better throughput allocation. A spectral efficiency (e.g., of NR) can be maintained or improved by the allocation and/or deallocation (e.g., in real-time) of PDSCH PRB for the SSB transmit power. This improves service quality or meets a service requirement (e.g., a quality of service, QoS) for at least one or all of the radio devices, e.g. all radio devices in the area (e.g., comprising an area in which cell coverage overlaps).
The one or more PDSCH PRB in or associated with a transmission time interval (TTI, e.g., a slot) including the SSB can utilized as the radio resource that is reserved and/or released for increasing or decreasing the SSB transmit power, e.g. in a scenario with a capacity constraint.
The radio resources of the PDSCH may include at least one of time resources or slots of the PDSCH, frequency resources or subcarriers of the PDSCH, time-frequency resources or physical resource blocks (PRBs) of the PDSCH, and spatial resources or beams of the PDSCH.
The cell may provide radio access in the area using frequency-division duplexing (FDD).
The network node may be a New Radio non- standalone (NR NS A) network node. The measurement reports may be received through another network node serving the radio devices.
The network node may be a non- standalone (NS A) network node. Another network node may provide control signaling to the radio devices (e.g., by forwarding the control signaling between the radio device and the network node). Alternatively or in addition, the measurement reports may be received through another (or the other) network node serving the radio devices. For example, the network node may be an NR gNodeB and the other network node may be an LTE eNodeB, e.g. for dual connectivity (DC) of the respective radio device using evolved UMTS Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRAN) augmented by NR (ENDC).
The second SSB transmit power may be changed relative to the first SSB transmit power according to a coverage evaluation of the first RF metric and the second RF metric for the area. Optionally, the coverage evaluation of the area is determined to be one out of at least two or all of: a cell-coverage overlap, a cell overshooting, a cell-coverage hole, and a DL interference-prone area. The SSB transmit power may be increased responsive to the cell-coverage hole in the area. Alternatively or in addition, the SSB transmit power may be decreased responsive to at least one of the cell-coverage overlap, the cell-overshooting in the area, and the DL interference-prone area.
At least one or each of the radio devices may be a user equipment (UE), e.g., according to a 3GPP specification. Any of the radio devices may be a 3GPP user equipment (UE) or a Wi-Fi station (STA). The radio device may be a mobile or portable station, a device for machine-type communication (MTC), a device for narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) or a combination thereof. Examples for the UE and the mobile station include a mobile phone, a tablet computer and a self-driving vehicle. Examples for the portable station include a laptop computer and a television set. Examples for the MTC device or the NB-IoT device include robots, sensors and/or actuators, e.g., in manufacturing, automotive communication and home automation. The MTC device or the NB-IoT device may be implemented in a manufacturing plant, household appliances and consumer electronics.
At least one or each of the radio devices may be wirelessly connected (e.g., radioconnected or optically connected) in an uplink (UL) and/or a downlink (DL) (e.g., through a Uu interface) with the RAN.
The radio device and/or the RAN may form, or may be part of, a radio network, e.g., according to the Third Generation Partnership Project (3 GPP) or according to the standard family IEEE 802.11 (Wi-Fi). The method aspect may be performed by one or more embodiments of the network node of the RAN (e.g., a base station).
The RAN may comprise one or more network nodes (e.g., base stations), at least one of which performs the method. Alternatively or in addition, the radio network may be a vehicular, ad hoc and/or mesh network comprising two or more radio devices (e.g., vehicles such as cars), e.g., acting as a remote radio device and/or a relay radio device. Whenever referring to the RAN, the RAN may be implemented by one or more network nodes (e.g., base stations). At least one or each of the radio devices may be wirelessly connected or connectable (e.g., according to a radio resource control, RRC, state or active mode) with at least one network node of the RAN, e.g., with the network node performing the method aspect and/or another network node.
The network node (e.g., the network node performing the method or the other network node) may encompass any station (e.g., a base station) that is configured to provide radio access to any of the radio devices. The network node may also be referred to as cell, transmission and reception point (TRP), radio access node or access point (AP).
The base station and/or the relay radio device may provide a data link to a host computer providing the user data to the remote radio device or gathering user data from the remote radio device.
Examples for the network node (e.g., base station) may include a 3G base station or Node B (NB), 4G base station or eNodeB (eNB), a 5G base station or gNodeB (gNB), a WiFi AP, and a network controller (e.g., according to Bluetooth, ZigBee or Z-Wave).
The RAN may be implemented according to the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), 3 GPP Long Term Evolution (LTE) and/or 3 GPP New Radio (NR).
Any aspect of the technique may be implemented on a Physical Layer (PHY), a Medium Access Control (MAC) layer, a Radio Link Control (RLC) layer, a packet data convergence protocol (PDCP) layer, and/or a Radio Resource Control (RRC) layer of a protocol stack for the radio communication.
Herein, referring to a protocol of a layer may also refer to the corresponding layer in the protocol stack. Vice versa, referring to a layer of the protocol stack may also refer to the corresponding protocol of the layer. Any protocol may be implemented by a corresponding method.
As to another aspect, a computer program product is provided. The computer program product comprises program code portions for performing any one of the steps of the method aspect disclosed herein when the computer program product is executed by one or more computing devices. The computer program product may be stored on a computer- readable recording medium. The computer program product may also be provided for download, e.g., via the radio network, the RAN, the Internet and/or the host computer. Alternatively, or in addition, the method may be encoded in a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) and/or an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), or the functionality may be provided for download by means of a hardware description language.
As to a device aspect, a network node is provided. The network node comprises processing circuitry (e.g., at least one processor and a memory). Said memory comprises instructions executable by said at least one processor whereby the network node is operative to perform any one of the steps of the method aspect.
As to a further device aspect, a network node is provided. The network node is configured to perform any one of the steps of the method aspect.
As to a still further device aspect, a base station for communication with user equipments (UEs) is provided. The base station is configured to perform any one of the steps of the method aspect, wherein the radio devices comprise the UEs.
As to a still further aspect, a communication system including a host computer is provided. The host computer comprises a processing circuitry configured to provide user data, e.g., transmitted or received based on the SSB. The host computer further comprises a communication interface configured to forward the user data to a cellular network (e.g., the RAN and/or the network node) for transmission to a UE. A processing circuitry of the cellular network is configured to execute any one of the steps of the method aspect.
The communication system may further include the UE. The UE may comprise a radio interface and processing circuitry.
Alternatively, or in addition, the cellular network may further include one or more base stations (e.g., the network node) configured for radio communication with the UE and/or to provide a data link between the UE and the host computer using the method aspect.
The processing circuitry of the host computer may be configured to execute a host application, thereby providing the user data and/or any host computer functionality described herein. Alternatively, or in addition, the processing circuitry of the UE may be configured to execute a client application associated with the host application.
Any one of the devices, the network node, the base station, the UE, the communication system or any node or station for embodying the technique may further include any feature disclosed in the context of the method aspect, and vice versa. Particularly, any one of the units and modules disclosed herein may be configured to perform or initiate one or more of the steps of the method aspect. Brief Description of the Drawings
Further details of embodiments of the technique are described with reference to the enclosed drawings, wherein:
Fig. 1 shows a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a device for dynamic network coverage;
Fig. 2 shows a flowchart for a method embodiment for dynamic network coverage, which method may be implementable by the device of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 schematically illustrates an example of a radio network comprising embodiments of the device of Fig. 1 for performing the method of Fig. 2;
Fig. 4 shows a schematic signaling diagram for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1 resulting from embodiments of a radio device, a primary serving network node, and the network node that is performing the method;
Fig. 5 shows a schematic flowchart for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
Fig. 6 shows an example of a master information block of an embodiment of the network node performing the method of Fig. 1;
Fig. 7 shows a schematic flowchart for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
Fig. 8A example signals usable for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1 including a successful reception of the master information block;
Fig. 8B shows example signals usable for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1 including a failed reception of the master information block;
Fig. 9 shows a first example of a measurement report usable for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
Fig. 10 shows a second example of a measurement report usable for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
Fig. 11 shows exemplary combinations of RF metrics usable for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
Fig. 12 shows an example of statistics on sustained sessions as a function of a first RF metric usable for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
Fig. 13 shows examples of a number of blanked physical resource blocks as a function of a boost in SSB transmit power usable for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1; Fig. 14 shows a schematic signaling diagram for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1 resulting from embodiments of a radio device, a primary serving network node, and the network node that is performing the method;
Fig. 15 shows a schematic flowchart for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
Fig. 16 shows a schematic signaling diagram for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1 resulting from a stand-alone embodiment of the network node performing the method;
Fig. 17 shows a schematic flowchart for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
Fig. 18 shows embodiment of the method of Fig. 1 in a self-organizing network;
Fig. 19 shows an example of computing the SSB transmit power usable for an embodiment of the method of Fig. 1;
Fig. 20 shows a schematic block diagram of a network node embodying the device of Fig. 1;
Fig. 21 schematically illustrates an example telecommunication network connected via an intermediate network to a host computer;
Fig. 22 shows a generalized block diagram of a host computer communicating via a base station or radio device functioning as a gateway with a user equipment over a partially wireless connection; and
Figs. 23 and 24 show flowcharts for methods implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a base station or radio device functioning as a gateway and a user equipment.
Detailed Description
In the following description, for purposes of explanation and not limitation, specific details are set forth, such as a specific network environment in order to provide a thorough understanding of the technique disclosed herein. It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the technique may be practiced in other embodiments that depart from these specific details. Moreover, while the following embodiments are primarily described for a New Radio (NR) or 5G implementation, it is readily apparent that the technique described herein may also be implemented for any other radio communication technique, including a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) implementation according to the standard family IEEE 802.11, 3GPP LTE (e.g., LTE-Advanced or a related radio access technique such as MulteFire), for Bluetooth according to the Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG), particularly Bluetooth Low Energy, Bluetooth Mesh Networking and Bluetooth broadcasting, for Z-Wave according to the Z-Wave Alliance or for ZigBee based on IEEE 802.15.4.
Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the functions, steps, units and modules explained herein may be implemented using software functioning in conjunction with a programmed microprocessor, an Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), a Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), a Digital Signal Processor (DSP) or a general purpose computer, e.g., including an Advanced RISC Machine (ARM). It will also be appreciated that, while the following embodiments are primarily described in context with methods and devices, the invention may also be embodied in a computer program product as well as in a system comprising at least one computer processor and memory coupled to the at least one processor, wherein the memory is encoded with one or more programs that may perform the functions and steps or implement the units and modules disclosed herein.
Fig. 1 schematically illustrates a block diagram of an embodiment of a device implemented at and/or controlling a network node in a RAN, e.g., a device for dynamic network coverage. The device is generically referred to by reference sign 100.
The device 100 comprises a first SSB transmission module 102 that transmits a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) using a first SSB transmit power, wherein the SSB is indicative of a cell of the network node. The device 100 further comprises a measurement reports module 104 that receives measurement reports that are based on the SSB transmitted using the first SSB transmit power, wherein the measurement reports are indicative of a first radio frequency (RF) metric and a second RF metric, and wherein the measurement reports are received from radio devices served by the RAN in an area of the cell. The first RF metric is insensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB, and the second RF metric is sensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB. The device 100 further comprises a second SSB transmission module 106 that transmits the SSB using a second SSB transmit power, wherein the second SSB transmit power is changed relative to the first SSB transmit power depending on a combination of the first RF metric and the second RF metric.
Any of the modules of the device 100 may be implemented by units configured to provide the corresponding functionality.
The device 100 may also be referred to as, or may be embodied by, the network node (or base station). The network node 100 and the radio devices may be in direct radio communication, e.g., at least for the receiving of the measurement reports. The radio devices may be embodied by the UEs 150 described below.
Fig. 2 shows an example flowchart for a method 200 performed by a network node in a RAN.
In a step 202, a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block (SSB) is transmitted using a first SSB transmit power, wherein the SSB is indicative of a cell of the network node.
In a step 204, measurement reports based on the SSB transmitted using the first SSB transmit power are received. The measurement reports are indicative of a first RF metric and a second RF metric, and wherein the measurement reports are received from radio devices 150 served by the RAN in an area of the cell. The first RF metric is insensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB. The second RF metric is sensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB.
In a step 206, the SSB is transmitted using a second SSB transmit power. The second SSB transmit power is changed (relative to the first SSB transmit power) depending on a combination of the first RF metric and the second RF metric.
The method 200 may be performed by the device 100. For example, the modules 102, 104 and 106 may perform the steps 202, 204 and 206, respectively.
The technique may be applied to uplink (UL), downlink (DL) or direct communications between radio devices, e.g., device-to-device (D2D) communications or sidelink (SL) communications.
Each of the SSB-transmitting station 100 and SSB-receiving station 150 may be a radio device or a base station. Herein, any radio device may be a mobile or portable station and/or any radio device wirelessly connectable to a base station or RAN, or to another radio device. For example, the radio device may be a user equipment (UE), a device for machinetype communication (MTC) or a device for (e.g., narrowband) Internet of Things (loT). Two or more radio devices may be configured to wirelessly connect to each other, e.g., in an ad hoc radio network or via a 3 GPP SL connection. Furthermore, any base station may be a station providing radio access, may be part of a radio access network (RAN) and/or may be a node connected to the RAN for controlling the radio access. For example, the base station may be an access point, for example a Wi-Fi access point.
Fig. 3 schematically illustrates an example of a radio network comprising one or more embodiments of the device 100. For example, the radio network comprises a radio access network (RAN) and/or a core network (CN). The RAN may comprise multiple network nodes, at least one of which performs the method 200 or is controlled by a device 100 performing the method 200.
The changing of the SSB transmit power depending on the first and second RF metrics may improve the coverage of the network node 100 within its cell 101 without interference in neighboring cells 101' and 101" of the same network node 100 or other network nodes 100' or 100" as illustrated in Fig. 3.
Any embodiment of the network node 100 may benefit from dual connectivity, optionally involving different radio access technologies (RATs), e.g., 4G LTE as the master cell group (MCG) and 5G NR as the secondary cell group (SCG). For example, any embodiment may include at least some of the following features and steps of a NR NSA deployment.
For concreteness and without limitation, the radio devices 150 are referred to as UEs 150 hereinbelow.
In NR NSA deployment, utilization of LTE network (e.g., at least one eNodeB or eNB) is mandatory through which basic UE access, mobility, and control signaling are handled. When a UE 150 that capable of a dual connectivity (DC) between E-UTRAN and NR (i.e., EN-DC) intends to access the NR part of the NSA network (e.g., at least one network node 100 acting as a gNodeB or gNB), the UE 150 will be instructed to perform Bl measurements, which is enables measuring the NR band of one or more neighboring gNodeBs.
If a condition for the measured RSRP of the SSB (i.e., SSB-RSRP or SS-RSRP) or the RSRQ of the SSB (i.e., SSB-RSRQ or SS- RSRQ) meets a configured threshold, then the UE 150 will be reconfigured to EN-DC mode so that the UE 150 can simultaneously be connected to both eNB 100' (which may or may not embody the device 100) and the gNB 100 (as an embodiment of the device 100), and transact in split-bearer mode.
Accordingly, SSB coverage is important to decide access capabilities for the UE 150 and then configure a user plane transaction behavior for the UE 150.
In NSA mode, the network (e.g., the master network node 100') instructs the UE 150 to carry out signal quantity measurement in form of SS-RSRP or SS-RSRQ. The SSB coverage defines access coverage of the network 300 and Communications Service Providers (CSPs) make their most efforts to improve it. Exist mechanisms to improve SSB coverage include using Multiple SSB beam sweeping methodologies to improve access coverage. Another method is to increase radio transmit power homogeneously, i.e., unregulated SSB transmit power boosting.
However, the conventional SSB beam sweeping mechanism is associated with significant signaling overhead associated. And if conventional SSB transmit power boosting is applied in the whole network, there will be a change in coverage overlap. Higher interference will result in performance deterioration and accessibility problems for several UEs 150.
Another observation associated with conventional SSB transmit power boosting is that physical resource blocks for a (e.g., NR) physical downlink shared channel (NR PDSCH PRB) are always reserved, which makes these radio resources unavailable for other UEs who may need radio resources for their data transaction, resulting in degradation of their NR PDSCH throughput.
Thus, the existing techniques mean that one or more UEs 150 that are in a healthy SSB coverage zone still experience higher SSB-power, which is unnecessary, as this could render downlink interference to them. This reflects a need to make improvements in dynamic SSB power allocation which is network-assisted.
Embodiments of the subject technique include a method 200, a device 100, and a system 300, featuring NR system dynamic SSB power management by dint of automation technology, e.g. redirecting towards a self-organizing network (SON). Alternatively or in addition, the method 200 can be implemented as an NR radio system algorithm for a gNB 100. Alternatively or in addition, embodiments of the method 200 can reduce optimization and planning complexities.
It is fairly common in a radio network 300 (e.g., a RAN 300) that DL SS-RSRP and DL SINR are relatively poor (i.e -123 dBm and -9 dB, respectively), while uplink (UL) is quite optimal. In such a circumstance, the UE 150 transmits measurement reports quite late and NR leg setup gets delayed. Furthermore, there may be several spots (e.g., the area of the method) in a cellular network (e.g., a RAN 300 for NSA NR), in which the UEs 150 can be connected with reasonably good performance but if the performance or link quality drops, the UEs 150 cannot be connected again. Moreover, in a scenario of a (e.g., indoor) coverage hole, a connectivity of the UE 150 is an issue. In such circumstance, the boosting of the SSB transmit power according to the method 200 can provide a solution and DL coverage can be improved to some extent. The SSB may be transmitted 206 on a subset of PRBs (e.g., 20 PRBs). For example, the increase in the SSB transmit power (e.g., the difference between the second SSB transmit power and the first SSB transmit power, i.e., the boosted power) may be taken from one or more PRBs of a PDSCH (PDSCH PRB), while keeping a total transmit power of the gNB 100 configured at a constant (e.g., maximum) transmission power.
Fig. 4 shows a schematic signaling diagram, e.g. a typical high-level signaling flow for EN-DC Configuration, for an embodiment of the method 200. The signaling diagram is indicative of signals exchanged between embodiments of the UE 150, a master network node 100' (e.g., a primary serving network node), and the network node 100 that is performing the method 200.
For concreteness and not limitation, the network node 100' is referred to as a master eNB (MN-eNB or M-eNB or MeNB), and the network node 100 is referred to as a secondary gNB (SgNB or EN-gNB).
While the method 200 is described as a regulating (or controlling) method performed in an NS A gNB 100, in a SA gNB 100 variant, any feature may be implemented analogously, e.g., by another gNB 100' providing NR DC to the UE 150.
In any embodiment, the SSB transmission 202, 206 and a data transfer (i.e., transmission or reception) for a specific network node 100 (e.g., gNB), or for cell 101 of the network node 100, or for a specific radio device 150 (UE) may be on a contiguous channel. If PDSCH Resource Block Group (RBG) is present, the gNB 100 can increase the SSB transmit power by muting a "borrowed" (i.e., not used) part of the RBG (e.g., for each transmission time interval, TTI, or slot).
E.g. as indicated in Fig. 4, the MN-eNB 100' and the UE 150 may perform an LTE attach procedure. The system information block 2 (SIB2) is broadcast from signals of the MN-eNB 100'. The SIB2 is indicative of the presence of the 5G-NR PLMN, i.e., at least one gNB 100.
Alternatively or in addition, the UE 150 initiates a session with a randomly selected preamble. The eNB 100' responds the preamble with random access response message. The UE 150 uses UL-SCH to transmit a radio resource control (RRC) connection request and the eNB 100' responds with an RRC Connection setup message. The UE 150 signals RRC Connection completion signals and consequently a message for a carrier NAS attach request. A DCNR bit is indicative towards the LTE evolved packet core (EPC) network that the UE 150 is EN-DC capable (i.e., the UE 150 is capable of supporting a dual connectivity involving 4G LTE and 5G NR).
Alternatively or in addition, a mobility management entity (MME) of the EPC initiates an authentication procedure - and after success - the MME starts NAS level security procedures. The MME responds back to the eNB 100' with a request for initial context setup, e.g. containing information related to uplink (UL) and downlink (DL) supported bitrate (e.g. an aggregate maximum bit rate, or AMBR, or an extended AMBR), NR restriction information, quality of service (QoS) class identifier (QCI), a service profile identifier (SPID, which is important for acquaintance of 5G subscriber).
Alternatively or in addition, UE capabilities of the UE 150 (e.g., multi -RAT dual connectivity, briefly: MR-DC, supported LTE anchor band combinations, and/or supported NR frequencies) passed on towards MeNB then traverses towards MME. Herein, listing of the type A, B, and/or C disclose at least one of A, B, and C.
Alternatively or in addition, a security is setup between the UE 100 and the MeNB 100'. Ciphering may be enabled.
Alternatively or in addition, preparation starts for list of 5G NR frequency for measurement, e.g., as the basis for the measurement reports received in the step 204. The MeNB 100' transmits a RRC Connection Reconfiguration message to UE 150 to activate a default radio bearer with measurement object NR containing a list of NR frequencies as EN-DC candidate on eNB along with configured NR Bl event thresholds.
Alternatively or in addition, when the M-eNB 100' receives Bl measurement report from UE 150, the MeNB 100' regards this UE has entered into NR coverage and choose one gNB 100 associated with the best NR cell as secondary node of the DC, e.g. based on radio quality reported by eNodeB 100' as an implementation of the step 204.
Alternatively or in addition, a NR leg setup procedure is initiated by the MeNB 100'. The MeNB 100' sends a request to the SgNB 100, e.g. an SgNB addition request that is indicative of the SgNB being used to allocate radio resources.
Alternatively or in addition, if the SgNB 100 admits the resource request, it allocates radio resources and sends via a network node interface (e.g., 3GPP X2AP) an acknowledgment (e.g, SGNB ADDITION REQUEST ACKNOWLEDGE message) to the MeNB 100'. Responsive to this message, the SgNB 100 provides a CellGroupConfig IE and/or a radioBearerConfig IE in an NR RRC configuration message in a step 207 of the message (e.g., as a substep of the step 206). Alternatively or in addition, an MN-terminated MCG bearer uses a packet data convergence protocol of the MeNB 100' (i.e., LTE-PDCP), e.g., as an anchoring entity. A radio link control (RLC) mode (also referred to as rlcMode) should be defined by specific a QCI using LTE operator configurable parameter.
Alternatively or in addition, an SN-terminated SCG bearer uses a PDCP of the SgNB 100 (i.e., NR-PDCP). An RLC mode (rlcMode) should be defined by specific QCI using NR operator configurable parameter.
RLC-mode related parameters are contained in a SgNB Addition Acknowledge message. The MeNB 100' indicates via the 3GPP X2AP a SN status (e.g., by sending an SN STATUS TRANSFER message) to the SgNB 100 to transfer PDCP SN (both UL and DL) and/or a hyper frame number (HFN) status for receiver and transmitter for bearer using an acknowledge mode (AM bearers). For bearers using unacknowledged mode (UM bearers) the SN status transfer message is not sent.
Alternatively or in addition, the MeNB 100' sends to the UE 150 the RRC Connection Reconfiguration message including NR RRC Reconfiguration message, e.g. according to the step 207. Here, the MeNB 100' sends (and the UE 150 applies) an (e.g., updated) RRC Reconfiguration and replies to MeNB 100' with an RRC reconfiguration complete message. The MeNB 100' informs the SgNB 100 that the UE 150 has completed reconfiguration procedure successfully by conveying message "SGNB Reconfiguration Complete". Now the RAN state may be declared as NR EN-DC Configured and the UE state of the UE 150 may be in an LTE RRC connected state with a sub -state being EN-DC connected mode. The data path may be switched from eNodeB to gNodeB after the NR RACH procedures to access connectivity towards gNB 100. Alternatively or in addition, in this stage, the SSB transmit power (e.g., using the information element, IE, " SS-PBCH- BlockPower") may be communicated to the UE 150.
For a NR standalone (SA) system, the system information block 2 (SIB2) carries information of the SSB transmit power (e.g., the IE SS-PBCH-BlockPower). Hence, the method 200 including a step 207 of communicating the SSB transmit power towards UE 150 for NR standalone (SA) may be different with respect to NR NS A.
The SIB delivery in NSA mode may comprise that the UE 150 receives relevant SIBs (e.g. including Remaining Minimum SI, RMSI, and/or Other System Information, OSI) via LTE dedicated signaling (e.g., RRC signaling). Hence, a prerequisite may be camping on RRC connected mode on LTE and perform NR cell measurements if NR cell configuration present.
The MIB is still received on NR to provide timing and beam identification information (e.g., SFN and/or a beam index), e.g., in the step 202 and/or 206.
Fig. 5 shows a schematic flowchart for an embodiment of the method 200, e.g. using an internal SSB transmit power boost. The SSB transmit power boost may comprise at least one of the following steps.
In a step, the gNB 100 validates an SSB power boosting license. If the license is not valid, the gNB 100 continues with a normal call setup.
In a step, the gNB 100 (radio) transmits the boost value to a baseband (e.g., a baseband unit).
In a step, the gNB 100 adds a boost value to update (e.g., in an RRC IE) the SSB transmit power (e.g., the "ss-PBCH-BlockPower" IE) to the UE 150.
The gNB 100 considers at least one of a power amplifier (PA), a radio subsector carrier (SubSC) boundary (e.g., for subband radio), an SSB position, a subcarrier spacing (SCS), a bandwidth, RBG border to calculate how much SSB power boost is possible.
Alternatively or in addition, in any embodiment, the SSB transmit power (e.g., the second SSB transmit power) may be computed (e.g., in a substep 205 of the step 206 or in a dedicated step 205) based on the combination of the first and second RF metrics).
For example, the (e.g., second) SSB transmit power may be changed according to (e.g., interpreted as an assignment of the updated value from the right side of the equation to the left side of the equation): ss-PBCH-BlockPower = ss-PBCH-BlockPower
+ round(Final Boost/ 10)
Optionally, the changed (e.g., second) SSB transmit power is communicated to the UE 100 via an RRC reconfiguration message in a step 207 of the method 200. The changed SSB transmit power is communicated to the UE 150 in NSA mode (e.g., via servingcellconfigcommon and/or powercontroloffsetSS, which provides an offset of CSI- RS transmission power relative to the (e.g., first) SSB transmit power, which will be indicated to the UE 150 via ServingCellConfigCommon: ss-PBCPI-BlockPower).
In a step 209.1 (e.g., as a substep of the step 205 or 206), the power budget (e.g., for radio transmissions of the gNB 100) may be, or has to be, fulfilled, or the transmit power of the gNB 100 (or the cell of the gNB 100) may be, or has to be, kept constant per symbol (or TTI) on a total system bandwidth, e.g. in order to not overload the PA of the gNB 100 and/or keeping the total transmit power of the gNB 100 constant.
Optionally, the power budget also has to be kept within each radio subband for subband radio.
Alternatively or in addition, in any embodiment, a location of the SSB (e.g., in a time-frequency grid) may be flexible or can be anywhere. It’s possible that the SSB is located in one SubSC or spans to 2 SubSCs symmetrically or non-symmetrically.
Alternatively or in addition in the step 209.1, e.g., alternatively or in addition to the above-disclosed step 209.1, a resource allocation type may decide a strategy for a muting one or more PRB. For example, the allocation of radio resource for the physical DL shared channel (PDSCH) is TypeO. A granularity of the reserved one or more physical resource blocks (PRBs) may be a resource block group (RBG). Different bandwidth parts (BWPs) has different RBG size with different configuration, so the number of blanked RBGs may be different.
The final boost value for the change of the SSB transmit power or the final value of the SSB transmit power may be sent to a Remote Procedural Call (RPC, e.g. as logical module) of the gNB 100.
Increasing (i.e., boosting) the SSB transmit power in the step 206 may have at least one of the following benefits. Firstly, the RSRP that is measured by the UE 150 is increased in the presence of a boosted SSB transmit power. Secondly, the (e.g., NR) cell coverage can be increased. Thirdly, a distance of the (e.g., secondary or NR) leg addition (of the DC) from the gNB 100 can be increased. Fourthly, a distance for a (e.g., secondary or NR) leg drop can be farther from the gNB 100. Fifthly, a latency of the (e.g., secondary or NR) leg setup procedure can be reduced.
Figs. 6 and 7 schematically illustrate how NR Master Information Block (MIB) information is communicated from an NR NS A gNB 100 to the UE 150. More specifically, Fig. 6 list exemplary content of a NR MIB.
Fig. 7 shows an embodiment of the method 200. While the method is described from the perspective of at least one of the radio devices 150, the skilled person understands that the corresponding steps of the method 200 performed by at the RAN 300 are also disclosed. The method 200 comprises the steps indicated in Fig. 7. Alternatively or in addition, the method 200 comprises at least one step that corresponds (from the perspective of the radio device 150) to at least one of the steps 202, 204, 206, and 207. After establishing the LTE radio connection between the eNB 100' and the UE 150, the UE 150 is configured for measuring the SSB from the gNB 100. In a step 202, the SSB is transmitted using the first SSB transmit power. The UE 150 reads the MIB included in the SSB, if decodable.
According to the step 204, the UE 150 reports its measurements of the SSB. The method 200 referring to "measurement reports" from "radio devices" in plural form is to be interpreted as the RAN 300 typically comprising or serving a plurality of radio devices, so that any one of these radio devices may report one or more measurement reports. According to the step 206, the SSB is transmitted using the changed SSB transmit power based on the measurement reports. Optionally in a step 207, the UE 150 is informed (e.g., prior to the changed SSB transmission or afterwards) of the changed value of the SSB transmit power. The UE 150 may further report its measurements based on the changed SSB transmission.
Fig. 8A schematically illustrates a sequence of events and signals for a successful decoding of an MIB. At least one of these signals may be used in an implementation of the method 200, e.g., at least one of the events or signals indicated by reference signs in Fig. 8A.
Fig. 8B schematically illustrates a sequence of events and signals for a failed decoding of an MIB. At least one of these signals may be used in an implementation of the method 200, e.g., the event or signal indicated by reference sign 204 in Fig. 8B.
Fig. 9 shows an example of a measurement report and a failure information in a scenario which is problematic in that the UE 150 fails to decode MIB even in the presence of good SS-RSRP in an overlapping zone. For example, the UE 150 fails to decode the MIB, wherein SS-RSRP [-101->-100dBm] and SS-RSRQ[-15->-14dB],
Fig. 10 schematically illustrates RF metrics including SS-RSRP as an extremely good first RF metric and SS-SINR as a poor second RF metric. This practical phenomenon indicates that even in coverage overlap zone, the SS-RSRP may have an optimum value but samples of the SS-RSRQ (as another example of a second RF metric) and/or the SS- SINR may be poor (e.g., less than a predefined threshold). This is one of consequences of DL interference due unnecessary power allocation (i.e., too much SSB transmit power), which can lead to the UE 150 failing to decode the MIB (e.g., transmitted from the gNB 100).
Hence, the conventional SSB transmit power boosting using same values for all types of encountered radio conditions can result in poor UE experience.
Besides, the conventional power boosting is at the cost of borrowing PDSCH PRB during scenarios like cell-center, coverage overlapping zone, high overshooting zone may result in NR spectrum inefficiencies.
A purpose of the SIB is to carry cell-specific parameters for idle operations including access to the cell. The UE 150 receives relevant SIBs via LTE dedicated signaling. For NSA mode, there is no need to broadcast SIB by the gNB 100. The MIB is still received on NR to provide timing and beam identification information.
In any embodiment, reading SSB (e.g., receiving the SSB and successfully decoding the MIB within the SSB) in NSA operation may include finding (i.e., reading) a primary synchronization signal (PSS) for frequency synchronization and symbol boundary as well as reading a secondary synchronization signal (SSS) to completely determine a cell identity (CelHD).
Alternatively or in addition, the SSB is used to estimate the first RF metric (e.g., SS-RSRP) and the second RF metric (e.g., SS-SINR and/or SS-RSRQ) in terms of measurement. Besides, the SSB also serves to establish frame boundary to know an exact symbol position of the SSB being read.
The SSB (i.e., SS-PBCH) may comprise an NR PSS (or primary synchronization channel) and an NR SSS (or secondary synchronization channel) and a broadcast channel (e.g, PBCH).
Alternatively or in addition, the SSB may span 20 physical resource blocks (PRBs) and/or subcarriers 0 to 239 in the frequency domain. At a center part of the SSB in the frequency domain (e.g., spanning the subcarriers 56 to 182), the SSB comprises the PSS in an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) symbol 0 and the SSS in a OFDM symbol 2. OFDM symbols 1 and 3 of the SSB and/or the OFDM symbol 2 in subcarriers outside of the center part of the SSB may comprise the physical broadcast channel (PBCH) of the SSB. The PBCH may carry the MIB.
While the MIB may be transmitted directly from the gNB 100 to the UE 150 (e.g., in SA or NSA), the remaining minimum system information (RMSI) and the other system information (OSI) are transmitted through the eNB 100' to the UE 150 using LTE dedicated signaling, e.g., RRC signaling.
An important segment of the SSB is the master information block (MIB). The MIB is transmitted over a broadcast channel (BCH, as a transport channel) and a physical broadcast channel (PBCH, as a physical channel). The MIB is transmitted over OFDM symbols 1, 2, and 3. It uses the subcarriers numbered 0 to 239 on the OFDM symbol 1 and 3, whereas on symbol 2 uses subcarrier number 0 to 47 and 192 to 239.
The technique of device 100 and method 200 may be implemented by an algorithm in the gNB 100 which handles SSB transmit power dynamically in real time considering specific radio scenarios (i.e., the combination of RF metrics) according to the method 200. Specific radio scenarios can be evaluated based on real time measurement reports and historical performance counter data, e.g. available on gNB 100. Typical coverage evaluation include:
1. Cell-coverage overlap,
2. Cell overshooting,
3. Cell coverage hole detection, and/or
4. DL interference prone scenario.
Power boosting could be applied in case of a coverage-hole scenario and SSB power deboost in case of at least one of: a high coverage-overlap, overshooting and high DL interference scenario.
In any embodiment, changing the SSB transmit power may comprise borrowing (e.g., dynamic power borrowing) radio resources from PDSCH PRB for SSB boosting and returning the radio resources (e.g., the borrowed power) back towards a scheduler of the network node 100, which may help utilization of those radio resources (e.g., NR PRB) for throughput improvement.
There is a big competition among OEM to get a possible improvement mechanism for SSB coverage in NR midband. Current implementations allow only one SSB beam in midband and boosting SSB by borrowing power from PDSCH PRB. These PRBs cannot be used during any data scheduling from a cell unlock state. This compromises NR spectrum efficiency and DL NR throughput in capacity scenario. In a NR NSA scenario, the UE 150 reports B 1 measurement value to the Master eNB 100' with the strongest Physical Cell ID (PCI) having best SS-RSRP, SS-RSRQ and SS- SINR. Sometimes the UE 150 carries multiple measurement report of different PCIs, which act as multiple neighbors (e.g., multiple adjacent cells). If the UE 150 sends immediate minimization of drive test (MDT) data, the UE 150 can provide detailed location information for serving cell and neighbor cells which can help to provide a RF footprint of the UE 150. The reported MDT data may be correlated with logged MDT data for better evaluation.
In an embodiment, with corresponding measurement, the MeNB 100' connects with the SgNB 100 using SgNB Addition Request.
For an embodiment compatible with both SA and NSA, the gNB 100 starts its evaluation based on reported measurement report if the number of measurement reports greater than one. The gNB 100 calculates SS-RSRP differences between serving PCI and Neighbor PCIs. If the differences is within gNB-internal configurable dominance threshold window, for example 5dB, the gNB 100 declares probable high coverage overlap. For NSA, the MeNB 100' forwards current measurement report to gNB 100 in the step 204.
Example: Neighboring cells: -114 dBm, -113 dBm, -114 dBm, -115 dBm, serving cell: - 120 dBm
MDT data reported from UE 100 (e.g., immediate MDT) and correlation with logged MDT stored in gNB 100 may be used for evaluation of current RF share (e.g., based on UE location of the UE 150), wherefrom the UE 150 is initiating the request.
The combination of the first and second RF metrics may correspond to at least one of the following scenarios:
Coverage Hole: A coverage hole is an area where the signal level SINR of both serving and allowed neighbor cells is below the level needed to maintain basic service. Coverage holes are usually caused by physical obstructions such as new buildings, hills, or by unsuitable antenna parameters, or just inadequate RF planning. UE in coverage hole will suffer from call drop and radio link failure.
Weak coverage: Weak coverage occurs when the signal level SNR (or SINR) of serving cell is below the level needed to maintain a planned performance requirement (e.g., cell edge bit-rate). Coverage Overlap: In areas where coverage of different cells overlaps a lot, interference levels are high, power levels are high, energy consumption is high and cell performance may be low. This problem phenomenon has been called "pilot contamination", and the problem can be addressed by reducing coverage of cells. Typically, in this situation UEs may experience high SNR to more than one cell and high interference levels.
Overshoot coverage: Overshoot occurs when coverage of a cell reaches far beyond what is planned. It can occur as an "island" of coverage in the interior of another cell, which may not be a direct neighbor. Reasons for overshoot may be reflections in buildings or across open water, lakes etc. UEs in this area may suffer call drops or high interference. Possible actions to improve the situation include changing the coverage of certain cells and mobility blacklisting of certain cells.
In an embodiment, if the gNB 100 finds that the first RF metric (e.g., SS-RSRP) is equal to or greater than an internal configurable first threshold (e.g., an SS-RSRP threshold) and the second RF metric (e.g., SS-SINR) is equal to or less than an internal configurable second threshold (e.g., an SS-SINR threshold), the gNB 100 considers there is coverage overshooting or DL interference.
Fig. 11 shows an example summary of a decision table for the gNB 100 based on the (real-time) measurement reports. The first and second thresholds, e.g., DL measurement thresholds SS-DL SINR-EvaluationThreshold, SS-RSRP -EvaluationThreshold,SS_RSRQ- EvaluationThreshold, may be operator-configurable based on network design flexibility and/or receiver sensitivity.
Optionally, a high coverage overlap may be distinguished by a number of neighboring cells.
The SS SINREvaluationThreshold may correspond to an optimum point of SS-SINR for evaluation. The SS RSRPEvaluationThreshold may correspond to an optimum point of SS-RSRP for evaluation. The SS RSRQEvaluationThreshold may correspond to an optimum point of SS-RSRQ for evaluation.
In an embodiment, the gNB 100 verifies its internal register for historical data evaluation for last Report Output Period (ROP, e.g. 1 to 5 minutes) or more granularity which can be configurable. There is a plurality of key performance indicator (KPI) for computation of how much power (i.e., change in power) is to be boosted (i.e., increased) or how much power is to be deboosted. This is an internal power-scaling algorithm, e.g. performed inside the gNB 100.
Internal KPI for determining power-scaling in a step 205 of the method may comprise at least one of: l)NROverlappingEvalF actor
2)NRRadioLinkEvalF actor
3 )NRDLULBLEREvalF actor
4) NRDL/ULHARQDTXEvalFactor
5) NRDL/ULNACKEvalFactor 6) NRDLULPRBEvalFactor
7) NRTimingAdvanceEvalFactor
8) NRTiming AdvanceOut-of-coverageEvalF actor
9) NRULRadioInterferenceEvalFactor
10) NRPUSCHSINREvalFactor 11) NRDLCQI EvalF actor
12) NRPathlossEvalFactor
13) NRPHREvalF actor
14) NRPRACHFailureEvalFactor
15) NRIntraMobility EvalF actor These KPI evaluation factors can be scalable in number depending on power scaling evaluation weightage.
The gNB 100 may consider historical data or calculation for the Coverage Overlapping factor 1) NROverlappingEvalFactor.
If network 300 uses the same frequency, if the overlap area is too big between two cells, it will cause a lot of interference with each other. As discussed previously, interference reduces the throughput in a strong way, so the identification of the strongest interferers is needed.
An area of strong interference shall be identified as an area with good RSRP but with low SINR and/or RSRQ.
This KPI is an estimation of cell coverage overlap estimation. It can be evaluated as 95th percentile of NR Timing Advance and/or Average Distance to Neighbors.
The Average Distance to neighbors can be calculated or weighted from performance counter, e.g., based on weightage of a handover (HO) success rate multiplied with HO attempts, e.g. :
(NR intra-frequency PScell Change success [e.g., 5G mobility success])A2 / NR Intra-frequency PScell Change.
If historical coverage overlap % in the cell where the UE 150 belongs is greater than internal coverage overlap threshold, there is higher weightage for power deboost, else keep same SSB power. In that case NROverlappingEvalFactor =1 which indicates SSB deboost decision.
If NROverlappingEvalFactor=0, then SSB Power can be boosted.
The NRRadiolinkEvalFactor may be evaluated dor the purpose of Radio Link Failure (RLF). The physical layer of the UE 150 monitors the downlink radio link quality of the primary cell for indicating out-of-sync / in-sync status indications to the higher layers. In 5G NSA EN-DC mode, RLF is declared separately for the MCG (E-UTRA LTE Cell) and for the SCG cells (NR). If radio link failure is detected for MCG (LTE eNB), the UE initiates the RRC connection re-establishment procedure, but when RLF is detected for SCG (NR cell) failure, the UE suspends SCG transmissions for all radio bearers and reports the SCG Failure Information to the eNB, instead of triggering re-establishment.
The gNB 100 considers performance counters for radio link failures and/or (e.g., NR) session drop with respect to SS-RSRP. An example of a performance counter (e.g., also referred to as performance data) is collected and stored based on different subscription attributes in the network 300. The performance counter may be user-defined or system-defined. Alternatively or in addition, files of the performance data may be collected or generated by network elements and/or may be made available on a Northbound Interface (NBI) to applications processing them. According to a Report Output Period (ROP), an ROP file of the performance counter may be generated or stored in a 15-minutes period, a 5-minutes, or a 1 -minute period, e.g. depending on system design of the network 300.
If the last Report Output Period (ROP) (e.g., for NR session drop) is greater than AverageNRSessionDropwithRSRP, there is higher weightage for deboost the SSB transmit power. Such situation may occur if SS-RSRP is good but a number of session drops is high due high coverage overlap. Hence, NRRadiolinkEvalFactor=l means the SSB needs to be deboosted, else 0 means SSB can be boosted.
Fig. 12 schematically illustrates example statistics on session sustainability for different RSRP.
The NRDLULBLEREvalFactor may be a Block Error Rate (BLER) threshold factor, e.g. in both the uplink and downlink. The NRDLULBLEREvalFactor is a measure of an insynchronization and out-of- synchronization indication during radio link monitoring. The maximum of the uplink or downlink BLER Threshold factor is considered for purposes of computing dynamic SSB transmit power boost. When an average DL/UL threshold counter value does not exceed an internal threshold of DL/UL BLER during monitoring interval, then set NRDLULBLEREvalFactor=l .The main motivation is to give preference for cells exhibiting low value of BLER (either uplink or downlink) for SSB power boost. By way of example:
NRDLULBLEREvalF actor=(InternalNRDL/ULBLERThreshold-latest Average
DL/UL BLER)
For example, if the above expression is a positive value it may correspond to the SSB transmit power boost and NRDLULBLEREvalFactor=l, else NRDLULBLEREvalF actor=0.
The gNB 100 considers DL BLER performance counter historical value. If latestAverageDL/UL BLER value is greater than IntemalNRDLBLERthreshold, the weightage for power deboost is gained, else keep same baseline SSB transmit power or increase SSB transmit power. A concept is to discourage SSB transmit power boosting if BLER is high. BLER is an indicator or measure for the radio link being in-synchronization or out-of-synchronization. Optionally, this can be an indication of an interference issue.
The NRDL/ULHARQDTXEvalFactor may correspond to the latest average HARQ DL/ULDTXRate - intemalHARQDL/ULDTXThreshold. If this value comes positive NRDL/ULHARQDTXEvalFactor=0, which makes SSB transmit power deboosting imperative, else NRDL/ULHARQDTXEvalFactor=l indicating SSB transmit power boosting.
Discontinuous transmission (DTX) means nothing is transmitted on physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) if control signaling corresponding to downlink data is not detected on physical downlink control channel (PDCCH). High DTX means poor coverage. If uplink coverage is poor in certain point DL, SSB coverage boosting (i.e., increasing the SSB transmit power) need to be restricted.
The NRDL/ULNACKEvalFactor may correspond to the latest average NRDLANACKRatio - intemaNRDL/ULNACKRatioThreshold. If a degree of deviation comes positive, NRDL/ULNACKEvalFactor=0 means need to discourage SSB transmit power boosting. A receiver produces a negative acknowledgement (NACK) in case an error is being detected. Upon reception of the NACK message, the respective (i.e., desired) packet sent again. It is a kind of indication of retransmission of poor RF coverage.
The NRDLULPRBEvalFactor is computed based on a degree of deviation between latest average NRDL/ULPRBUtilization and internal threshold for NR DL/UL PRB Utilization set for adaptive regulation of SSB transmit power in a predefined time interval. For example,
NRDLULPRBEvalFactor=(-latest Average NRDLPRBUtilization + internalNRDLULPRBUtilizationThreshold),
If the latest NR DL/UL PRB utilization is less than the internal NR DLUL PRB utilization threshold, then NRDLPRBEvalFactor=l means favorable condition for SSB transmit power boosting, else NRDLULPRBEvalFactor=0 being an indicator of SSB transmit power boosting.
The NRTimingAdvanceEvalFactor may be based on a Timing Advance (TA), which is a special command from the eNB 100' or gNB 100 to the UE 150 that enables the UE 150 to adjust its uplink transmission. The UE 150 figures out the timing advance value from two different MAC layer commands depending on the situation. For the first uplink message after random access preamble on the physical random access channel (PRACH) in a step 208, the UE 150 applies the Timing Advance value that it extracts from RACH Response (RAR). After the initial RACH process, the UE 150 would apply the Timing Advance value that it extracts from Timing Advance MAC CE if it received it. When the latest average Timing Advance value is greater than internal threshold for Timing Advance in a predefined time SSB Power Boosting is discouraged else SSB Power Boosting is encouraged.
The NRTimingAdvanceEvalFactor may correspond to (-latest Average Timing Advance +IntemalTImingAdvanceThreshold)/ (Maximum NR Timing Advance IntemalNRTimingAdvanceThreshold).
If the above is a positive value, it may correspond to the SSB transmit power boost and NRTimingAdvanceEvalFactor=l, else 0.
The motivation is to prohibit interference for overshooting and high coverage overlap candidates by SSB power deboosting.
The NRTimingAdvanceOut-of-coverageEvalFactor may correspond to the latest Average Out-of-coverageTimingAdvance performance counter sample value present. Then, NRTimingAdvanceOut-of-coverageEvalFactor=0 means SSB transmit power deboosting required, else NRTimingAdvanceOut-of-coverageEvalFactor=l. This is also to restrict SSB transmit power boosting in a cell-overshooting scenario.
The factor NRULRadioInterferenceEvalFactor may correspond to (latest Average NRULRadioInterference - InternalNRULRadioInterferenceThreshold) , when latest average Uplink radio interference value is lower than intemalNRULRadiointerferenceThreshold which is configurable, then NRULRadioInterferenceEvalFactor=l means eligible for SSB power boosting, else 0 not feasible for SSB power boosting. The motivation is to provide weightage to the cells for SSB power boosting where uplink path is not interference limited. The factor NRPUSCHSINREvalFactor may correspond to (latest Average NRPUSCH SINR - IntemalNRPUSCHSNRThreshold)/(MaximumULSINR-InternalNRPUSCHNRThreshold). The factor NRPUSCHSINREvalFactor is evaluated based on a degree of deviation of latest average NR PUSCH SINR and IntemalNRPUSCHSINRThreshold. If the latest average NRPUSCHSINR exceeds the InternalNRPUSCHSNRThreshold, then NRPUSCHSINREvalFactor=l indicates eligibility for SSB transmit power boosting, else 0 which means either deboost or keeping the same value. This motivates that the SSB transmit power boost is also taking care of uplink radio link quality in terms of PUSCH SINR. It is imperative to increase the SSB transmit power boost for cases of a current running UL SINR has high values. The factor NRDLCQI EvalFactor may correspond to (latest Average DL CQI - IntemalDLNRCQIThreshold)/(Maximum NR DL CQI - IntemalDLNRCQIThreshold). If latest average CQI exceeds the IntemalDLNRCQIThreshold then NRDLCQI EvalFactor=l, else 0.
A UE-reported Channel Quality Indicator (CQI) may reflect DL coverage.
When latest average CQI value is higher than the internal DL CQI threshold, NRDLCQIEvalFactor=l which indicates it is imperative to increase SSB transmit power boost for optimum CQI condition.
The factor NRPathlossEvalFactor may correspond to (latest Average NR UL Pathloss - InternalNRULPathlossThreshold).
If latest granularity average NR UL Pathloss exceeds IntemalNRPathloss, then NRPathlossEvalFactor=0, else 1.
If latest average NR uplink Pathloss exceeds internal NR Uplink Pathloss Threshold NRPathlossEvalFactor=0 indicates SSB transmit power deboosting is recommended, else NRPathlossEvalFactor=l indicates SSB transmit power boosting is imperative.
The factor NRPHREvalFactor may correspond to (latest AveragePHRReported - IntemalNRPHRThreshol d) .
The power headroom measurements indicate how much transmission power remains for a UE 150 to use in addition to the transmit power being used for current transmission. If the UE transmit power cannot exceed the UE Maximum transmission power, the UE 150 cannot avail enough resource blocks if UE experiences shortage of power headroom.
If the latest granularity of average NRPHRReported is greater than IntemalPHRThreshold, then NRPHREvalFactor=0, else 1. If a power headroom (PHR) value exceeds a threshold that indicates the uplink is already in a power-limited state, hence the DL SSB transmit power boosting may not be able to draw an intended benefit.
The factor NRPRACHFailureEvalFactor may correspond to (latest AveragePRACHFailureRate - IntemalRACHFailRateThreshold). If NR Average RACH failure Rate during predefined granularity exceeds IntemalRACHFailRateThreshold NRPRACHFailureEvalFactor=0, else 1. If Average RACH Failure rate high, it indicates there is some problem in uplink path so DL coverage border increase by SSB boosting may not bring intended gain.
The factor NRPRACHFailureEvalFactor=0 may indicate that the gNB 100 is unable to decode any information in the assigned uplink grant. It can be an indication that the cell can be covering larger footprint, hence SSB transmit power deboosting is encouraged. NRPRACHFailureEvalFactor=l indicates SSB transmit power boosting can be recommended.
The factor NRIntraMobilityEvalFactor may correspond to a number of NR neighbor relations, e.g. defined either by an Automatic Neighbor Relation (ANR) or manually configured, is exceeding the threshold of InternalNRIntraMobilitythreshold. Then NRIntraMobilityEvalFactor=0 and SSB transmit power deboosting is allowed, else NRIntraMobilityEvalFactor=l. Motivation of SSB transmit power deboosting is to reduce interference which can save UE MIB decoding error in cell coverage overlap region.
In any embodiment, based on any one or a combination of the abovementioned values (or factors), the power scaling (i.e., the change of the SSB transmit power) may be calculated in a step 205 of the method.
For example, the power scaling value may be an average of at least one or all of NROverlappingEvalF actor, NRRadioLinkEvalF actor, NRDLULBLEREvalF actor,
NRDL/ULHARQDTXEvalF actor, NRDL/ULNACKEvalFactor, NRDLULPRBEvalF actor, NRTimingAdvanceEvalF actor, NRTimingAdvanceOut-of-coverageEvalF actor,
NRULRadioInterferenceEvalFactor, NRPUSCHSINREvalFactor, NRDLCQI EvalFactor, NRPathlossEvalFactor, NRPHREvalFactor, NRPRACHFailureEvalFactor, NRIntraMobilityEvalF actor.
For example, if 14 KPI threshold present and 8 KPI thresholds value are 1 and rest are 0, then sum of 14 KPI threshold is 8, as a consequence power scaling value=8/14=0.571. So, if implemented SS-PBCHBlockPower Boost Value=4dB, then a changed boost value after power scaling is equal to 4+4*0.571 dB = 4+2.284 dB=6.284 dB.
The changed SS-PBCHBlockPower value (e.g., the second SSB transmit power) may be equal to InitialSS-PBCHBlockPower+ Scaled SSB-Boost (e.g., the first SSB transmit power + the changed boost value).
If InitialSS-PBCHBlockPower=15 dBm, then the changed SS-PBCHBlockPower Value=15+roundoff(6.284)=21 dBm.
Thus, the changed SS-PBCHBlockPower may be equal to:
InitialSS-PBCHBlockPower+Dynamic SSB-Power Boost, or
InitialSS-PBCHBlockPower +
MaximumSSBBoost*MaximumSSBBoost*powerscaling factor. The MaximumSSBBoost value indicates a system-supported SSB boost value based on bandwidth.
If the gNB 100 compares historical weightage value for coverage overlap high, the gNB 100 may decide to deboost the SSB transmit power by a power scaling factor. E.g., if the last KPIs were high coverage overlap in certain area, then the gNB 100 may decide to deboost.
A deboost amount may correspond to a maximumSSBPowerBoost*Powerscaling, wherein KPI threshold are means for deboost. Typically, most of KPIs 0, not 1.
So, the changed SS-PBCHBlockPower = Initial-SS-PBCHBlockPower- (MaximumSSBPowerBoost*powerscaling).
By way of example: 6 dBm - 6 dBm * 8/14 for 6 dBm as maximumSSBPowerBoost and 8 KPIs are 0 and rest 1.
In any embodiment, the SS-PBCHBlockPower (e.g., the current SSB power) may be an information element (IE). The maximumSSBPowerBoost may be based on system capability for SSB power).
The regulation (which may be indicated in a 2nd RRC reconfiguration) may be indicative of a maximum SSB boost or an SS-PBCHBlockPower+ maximumSSBPowerBoost, or a maximum deboost or SS-PBCHBlockPower- maximumSSBPowerBoost.
So, based on real-time measurement reports in the step 204, the gNodeB 100 may segregate (i.e., determine for the area) at least one of: coverage hole, good coverage, cellcoverage overlap, cell-overshooting, and DL interference. Alternatively or in addition, the gNB 100 may take historical performance counter data from the gNB 100 for power scaling value computation, i.e. how much SSB transmit power need to boost or how much SSB transmit power to deboost or no need to change any SSB transmit power.
In any embodiment, alternatively or in addition to the RF metrics, the step 205 may further comprise, if the gNB 100 finds an average NR Session Drop (e.g., drops of session in the area, e.g. number of drops in last hour or 90% of sessions) with poor SS-RSRP being greater than AvergeNRsessionDropwithSSRSRP and current measurement report evaluation detects cell coverage hole, the gNB calculates power boosts amount based on power scaling 10*logl0 (Available PRB [for example PDSCH which is borrowed] for Boosting/20) [for example if subband allows 53 PRB then maximum boost (10*logl0(54/20)=4.3dB. If some of the radio allows 106 PRB then maximum boost will be applied (10*logl0(106/20)=7.24dB). Amount of maximum SSB power boost is function of Bandwidth.
For full-band radio maximum possible boost =10*logl0((Max PRB)/20), for example if 100 MHz bandwidth, a maximum possible boost may be equal to 10*logl0(273/20) = 13 dB.
In an embodiment, tor power boosting amount, the gNB 100 borrows required amount of PRB from PDSCH PRB associated with SSB slots in a step 209.1. For example for 4.3dB Boost 33 PRBs may be reserved during 5G data transaction. After successful SgNB release, the gNB 100 returns the allocated 33 PRBs for user data scheduling in a step 209.2.
For example, 4.3 dB based on the above factors, the gNB 100 determines how much PRBs have to be reserved. When the session is terminated, that number of PRBs is to be returned to the scheduler.
In an embodiment, PRB blanking mechanism is dependent on amount of power needed to be boosted. For PDSCH resource allocation type-0, the reserved PRB granularity is RBG. Different BWP is having different RBG size with different configuration, so number of blanked RBG will be different. Amount of blanked RBG is also dependent on SSB position.
Fig. 13 shows an example:
100 MHz corresponds to 273 PRBs. 1 RBG comprises 16 PRBs in 5G. -> 17 RBG. RBG are allocated to UE 150 by the scheduler of the gNB 100, not individual PRBs. Unused PRBs in the allocated RBG are used for boosting.
In an embodiment, after Master eNB 100' sends the UE context release complete message to the secondary gNB 100 (or the serving gNB in SA), the secondary gNB 100 releases the allocated PRBs for other user data scheduling, if the UE 150 already utilized SSB transmit power boosting. Release complete (i.e., session ends) from eNB 100 in case of NSA or release message from CN in 5G SA may trigger context release to the gNB 100. The borrowed PRBs are allocated to other UEs 150 for data transaction.
Fig. 14 shows a flowchart for a method embodiment of the method 200, e.g., an implementation of the above-described embodiment for a NR NSA scenario.
Fig. 15 shows a flowchart depicting another implementation of the method 200 for a NR NSA scenario. Fig. 16 shows a signaling diagram of an implementation of the method 200 in a 5G NR SA scenario.
Reminiscent to 4G LTE, a UE 150 is able to receive data services according to 5G NR if the UE 150 is registered and has at least one PDU session established.
Unlike LTE, it is possible in NR for a UE 150 to be registered without a PDU session established, as indicated at steps (1) to (3) in Fig. 16.
In a step (1), the random access is performed including receiving a random access preamble at the SA-gNB 100.
A step (2) comprises RRC Connection Establishment.
A step (3) comprises registration.
A step (4) comprises PDU Session establishment.
In an SA implementation of the method 200, the measurement report may be received 204 in a connected mode only.
For example, the SA-gNB 100 evaluates (e.g., in any implementation of the step 205 disclosed herein) based on the measurement reports received in the step 204 the change of the SSB transmit power and communicates to the UE 150 according to the step 206, optionally including a direct transmission (e.g., broadcast) of SIB1 in a step 207 (e.g., as a sub step of the step 206).
The SIB1 may be indicative of the changed (i.e., second) SSB transmit power, e.g., in an IE ss-PBCH-BlockPower .
Fig. 17 schematically illustrates a SON Module Flow-chart proposal (SA and NSA).
Fig. 18 schematically illustrates an embodiment of a power regulator module embodying the device 200 in a centralized architecture.
Fig. 19 schematically illustrates a power scaling calculation procedure for UE- specific SSB-Power boosting or deboosting.
Any embodiment may be implemented using cloud computation or edge computation, e.g. concerning the Control Plane (CP) function as per 3GPP specifications.
Fig. 20 shows a schematic block diagram for an embodiment of the device 100. The device 100 comprises processing circuitry, e.g., one or more processors 2004 for performing the method 200 and memory 2006 coupled to the processors 2004. For example, the memory 2006 may be encoded with instructions that implement at least one of the modules 102, 104 and 106. The one or more processors 2004 may be 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, microcode and/or encoded logic operable to provide, either alone or in conjunction with other components of the device 100, such as the memory 2006, network functionality. For example, the one or more processors 2004 may execute instructions stored in the memory 2006. Such functionality may include providing various features and steps discussed herein, including any of the benefits disclosed herein. The expression "the device being operative to perform an action" may denote the device 100 being configured to perform the action.
As schematically illustrated in Fig. 20, the device 100 may be embodied by a network node 2000, e.g., functioning as a (e.g., SSB transmitting) base station. The network node 2000 comprises a radio interface 2002 (e.g., a radio unit or distributed unit) coupled to the device 100 (e.g., a central unit) a for radio communication with one or more radio devices, e.g., functioning as UEs.
With reference to Fig. 21, in accordance with an embodiment, a communication system 2100 includes a telecommunication network 2110, such as a 3 GPP -type cellular network, which comprises an access network 2111, such as a radio access network, and a core network 2114. The access network 2111 comprises a plurality of base stations 2112a, 2112b, 2112c, such as NBs, eNBs, gNBs or other types of wireless access points, each defining a corresponding coverage area 2113a, 2113b, 2113c. Each base station 2112a, 2112b, 2112c is connectable to the core network 2114 over a wired or wireless connection 2115. A first user equipment (UE) 2191 located in coverage area 2113c is configured to wirelessly connect to, or be paged by, the corresponding base station 2112c. A second UE 2192 in coverage area 2113a is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding base station 2112a. While a plurality of UEs 2191, 2192 are illustrated in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to a situation where a sole UE is in the coverage area or where a sole UE is connecting to the corresponding base station 2112.
Any of the base stations 2112 may embody the device 100 or 2000. Any one of the UEs 2191, 2192 may embody the device 150.
The telecommunication network 2110 is itself connected to a host computer 2130, which may be embodied in the hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud- implemented server, a distributed server or as processing resources in a server farm. The host computer 2130 may be under the ownership or control of a service provider, or may be operated by the service provider or on behalf of the service provider. The connections 2121, 2122 between the telecommunication network 2110 and the host computer 2130 may extend directly from the core network 2114 to the host computer 2130 or may go via an optional intermediate network 2120. The intermediate network 2120 may be one of, or a combination of more than one of, a public, private or hosted network; the intermediate network 2120, if any, may be a backbone network or the Internet; in particular, the intermediate network 2120 may comprise two or more sub-networks (not shown).
The communication system 2100 of Fig. 21 as a whole enables connectivity between one of the connected UEs 2191, 2192 and the host computer 2130. The connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection 2150. The host computer 2130 and the connected UEs 2191, 2192 are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via the OTT connection 2150, using the access network 2111, the core network 2114, any intermediate network 2120 and possible further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection 2150 may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection 2150 passes are unaware of routing of uplink and downlink communications. For example, a base station 2112 need not be informed about the past routing of an incoming downlink communication with data originating from a host computer 2130 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to a connected UE 2191. Similarly, the base station 2112 need not be aware of the future routing of an outgoing uplink communication originating from the UE 2191 towards the host computer 2130.
By virtue of the method 200 being performed by any one of the base stations 2112, the performance or range of the OTT connection 2150 can be improved, e.g., in terms of increased range, increased throughput due to less interference and/or reduced latency (e.g., due to more reliable radio connections). More specifically, the host computer 2130 may indicate to the RAN 300 or the network node 100 or 2000 or 2112 (e.g., on an application layer) the QoS of the traffic or any other trigger for performing the method 200.
Example implementations, in accordance with an embodiment of the UE, base station and host computer discussed in the preceding paragraphs, will now be described with reference to Fig. 22. In a communication system 2200, a host computer 2210 comprises hardware 2215 including a communication interface 2216 configured to set up and maintain a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 2200. The host computer 2210 further comprises processing circuitry 2218, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. In particular, the processing circuitry 2218 may comprise one or more programmable processors, applicationspecific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The host computer 2210 further comprises software 2211, which is stored in or accessible by the host computer 2210 and executable by the processing circuitry 2218. The software 2211 includes a host application 2212. The host application 2212 may be operable to provide a service to a remote user, such as a UE 2230 connecting via an OTT connection 2250 terminating at the UE 2230 and the host computer 2210. In providing the service to the remote user, the host application 2212 may provide user data, which is transmitted using the OTT connection 2250. The user data may depend on the location of the UE 2230. The user data may comprise auxiliary information or precision advertisements (also: ads) delivered to the UE 2230. The location may be reported by the UE 2230 to the host computer, e.g., using the OTT connection 2250, and/or by the base station 2220, e.g., using a connection 2260.
The communication system 2200 further includes a base station 2220 provided in a telecommunication system and comprising hardware 2225 enabling it to communicate with the host computer 2210 and with the UE 2230. The hardware 2225 may include a communication interface 2226 for setting up and maintaining a wired or wireless connection with an interface of a different communication device of the communication system 2200, as well as a radio interface 2227 for setting up and maintaining at least a wireless connection 2270 with a UE 2230 located in a coverage area (not shown in Fig. 22) served by the base station 2220. The communication interface 2226 may be configured to facilitate a connection 2260 to the host computer 2210. The connection 2260 may be direct, or it may pass through a core network (not shown in Fig. 22) of the telecommunication system and/or through one or more intermediate networks outside the telecommunication system. In the embodiment shown, the hardware 2225 of the base station 2220 further includes processing circuitry 2228, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, applicationspecific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The base station 2220 further has software 2221 stored internally or accessible via an external connection. The communication system 2200 further includes the UE 2230 already referred to. Its hardware 2235 may include a radio interface 2237 configured to set up and maintain a wireless connection 2270 with a base station serving a coverage area in which the UE 2230 is currently located. The hardware 2235 of the UE 2230 further includes processing circuitry 2238, which may comprise one or more programmable processors, application-specific integrated circuits, field programmable gate arrays or combinations of these (not shown) adapted to execute instructions. The UE 2230 further comprises software 2231, which is stored in or accessible by the UE 2230 and executable by the processing circuitry 2238. The software 2231 includes a client application 2232. The client application 2232 may be operable to provide a service to a human or non -human user via the UE 2230, with the support of the host computer 2210. In the host computer 2210, an executing host application 2212 may communicate with the executing client application 2232 via the OTT connection 2250 terminating at the UE 2230 and the host computer 2210. In providing the service to the user, the client application 2232 may receive request data from the host application 2212 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 2250 may transfer both the request data and the user data. The client application 2232 may interact with the user to generate the user data that it provides.
It is noted that the host computer 2210, base station 2220 and UE 2230 illustrated in Fig. 22 may be identical to the host computer 2130, one of the base stations 2112a, 2112b, 2112c and one of the UEs 2191, 2192 of Fig. 21, respectively. This is to say, the inner workings of these entities may be as shown in Fig. 22, and, independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of Fig. 21.
In Fig. 22, the OTT connection 2250 has been drawn abstractly to illustrate the communication between the host computer 2210 and the UE 2230 via the base station 2220, without explicit reference to any intermediary devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. Network infrastructure may determine the routing, which it may be configured to hide from the UE 2230 or from the service provider operating the host computer 2210, or both. While the OTT connection 2250 is active, the network infrastructure may further take decisions by which it dynamically changes the routing (e.g., on the basis of load balancing consideration or reconfiguration of the network).
The wireless connection 2270 between the UE 2230 and the base station 2220 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to the UE 2230 using the OTT connection 2250, in which the wireless connection 2270 forms the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of these embodiments may reduce the latency and improve the data rate and thereby provide benefits such as better responsiveness and improved QoS.
A measurement procedure may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rate, latency, QoS and other factors on which the one or more embodiments improve. There may further be an optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 2250 between the host computer 2210 and UE 2230, in response to variations in the measurement results. The measurement procedure and/or the network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 2250 may be implemented in the software 2211 of the host computer 2210 or in the software 2231 of the UE 2230, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be deployed in or in association with communication devices through which the OTT connection 2250 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 2211, 2231 may compute or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguring of the OTT connection 2250 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing etc.; the reconfiguring need not affect the base station 2220, and it may be unknown or imperceptible to the base station 2220. Such procedures and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling facilitating the host computer’s 2210 measurements of throughput, propagation times, latency and the like. The measurements may be implemented in that the software 2211, 2231 causes messages to be transmitted, in particular empty or "dummy" messages, using the OTT connection 2250 while it monitors propagation times, errors etc.
Fig. 23 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figs. 21 and 22. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Fig. 23 will be included in this paragraph. In a first step 2310 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional substep 2311 of the first step 2310, the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In a second step 2320, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. In an optional third step 2330, the base station transmits to the UE the user data which was carried in the transmission that the host computer initiated, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In an optional fourth step 2340, the UE executes a client application associated with the host application executed by the host computer.
Fig. 24 is a flowchart illustrating a method implemented in a communication system, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system includes a host computer, a base station and a UE which may be those described with reference to Figs. 21 and 22. For simplicity of the present disclosure, only drawing references to Fig. 24 will be included in this paragraph. In a first step 2410 of the method, the host computer provides user data. In an optional substep (not shown) the host computer provides the user data by executing a host application. In a second step 2420, the host computer initiates a transmission carrying the user data to the UE. The transmission may pass via the base station, in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In an optional third step 2430, the UE receives the user data carried in the transmission.
As has become apparent from above description, at least some embodiments of the technique are beneficial in New Radio Non-Standalone (NR NSA) fifth generation (5G) high density rollout scenarios. Same or further embodiments can minimize or reduce a number of NR RACH failures and/or NR service drops due to the radio device (e.g., UE) failing to decode the master information block (MIB) of the network node, which can improve user experience and UE key performance indicators (KPIs). Same or further embodiments improve (e.g., NR) spectral efficiency by securing (i.e., allocating) one or more PDSCH PRBs for the increasing of the SSB transmit power (i.e., boosting, e.g. in real-time) and/or by deallocating (i.e., releasing) after the requirement ends. The one or more released PRBs can be utilized for capacity purpose. Same or further embodiments improve on energy saving of the radio devices (e.g., UEs) as well as energy savings of the network node (e.g., eNB/gNB), thus making the radio nodes more ecofriendly. It is a novel approach for carbon footprint reduction. At least some embodiments of the technique can mitigate generation and usage of RF electromagnetic fields.
At least some embodiments of the technique can specifically improvement the RSRP of the SSB (SS-RSRP) and/or downlink (DL) interference mitigation for radio devices (e.g., UEs) in a coverage overlap scenario. Same or further embodiments improve a success rate or random access (e.g., NR RACH), e.g. in NR NSA scenario, wherein MIB decoding at the radio devices (e.g., UEs) is a challenge due to unnecessary power-driven DL interference in cell coverage overlap area. At least some embodiments of the technique can improve UE-specific access coverage, which is a technical advantage for competing Communications Service Providers (CSPs). Same or further embodiments can improve latency and/or reduce a radio leg setup procedure, e.g., for NR and/or dual connectivity (DC).
At least some embodiments of the technique can optimize the RAN at less operational expenditure for CSPs. Measurement and network optimization activity makes a significant cost. Regulating the SSB transmit power based on the measurement reports from the radio devices (e.g., UEs), these costs can be significantly reduced. At the same time it avoids any impact on the neighbor cell coverage.
At least some embodiments of the technique can take care of uplink (UL) radio link quality -based decision of for regulating the SSB transmit power.
At least some embodiments of the technique can save a significant amount of radio frequency (RF) cell shaping optimization efforts.
Any one of the embodiments may be implemented according to at least one of 3GPP document TS 36.331, version 17.0.0; 3GPP document TS 38.211, version 17.1.0; 3GPP document TS 28.313, version 17.4.0; and 3GPP document TS 37.320, version 17.0.0, or by amending at least one of these 3GPP documents according to the respective embodiment of the technique.
Many advantages of the present invention will be fully understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the units and devices without departing from the scope of the invention and/or without sacrificing all of its advantages. Since the invention can be varied in many ways, it will be recognized that the invention should be limited only by the scope of the following claims.

Claims

CLAIMS:
1. A method (200) performed by a network node (100; 2000; 2112; 2220) in a radio access network, RAN, the method (200) comprising or initiating: transmitting (202) a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block, SSB, using a first SSB transmit power, wherein the SSB is indicative of a cell of the network node (100; 2000; 2112; 2220); receiving (204) measurement reports that are based on the SSB transmitted (202) using the first SSB transmit power, wherein the measurement reports are indicative of a first radio frequency, RF, metric and a second RF metric, and wherein the measurement reports are received (204) from radio devices (150) served by the RAN in an area of the cell, and wherein the first RF metric is insensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB, and the second RF metric is sensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB; and transmitting (206) the SSB using a second SSB transmit power, wherein the second SSB transmit power is changed relative to the first SSB transmit power depending on a combination of the first RF metric and the second RF metric.
2. The method (200) of claim 1, wherein the first RF metric comprises a reference signal received power, RSRP, of the SSB and/or wherein the second RF metric comprises at least one of a reference signal received quality, RSRQ, and a signal to interference and noise ratio, SINR, of the SSB, and/or wherein the second SSB transmit power is changed relative to the first SSB transmit power further depending on performance counter data stored at the network node (100).
3. The method (200) of claim 1 or 2, further comprising or initiating: responsive to the SSB transmitted (206) using the second SSB transmit power, receiving (208), from at least one of the radio devices (150), at least one of a random access, RA, preamble and data.
4. The method (200) of any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the receiving (204) of measurement reports and the transmitting (206) of the SSB is repeated, wherein the received (204) measurement reports are based on the SSB previously transmitted (202) using a previous SSB transmit power, and the SSB is transmitted (206) using a regulated SSB transmit power, wherein regulated SSB transmit power is changed relative to the previous SSB transmit power depending on the combination of the first RF metric and the second RF metric indicated in the measurement reports.
5. The method (200) of any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the receiving (204) of measurement reports further comprises receiving measurement reports that are based on an SSB transmitted from, and/or indicative of, another cell other than the cell of the network node (100; 2000; 2112; 2220).
6. The method (200) of any one of claims 1 to 5, further comprising or initiating: transmitting (207), or initiating a transmission of, a configuration message to at least one of the radio devices (150), the configuration message being indicative of the second SSB transmit power, optionally wherein the configuration message is transmitted to the at least one radio device prior to the transmitting (206) of the SSB using the second SSB transmit power.
7. The method (200) of claim 6, wherein the configuration message is a radio resource control, RRC, message, optionally an RRC reconfiguration message, the RRC message being indicative of a handover of the at least one radio device to the cell of network node (100; 2000; 2112; 2220) or a dual connectivity of the at least one radio device involving the cell of network node (100; 2000; 2112; 2220).
8. The method (200) of any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the second SSB transmit power is greater (206.1) than the first SSB transmit power, optionally wherein radio resources of a physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH, of the cell or the network node are borrowed or reserved (209.1) for increasing (206.1) the SSB transmit power, and/or wherein the second SSB transmit power is increased (206.1) relative to the first SSB transmit power without increasing a total transmit power of the cell.
9. The method (200) of any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the second SSB transmit power is less (206.2) than the first SSB transmit power, optionally wherein radio resources of a or the PDSCH of the cell or the network node are returned or released (209.2) for scheduling when decreasing (206.2) the SSB transmit power, and/or wherein the second SSB transmit power is decreased (206.2) relative to the first SSB transmit power without decreasing a total transmit power of the cell.
10. The method (200) of claims 8 or 9, wherein the radio resources of the PDSCH include at least one of time resources or slots of the PDSCH, frequency resources or subcarriers of the PDSCH, time-frequency resources or physical resource blocks (PRBs) of the PDSCH, and spatial resources or beams of the PDSCH.
11. The method (200) of any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the cell provides radio access in the area using frequency -division duplexing, FDD.
12. The method (200) of any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the network node (100; 2000; 2112; 2220) is a new radio non- standalone, NR NSA, network node, and wherein the measurement reports are received (204) through another network node (100') serving the radio devices (150).
13. The method (200) of any one of claims 1 to 12, wherein the second SSB transmit power is changed relative to the first SSB transmit power according to a coverage evaluation of the first RF metric and the second RF metric for the area, optionally wherein the coverage evaluation of the area is determined to be one out of at least two of: a cell-coverage overlap, a cell overshooting, a cell-coverage hole, and a DL interference-prone area, and wherein the SSB transmit power is increased responsive to the cell-coverage hole in the area, and the SSB transmit power is decreased responsive to at least one of the cell-coverage overlap, the cell -overshooting in the area, and the DL interference-prone area.
14. A computer program product comprising program code portions for performing the steps of any one of the claims 1 to 13 when the computer program product is executed on one or more computing devices (2004), optionally stored on a computer-readable recording medium (2006).
15. A network node (100; 2000; 2112; 2220) comprising memory operable to store instructions and processing circuitry operable to execute the instructions, such that the network node (100; 2000; 2112; 2220) is operable to: transmit (202) a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block, SSB, using a first SSB transmit power, wherein the SSB is indicative of a cell of the network node (100; 2000; 2112; 2220); receive (204) measurement reports that are based on the SSB transmitted (202) using the first SSB transmit power, wherein the measurement reports are indicative of a first radio frequency, RF, metric and a second RF metric, and wherein the measurement reports are received (204) from radio devices (150) served by the RAN in an area of the cell, and wherein the first RF metric is insensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB, and the second RF metric is sensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB; and transmit (206) the SSB using a second SSB transmit power, wherein second SSB transmit power is changed relative to the first SSB transmit power depending on a combination of the first RF metric and the second RF metric.
16. The network node (100; 2000; 2112; 2220) of claim 15, further operable to perform the steps of any one of claims 2 to 13.
17. A network node (100; 2000; 2112; 2220) configured to: transmit (202) a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block, SSB, using a first SSB transmit power, wherein the SSB is indicative of a cell of the network node (100; 2000; 2112; 2220); receive (204) measurement reports that are based on the SSB transmitted (202) using the first SSB transmit power, wherein the measurement reports are indicative of a first radio frequency, RF, metric and a second RF metric, and wherein the measurement reports are received (204) from radio devices (150) served by the RAN in an area of the cell, and wherein the first RF metric is insensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB, and the second RF metric is sensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB; and transmit (206) the SSB using a second SSB transmit power, wherein second SSB transmit power is changed relative to the first SSB transmit power depending on a combination of the first RF metric and the second RF metric.
18. The network node (100; 2000; 2112; 2220) of claim 17, further configured to perform the steps of any one of claims 2 to 13.
19. A base station (100; 2000; 2112; 2220) configured to communicate with user equipments, UEs (150), the base station (100; 2000; 2112; 2220) comprising a radio interface (2002; 2227) and processing circuitry (2004; 2228) configured to: transmit (202) a synchronization signal and physical broadcast channel block, SSB, using a first SSB transmit power, wherein the SSB is indicative of a cell of the network node (100; 2000; 2112; 2220); receive (204) measurement reports that are based on the SSB transmitted (202) using the first SSB transmit power, wherein the measurement reports are indicative of a first radio frequency, RF, metric and a second RF metric, and wherein the measurement reports are received (204) from UEs (150) served by the RAN in an area of the cell, and wherein the first RF metric is insensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB, and the second RF metric is sensitive to interference from cells other than the cell indicated by the SSB; and transmit (206) the SSB using a second SSB transmit power, wherein second SSB transmit power is changed relative to the first SSB transmit power depending on a combination of the first RF metric and the second RF metric.
20. The base station (100; 2000; 2112; 2220) of claim 19, wherein the processing circuitry (2004; 2228) is further configured to execute the steps of any one of claims 1 to 13.
21. A communication system (2100; 2200) including a host computer (2130; 2210) comprising: processing circuitry (2218) configured to provide user data; and a communication interface (2216) configured to forward user data to a cellular network (300) for transmission to a user equipment, UE (150), wherein the cellular network (300) comprises a radio interface (2002; 2227) and processing circuitry (2004; 2228) configured to execute the steps of any one of claims 1 to 13.
22. The communication system (2100; 2200) of claim 21, further including the UE (150), wherein the UE (150) comprises a radio interface (2237) and processing circuitry (2238).
23. The communication system (2100; 2200) of claim 21 or 22, wherein the radio network (300) further comprises a base station (100; 2000; 2112; 2220), which is configured to communicate with the UE (150).
24. The communication system (2100; 2200) of claim 23, wherein the base station (100; 2000; 2112; 2220) comprises the processing circuitry (2004; 2228), which is configured to execute the steps of any one of claims 1 to 13.
25. The communication system (2100; 2200) of any one of claims 21 to 24, wherein: the processing circuitry (2218) of the host computer (2130; 2210) is configured to execute a host application (2212), thereby providing the user data; and the processing circuitry (2004; 2238) of the UE (150) is configured to execute a client application (2232) associated with the host application (2212).
PCT/IN2022/050538 2022-06-13 2022-06-13 Technique for dynamic network coverage WO2023242850A1 (en)

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Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2011100676A1 (en) * 2010-02-12 2011-08-18 Research In Motion Limited Reference signal for a coordinated multi-point network implementation
US11343812B2 (en) * 2018-11-01 2022-05-24 Comcast Cable Communications, Llc Radio resource allocation for access link

Patent Citations (2)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2011100676A1 (en) * 2010-02-12 2011-08-18 Research In Motion Limited Reference signal for a coordinated multi-point network implementation
US11343812B2 (en) * 2018-11-01 2022-05-24 Comcast Cable Communications, Llc Radio resource allocation for access link

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